Blessings

There are many hard things about being a missionary in Africa, but there are also so very many blessings.  I have been thinking a lot about this, this past week.  I have been thinking about so many blessings that our kids have been afforded.  Our kids in the almost 5 years of being on the field, have experienced 6 countries - Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Kenya, Spain and Portugal.  They have been on 2 safaris while in Kenya. They have eaten in homes of Africans. During our safari the kids saw a cow being born. They have met Masaii Africans. They have visited the bush of Africa.  Zach has painted a church.  There is so much more, but all in all it has been a pretty amazing experience for them and for us.  The hard part is being away from family and friends.  But God is so faithful.  This year we were out in the Masaii Mara for Easter - definitely a different experience, but oh so very amazing.  Surrounded by God's creation was an experience our kids will NEVER forget and for that we are so very thankful.  We love our family and friends in the States, but thankful to God for this experience.

It is hard to believe that we have been back in Dakar for over a month.  It feels like we never left (in a good way).  The community here has welcomed us back with open arms and has made us feel like we have never left.  The kids have transitioned well back into their classes and dorm life. 

Zach tried out for Les Miserables and won the part of Javier - so that is a big time commitment on his part.  He also has been very committed to working out with some of his dorm brothers as well as tutoring one of our dorm girls.  So, he is pretty busy, but loving every minute. He was on the mural team during our outreach to the village of Baad.

Luke is in a new dorm and is loving his dorm parents.  They let him make doughnuts by himself (very brave of them).  He did great - had flour everywhere, but they tasted good.  He says that he wants to be a chef, so he loves to be in the kitchen.  He is playing volleyball right now and is enjoying that.  He had some ankle pain after we arrived, so he had a hard time.  But it seems to sorted itself out.  He instantly got involved with his class, helping with their fundraiser.  He has a lot of good ideas. At the outreach he was on the kids club team - and did great.

Faith was thrown into middle school, so she has had the hardest adjustment.  Learning how to use a combination lock, changing classes, homework and group projects have been our life for the last month.  But she is growing and learning.  She decided not to do any sports right away since she is still trying to figure things out.  She loves being with the dorm girls and hanging out with them. 

We jumped right in and hit the ground running with all of our previous commitments - student senate, volleyball, bible studies and such.  So we feel that time has flown, which has helped us with the homesickness.  We know that we are supposed to be here, but at the same time miss being away from our family and friends.  Below are some pictures of the kids during our Olympic days - Zach won 1st place in shot put and Faith won 2nd for shot put and discus. 

It is a whirlwind between now and the end of the year and we will try to post as many pictures and info as possible.  Thanks for sticking with us during this journey.  Love and miss you guys!

Life in the States

We are sorry it has been so long since our last post - life is flying by in the States.  We have traveled lots and put lots of miles on the van.  We have been traveling up and down the East Coast.  It has been fun meeting new people at different churches.  We also have been visiting colleges for Zach. Currently Ron and Zach are visiting Liberty for a program called "College for a Weekend" where Zach stays in the dorm for the weekend, going to classes, eating in the dining room and hanging out with college students.  He has been having a great time, and so has Ron.  Louis Giglio spoke at chapel and they said that was awesome.  Also the band Switchfoot was there.  They seem like they are having a good time.  We only have 2 months left here in the States.  We are going to be spending a lot of time with family and friends and stocking up on supplies we are bringing back to Senegal.  We are very excited to be able to spend Christmas with our families. 

