Catching Up

So sorry for the delay.  Life has been more busy than usual.

Kid's first day of class at CIT

The first week of June we started our classes at the Center for Intercultural Training.  Both Jamie and I and the kids were in class for seven hours a day learning about ourselves, our mission field, and how to communicate and minister the gospel cross-culturally.  God really opened our eyes to see ourselves for who we are and Him for Who He is.  He taught us a lot about the diverse cultures He created and how we catch a broader glimpse of His character and personality through them.  We learned a lot of do's and dont's and now have a lot to think about and consider.  We still have much to learn!  We are praying for the opportunity to return to CIT in October to attend their Dynamic Teams classes.


We're thankful for the relationships we were able to build with other missionaries from around the world.  We learned so much from them and cherish the five weeks we had to become a part of each other's families and share what God is doing in our lives.  God changed us through our relationships with you.

Our future "home sweet home"

God provided the truck and trailer for us to live in once the house sells.  What a blessing.  The paper work has been a bear, but He's working it all out.

The day we finished with CIT Jamie headed up to West Virginia with the truck and trailer.  He had to pick up the teens from our church and take them to camp in Florida.  My sister came up to N.C. to pick me and the kids up and take us to her house in Jacksonville, Fla.  Then she drove the kids and me to the camp to meet Jamie and the teens and spend a few special days with us there at camp.

The living room of our villa at camp

Camp was crazy.  There were goof ups with the housing so instead of staying in a tiny camper we were able to stay in a villa for the same price.  Score!  The schedules were not synchronized so we were always missing the teens and late picking up the kids.  It was a mess.  But through it all one of the teens accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior.  The rest of the kids grew spiritually and made life changing decisions.  Please pray for all of them that they would continue to grow and live out the decisions they made at camp.

Lorelei's new big girl bike!

Now we are finally home again after six weeks of travels.  A lot has changed in the last six weeks.  We have a new perspective on missions and ministry.  We've grown greatly in our view of God.  We have a new vehicle and a new future "home".  Lorelei learned how to ride her bike without training wheels, swim on top of and under the water.  Jorja and Warrick learned how to go under water and like it.  God provided a second form of transportation.  We've gained life changing relationships.  The list could go on and on, but those are the biggies.

Please continue to pray that our house sells.  We've had many people interested in either land contracts or renting, but not many wanting to buy.  Pray that God would bring the prefect man in to fill Jamie's position at Bethel.  The church is now starting the procedures of a search.  Please pray that I will be able to keep this house clean and "showable" with three small children living inside.  Pray also that Jamie would be able to continue to get his school work done on time and keep his GPA up.

We so appreciate all the love, support, and prayers offered on our behalf.  We don't take any of it for granted.

African Food and Jars of Prayer

Things have been going so smoothly around here.  We were unable to schedule any churches to present our ministry in for the month of May, so it's been nice to have some time at home.  We've been working hard painting, and fixing, and getting everything ready to put our house on the market.  We're almost ready!  We listed it Tuesday, May12.  Please pray that it sells quickly.

nshima and ndiwo

It's been a while since we ate Zambian food, so the other night we had Zambian night.  I (successfully, one again) cooked nshima and ndiwo!!  It was really good!  Lorelei is a pro at eating nshima and likes it.  Warrick enjoyed playing with it, although he still refuses to eat it.  And Jorja has proclaimed that nshima is African food and she will only eat it in Africa.

Lorelei demonstrating her love for nshima

Warrick playing with nshima

For a while I've wanted to expand our prayer time at family devotions.  I saw this idea for journal prompts and thought it would be fun for prayer requests.  Each child got to write out four prayer requests on paper to put in the jar.  I wrote out the names of family and friends to add to it too.  Every night each child gets to choose two prayer requests from the jar to pray for.  It's been a lot of fun so far.  

our prayer jar

Please pray that our house sells before we head to CIT.  Also, please pray that God would provide a camper and truck for us to live in when we need it.  Jamie is finishing up a class for his master's degree right now, but he will have to stay diligent if he is going to finish before we leave for Zambia.  Pray that he is able to take the classes he needs when he's able to take them.  

