OH MY GOSH RICHARD WAS BITTEN IN HEAD BY COBRA, GIRAFFES & CHEETAH WERE
THERE - oh my!
Newsletter
Hello My Friends, You cannot believe what an absolutely WILD weekend
we had going up to the North part of South Africa and over to Eastern Transvaal areas.
AMAZING. We gave out soooo many gospel tracts. but I really need a full time interpreter so pray!
When we arrived (we left at 10 AM got there at 8PM) we were already sooo BLESSED we could hardly contain our JOY! We stopped along the way and
saw so many beautiful scenic sites. (there were cyclone warnings but we saw
NO wind or rain). We saw the High high mountains of Mpumalanga. on past
Pilgrims Rest. onward to what is a historical site here high high up in the
mountain called GOD'S WINDOW. When we got there it was already closed -so
we could not drive in.but after talking to security guards they said we
could hike up there.so we did.I was flooded with tears at the view from
high up in the sky over looking the entire valleys and high-density forest
areas..it was fantastic. I am sure GOD is pleased they acknowledge his view, and that he is watching over them. We kept stopping along the way to
give out gospel tracts and food, sweets and toys to the different rural and countryside people. And yes, we got the security guards too.
Everyone is so grateful for the Gospel to be given freely. However, I have
reached some language challenges in that there are 16 different languages,11
of which are official here. I need more tracts in different languages ESPECIALLY BIBLE'S I AM COMPLETELY OUT OF BIBLES.
It was late late late night when we entered the bush area of Sara and George's Camp. We got lost which was very exciting late at night knowing there are lion and elephant walking around and we are sitting ducks
in a vehicle going around dirt roads that dead end in more bushes if we don't turn right. Finally we got a hold of Sara by cell phone and her
husband came out and got us by land rover. When we got into the camp it was
amazing. .no electric fences no boundaries, the elephant and giraffe walk
freely around the house and campsites, and drink from the water pool in front of our tables to eat on..it was amazing like being in the GARDEN OF
EDEN all over again. They are living my dream of having a house with Giraffes walking around it outside. I kept waking up all night looking out
the window like a little kid waiting to see hyenas or lions or leopards at
any moment. I barely slept a wink all night. it was so dark, but the moon
shinned enough that I could walk around our little hut and look out the windows. but I didn't see anything. When Sara came to get us up in the
morning (they get up at 4:30 to track the animals) I waved, that opportunity
for some sleep. I started telling Sara I was looking out all the windows
for animals and when I pointed to the window behind the bed, I started
cracking up so hard laughing..It was a picture frame with glass and was no
window at all. .but the light shinning through made me think it was a window.
I kept wondering why I didn't see anything. Don't laugh we were really
tired after driving hundreds of K's!!! I am still so excited...I learned so much about the
animals here in South Africa.and on the way home we stopped at the Cheetah
project..Sara and George actually had 5 pictures of a cheetah who had just
killed a water buck and was having a tasty meal they gave me 4 of them. I
will be sending some pics. It is a rare thing to see a cheetah kill..
they are daytime hunters unlike leopard and lion who hunt at night. When we got
to the Cheetah project they had 75 heetahs they breed and release cheetahs
back into the wild .awesome to see them...but we went by land rover through their reserve...and one thing I was praying about was to see more
Rhino and WILD CAPE HUNTING DOGS. related to wolves. anyway we were driving
around the reserve and saw hundreds of vultures and large stork (not the
ones people think deliver babies) but MUCH MUCH BIGGER ONES and very dark in color they look like vultures. and there were hundreds of them every where.
I asked our tracker what was all those things they were sitting around.
carcasses of animals he said, after we feed them to the cheetah. we give
them to the storks and vultures they pick they clean, then we sell them to
the factory and they make the bones into powder for jelly and various foods...well that did it for me I am never ever eating
JELL-O again for sure!!!!! Then all of the sudden we found ourselves in a BIG HUGE ELECTRIC
FENCED CAGE. ONLY WE WERE IN THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT not the OUTSIDE LOOKING
IN. and we drove over ELECTRIC metal bars which looked very strange. Margie said "is the exit and entrance floor electric' I MEAN I FELT LIKE I WAS GOING INTO JURASSIC PARK 2 OR SOMETHING.