We will try to be better about posting on life in Senegal and sharing different aspects of our life there!
Here are some pics from the summer:

Happenings

We continue to be busy, busy, busy!  We have 30 days until graduation and 34 days until we fly out - it is going so fast.  Kids are doing great.  Zach is currently playing a brother in the musical Joseph.  Luke is playing intermediate basketball and Faith just turned 11.  We are heading into our birthday season and it is hard to believe that Zach will be turning 16.  We are going to celebrate with some of his friends by going bowling.  Here are some pictures of the kids:

Coming Home

In 76 days we will touch down on American soil for the first time in 3 years and 8 months. We are very excited and are ready for some touches of home! We have so missed our family and friends and can't wait to just hang out and relax. Our kids are ready too! They know that they will miss their friends here, but are excited to see their family and old friends. In asking what they miss most of course they say "family and friends", but they are also looking forward to seeing green grass, fast food restaurants and movies. I am most looking forward to walking through Target, being able to shop off the rack and not through a pile of used clothes. I have missed being able to shop for clothes and running to Target or Walmart for something quick. I look forward to being able to get a fountain diet coke and not have to think twice if the ice is okay. There are so many great things about living here, but there are so many things that you have to deal with it will be nice to not have to think about some of the inconveniences for awhile.

Our time here is going well. School continues to be great and we still love what we are doing. The girls are great and our transition has been smooth. The kids are doing well - Zach is doing great with grades and is going to be one of the brothers in the upcoming Spring musical "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat", Luke is also doing well with grades and has recently started basketball, Faith loves being in the dorm and also is doing well in school. Her transition to the dorm has been great and loves being surrounded by so many big sisters.

We passed our language evaluations, but still have a strong desire to speak better. When we are home we are going to be looking for ways to learn and practice our speaking. Upon returning we are going to restart language lessons.

So here is our plan: we will come home June 10th into Dulles and be living in an apartment supplied by some awesome people from our church. We will be traveling quite a bit through North Carolina and up the coast. We will home school the kids due to the traveling. We want to be able to see as many people as we can and reconnect with our churches. We will stay in the US through the beginning of January and then head back to Senegal for the second semester.

The current news in Senegal is that we had a peaceful election and a new President was elected. Pray for a peaceful transition of power. The current President has called for peace and has asked all of his supporters to be at peace and cause no problems. That is a huge answer to prayer for this country!!

We are so thankful for your prayers for our family and look forward to connecting with many of you!!

Hellos and Goodbyes

Our team from Northwest Baptist Church from Reisterstown, Maryland arrived on January 18th. Their main mission was to facilitate and lead the Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) for the entire school. We showed them some sights and then that Friday we whisked them off to the bush for 2 days. They worked on different teams and experienced the bush in every way. When we returned home, they were knee deep in preparations for SEW. Every day part of the team led middle and high school including the music and then the other part led the elementary kids. It was a huge undertaking and they did it well! We were so proud of them and the impact they had on this school. Northwest should be proud! Here are some pics from the week. (not in the correct order)














The next few months 5 to be exact are going to be very busy for us. School is jammed pack with lots of activities.

The kids are doing great in school and are looking forward to being home for a few months. But are enjoying lots of fun activities and making great friends. Will try to be better about posting pics.

Wow - hard to believe it has been a month!

We are now just days away from Christmas and I realize that it has been a month since my last post. Here is an update on our lives: Luke got his cast off and his pins removed. It is healing great - most of the swelling is gone and it feels pretty normal. Thanks for your prayers. The outreach was a huge success. There weren't a lot of people saved, but who was saved that made it a success. On our first night, the chief of the village came forward along with 2 young girls. The next night only a few came forward. The following week, we received a text saying that the chief's wife also accepted Christ, so the process begins!! I was driving once again for VBS and we went to 10 villages and saw around 2500 people. It was exhausting as the sand was deep and I felt like I was driving in snow for 2 days! Ron was on the foundation and brick team - they finished the foundation and made several hundred bricks.

Our next outreach is January 20-22 and we are so excited that a team from our home church Northwest Baptist Church will be joining us - can't wait!!

We will be starting our second semester January 11th and that only leaves 5 months until we leave for the States for our stateside term. It is hard to believe it is that close. We are in the process of getting ready - a lot is in place, but still need to work on some details. We are very excited to be able to spend that 6 months in the States with our family and friends. We would love to come speak at your church if you have a missions Sunday or Wednesday - please let us know. When it gets closer, we will post our contact information or you can leave a comment and we will contact you!

