hefley

I thought you all might like to hear about Kosovo from a 6 year old’s point of view, so here is a short interview with Calem:

Yes, this is the boy who's prespective on life in Kosovo you'll soon get to read. Be prepared!

Me: “What do you like about being in Kosovo?”

Calem: “Well, I like it when I get to work a lot! It’s real fun, it’s been my dream! It’s fun when I get to do my dream.”

Calem getting to help move a well "ring" that accidentally got delivered to the wrong house...

Me: “What kind of work do you get to do?”

Calem clearing the area around the well so that we can put down a cement skirt to keep rainwater from washing dirt back into the well. Mind you, we are not forcing the boy to work, he's very much choosing it himself. This is something else than the city life he's used to!

Calem: “I get to smooth out the cement, and I get to help fix wells. And I get to walk around in the city, and yesterday I got a fishing pole so I got to go fishing.”

(Editors note; his “fishing pole” is a long stick he found laying around with a fishing line attached to it. A local guy formed a hook for him from some wire he cut off a fence, and voila; Calem got a fishing pole like the other boys in the village. One very satisfied boy!)

Calem and the village boys with their fishing poles. Seriously I hope no one eats anything caught in this filthy stream! That seriously can not be very safe!

Me: “Have you made any friends here?”

Calem: “Yes, I have made quite a few friends.”

(Editor’s note; yes, that’s right. This boy sure does not have any trouble making new friends! He is one social little dude!)

Two boys Calem became friends with during the two days we worked on their well.

Calem met a guy with an energy level to match his own! I don't think I've ever seen so much action before!

Me: “What is the most fun thing you’ve done in Kosovo so far?”

Calem: “1st – that I got to work, 2nd – that I got a fishing pole and that I got to try fishing yesterday”

I think half the fun for Calem is that he gets to ride the rental car with the team when they go to work in the mornings. He gets to sit up front, as it is the only seat with a seat belt, and to a boy that's been in the back of the car in a child safety seat his whole life that's a big deal! =)

Me: “We’ve only got 2 more weeks here. Do think you want to come back here in the future?”

Calem: “Yes. My dad will come back here soon, but me and my mom and Emma and Mikayla I don’t think will come back here soon, but pappa will, ‘cause he works here and he’s made friends here.”

(Editor’s note; yes, pappa will be back here for a couple of weeks towards the end of the summer while the rest of us are with my family in Norway. Our next chance at coming back here as a family will probably be next summer.)

The first well Calem got to go help the team repair. Only thing left to do is shock the water with bleach and put the lid on. The pump is installed so there is now no more need to use the old bucket hanging on the post behind the well.

Me: “How was your day today?”

Calem: “It was good. We got to go to church, and it was pretty fun. I met my old friend, and it was pretty fun.”

(Editor’s note; we go to church in a city an hour away from where we live and work. Where we are at there are no churches. Calem has made friends with an English speaking boy at church, and thoroughly enjoys his Sundays when he can meet up with him again.)

Dear team!

I want to start by thanking each one of you that follow us on our blog (despite the lack of new entries), facebook, by phone or in person. You are so valuable to us, and your prayers for us on our journey count more than you know.

Well, this blog was written Tuesday, as we were driving south towards Denmark. Only now, 4 days later am I getting around to posting it due to lack of internet and lack of time. Still, I want you to get an update on what we’ve been up to so here you go:

Right now I’m sitting on a 4-hour ferry from Norway to Denmark. The upcoming events are a Vineyard leadership conference in Copenhagen where Daniel and I will be introduced to the rest of the pastors in Vineyard Norden. Can you say “being on an audition” anyone? Hehe. We are looking forward to a time of fellowship with everyone, and the kids and I will have a few days of exploring the city of Copenhagen. Unfortunately the conference doesn’t have a children’s program, so Daniel will have to attend it alone. It’s a bummer not getting to be more involved, though I have to say the kids and I are excited about a chance at exploring a new city, in a country that’s new to us.

The last few weeks have been eventful. We started our trip visiting old YWAM friends that have kids the same ages as our kids. For the kids it was wonderful to have other little ones to play with after a long stretch of time on my family’s farm with only grown ups (mostly only their mom) and few activities.

Our friends made a princess cake for Emma Joy and celebrated her birthday a few days early. Believe me, she LOVED it! Princess cake, new skirt, shirt and tights, our friend's princess tent to eat cake in and girl friends everywhere. Our little princess had quite the day! =)

Ok, I have to just show you all this AMAZING view that our friends enjoy every day out their livingroom windows! Can you believe it?! The Norwegain fjords are just BEAUTIFUL! I think if I lived here I'd get nothing done. I'd just sit by the window all day long, drowning myself in this beauty!