He said YES! All of the sudden there were 15 WILD CAPE HUNTING DOGS
ON ALL SIDES AROUND US .we are in an OPEN land rover. .for you who don't
know that means there is nothing between you and the outer space. no sides
like on a car, just some material. just a seat to sit on so you can see the
game. .He stopped the car to look at all the WILD HUNTING DOGS WHICH IS AN
ENDANGERED SPECIES HERE and a GREAT PREDATOR.. I asked him, gee are ALL
THESE WILD DOGS TAME (thinking they were part of the project-many of the
cheetah on that reserve are tame) HE SAID NO.. THESE ARE NOT TAME. My mind
is going screwy thinking WHAT ARE WE DOING IN HERE? I STARTED PRAYING
UNDER MY BREATH - THANKS LORD I REALLY WANTED TO SEE WILD HUNTING DOGS BUT
FROM A DISTANCE THIS IS A LITTLE TO CLOSE FOR ME.and the guys says.by the
way. were OK as long as you don't get SCARED and send out a SCENT to the
WILD DOGS - CAUSE THEN THEY WILL ATTACK US. OK RIGHT.... SO I JUST PRAYED
IN TONGUES TILL HE STARTED THE LAND ROVER.. I WAS SO GLAD G L A D TO
GET OUT OF THAT CAGE. I CANNOT TELL YOU.
I had a similar feeling earlier in the day when George decided to
take a land rover out in the bush to track animals on the reserve. the battery would not start the car so they charged it. We grabbed our water
bottles and got in the land rover and I thought.. gee hope the car does not
break down out in the bush and we can't get back. we passed the giraffe
and the zebra and were going all through the bush when ZIP ZAP something
sounded like it exploded in the battery - of course it was just between my
feet I was sitting "shot gun", only George does not believe in having GUNS
on the reserve. or in his house either.. HE SAYS IF YOU RESPECT THE ANIMALS THEY WILL RESPECT
YOU. .hummmm, but my question is did they go to school to learn respect or did their moms and dads teach them...anyway we
made it back to the camp despite the zip zapping of the battery.. it turned
out to be the gear box....JOY! Sara just called me from her cell to say
thanks for coming. I asked how the land rover was.. she said HE COULD NEVER
GET IT STARTED AGAIN. oh my gosh.. THANK YOU JESUS THAT WE GOT HOME SAFELY
AND DID NOT HAVE TO WALK BACK THROUGH THE BUSH WITH LIONS AND LEOPARDS AND
WILD GAME .THANK THE LORD!!!
Oh yes, forgot to finish my story about when Sara came to wake us
up. I had noticed that there was a 3 inch gap between the bottom of the door
and the floor. We had no locks on the doors out in the bush and from past
experience I did not want the door to open for unexpected guests. so I had
put my suitcases against the door. When Sara came in she pushed them open,
and I mentioned to her that there was a gap.. she said YES that IS A PROBLEM ESPECIALLY WITH THE SNAKES UP HERE. I SAID
SNAKES? WHAT SNAKES, SHE SAID WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MAMBAS AND COBRAS GETTING IN
UNDER THE
MATTRESSES AND FURNITURE IN THE ROOMS.. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least
when I went into the AMAZON JUNGLE for 3 weeks I went through extensive
jungle training, but as a kid I had watched a film my dad had taken with
his camera when traveling of a fight between a COBRA AND MONGOOSE. AND HAD
NO DESIRE TO SEE A COBRA UP CLOSE OR EVEN FROM A DISTANCE,
I SAID WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW A COBRA HERE SHE SAID LAST
WEEK.. RICHARD WAS STAYING IN THE ROOM NEXT TO YOURS, AND HE LIT A FIRE IN
THE FIRE PLACE BUT HE LEFT HIS ROOM DOOR OPEN THE COBRA CAME IN, AND STRUCK
RICHARD IN THE SKULL - WE HAD TO AIRLIFT HIM OUT OF HERE BY HELICOPTER TO
HOSPITAL. BUT HE LIVED. Well thank the LORD! He lived, and was serving us
our food. I said Richard, GOD MUST HAVE A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE TO LIVE THROUGH THAT. .I gave him a JESUS T-shirt I. actually Sara wanted it. but I
felt any man who lived through being attacked by a Cobra deserved something! He was so thrilled. I don't know what tribe he is from .but next
week I am going back there with more mealy meal to give out to the rural
people who are poor, and take Bible s and Gospel tracts .who knows what the
riggers of my next adventure will be but OH MY GOSH!!!!
