Read comments and letters from our Dream for Africa teammates

Here are a few comments and letters our teammates sent to family and friends upon returning from South Africa. I’m just getting around to posting them (I’ll blame it on the holidays). I think these are cool because they'll give you another perspective on the trip. The comments are as I received them. If you were on the trip and would like to add comments to the blog, please send them to my email address.
Read the comments here

Gina's thank you letter to all those who supported us and made our trip to Africa possible

December 18, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

Where do we begin? Our trip to South Africa was amazing. We experienced every possible emotion – joy, sadness, guilt, conviction, despair, hope. The people we met and worked with in Africa were so gracious and humble, the children’s smiles so contagious. We got a glimpse of how big God is and how amazingly blessed we are. Most important, the trip convicted us to do more.

First, we want to thank you so much for supporting us with your finances and prayers. You made this trip possible and you made a difference in people’s lives in Africa. We wish you could have been with us to see the joy in the faces of the children. We were truly the ones blessed by our trip! (Please check out the pictures on Jason’s website – www.atlantaclimber.com)

We planted gardens in several locations all over the White River area of South Africa. In total, our group of 26 put over 84,000 plants and seeds in the ground!...(finish reading here)

Photos from South Africa are now online

To view photos select the image below. Enjoy!

"Now you know."

For years, we've heard about, read about, and seen images on TV and in movies. We knew about Africa's dying generation...at least we thought we did. But now we KNOW. We know that seeing a child in complete poverty, surrounded by hundreds of other children in complete poverty does something to the soul and spirit that images and words can't.

It's heartbreaking and it's overwhelming. Your first thoughts are to do what so many have done in so many similar situations around the world...to block it out, to leave it for another person, another group, another generation to deal with. In the first 48-hours, Gina and I questioned our decision to go. Our being there couldn't possibly make a difference. We were disheartened.

Over the course of the next five days, we were changed. The people we met, worked with and worked for compelled us, not to walk away, but to dive in, to get more involved...(finish reading here)