God's Treasures

People in whom the world sees no value,
But only as burdens to bear,
Teach us great lessons of God's sovereign power -
He loves them as treasures so rare. - Carbaugh

Here is video made by the South Africa 2008 TreX team. Enjoy!



One week left!

A Taste of Africa Part 2

A Taste of Africa...

Here are some photos from our team adventure to Little Ethiopia in Los Angeles earlier this month. It was definitely a surprise for all of us as we traveled using the train and metro to get to our destination spot - Addis!!!

Today is going to be a great day because God made this day!

How is it that I find comfort in volunteering with cleaning other person's rooms but I can't find time to clean my own?? Today our team went to Mercy House which provides housing and comprehensive support services to homeless men, women, and families. For two hours we cleaned 3 rooms by vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing toilets and bathroom floors. Again we had the opportunity to spend time with each other outside of our comfort zones. It was interesting to see Janet and Jen clean a room the quickest without breaking a sweat, our 2 men Tyler and Peter cleaning the bathrooms, while Susan and I tried our best to not ruin the blinds.

Unfortunately we weren't able to meet any of the residents of Mercy house. However, Robert and his wife Rita, the main coordinators and staff gave us a quick tour of the house and a brief description of how Mercy house guides its residents to their place in the world. Their slogan is "We help people find their way back home." While getting to know my team better I find that we all can relate to this. I personally feel that I am constantly searching for direction, searching for God and my place in this world. During this trip we just pray and hope that God will lead us closer to home, wherever and whatever form that may be.

We would like to lift up Robert, Rita, the rest of the staff and the residents of Mercy House. May God guide each and everyone of them. May he continue to provide them with the resources and support they need to achieve their goal which is to end the homelessness of those who enter their system of care.

by Dianne

Two Weeks Left!

Hello friends,

Two weeks left until our departure to South Africa!

I just wanted to thank everyone for your support. Your prayer and financial support is truly humbling and overwhelming.

Although only 9 of us are physically going, you as the support community are also a part of this team. What a privilege to have you going with us!

I wanted to share with you two videos made by some young people in Paarl. This first video shows some of the needs in Paarl and how ministries like Monte Christo work to address those needs.



The second video is a peek into "a life the day" of Paarl East.




Financial Update

Our team as a whole is still about $10,000 short overall! Please continue to support our team through prayer and finances. We would like to be fully funded by this Sunday, July 25th. However, we will be taking donations until our departure August 6th.

Would you consider giving if you haven’t already? If you’d like to increase your initial donation, you are very welcome to do so.

On Going Prayer Requests

- Please pray that God will prepare our hearts and the hearts of the people in Paarl
- Please pray that our team effectively shares God’s love with the community in Paarl, with each other, and our community back home
- Please pray for physical, emotional, and spiritual health as we travel, serve, eat, etc.
- Please pray for wisdom, guidance, and unity as the team plans and prepares
- Please pray that our team will be fully funded before our departure

Once again, thank you so much for your support. We look forward to keeping you updated.

Love,

Peter

Less Than 3 Weeks!!!!!

Hello Friends!

It hit all of us that by this time in 3 weeks, we'll be in South Africa! Time is flying by so fast!

On July 11, we all went on a little adventure that Susan and Danielle planned for some team bonding. It was a surprise for half the team that we would be taking public transit to LA! Most of us attended first service at Newsong when Susan texted us all the address of where to meet.


It was the train station. Upon getting there, we got the schedule of the different forms of public transit we would be taking, only to have to throw it all out because the train was delayed by 30 minutes!


We ended up taking train, metro, and bus to get to our secret location, Addis, an Ethiopian restaurant! We got there around 2:30, so we were pretty hungry and ordered way too much food, but it was all very delicious :)

Trying to get back home was very fun... we missed the 4 pm train so we waited for the 5 only to find out that too was delayed until 6:15! So lots of waiting and talking happened. All in all, a tiring day but it was great getting to spend time with each other. Definitely previewed us all to what our 21 hr flight is going to be like!

This past Sunday we had our weekly meeting sans Danielle, Susan, and Tyler :( They were greatly missed! Janet was gracious to bring us yummy Maggianos pasta and salad as well as delicious cookies. Peter led us in our continued reading of The Hole in Our Gospel. We had a good discussion on the poor and how the church responds as well as what God wants from us. We also took a time to write out 5 things that we were thankful for and it was cool to hear what we each wrote. We have a very gracious God who has blessed us all tremendously! Janet and Dianne shared their testimonies with us, thanks guys for opening up about your lives!