Trondheim was our next stop, where we spent another 2 ½ weeks with the Vineyard church, family (cousins and aunt/uncle), and friends. On top of that the YWAM base Daniel and I met at, which is an hour drive from Trondheim, has been put up for sale, and we got a last chance at visiting our former home and say good bye to it and our friends there.

May 17th, Norway's nationalday was celebrated with our cousins close to Trondheim. This day is like Independence day for Americans, just that it's quite a lot of a bigger deal for Norwegians. We go all out: fancy clothes, flags, parades, church, games and fun at each school property, hot dogs and icecream and family parties.

From Trondheim we turned our noses south-east. Daniel was asked to come share at a church close to Fredrikstad about the work we do in Kosovo. Last year this church collected 9000 NOK / $1400 to help fix wells and build water storage tanks for the people of Tushile, Kosovo. To our surprise they again took up an offering again this year to collect money that will go directly to helping the people in this village! What a sweet group of people! They only heard about what we do through a youth conference, and decided to help!

While here in the eastern part of Norway we’ve been visiting two families who are long time friends. Oh, what a blessing it is to see friends, catch up on each others lives, and find that despite the distances and the years it’s been since we’ve last met we still have a fellowship that only can be found amongst people who share the same faith and lifestyle. We’ve been blessed tremendously the last few weeks, by the friendships and the support we find in people around us, and by the chances we get to be of support and encouragement to them.

Some drama when our friend's neighbor's boat got loose. Daniel and our friend got in the freezing water and saved the day! =)

Again; visiting friends that live by BEAUTY! Here the kids are getting free entertainment as they observe our kids' dad the other kids' mom get into the frigid water to save the boat!

We truly are a blessed family! On the ferry today Calem totally unperturbed shared with one of the crew how he’d been given new toys and the girls were given new clothes the last few days (hand me downs from our friends). He keeps declaring over and over how blessed he is! =)

Thank you for praying for us and enabling us to do the things we do!

Love, the Hefleys

This summer we’ve got two road trips planned with the purpose of visiting our supporters and friends to have some quality time with them and to keep them in the loop of what they are investing in. Our first trip is already over, and Daniel is now back in Kosovo with two university interns that will work with him there this summer. Two more interns will join him later on in Kosovo, but these two first ones came to Norway first for a week of preparation and teaching. We had our internship intro at the base where Daniel and I took our Discipleship Training Schools 9 years ago, but I’ll try to tell you more about that in another blog. For now I want to show you some of the beautiful scenery we passed on our drive there, and you’ll get a taste of the many ferry rides we had along the way. In fact this blog has to be dedicated to Calem who was very much looking forward to the many ferry rides of Western Norway. I do believe a lot of his fascination with the ferries is due to a tradition my mom has initiated; buying them ice cream from the ferry cafè…

I took the photo while Daniel was driving, and as I pushed the button on the camera a "sharp curve" sign all of a sudden moved into the picture frame...hehe. Sharp curves and thus also the signs to signal them is something you'll find a lot of around here.

Coming up on the end of the road, and the ferry is out there on the fjord on it's way to come get us.

The end of the road. Now we just have to wait to get on the ferry...well, that is first we have to roll down our window and pay the expencive fare for the ferry guy to let us onboard.

Calem and Emma on one of the 5 ferries we took on our way north.

Pappa came straight from Kosovo to join us on the road trip. We litterally picked him up at the buss station as we headed north, and as you can tell they were all very happy to see each other again and play together on the ferry.

Have you ever seen such beauty?! Unfortunately we couldn't capture the magnificent mountain range in one photo so you only get to see 1/4 of it. Driving through the western part of Norway truly is something you just have to experience for yourself!

May 12th, 2009:
Calem says the funniest stuff, though with a lot of truth to it…”Satan broke my ears, that is why I didn’t hear you”…his explanation to why he didn’t obey after me telling him several times what not to do…=)

The one with broken ears, May 2009

July 1st, 2009:
Calem is only allowed to help himself to bananas while I am putting the girls down for naps. But yesterday I found that he had gotten into the granola bars instead. Me: “What happened?” Calem: “I got my eyes off the bananas…” Me: “What?” Calem: “You know like Peter when he walked on the water…he got his eyes off Jesus (and got in trouble)…I got my eyes off the bananas (and got in trouble)…”

Calem and Emma enjoying the summer rain, July 2009

July 2nd, 2009:
Calem wants water, but the cups are on the top shelf and I am busy feeding Mikayla. So I tell him to wait, but Calem insists he can climb up on the counter and reach the cup himself. I tell him “No, there are knives on the counter you can fall and get cut!” He insists, I tell him no, he insists again, and finally he tells me: “You know that song…”God, he lifts me up, and puts me down!”…jeez!!
(I actually think the song goes like this “I get down, and He lifts me up”, but oh well…he got his point through…)

Calem, August 2009

This afternoon I got an email from my good friend, Maribel. Maribel is one of those people that  have the amazing ability to connect people, and personally I think she must know a ton of people in all spheres of society.

