bunnies, elephants, prison and rugby

Hi guys!  We hope you had a good month. Here is some of what we did:

My (Savannah) awesome friends from Truth and Training (Awana) made and sent these amazing knitted bunnies to give to some of the kids we help. So we brought some food along and the bunnies and gave them to lots of kids.

We gave them to some kids at Hope of Glory . . .

And to orphans at Tshepo Ya Bana.

When we were at the orphanage we got to see a little girl get adopted! This is her new Mom!

We also went to Cape Town for some family time. We went on this boat to see seals!

On our boat were lots of Chinese people and Mom and Dad talked to them for a long time. We have no idea what they talked about, we can't remember much Chinese.

We also went to Robben Island. That's where Nelson Mandela was in prison for 18 of his 27 years. This was his jail cell. He became the first black president in 1994.  Mom and Dad said that when he became president that everyone expected war to break out because the blacks and whites didn't get along that well. But Nelson Mandela preached peace and most people think he is a great man who saved many lives. He is really sick now, so some people say war will hold off as long as Mandela is alive, but when he dies it could get bad. But that's only what some people say.

We also went to Kruger, a super big game reserve. It was fun, but we like the smaller parks nearby, that way you can see lots of animals. There isn't as much space for them to roam around in the smaller places. We saw giraffe, all kinds of birds, elephants, baboons, hippo's (look real close in the water picture), hyena's and tons of other animals.

 

 

 

 

 

Last month we showed you cricket pictures, and this month our friends took us to a rugby game. It was a little boring for us, we like the cricket games better because you can play on the grass and there is more yummy food. Rugby was really short compared to how long it took for a cricket game.

Next month we will share more about Savannah's next "Bags of Hope" for the homeless delivery. It's getting really cold at night so you can pray people will stay warm somehow. Pray also for the safety of homeless, orphaned and vulnerable (kids who aren't safe) children. Thanks so much for praying for us and thank you for all the ways you help us help people around us. 

Love,

Savannah
AJ

Chloe

Thank you and . . . that's different!

THANK YOU!
A quick word from Savannah:

Thank you so much for helping me make more bags of hope!  I can make 20 more bags now and I can't wait! I am starting to make a list of things to put in the bags for the winter coming up.  It made me feel good that you wrote nice letters to me. I can't believe it! I'm just a kid but you make me feel like I can do a lot.  Thanks so much for your help!

Love,
Savannah


THAT'S DIFFERENT!
So we went to the library a few weeks ago because Mom made us do a book report on an interesting animal.  Savannah picked pangolins and I picked platypuses.

Pangolins are in Africa (they are like scaly anteaters) and platypuses are in Australia. We went to the library to find books on these two animals.  When we asked for books about platypuses they looked at us funny. Mom asked again, "Do you have books on platypuses?" The librarian finally said, "Well, if you want books on platypuses you'd have to go to Australia."  That's so silly isn't it?! They had nothing on platypuses, only stuff about or in Africa.  Mom said America isn't like that. Libraries in America have all kinds of books and if they don't have it they will order it for you. Plus you can take out more than 6 books in America! We can't wait to go to a library in America.

Mom and Dad signed us up for gymnastics! We love it!  We go twice a week and it is so much fun.  They accidentally charged us too much so mom asked if we could put the extra money toward the next month. They gave us the extra money we paid PLUS more money off to be nice.  Mom said America isn't like that, they may not give you your money back and they definitely wouldn't give you extra money to be nice. We will enjoy gymnastics here in South Africa and the nice money people. :)

Did you know they have McDonald's here in our city?  We are so glad because we love McDonald's!  Savannah and Dad like double cheeseburgers but you have to say all kinds of stuff to make sure you get a real double cheeseburger. When you say double cheeseburger they give you 2 cheeseburgers! So you have to say, "I want a double cheeseburger, not two cheese burgers, one double cheeseburger."  They get it right half the time, and the other half we end up with lots of cheeseburgers. So funny!

Kids here don't call adults "Mister" or "Mrs." they call them Auntie and Uncle (in Afrikaans) if they are white and if they are black they want you to call them their first name.  To say Auntie in Afrikaans you say "Tani" (pronounced Tah-knee) and to say Uncle you say Oom (pronounced Ooo-um).

We went to our first cricket game last week!  It was SO MUCH FUN!  Do you know they call cotton candy "candy floss" here?  Our friends thought cotton candy is a weird name and we thought candy floss sounded funny!  We don't get how you play cricket but we like the food they have there and we loved going with our South African friends (their parents work with our parents).  We definitely want to go to another cricket game!

Well, that's all for now.  Thanks for reading and we'll talk to you soon! 

Love,

Savannah

AJ

Chloe

Savannah's Bags of Hope

Mom and I decided to do a project together. Mom thought of it and I really wanted to be a part of it! So we decided to gather our thoughts and keep them in a notebook. We always hand out food and water to all the homeless people and beggars at all the stop lights.  But Mom had the idea of putting together some bags that would have a little more, plus gospel booklets and Bibles.

I wrote a little about why I wanted to do this. Then we brainstormed about what we would put in our bags. We even started dreaming about handing out cards that would tell them to meet us at a homeless shelter where we could give out food, clothing and show the Jesus Film!

Mom said we should start small and we could get bigger the next time. So we looked at our brainstorm list and picked a few of the items that we could get. We decided to put in the following items in grocery bags to make 10 "Bags of Hope":

 10 Rand per bag (about $1.50)

Bibles (donated from GAiN)

a note from me

1 apple

2 energy bars

1 biltong (Beef Jerky)

1 water bottle

2 Gospel booklets (Afrikaans and Tswana)

2 How to grow in Christ booklets (Afrikaans and Tswana)

1 hat, because they are always in the hot sun (donated from GAiN)

1 stuffed animal (donated from US)

1 small bag of chips

2 snack bags of peanuts and raisins mix

1 snack bag full of candy (I donated)

This is the note I wrote and put in each bag:

 My name is Savannah. I am 8 years old. I am praying for you.  God loves you! Here is a bag of hope.  I hope you have a good day!