Sure am glad YOU PRAYED FOR ME. We went through so many dangerous
situations you could not believe it..and we just sailed on through. oh did I
tell you we saw 2 BIG BLACK RHINOS FAT AS ELEPHANTS. I stopped my car. Margie said that is was the perfect picture. I said, yea but I can't get it
from here. Margie jumped out the car, grabbed my camera, whet about 6 feet
from the Rhinos - she turns around looks at me and says.. I can't see anything through the camera.. I said come back
Margie.. they might charge you. .but I noticed their ears were not back and they were not snorting. so
that means they will not attack.. they snort and put ears back before attacking.. She ran back to the car, I opened the shutter on the camera,
and she walked back, the Rhino didn't bat an eyelash.. and she snapped the
picture can you believe this? Margie has real courage.. not me.. I stayed
in the car! Last week I was praying to see Elephants after I spoke at Manna Fellowship in White River .By the way I had the BEST 2 days there
ever, Pastor Marion has WONDERFUL PEOPLE in their church where I spoke at 3
services. On Monday Sondra, Jontea and I had entered into Kruger Park. I
prayed to see Elephant.. and saw their calling card (dung) and decided to
tract them - my friend had told me NOW DON'T FEED THE ELEPHANT when you go
to Kruger, these are all wild..I promised not to feed them or get too friendly cause I have ridden elephants and just love them. Anyway Sondra
and Joneta and I were trucking down this dirt road way - way back in the
bush when I was coming around the corner and WHAM there were two giant Elephants and the BULL with his white long (too long for me) tusks turned
and look right at me waving his ears...I immediately reversed the car and
went back the other way. Sondra and Jontea keep laughing saying GO BACK GO
BACK.
I said NO WAY HOSEA I AM NOT PRAYING TO SEE ELEPHANT ANY MORE THEY
ARE JUST TOO BIG AND TOO WILD....AND NO ONE HAS TOLD ME WHAT TO DO WHEN I
SEE THEM. YOU KNOW THEY SHOULD GIVE COURSE ON WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU SEE WILD
GAME OR SOMETHING.. AND I AM NOT GOING THAT CLOSE. WE WERE WAY FAR FROM HUMANS AND HAD NO IDEA WHERE THE DIRT ROAD IN THE BUSH WENT. I WAS A FEW
FEET AWAY FROM THEM AND DID NOT WANT TO PASS THEM THINKING IF A CALF WAS
THERE THEY WOULD STEP ON THE CAR AND CRUSH US ALL. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING A
LOT HERE LATELY.
