Hartleys – BIG NEWS!

For awhile now we have had a sense that God has been cultivating some plans that would completely change the direction we are currently moving in.

We have been praying about this change for many months and have wrestled with two different options to consider for our next season of ministry. We have invested a great deal of prayer, investigation, and research into this decision and had many spiritual mentors speak into our lives as well. We have felt God's guidance and confirmation in this process and we are excited about what is ahead for our family.

We will be moving to Livingstone, Zambia!

After 8 years of being missionaries with OC International (5 years in Africa) we feel God nudging us into something new and different. We are so thankful for all the amazing people God has brought into our lives through OC to shape us, grow us, and prepare us for this next season of ministry. Our OC teammates have walked this exploration journey with us and even though they are sad to see us go, they are incredibly supportive of our transition. We will really miss these wonderful families as well as many dear African friends.

We have been accepted as missionaries to Overland Missions, and have resigned from OC, effective May 31, 2011.

Things in our life will be pretty different. We will be saying a lot of "goodbyes", packing up our house, selling/buying a different vehicle, and moving from the really big city with several 6 lane freeways to live in a pretty rustic environment where you light a fire under the water tank if you want a hot shower. We have intense peace about our choice and although we'll probably go through a bit of culture shock again J we are confident this is where God is leading us.

If you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to contact us directly at danielhartley@oci.org or janellhartley@oci.org

Here is a bit more background to our story:

You might recall that three years ago on our way up to a conference in Lusaka, Zambia, our trailer was quite literally "eaten" by a pothole in Botswana, leaving the axle and trailer separated from one another. We were able to drag it a few more hours up the road and then left it with some friends on a missions base in Livingstone. We then continued another 8 hours up the road to Lusaka where we met up with the rest of our church's ministry team. After our time of ministry we headed back to retrieve what was left of our trailer.

This missions base where we left the trailer was operated by Overland Missions. Our close friends also lived on base and we were going to spend some time with them as well. Much to our surprise, when we arrived on base the trailer was flipped on it's head, and pieces were in place making it look once again like a trailer. With a few more welds, it actually seemed like it would make the 20 hour pot-hole filled journey back to South Africa.

The next few days were spent on base relaxing, exploring the base operations, and discovering how God was using Overland to make huge impact into the lives of Zambians who might not otherwise be reached if not for the massive 4X4 trucks they use to get into the deep bush. I (Dan) almost immediately felt as if I had found my perfect fit for ministry… not Janell. It was a little too rugged for her!

Now, fast forward 2 ½ years, and I believe that the feelings I had then, are now God's intention for our family this year. We had a 6 hr meeting in January with the director of base operations/ministry and the answers he gave to our difficult questions resonated like a C Major chord within our hearts. As well, just as a bonus, the base-life is much more family friendly then it used to be (they now have electricity and houses on the base for the missionary families to live in rather than safari tents!) and Janell's spirit is in union with mine as we pursue Overland.

I have been given a gift of teaching others not just with my mind, but also with my hands. I believe that I am a capacity builder for others. I am passionate about finding the potential in others and then exploring it so that their heart and mind understand who, and what God has created them for. Overland has invited me to teach their AMT course and it is a dream job for me! AMT stands for advanced mission training and is designed to train and equip someone who is interested in becoming a missionary with skills to help them minister effectively in challenging rural situations. It is a 3 month course, run 2x a year, which will teach missions theology, preaching, cross cultural communication, medical wilderness training, 3rd world country diseases, GPS navigation, expedition training, 4x4 driving course, welding, bush cooking and much more. What an amazing opportunity to impact world missions right from the starting line!

You can find out more by watching the course promotion video here: http://www.overlandmissions.com/index.php?/amt/article/amt-description-new/

During the months that the course is not running I will have the amazing opportunity to participate on evangelistic expeditions into the unreached and neglected regions of Zambia and Southern Africa. Western Zambia is an extraordinary landscape because the Zambezi River is in flood 3-6 months of the year. This isolates a huge number of people groups that settle within and west of the River. Because it is so difficult to reach by modern transportation they often receive minimal priority. These hard to reach places are where Overland wants to explore with the vision to evangelize, train pastors, teach Biblical principles and assist with social/health education. I first set foot in Zambia in 1994 and always had a portion of my heart set aside for this opportunity. I never imagined it might be so much fun experiencing the fulfillment to this dream.

(the picture above is the Zambezi flood plains at sunset from our Zambia trip in 2010)

We are not sure exactly what Janell will end up doing, but her first priority will be our children and then there will always opportunities to assist with projects around the base. There will also be times of mentoring / coaching needed for the gals who will be going through AMT and that is her favorite thing! She will have these opportunities and more to have great loving influence into the lives of women as well as into the "life" of Overland. She is an amazing mother and the model she will live, out of her love for God and others will speak much louder than any seminar could ever accomplish.