Our most urgent prayer request is for God to provide for the team financially, but we are getting closer to reaching our goal! Even though only 9 of us are physically going, we know we have so many of you who are the ones sending us there.

Thank you all for your love and support!!

Jen

financial & materials update from danielle, 7.4.10

Dear supporter family,

First of all, we want to thank you for your generous support for our trip! I wanted to update you on our progression toward our financial goal and brag about our donations and the fabulous supporter community.

Financial updates:
Team total budget: $33057.00

We need: $17, 578

Thank you for giving of your treasure. I know this is hard, especially during the current economic situation in the US. When the US suffers financially, this greatly impacts the impoverished nations, as I saw last year in South Africa, as continual support decreases so much that they have little resources to carry on daily business. So….thank you for those of you who have been able and/or willing to “give when it hurts.” That kind of giving yields many blessings, and we appreciate all that you can give as we have a huge deficit to cover in just a month. We know how hard it is because we are giving to ourselves as well. The sacrifice is huge but the blessings will be multiplied abundantly.

If you have not given yet and would like to, you can give by check or online. I’ll attach directions at the end of this update. If you have been meaning to give but haven’t gotten around to it, please do so sooner or later as we have to start wiring money over in the next few weeks.

Material donations:

“Wow!” is all I can say! I have received many donations that will bless the following ministries, groups or organizations:

• Sonstraal TB hospital
• Butterfly House, a resource center dedicated to serve HIV/AIDS infected and affected adults and children
• The Monte Christo Sports ministry which will work toward bringing youth off the streets and into sports programs
• Homeless ministry with Monte Christo Ministries
• Boland Autism School
• Crèches (preschools in townships)

At work last week, a friend dropped off several bags. My “less than great” day brightened at the sight of this generosity. It felt like Christmas as I was not expecting her to arrive. I know how overcome I was with happiness and surprise. I could not wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day, stop staring at the bags, or making other therapists come look at everything. I can only imagine the same feelings *multiplied* when many children get surprised by YOUR acts of love in the same way. This is the best part of the trip! Monte Christo gives the materials to someone in the community who then gives the materials so it comes from within the community, and I love that approach.

While we are able to give many items that are needed for education, it is fun to give items that are not needed, but instead, wished for and unexpected. Don’t you love the feeling you get when you receive an unexpected gift—the kind you wouldn’t think to buy for yourself or the one you can’t afford? I do! One of those gifts is Barbie and Ken dolls, along with accessories, for the children at Butterfly House.

Here are some pictures of some of the donations:

During my travels there, I have been able to see the truth behind the saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, in true African style, I believe it takes a “village” of supporters to bless a community through a missions trip although one person’s piece of the puzzle is to be the “hands and feet” on behalf of those unable to physically be there.

THANK YOU! to all those who have dropped in with bags of surprises and left me teary-eyed from happiness and overwhelmed with gratitude. Words truly cannot express how I’ve felt each time you have brought a bag in to me and extended your love to my “extended family” in South Africa.

We have 32 days until departure and 34 days until touchdown in Cape Town!

May you be overcome with blessings for what you have done for us, them, and Him,

Danielle Jones

[On behalf of the entire team: Jennifer, Janet, Tyler, Elliott, Dianne, Lisa, Susan, & Peter]

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world" -Mother Teresa

Newsong treX Online Giving Instructions

1. Go to http://www.newsong.net

2. Click on the “GIVE” tab on the upper right portion of the webpage.

3. You’ll need to register with our secure website in order to give online

4. Either login with your current account or create a new one if you’ve never registered with us before by clicking the button on the right.

5. Once you’ve created an account and logged in, you’ll be taken to a screen titled: SCHEDULE NEW CONTRIBUTIONS

6. Click on the drop down box titled “Fund” and choose the option that says: Fund: * IRV-2 IRVINE TREX MISSION TEAMS

7. This will bring up a second box called: Sub Fund

8. Click on the Sub Fund drop down box and choose the team and person you want to support. The Sub Fund will look like this: “IRV TREX <South Africa> - <Danielle Jones>”

9. Click the circle that says: to make a one time contribution.

10. Fill out payment and billing information.

11. To complete your transaction click the button in the lower right side of the form.

TO DONATE VIA CHECK:

Make checks payable to NewSong Church

In the memo lines: include “Danielle Jones (or my teammate’s name), 2010 treX, South Africa” to ensure the money gets routed to our fund

Send to:

NewSong Church

18842 Teller Avenue

Irvine CA 92612