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support.  We wouldn't be able to be obedient to what God has called us to if it weren't for your prayers and support.  You are a huge blessing to us.

Caught in a Whirlwind

Wow!!!
Have things ever been crazy around here.  I can't believe it's been so long since I updated everything.  So sorry!  Lets see...

Probably five weeks ago now we went to Florida to present our ministry in a couple of different churches.  While we were there we were able to visit with my sister and her husband and some of my extended family we haven't seen in years.  It was such a blessing!  We were able to stop by the beach a couple of days.  It was cold, but the kids enjoyed playing in the sun and running in the surf.   


While we were stuck in traffic a sky writer was leaving messages in the sky.  It was fun to get to watch what he wrote.  Everyone was trying to guess.  He wrote, "Trust Jesus.  Love God."  When Lorelei saw what he wrote she responded with, "I bet the Muslims are going to be terrified when they read that!"  We had a good laugh over her creative mind. 


Three weeks ago Jorja fell (off the potty) and broke her elbow.  We took her to the emergency room in Parkersburg, but they didn't have a surgeon so they transported ($$$$$) her to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.  She had two pins inserted into the corrected bone.  We are on week three of the cast, and she is doing wonderful with it.  Hopefully only one week longer and they will take the cast off, the pins out, and send her home in a sling.  Then the job will be to get her used to using that arm again.  Please pray that she continues to heal quickly and that she regains full strength and mobility in her right arm.  Thank goodness she's a lefty!!

The Sunday after Jorja broke her arm we were resting between church services when we heard a great bang that shook the whole house.  We ran upstairs to find Warrick's dresser knocked over.  He was crying and we were concerned that he had hurt himself and we were going to be taking another trip to the emergency room.  Thankfully Warrick was uninjured (although I'm pretty sure there was a squished guardian angel under there).  It sure gave us a scare, though.  He was pretty proud to pose with his accomplishment when we took the picture of it.

The next day Jorja celebrated her fourth birthday.  It was a Tinker Bell party and we had a great time.  Mandy's parent's came out to celebrate and then took Lorelei and Warrick with them for the week so that we could start getting our house ready to sell.  


We used the next week to unclutter and deep clean the house.  Goodwill has been well supplied.  Now we're painting and repairing the interior of the house.  Our church had a work evening and we had six wonderful friends come out to help.  They painted, cleaned carpets, scrubbed, took out a poison oak covered bush (pray Sam doesn't get poison oak now), fixed plumbing, and watched the kids so that Jamie and I could work.  We got so much accomplished!!  What a blessing.  Later on one of a couple of the guys came back to start scraping the garage so we can get it painted.  They have another work day scheduled for the Saturday before Easter.  Please pray for good weather so we can get the needed landscaping and painting done outside.


The next week we left for Kansas City, MO.  On our way we stopped to interview with a church mission staff in Indiana, and spent the night with Jamie's sister and her family.  The last time we were with her family Lorelei and Jamie got a stomach virus and were very sick.  This time it was Jorja's time with the stomach virus and we were up all night with her.  Lorelei got to experience a first for her.  When she was two she knocked out her top five front teeth.  since then she has been wearing an appliance with false teeth.  She's always wanted to eat corn on the cob, but couldn't because of her appliance.  Her adult teeth are coming in and the appliance has been taken out.  She greatly enjoyed her corn on the cob as much as she can with three teeth in front.  
Then she willingly helped Jorja enjoy her corn on the cob since she has her cast and can't hold her own.  It was so cute and sweet!


We continued on our journey and now we are in Kansas City.  It is warm and beautiful and we are enjoying our time ministering to and being ministered to by the wonderful church here.  Please pray for our safety as we travel back Monday and Tuesday and for these churches as they pray about partnering with us in our ministry.