We know that we are only seeing a partial glimpse into our future but we are very excited about what is ahead for our family! Above are a few pictures of the base and view.

We will continue to stay in touch with you about how to transfer your support of us to a new account with Overland in upcoming communications. Until the end of May, please continue to send in your financial support to OC International. Thank you so much!!

To learn more about the other amazing holistic ministries of Overland Missions go to http://www.overlandmissions.com/ and check out Expeditions (short term teams), LIFE (caring for orphans), sector management (evangelism and discipleship in a target area), SAM (helping develop agricultural projects and microenterprise), RPN (Rural pastors network – pastoral training), and more.

With hearts full of thanks to God for all He has done and for you all,

Dan, Janell, Miesha and Titus Hartley

PS. We are in process of updating our communications database – if you have moved in the last 5 years, will you please send us your updated residential address? Also, if you want our emails to go to a different email address (or not come at all! J) will you please drop Janell a quick email at janellhartley@oci.org Many thanks!

Transitions

Many of you have popped over here to our blog hoping for more news about our upcoming transition. Well, we are close to an announcement, but you won't find it today!

Stay tuned!!!

Lots of love to you all,
Janell for us 4

Here are a couple cute pictures of our kids from this week. Miesha was given a bike with training wheels and she is just now getting the hang of pedaling. Dan attached an old mop handle onto the bike so we could help her keep moving as she was learning. Now, Titus loves to "help".

The best place to eat a chocolate pudding popsicle is...

Soweto Sewing Center

God is doing some amazing things through the missionaries with work with. At our team prayer meeting recently, my teammate Sarah shared some incredible news about how God is working in a small community called Braamfischerville and I thought I’d pass it on to you.

First, a little background…
Sarah and her husband Jay have been working with OC Africa for around 12 years with a focus on community development and uplifting area called Braamfischerville for the last 7 years. “Uplifting” basically means doing everything they can to help the people get out of poverty and walk in the abundant life Christ intended for them. They have created sustainable income generating projects, they sponsor an orphan boy to be able to keep him in school, they assist with health needs, they assisted with a starting a church, they do Bible studies, help with funerals, they plant gardens, expand people’s houses so that they can care for more orphans and foster children, showed the Passion movie at Easter time, and helped build a pre-school so the little kids could have a safe place to play and learn. If you knew all their challenges over the years, you too would be wildly impressed with their tenacity and the incredible things God has done in this small community.

Last Friday, Sarah was sharing about her sewing center project. The sewing center was birthed through the assistance of a short term team from the USA who came over with some sewing machines and patterns. Fast forward 2.5 years and now the sewing center has 5 ladies and 1 man on staff and although they are still struggling to see steady revenue come through, they are all making beautiful things and making money! Sarah proudly said, “They can make ANY kind of bag from generator covers to purses and there are several who are making their own patterns. They are extremely gifted individuals!”

Sarah has been going in weekly to do a Bible Study with them as a part of “leadership development” and has been taking them through the gospel of Mark. Recently, they talked through chapter 8 and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Sarah gave an invitation and she believes that all genuinely gave their lives to Jesus that day!! Isn’t that incredible?!!!!!

(Sarah with Judith)

Recently, Sarah was doing her personal Bible study and there was a theme about living generously and investing in eternal things coming through. She made a note to herself that someone was probably was going to request money from them soon. Sure enough, a couple hours later, the leader of the sewing center, Judith, phoned and through tears told Sarah this story:

Her daughter Palesa was the only student (out of 6-7 kids) in their community who passed her matric exams. (which are like really hard tests before you’d be granted your HS diploma in the US). She did it! She beat some incredible odds to stay in school, to learn, and to apply herself to get good grades! She was accepted into the Forensic Science program at the University of Johannesburg and would qualify for grants and loans to cover the cost. The only problem was that this family still owed the High School R500 ($70) for outstanding school fees. The school would not release her diploma/matric certificate until they paid the fees. Without the certificate, she would be unable to complete the paperwork to apply for financial aid (the financial aid deadline was a few days later). Without the financial aid there would be no University education, without the education, no career… You can see where this is going. Her future was hinging on $70/R500.

Sarah and Jay were able to give from what God has blessed them with to help this bright young lady have the chance to get a good education and create a life for herself.

They are impacting the nation of South Africa, one life at a time.

These are the stories that make my heart smile, and I think God’s heart smiles too!

Happy 2011!

We can all see that I neglected this blog the entire year of 2010. (sorry!) Rather than giving you all my lame reasons why, I am hoping to redeem myself through sharing our family's adventures in 2010 through this awesome Smilebox. Enjoy!

May God bless you in 2011. - Janell

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Summarizing...

Okay, if there is such an award...I think I would win the category for Most Absent Blogger of 2009. I think I have posted some 4 or 5 blogs this whole year. Yikes!

