simply grateful

Watch this short video by IMB President David Platt on the importance of giving so people can go and share the Gospel message.

Four times a year we load up the family and head to the capital city for a resupply trip.  This always includes grocery shopping, shopping for other items needed around the house that we can't get in Lundazi, and a trip to the mechanic for an oil change and preventative maintenance.  It also may include medical appointments, trips to the immigration office, trips to the embassy and catching the latest movie!  We typically have four days to get everything done and then head back to Lundazi. Because the trip is 735 KM (456 miles), which takes between 10 - 12 hours, we try to get an early start on the day.  I typically get up at 4:30 a.m. to finish loading the car and trailer and grab a shower before waking the kids up.  Our goal is to be on the road by 6 a.m., but it is usually more like 6:45 before we say our prayers and start our journey.  (Ulendo patali is how you say long journey in Chitumbuka) So what does our journey look like?  Well it depends...

We love living in Africa.  One of the many things we enjoy here is the opportunity to go on safari.  In September we joined some friends and took a little vacation to the South Luangwa Game Reserve.  We had a great time with them and also had a great safari.  We thought we would share a few pics from our time.  (Click on a picture to enlarge) Less than an hour after we arrived we saw some elephants coming down to the water hole in the front of the house.  We later found out they came about this time daily to get a drink and take a mud bath.  We were only about 40 feet away from them, but up an incline so we felt pretty safe. Elijah pretending he is petting a small elephant.   Our kids favorite part of the vacation was the swimming pool at the house we rented.  They loved their afternoon dips in the pool. We split responsibilities for dinners with our friends so we enjoyed some nice home-cooked meals ...