Sincerely, 

Savannah

We kept all the info in my notebook so we could take it when we went to shop for what we didn't have.

I went with my Dad to buy the gospel booklets and how to grow as a Christian booklets.  1 set is in Afrikaans (white language) and the other set is in Tswana (black language). They didn't have Afrikaans in the blue "growing" booklet, so we got English.

Now, it's time to organize!

Chloe and I put the money, my note and the gospel booklets in snack bags to keep them all together in the grocery bag.

Here is what will go in each bag.

We lined everything up around the school room and then . . .

Started loading the bags!

1 bag complete!  It was so fun! I love this project!

Then Mom and I prayed over the bags and asked for God to bring us to the right people and bless those who received them.

Time to load them into the truck!

Both sisters helped me with this part . . .

Almost done!

I was so excited once we were in the truck. I couldn't wait to get to the first stop light.

Perfect! This woman and her child are exactly who I wanted to give the first bag too!  (She is on the right)

I told her "God bless you." And she was so nice and cheerful and thankful.

As we drove away the little girl waved and said, "bye bye."  She was soooooo cute!

I felt so great! I felt like I was the first kid to really care about her and her child. I was surprised how happy I felt! I was so excited and so happy.  Mom said that's what it feels like when you love God, love others and do His will. Mom called it pure joy.  It was AWESOME! 

 

After that we gave out 2 more bags before we headed home to hand out the rest the next day (not as safe to have your windows open when it gets dark). The last person that first day was a woman who we saw from a distance.  When we finally got to her she was leaving the stop light. I called out, "Friend!" She came over and I said, "God bless you." She said, “I feel like God has forgotten about me, but then you guys show up.” We told her we are praying for her and that God hasn't forgotten about her. I get excited thinking about her reading the gospel booklet and the booklet about how to grow in her relationship with Jesus, and the Bible! She and the mother with the baby are right outside our neighborhood.  I want to get to know them and Mom does too.  It felt really great because I just had this sudden happiness and I just loved her and all the others so much.  I kept telling my Mom, “I love this project! I love giving to people and helping them! This is so fun! I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!”

A Note from Mom:

Hi!   We are still basking in the joy it was to hand out these bags of hope to people in need. If you want to be a part of our next project there are several ways you can help! Each bag cost $5 to put together. If you'd like to help make a bag possible you can give to our Cru account and either email us (katielovesrobb@hotmail.com), or make a comment with your donation that your gift was for "Savannah's Bags of Hope."  

Giving online: give.cru.org/0534292

Giving by check:  Cru/PO Box 628222/Orlando, FL 32862

                              Please make checks payable to “Cru” with our

                              account number 0534292 on the memo line

The other way you can help is by sending items we need: 

stuffed animals or small toys

winter hats (child and adult sizes) It is summer here now, spring and winter will be here soon.

ball caps

travel size suntan lotion

blankets

scarves (child and adult sizes)

mittens or gloves (child and adult sizes)

Anything God lays on your heart!

The only thing we ask is that when sending a package, please mark it as having no value: $0.  Otherwise we get taxed up to $20 to $100 per box!  This will help us put money into the bags of hope instead of paying to receive packages.

Send packages to:

Robert Cook

PO Box 26023

Monument Park

Pretoria, South Africa

0105

Thanks so much for keeping up with the girls blog! It means a lot to them and us. We are very thankful for your love and support and friendship!!!   Talk to you soon . . .

Katie

Elephants and chicken feet

Since we last wrote we have seen elephants and we have been served chicken feet!  

Check out our latest adventures:

In December we helped with a Christmas party for kids who don't have a lot. We played games, Mom painted everyone's faces and Dad read the Christmas story from the Bible.

We had hot dogs and ice cream. It was really hot out but we had fun and so did they.

I (Savannah) really liked these girls. I can't wait to see them again. 

This is Omi and Baba Shai.  They own our house.  They are missionaries about four hours away and visit us about once a month. There is a little apartment connected to our house where they stay.  EVERY time they come, Omi always gives us a present of candy or stickers and tells us a story!  At Christmas, Omi and Baba Shai gave us dolls!  We always look forward to their visits.

Christmas was really fun! I got a toy horse, a soccer ball and Heelys and more!

I got a lot of books and games!

I got a little kitchen set, games and a cleaning kit! We all had a happyChristmas!

We went to our friend Ms. Violet's house one day for lunch.  First we washed our hands in the bowl.

Then she served us an African meal.  We tried most of it except for the chicken feet.  We told her it all smelled really good though.

This is what our meal looked like!

We have driven in our Landy to all kinds of places. Squatter camps (pictured here), townships (like Ms. Violet's place) and safari's!

Safari time!

We love looking out the top of the Landy.

Hippo's!

Zebra!

One of the fun parts about having the Land Rover is all the space in the back. We play games and read books when we need a break.

We love having picnics on top!

Daddy is being so silly. Driving with binoculars?!

Lots of Elephants.

Giraffe.

Safari AJ is on the lookout for animals.

Zebra.

We have seen a lot of beautiful and interesting places in Africa.

But one of our favorite places is home.

 Thanks for praying for us and for helping us be here.  We are learning a lot and having a great time.  We miss Grandma and Grandpa and our Nana and Pops, and well, all of our family and friends!  But all the emails and cards and packages you send make us feel so loved and so special.  Thanks so much! Praying for you, too!!!

Love,

Savannah

A.J.

Chloe