Everyone knows that transitioning from one kid to two brings a lot of changes. I was using this reasoning as my excuse for not blogging more. However, we were blessed with a relatively easy transition and Miesha really loves her little brother. She is always trying to help me by giving me his pacifier/dummy or patting his back when he is crying.

I told myself that I would get back into the habit of blogging once baby Titus started sleeping through the night. He started sleeping through the night around 1.5 months which is SO AWESOME! Now, I use another excuse for not getting my blogging current. I go back and forth between these excuses: a month ago we transitioned from the USA back to Africa and we are tired from the LONG (40 hr) journey and still have jet lag...or we are having yet another lightening storm and I am going to turn off my computer so it doesn't get fried by lightening...or we are still living out of suitcases (8 months now!) while housesitting for friends and I'll become a better blogger once we are settled into our own space again in early January.

Anyway - lots has been going on, so I thought I would catch you all up in one fell swoop again.

Since I blogged last - the very most important event was the arrival of our new baby boy - Titus Glen. He was born via c-section on August 24th and is the sweetest little boy ever. He was average weight (7 lbs) at birth, but proceeded to quickly grow into his strong name by almost doubling in weight his first month. He was 12 lbs at month one and 14 lbs month 2. He is a very happy little eater. As I mentioned before, he is a fantastic sleeper and already sleeps 8-9 hrs a night for me which is SO WONDERFUL! He is good natured, laughs hysterically at his parents when they make funny faces at him, tolerates his sister, has a bit of a snore, and sometimes even laughs in his sleep.

We had some wonderful memory making with family and friends in the States during our final two months after Titus was born. Here are a few picures:

When we arrived, we spent some quality time looking for a rental house. Through friend connections, we found an amazing house, for an amazing price and we will be moving in in early January. We are praising God for his provision. Also, the place we are housesitting for is available to us to use until January 9, so the timing is perfect!

On November 29th, we participated in the church service for World AIDS Day in Ennerdale with a very special group of friends. Pastor Wessie and his Compassion Team gave a heart wrenching overview of AIDS statistics in South Africa, complete with personal testimonies from the congregation and a powerpoint presentation showing all the projects where people are being served a helped by their church and ministry partners. OC Africa was recognized as a ministry partner as there are 3 missionary families from our team who all contribute to serving in Ennerdale and Finetown. (Finetown is the impoverished community next to Ennerdale where there is 80% HIV infection rate and where the majority of the Compassionate Care Team’s efforts are focused) In 2008 we took our short term team to Finetown for a week of service doing work in a pre-school, assisting at an orphanage, doing house visits to encourage and give food parcels, doing grief conferences, teaching first aid, and more. It was a blessing to participate! The few pictures we took turned out blurry, sorry.

On Friday we sponsored a Christmas party for the AIDS group I have been involved with in the past. This group is our “test group” for the Bible study lessons I have been writing. I haven’t seen the group since last year’s party since early last year we were preparing for furlough, packing up our rental house, my pregnancy with Titus made me exhausted, and we were in the states for 6+ months. I was so excited to see everyone again! In the past the party was at the church, but this year the venue changed since Pastor Bhembe left the senior pastor position at the church to attend Bible School full time. We arrived at the party destination an hour in advance to set everything up and then waited and waited and WAITED. Dan went with Pastor B to pick up a few people who needed a ride and then we waited and WAITED some more. About four hours later the party finally started, but the 25 people that I had planned the party for still had not arrived. Then we were told the lady who is in charge of the program, who I have worked very closely with in the past, was in the hospital. The van who went to pick up all my sick friends from the church didn’t come while we were there. After about an hour of singing with the local kids and a few grandmothers, Dan and I had to leave to pick up Miesha and Titus from a friend’s house who was babysitting them. The food packets that we made and the feast of a lunch we prepared were still on the agenda, but we were not able to stay any longer. We got a text message later the next day saying my friends from the HIV support group finally did arrive after we left and that everything was a big blessing to them. I have to be honest and say I was a bit disappointed since I wanted to see everyone and to celebrate with them, but obviously God knows best. I hope to get to see them in the New Year. Please pray for THELMA who is my friend who is in the hospital. They don’t know what is wrong with her yet, but she has been unable to keep food down for a week now.

Last Saturday was our Thanksgiving Feast/End of Year Party with our church. We celebrated how God has worked in our church, the growth of our members (we have gone from 80 people to over 300 in the two years Dan and I have been attending!) and there was a beautiful presence of thankfulness. We took a picture of the “small" group that we co-led the six months we were here and I have attached the photo here. About a third of the group wasn’t there for the photo, so you’ll only see about 30 of the 50 of us.

Tomorrow is Miesha's 2nd birthday! She is an amazing little girl and we love her so much. We are grateful to God for the gift of her presence in our family. Here are a few of the many faces of Miesha:

Thank you for your love and prayers for our family.

I hope to be blogging more in the New Year...I'll make it my New Year's Resolution!

Smiles,
Janell