It seems like things have been happening so fast we can't keep up!  I suppose I would rather have it this way than to lead a boring life.   Life is always an adventure when we're obediently following God's direction.  So, in the next couple of months hopefully the house and van will sell and we'll have a new (used) truck and camper to live in.  There is even more going on that I'm not free to mention just yet, but if all goes accordingly life will be more busy, but more blessed!  Someone recently warned me that we shouldn't be pushing God to work on our timing.  All I have to say is that we're not pushing anything.  We're having trouble keeping up with all God's doing in our lives.  Thank you so  much for all the prayers and encouragement.  You have all been such a blessing to us.  We love you dearly and are extremely grateful to you.

Just Butter 'em up!

Life has been crazy, but so so good!

A couple of weeks ago we were at a mission conference in Cincinnati at our home church.  We had so much fun being reunited with old friends and spending time with family.  The church was wonderfully encouraging and generous.  The speaker was refreshing.  What a blessing!!


When we got home we jumped right back into the swing of things here at home.  Finally we had time to try making our butter.  My goal was to make it without using electrical appliances...  but...  easier said than done.  I finally decided that it was better to make it right and not waste the cream than it was to keep shaking the bag of cream FOREVER!!!  So, we resorted to the blender.

The process is so much fun once I figured it out.  And it taste like butter!!  Imagine that!  Quite honestly, the best butter I've ever eaten!  And Jamie agrees whole heartedly!


Since then friends have tipped me off to some Pampered Chef and Tupperware items that will make the peanut butter and butter possible without making ourselves crazy!!  I'm starting my Bush Kitchen Shopping List.  The Amish have a lot to contribute to my kitchen too.  A dear friend even offered me her mothers old hand crank food grinder.  It's beautiful how the Lord provides.

A little while back a friend asked me if I would guest write for her blog.  She told me I could write about whatever I wanted to.  God has been teaching me so much lately!  I love learning and growing.  So I just wrote a bit of what God has been revealing to me.  Feel free to check out her blog and what God's been showing me at www.gracebyfaith28.blogspot.com.

A wonderful friend surprised the girls by taking them to see Disney Princesses On Ice, and while they were in princess wonderland Jamie, Warrick and I went to check out campers.  We were pleasantly surprised by all the options, had lots of questions answered, and now know what we will be looking for when the time comes.  We also compiled our "To Do List" for getting the house ready for sale.  Whew!!!  What a list.  Three small kids can be pretty hard on a house.

Following God is never boring and always an adventure.  Our journey has just begun, but we know God has every step planned for us.

Little House

So... How many of you are Little House on the Prairie fans?  I am.  I remember as a kid loving watching the show and wishing I could experience life like they did.  Raise our own crops and livestock, getting water from the well, having one of those cool wood ovens in my HOT kitchen...  A romantic vision of primitive living.  Actually, I still wish I could experience life like the Engals did.

For those of you who haven't heard much about the ministry that God is calling us to in Zambia, we will be living like the Engals - Africa style!!  Our family was in Zambia for the month of May, 2010 and we got a foretaste of what life is going to be like.  So, with that little taste of the future we are trying to prepare our kids (and ourselves) as much as possible.  I've been researching how to make the basics from scratch; butter, sour cream, cheese, peanut butter...

This week our project was the home made peanut butter.

The kids helped me shell the peanuts.  Warrick ate more than he contributed.  The girls did an awesome job shelling.  They didn't forget the skills they learned on our short trip to the bush.  They helped me separate the shells from the peanuts (that's how they do it in Zambia... too much to explain), and Warrick figured out it is fun to flick the shells all over the kitchen.  And then we blended the peanuts up.  What we ended up with is the best peanut butter we've ever eaten!!  Sweet Success on the first try.  The kids are really excited to be making our own peanut butter now.  Unless we have a hand grinder or something like that it'll certainly be difficult to make it in Zambia.  No wonder Zambian's don't eat peanut butter.  They grow fields and fields of peanuts, but it's too much work to grind it by hand into peanut butter.

Tomorrow's adventure will be making butter.  I'll have to let you know how it goes.

As we continue on this adventure of preparing for life in the bush we'll keep try to keep everyone updated on what's going on.

Please pray for us this next week while we are at a mission conference in Cincinnati.  We're looking forward to connecting with old friends and sharing with them all God's been doing in our life and ministry.  May He be glorified and lifted up.

