HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATRICK!

I pray that this coming year is your best ever.  I know that moving to Africa  is not without potential stress and there are some aspects that seem less than ideal to you, but I'm praying that this year will be the first year of an amazing adventure and that God begin showing you the unique giftings and passions He has put in your life as you start to get a glimpse of how He wants to use you to impact the places He sends you.

 

He has put into your life so much and as your mama, I'm blessed to be seeing how those things are starting to come to life.  When you sat up all night just a couple of weeks ago with that cold neighbor, that was truly being Jesus to that man.  I was blown away by your compassionate heart.  I can't even begin to imagine whatever acts of love and sacrifice you will do in the days, months, and years to come.

Don't settle for less, Patrick.  Live your life to the fullest as He has planned.  People are going to be in awe by what God does in and through your life.

I love you!
Mom

WARM CLOTHES FOR AfRiCa???

Most people think of extreme heat when they think of Africa. They would be partly right. There are many places with extreme heat. But there are also places with plenty of cold. Did you know there is a nation in Southern Africa with a snow ski resort? Yep, Lesotho is a small country near the bottom of that continent that actually gets quite a bit of snow.

Swaziland doesn't get snow, but it does get cold. The temperatures drop in the winter time (which is actually the same time as summer in America) but they also drop in the summer. Swaziland is mountainous and has a high elevation. When it rains in the summer, it might have been piping hot on one day but that wet weather can make the daytime temps dip way down and the nighttime temps even further down. My mama says that the coldest night she ever spent in her life was her first night in Swaziland.

The houses are made to be nice and cool in the summer heat. What that also means is that the houses are extra cold in the winter time. With mostly tile floors, concrete walls, metal roofs, and no central heat, winters and wet summer days can be spent huddled around fireplaces and space heaters while wearing thick socks, boots, sweaters, turtlenecks, and even long johns. Bedtime means lots of blankets and warm pjs.

Last week, my mom and I helped the kids inventory their clothes and shoes. We found that they'd outgrown many of their winter clothes from last year and had some gaps that needed filling. With all the rain that Swaziland gets and the accompanying cold temperatures, boots, raingear, sweat suits, and footie pajamas are in order. The girls and I will also have to wear a lot more dresses and skirts than we wear now. And with cold temperatures in our future, we need warmer girlie things, too.

We went to Target today and bought the majority of the needed items. The kids had fun trying on crazy hats and footie jammies. I had fun watching them. We also checked off yet a few more of our "things to do before we move to Africa" items.

 

Looking forward to the day when these sweet girls are smiling and snuggling in their new Swaziland home.

SCENES FROM AN AUTUMN SUNDAY

This morning was church at our back-home fellowship, Restoration. David and Desmond lead children's church worship and Jim preached. Then it was back home to Faith House where we ate a quick lunch before starting our Sunday time of serving at We Will Go.

Here are some photos from what some of us did yesterday. David and Desmond were assigned to "street love" while Merry, Travis, and I were on van ministry.

I am very happy about moving to Swaziland at the end of this year, but I'm also very grateful for days like this here at We Will Go. Beautiful, beautiful days.

KIDS DAY OUTREACH

Saturday was the second Kids Day Outreach we've held here at We Will Go this year and the first we've held this summer. We'll be holding them on a monthly basis if you, your family, or your group would like to be a part of reaching the children of the Farish District and Midtown with the love and truth of Jesus Christ. 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

DAYS and NIGHTS OF REST

I hope your first day of the new year has been filled with meaningful worship, powerful teaching, heartfelt fellowship, and some true rest.

Sundays are pretty busy around here with our regular church in morning and then service and team time here at We Will Go in the afternoon and on into the evening. Some days I do miss my traditional Sunday afternoon naps, but knowing that we're doing exactly what God is calling us to do for this season of our family's life is worth it and I do appreciate greatly that my thoughtful hubby enacted Monday mornings as a time of rest for us. It is even a sweeter gesture because he still has to get up and go to work.

