Dear Friends and Family, December 7, 2005
I would like to thank everyone for supporting me when I was in Africa. I have been home for a little over a day now and I’m still trying to put my thoughts together on such an inspirational trip. The trip home took four different planes and around 40 hours, but my memory is that I was feeling totally fulfilled from everything we had accomplished. The trip was a huge success.

One of the things we all noticed early in the trip was a large generation gap in the local population. When we went to church in Rehoboth on the second day it was quickly apparent that the 20 and 30 somethings were missing. There was a large mix of older people and children, but the middle generation has suffered greatly from the AIDS epidemic.

This was one of the things that I was hoping to change when I initially signed up to go on this trip. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of the abstinence message when I first started, but the more I researched and learned, the more it made sense to me. On the first Monday, we visited five or six local schools. We got permission from all but one of them to hand out flyers inviting students to an afternoon Choose To Wait program. We called it “The Truth About Sex and Marriage.” Two of the schools invited us to teach the program directly to their seventh grade classes for one hour a day for the rest of the week. We were surprised by this because this was the last week of the year and all the students were taking final exams.

On Tuesday, we handed out flyers in the morning and started teaching in the two schools. Then at 4pm, we arrived to teach at a local church which we had advertised on the flyers. I’m not sure what we expected, but we had over 200 students filling the road in front of the church. It was a bit overwhelming, but that was the sort of problem you like to have. For the next 6 days we taught at the two schools in the morning and at the church in the afternoon. It was a grueling schedule and everyone was exhausted at the end of each day, but somehow we held it together and ended on the following Tuesday with nearly 100 young adults committing their lives to their future partner. On the final evening we invited parents, teachers, ministers and school principals. It was quite an event and I am truly honored to have been a part of it. I think we left these young adults with the knowledge and skills they need to make an informed decision that affects the rest of their lives.
I would also like to thank everyone for the donations we received. A few days before we left, Monica and I were overwhelmed with the amount of goods we had collected. I spent a frustrating week trying to find ways to ship it with us to Africa. With new rules from September 11, air shipping on a passenger aircraft seems to be nearly impossible. We decided to just pay for some extra bags and leave any excess for a later trip. When we took everything to the final packing meeting, we never expected to get even half of it in everyone’s luggage, but once the packing was complete, not only was all the gear gone, but Monica and I had only packed one bag! We filled our last three bags with more donations we acquired before leaving. Once the group began to unpack and sort the goods we had brought I could see these enormous piles of goods that could never have fit in the limited baggage we had checked. I can only call this a miracle.

Over the next week, we brought these goods to the local community and gave them directly to those in need. One of the most memorable was a place called Kwakwas. We drove about 20 km on a dirt road, then another 10km on a single track 4x4 road to arrive at a school that was closed. They knew we were coming, but there was a phone problem and we were not informed that the school had actually closed a day early. We drove back to a couple of small shanties and about six children and ten adults began to gather around. We spoke for a little while, then opened the back of the van and started handing out clothes, soccer balls, toys and shoes. We had a number of single shoes at this point and one woman wanted a specific red shoe. We initially felt bad about not having a match, but to our amazement, she was extremely grateful. It wasn’t until a little while later that anyone noticed she had a prosthetic leg and really only need one shoe.

After everyone had their arms full, George told us they wanted to sing us a song. It was amazing to see these people sing such a beautiful song. I felt as though the goods we had brought did not come close to matching the value of that song. This place and this trip was so full of contrasts. So much suffering and so much beauty standing side by side everywhere we went.

Monica spent two days driving Midas to Winhoek. She is six years old and has the most beautiful ear to ear smile you can imagine. She is in a wheel chair, but you would never know that by her attitude. One of her legs has lost circulation and will be amputated in the coming weeks. The trips to Winhoek were just to make sure of the diagnosis. No one wanted to make that decision without looking at all the options.

On Thursday, we had American Thanksgiving and on Friday we had Namibian Christmas. Anna Marie, the house mother, asked me to play Father Christmas. After I agreed she secretly gave me the big red suit and a group of us crafted a beard from construction paper, pipe cleaner and cotton pads. Handing gifts to the 40 kids from the Ark and another 20 or so from the local community is something that I will never forget. For the rest of the trip, a number of the younger kids kept calling me Father Christmas. When I denied the relation, they would just point to my sandals and say, “Yes, it was you!” That was very special.

I had brought a ring with me to propose to Monica on this trip. I had already spoken to George, the house father, about this and he had warmly approved. I had been planning to ask her a few days later, but events that day helped me know that this was not only the right path for me, but the perfect day. I got out of the Santa suit and ran back to the party before everyone left. I called everyone around for an announcement. Monica had no idea. Before we left the U.S. I had made her think I had not even begun the process of buying a ring. She said she thought I was announcing some gift for George and Anna Marie. I took a knee and proposed in front of the Christmas tree. She said yes and the date is April 29.