So on the way out of Kruger and GOD WAS SO GOOD.he knew I wanted to
see Elephant. I was driving out of the camp and all of the sudden to my
left was a herd of BIG ELEPHANTS and the BULL was closest to us. but not
so close! I could get away in a hurry if he charged, so we stopped and watched them throw water on themselves and play in the mud till the BULL
made them all leave. They were Magnificent! Joneta says I must tell you
that when I saw the herd of elephants I was looking at the elephants to my
left and not where I was driving straight ahead. and all of the sudden I
heard Joneta yell out SONDRA WATCH OUT. I put my brakes on - I was about 10
feet from going into the River where the Elephant were..so GOD AND JONETA
saved us that time.. (I was not going to tell you everything that happened
on the trip, but Joneta and Sondra are here correcting my email - he said I
should tell you at least that). Ok so now you know. I am a woman driver...even in the BUSH! Then a few minutes later huge huge huge giraffes
came and drank from the same water hole. PRAY FOR WATER, THE ANIMALS ARE
REALLY SUFFERING THERE HAS BEEN NO WATER IN THE NORTHERN PART AND ANIMALS
ARE SUFFERING TERRIBLY SAME WITH PEOPLE IN SOME PARTS WATER IS RATIONED AND SOME PARTS THERE IS JUST NO WATER.. Ok I know this is long. but I had such
a GREAT TIME. I could barely get to sleep when I got home last night at 1
am. I just lay in bed SMILING at all GOD had done this weekend. We got to
pray for A MIRACLE FOR GEORGE AND SARA PLEASE STAND WITH THEM THEY NEED A
MIRACLE and are so isolated far from any other Christians or churches or
anything. They bought this reserve a year ago but stand to lose it.. they
want to open it for Christian Conferences and for a Pastors Get a Way etc.....and have tourist from all over the world come game tracking. Yikes,
I am off to go get the pictures so Freddy can put them on my computer to
send you a couple. the mountains are so beautiful.
Oh yes we saw a troop of Baboon's and their babies. .Ted Beckett had
an experience here in South Africa in Sept where one got into his bathroom.
they are very dangerous here and will even attack you. Geese scorpions,
spiders, mambas and cobras OH MY!!!!! Blessings.. PLEASE APPRECIATE AND
THANK GOD WHERE YOU LIVE AND WHAT YOU LIVE IN AND THE SAFTY OF YOUR OWN
HOME.. I sure was glad to get home where the only real problem I have is
spiders the size of your hands and 2 cats that want your attention all night long. what a trip! Along the road as we drove were signs warning
HIJACKING HOTSPOTS. .geeeeeeeeezzzzzzeeeee louiseeeeeee!!!! Last weekends
signs were BEWARE OF HIPPOS..apparently the authorities had shot one who
kept going on the highway causing accidents.I say let's REROUTE THE PEOPLE!
The hippos were here first. I went down this one dirt road by a river and a
guy had a that ched house and huts and says the HIPPOS lay on his grass
every morning.and by day are in the water with the crocodiles which we saw.
He said, "puppies are the crocs favorite food (HOLD ON TO YOUR DOGS FOLKS)
but again looks like a real paradise AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING but really
in the WILD WILD WILD PART OF AFRICA!
OK friends, now I have an IDEA. I think I am going to have a PRAYER
GETAWAY If anyone wants to come over and PRAY and/or HELP me on the streets
and ministry for a couple of weeks. I will take you to the reserve for a
time of PRAYER AND INTERCESSION! You will learn to pray real quick! real
hard! When you are out in the wild! Especially if you see SNAKES!!!.. So if
you need a fresh new wave in your prayer life come on over! The camp will
sleep only 15 people so let me know if it is something you would like to
do. I think it would be an awesome time!!! I will send out the pics in a
separate email so watch for it. Oh dear, Sondra just read about the part
that tells about the cobra biting Richard .now Joneta says DON'T INVITE HIM
TO GO WITH ME ANYMORE .he found one once in his room in Kenya...Well, the Bible says. GOD INTO ALL THE WORLD.. and that's what I am doing.. Thanks
for your prayers.. and support. AND DON'T STOP PRAYING FOR ME PLEASE
.BLESSINGS. Who says being a Missionary can't be fun? We are having fun! GLORY BE TO GOD..!!!
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©2002 Sondra Berry Young Ministries
P.O. Box 92802. Pasadena, California 91109
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©2006 Sondra Berry Young Ministries
P.O. Box 92802 Pasadena, California 91109
Home Page |
Contact Us
E-mail Sondra
