simply grateful

We were led by a man on a bike, down a footpath that was more than adequate for his bike but insufficient for the breadth of our vehicle.  His feet went round and round, one foot resting on a pedal and the other balancing on a metal peg where a pedal used to be.  I was actually surprised that one pedal remained, the terrain we were negotiating today was a daily occurrence for this pastor who was leading us out to this newest preaching point.  He had cycled an hour and a half through the bush to the point where we met him on a soccer field near a school only to find out they had changed their meeting place.  We were told it was less than a kilometer from the field so we decided we would just follow him on his bike.  In Africa, I prefer a used car to a new one so I don’t cringe every time a bush or thorns scrape the side of the vehicle, our journey today was no exception.  This footpath was not a road, that point reemphasized by the reception we r...

Here is a link to an article covering the 5K race the church I grew up at put on for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering on Christmas Eve.  Its a great article, check it out by clicking HERE

Often mission teams and missionaries come back to the States with stories of countless people giving their lives to Christ.  Lives transformed.  Stories accompanied with pictures of a long line of people waiting to get baptized in a muddy river with a backdrop of an African jungle.  Sure, there were sacrifices of extreme heat, struggles with (ahem) bathroom issues, challenges with the language but in the end, countless people gave their lives to Christ and for that, it was all worth it.  All that leads to this moment of hundreds braving a croc infested river to get baptized.  Insert picture here…   Oh how we long for those days (minus the crocs in the river of course!).  We can't wait to see people coming in droves to surrender their lives to a loving relationship with Christ.  We can't wait to send pictures of people standing outside an overcrowded church building listening intently to hear the Good News of Christ.  We can't wait to send ...

People often ask us what life is like in Africa.  We can't speak for the whole continent, but in our little corner of Africa the electric is sporadic.  Thankfully, we usually don't lose electric for more the 15 hours at a time, but it does happen frequently.  We may go 10 days without losing power and then lose power for the next 10 days straight.  Thankfully, we cook on a gas stove so loss of electric doesn't prevent us from eating!  But, it does mean that we have to use solar powered lights at night.  We have three permanent lights installed in our living room, kitchen and dining room (thanks to installation help from my Dad and some gift money from First Baptist Chester) but the rest of the house we light with portable solar lights.  We also received two solar battery chargers for Christmas from Heathers parents that we can use (and have used already) to recharge our phones, Ipod, and camera.   Yesterday we lost power at noon and it came...

Happy Christmas Eve Day!! Ours is already in full swing. We went around town this morning delivering plates of breads, cakes, and cookies to some of our friends/merchants around town.  As we went, I was thinking how similar the scene was to the ones back home...the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve in America.  The shopkeepers were so busy they barely had time to talk, which is unusual in this very relational culture.  However, there were the obvious differences as well...the dirt roads, the heat.  The hustle and bustle was mainly people walking and on bicycles shopping for live chickens and other food.  The way Zambians celebrate Christmas is by sharing a big meal together.  Sometimes families only have meat twice a year and Christmas is definitely one of those special times.  They generally do not exchange gifts.  The focus is on families spending time together.  Our prayer is that more families in our area next year will know the tr...

The church I grew up at, Idlewild Baptist, is hosting their 2nd Annual 5k and Fun Run on Christmas Eve morning.  This race goes to support nearly 5,000 missionaries serving around the world (and their nearly 4,000 kids!)  If you live in the Charlotte area this would be a fun event for your family and also would help send missionaries to proclaim the Gospel.  Online registration is still open, register today!   http://followingthestar.racesonline.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=site.display&page_id=6449 

Our electric and water has always been sporadic, but for the last month it has been consistent… consistently going off on Saturday and Sunday.  Last weekend was the worst being without electric for 32 of 40 hours.  We were in crisis control mode wrapping our deep freezer in blankets as we recently returned from a resupply trip and it was full of meat that we didn't want to lose!   This morning the power went off at 1 a.m. and came back on at 5:30 p.m.  We are thankful that it wasn't off for too long.  While our water usually returns within an hour of the power, it didn't happen that way tonight.  I had left a tap open in the kitchen so we would hear when it came back on.  Each night we sit down and pray as a family, each taking our turn.  Heather prayed for the water to come back on (the kids needed baths and the dishes were piling up!) and immediately after the words came out of her mouth we heard a trickle come from the faucet as the wa...