Something I will never forget was when George and Anna Marie said they wanted to have communion with us. Once we all sat down together they announced that they would be washing our feet first. By the time it finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. The generosity and faith that George and Anna Marie show is beyond belief. They are an inspiration to us all.

I have already written too much here and could continue with many more stories. I’ve barely returned home and I already want to return to Rehoboth. There are at least four or five people from our group are considering returning for 3 month missions. This was the most amazing trip I have ever taken and I am honored that you all helped me to represent you in this regard. My path led me to Africa. God led me there. I’m not sure where His path will lead next, but I plan to continue to follow it as His servant. For now, I’m being given a reprieve, but I am sure that He has plans for me and I am making myself available. If you would like to go on a similar trip, you can ask me any questions you like, but I will tell you now, it is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I can also recommend The Ark in Rehoboth, George and Anna Marie were incredible hosts and the facilities were outstanding.
Sincerely,

Wood

Keep watching the blog, we will be adding stories and pictures
http://rockharborafricateam.blogspot.com

Dear Friends,

I'm making final preparations in this final week before my trip to Africa. I wanted to thank everyone that donated to my trip. There were many of you and I never expected to completely make my $3300 goal. I fully expected to personally make up the difference. As of this week I reached $3440 and I'm an over achiever thanks to all of you.

We raised over 800 pounds of shoes. We have over 1000 brand new flip flops and hundreds of soccer cleats. The response to our shoe campaign was overwhelming and I have had a lot of trouble trying to get the shoes to Africa. What we are unable to take on the plan as excess cargo will be shipped in a proper container which we are organizing for another trip in the spring.

As a group we were able to raise enough money to buy The Ark a new van. A few people are leaving a day early to purchase the van.

The photo campaign to take pictures and give them to families has had a number of set backs. I'm planning on purchasing an HP portable photo printer today and taking it with us on the trip. We can easily print a few hundred photos on short notice.

So far, most of the planning process has involved getting to know the team and learning the Choose To Wait program we will be teaching in the schools. The more I learn about the Choose To Wait program we will be teaching, the more I see it as the only immediate solution (or relief) to the problem of AIDS in Africa. My initial reluctance has changed to absolute belief in this as a tool for change.

My reasoning for this change is mathematical. If you look at a box of condoms, there is a laboratory failure rate. Do some searching online and you will find that the failure rate is somewhere between 1% and 3%. I know that transmission is not 100%, but if it were and you handed out 50M condoms, you would have at least 500,000 cases of AIDS. Another study I read showed the AIDS being a small virus was able to penetrate a condom 30% of the time. I don't fully believe that one, but the numbers here are staggering. Just throwing condoms and telling people to have as much sex as they want is not a viable solution. Education (as in most change) is the only viable solution.

Thank you again for your support and please watch the blog during our trip for updates. I will update this site when I return.

Sincerely,

Wood

Dear Friends,

I would like to share with you my excitement regarding my upcoming trip to Namibia, Africa. Over the years I have felt incapable in regards to the AIDS crisis that is sweeping most of Africa. The problem just seems too large. I found that Namibia has a 25% AIDS rate and this number is disputed in the scientific community because many people have not even been tested due to extreme poverty and the stigma attached to AIDS. In neighboring Botswana the rate has reached 50% and is also disputed as a low number. I found that every year 2.3 Million people die of AIDS in Africa with the peak rate not expected until at least 2010. That's 191,266 people a month, which equals an Indonesian Tsunami every month! An entire generation of children will grow up without parents which will greatly impact future generations. This trip to Africa may only make a tiny difference in the future, but I’ve decided that even a tiny difference is a worthwhile endeavor.

We have a group of 21 people going on the trip. Our primary missions are the following projects:

• Choose to Wait – teaching a curriculum to 5th-7th graders that discusses the root causes of HIV/AIDS.
• Care and Compassion – bringing much needed prayer, medical supplies, food and hygiene items to those dying of AIDS.
• The Ark (Children’s Home) – spending time teaching preschool, playing games, tutoring and just hanging out with 38 kids who have been orphaned by AIDS.

We are also trying to raise enough money to buy The Ark a new van and to buy some land for a community garden. I will be participating on a three day scouting trip to Zambia for future relief trips.

I hope you can find it in your heart to support me spiritually and/or financially. If you would like to pray, pray that we can all make a difference in this crises. If you would like support us financially, please make your check out to ROCKHarbor Church and send your contribution in the envelope provided. To ensure a tax deduction, please write Africa in the memo section of your check. I need to raise $3300 by October 31 and we leave in mid November. This money will go towards our travel expenses and any extra will go towards a new van for The Ark. The African organization we are partnered with is Christ’s Hope International. It is 100% volunteer. Please visit them at http://www.christshopeinternational.org.

If you do not have an envelope, send me an e-mail and I will give you an address. For security reasons, I have not posted my address here.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 714-277-8211 or e-mail me at wood@woodsgoods.com. If you would like to follow our progress, I will be posting details and information at http://www.woodsgoods.com/africa.

Thank you and God bless,
Wood Harter