More to Come...

So you can see your support in action, I will be updating this blog with pictures, stories, reports, and everything you would ever want to know about my trips!

Kids lined up to eat at another orphanage that
I will be working with, called Mafuta.

 

How You Can Help

Your support makes a world of difference.  By considering supporting me prayerfully, you are helping the most.  Prayer is a powerful thing (James 5:16) and I can always feel your prayers  when on the field.  That is why I would ask you to pray for me while I'm on my trips, while I'm preparing for my trips, and for the people that I come into contact with on my trips.   


Here are some crucial prayer requests that you may consider:

• Travel Mercies
• Health and overall safety
• That God would bless me with wisdom while serving.
• That God would be preparing me to become less like me and more like Him, so that I can use the talents and abilities that He's blessed me with to serve Him and others precisely how He wants me to so that He can receive all the glory.
• For the "transition-home" and schooling of the older kids at COZV.  
• For the Bible study that I will be leading with some of the older boys while there
• That people may be exposed to the gospel in Arequipa, Peru
• For the health and wellness of the patients in Arequipa, Peru
• That there would be deep, caring relationships developed between Americans and Peruvians in Peru.

Certain items are needed by both the Children of Zion Village and the Medical Ministry International team.  If you have any of these that you would like to donate, please notify me by email or phone:

• Children's clothes (up to young adult sizes) in good condition
• Canes
• Wheelchairs in good condition (especially quickie types)
• Theraband
• Vitamins (adult multi, calcium, children's gummy or flinstone type)
• Baby wipes
• School supplies/Toys (crayons, coloring books, stickers, bubbles, beanie babies, matchbox cars, interactive toys, etc.)
• Children's sneakers and socks in good condition
• Pediatric walkers
• Therapy balls

Finally, your financial support makes the trips physically possible.  Expenses like air travel, room and board, visas, insurance, and other volunteer fees cost several thousands of dollars, and I can't do it all by myself.  So if you feel led to make a tax-deductible donation through the organizations I will be volunteering with, you may do so by a check, or online.  

To support my trip to Namibia by mail, please make your check out to "Children of Zion, Inc." and specify on the check that it is "For Samuel Mason."  Then, mail the check to the following address:

Children of Zion, Inc.

PO BOX 413

Churchville, MD 21028

To support my trip to Peru by mail, please make your check out to "Medical Ministry International" and print and attach this slip to your check.  Then mail both to:

Medical Ministry International

400 N. Allen Drive #204

Allen, TX 75013

To support my trip to Namibia online, click here.  Click "Donate" on the right side of the page.  Make sure that before you submit your donation, you specify in the "Message to Children of Zion, Inc." portion that the donation is "For Samuel Mason."

To support my trip to Peru online, click here.  Please make sure that in Step 3, you chose the "My gift is in Honor of" option, and specify "Samuel Mason" in the blank.  

For step-by-step directions with pictures for how to make your donation online, click here.
Your willingness to contribute is extremely appreciated and it really makes a difference!

Serving Him In Namibia & Peru

     I have been praying about the opportunity to serve in two locations south of the equator (both around 17°S, to be precise) since about January.  I feel led to serve God in two different locations this summer doing two very different things for one common purpose; to serve others and glorify God.  Firstly to Namibia, Southern Africa and secondly to Arequipa, Peru.     
     For Namibia, I plan to leave the 18th of June and come back the 20th of July, 2012.  I will be a full-time volunteer at the Children of Zion Village.  Children of Zion Village (COZV) is a home for orphans of the AIDS epidemic, which is rampant in the area and leaves almost no one unaffected.  My "job description," as you could call it,  will be to serve in any way possible to assure that things run smoothly for the directors, staff members, and children of the home.  Because in Africa every day brings a new challenge, each day will mean a different job.  This job could be distributing food or supplies, aiding with the up-keep of the village, working in gardens or digging fish ponds for self-sustained food growing, tutoring kids in school, chopping and searching for firewood in the bush to cook food, or any number of things.  But mostly I will be there to minister to those I come in contact with, whether that be through sports, talking and hanging out with the kids, leading a bible study with the older boys, or teaching or learning a new talent or activity.  This particular home encourages the children raised there to use the skills and lessons that they may learn to go back and help their own villages and country.  So rather than "giving fish," we are "teaching to fish" at this village.  I am extremely excited to return to this village and reconnect with the kids and adults there because each and every one of the kids and adults at this home have a special place in my heart.   
     For Peru, I plan to leave the 11th of August and return the 25th, right before classes start for college.  I will be joining a team of Physical Therapists and medical students who will be setting up a clinic to provide medical assistance to the poorest of the poor in Arequipa, Peru.  As the Physical Therapists and medical students will be American, and the patients, Peruvian, there is an obvious language barrier that needs to be overcome.  This is where I come in.  I am extremely excited to use my knowledge of Spanish to break down the communication barriers between the Peruvians and Americans.  Additionally, because this trip is a volunteer trip, and everyone will be quite busy, it will also be my job to perform any task that anybody without medical or Physical Therapy experience can perform.  

Any questions?  Feel free to shoot me an email at samuel.s.mason@hotmail.com!

Below is a video made by Becca Mason with some facts and depictions of the AIDS epidemic in Africa narrowing down to the Caprivi Region of Namibia, where Children of Zion Village (COZV) was started. COZV now cares for 58 children physically, emotionally, medically, nutritionally, and most importantly, spiritually. All pictures were taken in the villages where the the COZV kids came from.  

We will be helping people like this woman with physical and spiritual healthcare.

A woman in Arequipa, Peru