Well, one of her friends, who lives in Denver, has gotten connected with a family that has just been moved here from the refugee camps in Congo. The details are still a bit vague as I’m receiving 2nd or 3rd hand information at this point, but I will share the story as I understand it.

An organization called Family Lutheran Services moved a widow, Muhasi, and her 8 children here 2 weeks ago. Her children range in age from 2 to 18 years of age. Family Lutheran Services do the job of getting them here, providing a temporary apartment, get them food, mattresses and 1 sweatshirt. All the rest of their needs are being put in the hands of churches that are willing to “adopt” them.

As far as I understand the family is here on temporary work visas which means they have to learn English fast, find jobs and get established in a hurry. I feel for this single mom that has so many children to care for, stranded in a culture so different from her own, and with such a pressure to get going so she can take care of them all. According to my friend this family arrived with only the clothes they were wearing, flip flops and two small suitcases between the nine of them.

With all that said; as soon as I got the email I got new motivation to go through our home and see what we could give away. There is something different about going through your possessions to see if there is something you could give up when you know it is for the sake of helping someone that doesn’t have anything. I regularly give away clothes the kids have grown out of and other things we no longer need or want either to people I know that would like them or to the Resource Center at our church, where they later will be handed out to the under-resourced people living here in Fort Collins. But these are always things I am 100% sure we will never need again, and I leave items I’m not sure about in our home to collect dust until I’ve reached my verdict.

When you hear of someone with such urgent needs as this family the story changes. As soon as I read the email I thought with regret that I’d just recently been giving away another batch of clothes that the kids have grown out of…but with new determination I started going through our closets again. This refugee family have a four year old boy and a two year old daughter. Anything more perfect than that is simply impossible to get. Calem is 4 ½ and Emma 2 ½. I’m guessing their clothes will fit perfectly, or maybe even be a little big now on the children from Congo, but at least then they will last longer for them.

Calem helped me go through his own clothes, choosing some to give away. Emma had piles and piles of clothes she’s been blessed with from her older girlfriends, much of which made it’s way into trash bags ready to be taken to Denver.

Some of what is behind these door are going!

Getting an opportunity to help someone in such dire needs really gets you to examine your own life and your own possessions better. Does Emma really need 30 shirts? No! Of course she doesn’t and I’ve known that all along, I just haven’t known which ones to give away and since I didn’t have anyone in particular to give them to they just kept sitting there on her shelf.

Does Calem need 10 pairs of shorts this summer? No! In fact I’m not even sure I want to bring more than half that amount with me to Norway this summer….As I was going through the kids summer clothes I started realizing that I shouldn’t hold on to more than I would be willing to cram in our suitcases and haul around half of Norway. Very logical…I just hadn’t gotten that far in my thinking and planning earlier.

After an hour or two of sorting clothes and such I’ve already gotten three trash bags full of clothes, blankets, towels and such ready for Maribel to bring to Muhasi and her children on Saturday. That is three trash bags full of things that I otherwise would have kept holding on to, probably without really needing. Yes, we would have used the different items a few times, but really we can do without!

I’m hoping that by tomorrow night the amount to give away will have been doubled. The children wants to go through their toys to select some they can give away. I have my own closet to go through still, and I’m sure I can find a bunch of other things around our home that would be a blessing to those that came here with next to nothing.

What an exciting thing to be able to use some of our things to bless a family in need! Daniel is excited too, though for another reason. As he was looking at the growing pile of things that would de-clutter our home he smilingly exclaimed: “This is great! I wish more refugees would move here!”

Calem lately has gotten into the sport of photography. He keeps asking to borrow the camera, and once he gets it he will photograph abosultely anything imaginable. I’ve already had to deleate a whole bunch of pictures I later found on my camera, but I’ll give you a little taste of what is left there.

But first so you have an idea of what has already been on my camera and made it’s way to the “trash can” on the computer;

* a bag of socks on display in a store.
* a whole wall of shoes on display in a store
* someones butt as they passed him at a not so convenient time in the store
* our messy house (definitely not documenting that!)
* …and so much more…

So here is Calem’s gallery. Enjoy!

Our closet

A pony resting on some (clean) underwear

A photo shoot with a dinosaur. Background chosen; our Christmas tree

Straight down...

...straight up

Emma caught ruining my Christmas decoration...maybe I should lend this investigative reporter the camera more often so more crime can be documented...

The top of our black bar stool. Actually he documented the stool's blackness 4 times...

...and finally; a self portrait!