simply grateful

We left Lusaka and travelled 7 hours by bus to a village outside the town of Petauke.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon getting settled in to our home for the next 12 days.  Our family slept in the big tent and used the smaller tent for our luggage, bathing the girls, and quiet times.  (You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them) While at bush camp we had no electricity or running water.  Because of that we had to get our water from a nearby well and heat it over a fire for our showers/baths.  Here is a pic of Makayla helping me get water for our family. The structures of the day were much the same as they were in Lusaka with a daily DFA and afternoon processing time and teaching.  For the next 12 days we were paired with our spouse as we went did our DFA's.   Another difference was instead of riding on a bus we jumped in the back of a big truck and rode about 15 minutes to the town of Petauke. After a few days in the town ...

40/40 Lusaka, Zambia When most people think of Africa they think of village life and are surprised to learn that there are large cities in Africa.  We were able to spend 12 days in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, a city of about 2 million people.  Our family stayed at a guest house and had running water and electricity. Most days we were given a daily field assignment (DFA) that helped us learn about life and ministry in Africa.  The DFA's would typically give us a topic for us to interview Africans about.  There were a wide range of topics from medical care to their religious beliefs.  So we would take a bus to our interpreters part of town and interview people on the streets or sit and talk with people in their homes for about 3 hours.  We could not have done it without an interpreter (which is one of the reasons that we will spend our first year on the field in language study!) On Sunday we went to a Church in Lusaka and were surprised by how modern...

We spent the last month in training at 40/40 in Zambia.  It is a training for missionaries who are new to the field to help orient them to culture and general life in Africa.  A typical day would be going out on a daily field assignment (DFA), coming back for lunch, discussing what we observed and learned, and then having a class on life in Africa.  40/40 was mainly broken up into four parts.  First, urban ministry in Lusaka a city of about 2 million.  Then we moved out to a village and learned about ministry in a village setting.  We also had a 3 day home stay with a family in the village and finished up with 3 days at a retreat center discussing what we experienced as well as attending classes that taught us general principles about language learning.  I will be posting blogs (mainly pics with a few stories and explanations interspersed) in the coming days about each segment of our training.  As always, we thank you for your prayers! Here is a...

Our Kids Love Sweet Frogs.  We decided to do our own version of Sweet Frogs in Africa... much to the delight of the kids.  Hope you enjoy the video!   Want to go to a Sweet Frog?  Click HERE to go to their website. If you like the music, it is by Coffey called "The Frog Song" available on iTunes.  While there, check out his whole album, we love it!  

How great is our God?  According to Job 26: He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in this thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power he stilled the sea By his wind the heavens were made fair Pretty amazing stuff... but guess what, those are but the fringes!  “And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him!  Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”  (Job 26:14)  What an awesome God we serve that these are but a whisper, the fringes of his power!   On Tuesday (Feb. 28) I will celebrate my 24th year walking with the Lord (albeit some years more closely than others!)... and I’m still on the fringes of understanding his magnificence and power.  As I love God, I’m loving him on the fringes of who he is.  Imagine the love I would have if I knew him to the...

Our Valentine Wish We pray that on this day especially, you will have a deeper grasp of How wide And long And high And deep Is the love of Christ! (Ephesians 4:18) Happy Valentine’s Day!!

I know it has been soooo long since we have updated.  I'm sorry!  It is just that there is really not too much going on.  We are still waiting for word about our work permit. All is well. Really! Makayla is just fine!  She will not even have a scar after all the monkey drama.  All the kids are doing great.  They are really thriving here in Botswana.  They are happy and growing!  Especially Elijah!  He is starting to lose the preschool look and really looking like a little boy.  Karissa is doing great too.  Her speaking is really incredible and now she has some Setswana words in her vocabulary...as well as some British English.  She has corrected me more than once for calling a cookie a cookie instead of a "biscuit".  All three are loving homeschool and have great attitudes.  When I see them doing so well, it warms and encourages this mama's heart! David and I are doing well too.  It is hard to be in transi...