So enjoy your last bit of Sunday and hope you have sweet dreams leading into a new week. This missionary mama is now signing off and after a bit of exercising, will also be enjoying some sweet Sunday rest, hopefully a nightful!

NOT THE SHORT END OF THE STICK

Earlier this week, I wrote about our upcoming move so that we could enter into a more intense ministry and begin a time of transitioning to our full-time missionary life. I touched on the sacrifices and fears involved. Later, I received a sweet and honest note from a friend who is serving with her friend in a S.E. Asian nation. Barbara empathized about the differences and challenges they have experienced since leaving their comfortable American life. She admitted that there are times when it is very hard to give and serve and give some more. But then she directed me to a blog post she wrote recently and I knew I had to share it here:

NOT THE SHORT END OF THE STICK

One of the underlying fears restraining Christians from abandoning ourselves to doing what God asks is the fear that, if we say yes to His call, we'll miss out in some way; we'll be shortchanged as God strips away the best things in life.

"God is not a deceiver, that He should offer to support us,
and then, when we lean upon Him, should slip away from us."
- Augustine

I’d like to suggest that obeying God's call, even when it means huge life changes, does NOT leave Christians with the short end of the stick. Three years ago we stepped off the beaten track, as Mark left a good job with a great company, leaving it behind for the sake of the call. Yes, there are things about our home culture, and things about our former lifestyle that we miss, but after living almost three years in this new position where God has led us, our family can attest to having found unquestionable gain.

What exactly have we gained?

* a breath-taking front-row display of God's unfailing faithfulness.

* a whole new perspective on how He works through the body of believers to provide for His work.

* an amazingly valuable adventure full of unique experiences shared as a family that has bonded us together as nothing else could have done.

* a much broader world-view; our children number their friends from many continents, and they have grown to appreciate so much about our host culture.

* a vibrant community of fellow-workers who, though imperfect like us, share a common goal and have shown unparalleled inclusiveness.

* the daily delight of feasting on sweet red papaya and tree-ripened pineapples.

* lessons in slowing down and valuing relationships from the lovely example of our Filipino host culture

* a status of honor in this country.

* scenic, warm tropical beaches close enough for a restful day-trip.

* an experience of the universality of the Church as we worship together with believers of other languages.

* increasing compassion and respect for the financially poor around us.

* opportunities to grow in ways we never expected.

"The meaning of earthly existence lies,
not as we have grown used to thinking,
in prospering,
but in the development of the soul."
-Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Would we trade all of this to be back in the U.S. prospering with a consistent paycheck

instead of depending daily on God's provision,

driving an unremarkable minivan instead of riding in colorful jeepneys,

shopping at Target (okay, I admit… I miss Target!)

instead of earning friends among the poor children of the neighborhood?

Will I ever be fooled again into thinking

that some more material stuff could satisfy?

Maybe.

But our family has lived next-door to how the rest of the world lives. We've seen contentment and joy on faces of the poor. We've shared lunch with blind brothers and sisters, sat honored in National Geographic-like tribal ceremonies, worked and laughed with dirty kids who can’t afford to go to school. We've prayed with friends over illness and death and financial stress and loneliness and fear. We've held babies with lice-laced hair and rotting teeth, sung carols with beggar women, shared water with the thirsty and shoes with the shoeless, swept out flood waters, bandaged bleeding feet.

And it's changed us.

God has changed us.

And I haven't even begun to describe the ministry God called us here to do. Though I wish I could, in this context we just are not able to share about our work. But in that too we’ve gained immeasurably!

Is all of this worth what we gave up?

WITHOUT A DOUBT.

Life is short. Eternity is long.

So eternal investments just make good logical sense.

As you answer God's call on your life,

you won’t be left

with the short end of the stick.



To read more about Barbara's eternal investments, visit her blog:   http://us5earthenvessels.blogspot.com/