We purchased our tickets for South Africa!

   We are so very excited to announce that we have purchased our tickets to move to South Africa! We will be leaving on July 25th and arriving in Johannesburg on the 26th following 20 hours of travel. Commitment Sunday for Faith Promise at our church, Greencastle Christian Church, was this past Sunday. I wrote a bit about Faith Promise in an earlier post, but to recap - Faith Promise is our home church's way of supporting us in our ministry at The Fold Children's Home. Our congregation was asked to step out in faith and commit to supporting us monthly, trusting that God will provide. Our church family stepped up in a big way and committed over $89,000! Adding that to the amount we had already fundraised - we are at 120% for all of our one time costs (airline tickets, 2 trainings, vehicle, 1st year of insurance, household goods and appliances, legal things like visas...) as well as our monthly costs through next May! We were completely overwhelmed with everyone's support, generosity and encouragement! Sunday was a 'tears of joy' kind of day! So many children will be richly blessed with HOPE for their future because of each one of you. It has been so amazing to see God guide our path so clearly from the time that we fully submitted our family's direction to Him. My how He has blessed us!

We have 2 trainings coming up. The first is this month, May 20-24. It is a weeklong Bible/Missions class in Louisville, KY. The 2nd is a Pre-field Orientation class in Toronto, Canada. It is 2 weeks long from July 1st to the 12th and is very helpful for longevity on the field. Ethan and Caeley will be staying here with family or friends and Adam and I will drive up for the training. We plan to leave a day or so early so we can visit Niagara Falls on the way up. We will be celebrating our 14th Anniversary while we are away. We got married on the 4th of July and always enjoy going to the fireworks to celebrate, it will be strange to be out of the country this year - but I guess we best get used to that! Here is the summary of the training we are attending (as found on their website http://missionprep.ca/prefield/cope.html):



Spiritual, personal, interpersonal and cultural aspects of the missionary experience are taught through a unique combination of experiential and formal instruction.
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

• Perceptions, Ethnocentrism, Stereotypes
• Models of understanding culture
• Comparing values across cultures
• Mapping a new culture – culture shock
• The gospel in context

PERSONAL & INTERPERSONAL

• Understanding your personality type & how it impacts interpersonal relationships
• Stages of cross-cultural transition and stressors
• Families & TCK’s living overseas
• Dynamics of positive team building experiences
• Approaches to conflict resolution

SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE

• Factors enhancing spiritual vitality living cross-culturally
• Spiritual warfare issues
• Servant leadership, poverty and justice issues

 

 Our trivia night in March went wonderfully. Everyone had such a great time and it was so humbling to see all of the items come in for the silent auction as we prepared for the event. We received many items from people we had never met! Thank to everyone who helped us to prepare for and host Trivia Night! We raised $4,000!

Also, a HUGE thanks to my very talented brother, Joel Bottom. He worked extremely hard to have an amazing video ready for us to share with our church. We were able to play it for the first time at Trivia Night. He did a fabulous job! Please check it out at: HAYES FAMILY - MISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICA.

Ethan and Caeley enjoyed celebrating their friend Blake's birthday with a Duck Dynasty party! If you aren't already a Duck Dynasty fan, then you are missing out. And that's a fact Jack! Yep!


The boys had a great time having an airsoft war in the woods!

 We had a wonderful time getting all dressed up for our homeschool group's Mother Daughter Tea in April! Caeley and I were so glad to have Grandma Lynne and Grandma Carol join us! What a special day!

We celebrated Easter with my mom and brothers.
The kids enjoyed an easter egg hunt in mom's
 backyard and we all had fun shooting Adam's rifle and then dyeing eggs together.



We split our Spring Break into 2 chunks. For the 1st part we went to Saint Louis with the Botzum family. We stayed with some of their relatives and had a very very busy whirlwind 3 days there! We spent 1 whole day at The Incredible Pizza Company - we had a great time and especially enjoyed the Go Carts and Laser Tag. We also visited: The City Museum, The Arch, and the Zoo!

Ethan, Blake, Brianne, Brittan and Caeley at The City Museum.

 We finished out our Spring Break later in the month last month with 3 days of Field Trips and then a stay at Lean On Lodge.

Ethan and Adam at The National Museum of the United States Air Force
in Dayton, OH.

Celebrating Brittan's 14th Birthday in Dayton.

We toured Lucas Oil Stadium where the Colts play in Indianapolis. We had all been to
games there, but it was fun to see some of the behind-the-scenes and the suites!

We got to tour the actual locker room of the Colts! Ethan is sitting in front of
Peyton Manning's locker, which they left empty this last season out of respect,
 and Blake is sitting in front of Andrew Luck's locker!

This picture, as well as the one below, are in Indy at
the Indiana War Memorial Museum.

   To finish off, we spent some time resting and relaxing at Lean On Lodge. Lean On Lodge is located about 30 minutes from us and is a cabin owned by the Neier family. It is used primarily as a ministry, as they offer it up for church groups and missionaries to enjoy at no cost! We had a wonderful time fishing, canoeing and kayaking (we took kayaks with us), playing games, watching movies, having bonfires, playing volleyball and launching rockets!

Ethan got some rockets for Christmas and he and Adam had a great time building
them and painting them together. This was a wonderful place to shoot them off!
One of them flew way way up until we couldn't see it for quite awhile!
Thankfully, upon its landing, Blake rescued it from the pond before it was too late!

Adam led us in a church service on the front porch Sunday morning! I am so
grateful for him and the way he has stepped up in many ways the
past few years! He is such a great husband, dad and leader for our family!

Being Silly!

Joel and Ethan kayaking. Joel and mom spent some time with us,
playing a game and enjoying the great outdoors!

   Ethan is enjoying one last season of soccer here in the states! He is playing on the U14 team and having a great time. His coach is amazing! 

   As you can see, we are squeezing in as many memories as possible in the last of our time here! We are looking forward to lots of time with family the next couple of months! 

Things you can pray for:

• This transition time, as we prepare to leave. 
• Goodbyes that are coming up.
• Our health as we continue to get ready. I had been doing so good with my migraines for awhile now, but this week they have been back with a terrible vengeance.
• Our 2 sessions of training. 
• Praise for God's provision through our supporters and through our church family with Faith Promise.
• Pray that God would continue to bring us closer to everyone at GCC and that this would enhance our communication with them while on the field.
• Adjusting to life in South Africa. Especially the driving part! Steering wheel on the right side, driving on the left...
• And continued prayer for the work that Paul and Micky are doing at The Fold, as well as for the housemoms: Fatima, Suzan and Maria; Sam, the farm worker; and the 16 beautiful children that live there!

Many Blessings, Jennifer