Happy Valentine's Day: Celebrating God's Love for Us

We can not thank you enough for all the prayers lifted to our Father for this amazing ministry He's called us to.  We are certainly seeing Him working in wonderful ways!  Seeing Him at work in my life reinforces His love to me.  He takes the time to be involved in and also plan a purpose for my seemingly insignificant life.  His love is always amazing to me!  And here's one reason why...

As of our last calculation we are at...


Are you ready!?...


51%


of our total needed support!!!!!

That's after only eight months of pre-field ministry!  What a blessing and confirmation to us that we are in God's will doing things His way.  We are so blessed and so thankful and so loved!



Throughout our adventures there have also been many sacrifices.  One of those has been the consistent relationships in our home church.  Lorelei has been feeling the disconnectedness more than the rest of us.  I was really burdened for her, so I started praying that God would help give me opportunities for Lorelei to have more social interaction with the friends she has and also opportunities for her to make new friends.  I'm so thankful that God loves us enough to listen and answers us when we pray!


On Thursday Lorelei had her first practice with Victory Twirling here in Parkersburg.  Victory Twirling is a ministry of one of the churchs in the area and a dear friend of mine has her girls involved in it.  They learn to twirl (a baton), have a little bible time, and Lorelei LOVED it!!!  It was so much fun to see her enjoying herself and making new friends.  I really think this is going to be good for her.  It was difficult to find an activity that had social interaction, wasn't on weekends, and wasn't stringent on manditory practices.  God lined Victory Twirling up just for us, I think!  Just because He loves us.


Then, on Saturday we had a Valentine's cookie decorating party for her Sunday school friends.  We had five girls total, counting Lorelei and Jorja, and they had so much fun... and sugar!  The girls got to decorate the cookies, eat the cookies, make candies, play, play, play, eat cake, and just for good measure I sent them home with some fun dip!  Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!  What a blessing it was that the girl's mothers made the time to bring their daughters, and that the girls had fun.  It was a wonderful answer to prayer and it made Lorelei feel the love of her friends.


Never underestimate the power of God's love for us.  Since the begining of time He had the perfect plan to redeem us back to Himself and into a perfect love relationship.  I'm so thankful that His love is completely unconditional.  It is not based on my behavior or emotions, and it's not based on God's emotions either.  He chooses to love me.  I do not deserve it, but I'm thankful for it. I rest in it.  I trust in it.  I depend on it.  God's love makes me who I am.  God's love gives me confidence and hope for the future.  God's love planned my salvation.  And it is God's desire that I be a living example of His love to everyone He brings into my life.  As God loves me He uses me to love others with His perfect love.  Let's turn our world upside down for Christ as we love our world to Him.


1 Corinthians 13:1-8a


¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 ⁸ Love never fails.

Speaking in Tongues

This last Sunday Lorelei and Jorja were in Sunday School together at a church we were visiting.  The teacher asked Lorelei if she knew any words in Chitonga...

Now, Lorelei is my oldest child, and her personality is evidence of her placement.  She is, of all my children, a very by the book kind of girl.  Life is black and white.  Things are to be done properly.  (I'm so thankful.  Every family needs at least one.)

...So, Lorelei took a moment to think then told her teacher what words she could remember at the time.  The teacher seemed impressed at what Lorelei could say, so Jorja decided that she would take a turn...

Jorja is my middle child.  A typical middle child who lives in a world of her own.  A kaleidoscope of technicolor, neon laser lights.  Proper is... subjective, and the book is yet to be written.  (A load of fun, but, whew!)

Jorja proceeded to expound quite fluently in gibberish.  The teacher was very impressed that Jorja could become so fluent in one short trip!  Jorja sat there smug and quite proud of herself, until Lorelei just couldn't handle it and had to tell the teacher that Jorja was making it all up.  


How often do we try to fake it in ministry?  Jorja can no more speak Chitonga apart from the Spirit imparting a miraculous gift than we can accomplish the tasks God has set before us apart from him doing them through us.  May we never become proud in our own ablities, but walk humbly by the Spirit.