We miss you and wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!!

Outreach

Update on Luke - got another x-ray and the second doctor was pleased with how it is healing. He had the upper part of his cast removed and is awaiting the bottom half to be removed - maybe Thanksgiving morning! Thanks for your prayers.

We are with preparations for our Thanksgiving outreach weekend. This is going to be a big group again this year -- about 140 of us, including a group of 15 students from Faith Christian Academy in Colorado. There will also be 10-15 Senegalese pastors and lay people who will join us in ministry when we arrive in the area. During the days, we will be busy with a number of ministries:

1) the drama team and children's ministry team will be traveling to a number of villages

2) a team will be painting a church in Bikol (the church of which we laid the foundation and made bricks by hand last Jan.)

3) a team will be painting a mural on the front wall of a church in Diofane (the church we built last Nov.)

4) our medical team which will include 3 nurses and a Dr. will minister in Diakhao

5) a team will be digging & laying a foundation and building bricks by hand in Diakhao

6) we will be staying at the YWAM center in Niakhar and a team will be setting up camp

7) a small team will be building 20 benches for the new church

In the evenings, we will be holding evangelism campaigns in the following villages:

Fri., Nov. 25: Diakhao, Gandiaye, Poukham Tok

Sat., Nov. 26: Mbelakadio, Ngouloul Peul, Mbouscene

We REALLY covet your prayers. We will be ministering in an area that is predominantly Muslim and we'll be ministering in villages that have just begun to hear about Jesus. Please pray for open doors and open hearts. Pray against spiritual resistance and that God will prepare the way for us. Pray for protection in travel, both Ron and I will be driving there and Chris will be working with the children's ministry where she will be driving all over the bush in and out of villages and at all the ministry sites.

Sun. morning, we plan to worship on our way home in the church that we helped build last Nov. in Diofane. We're looking forward to the blessing of worshiping with our African brothers and sisters and seeing the results of our labor there last year.

Luke

We have had an interesting week this past week. It started Friday night during an event called "Harvest Fest", a fundraiser for the Senior class. Luke was in a water balloon battle and was being hunted and ran backward and stumbled and tried to break his fall with his left hand. He proceeded to start crying and thankfully a nurse was sitting right there. They helped him up and got ice and tried to clean him up. His wrist swelled immediately and was very distorted looking. They ran to get us and we took him immediately to the hospital. Thankfully they called ahead because the radiologist and the orthepedic surgeon were waiting for us when we arrived. They did an x-ray and quickly it was determined the wrist was broken. The surgeon spoke ridiculously fast french and whisked Luke away. We panicked and called our mission nurse wh0 came to the hospital but after Luke was taken up to the surgical floor for the doctor to reset his wrist. It was so frustrating to not be able to understand what the doctor said!! We went back the next day and saw the x-ray and found out that he put pins in his wrist - what??? They explained that his growth plate was broken and it needed to be set with these pins. The doctor said that they set it right, but we had a second opinion. The other doctor said that it was set well, but not excellent. We need to go back to get a x-ray Thursday to see if there has been any shifting - if so it might need to be reset. Please pray that it doesn't shift and that the pins hold it in place and that his arm will heal perfectly.

Update

We are continually amazed at how fast the time flies here. We just finished our first quarter and only a 1 1/2 months until Christmas break. The kids did great this first quarter. Zach received straight A's, with one of his classes being AP French. He is really wanting to be on National Honor Society, so that really motivated him. He was cast in the play "The Curious Savage" and that happens in 2 weeks. He is nervous, but really excited. He was also selected as 1 of 12 high schoolers to be on a peer mediation committee. He had to be recommended by the faculty - we were very proud of him. He continues to grow in the Lord and has quite a reputation for spiritual maturity. Luke did well on his report card - with all A's and B's. He probably won't be the scholar that Zach is, but has so much personality teachers love him!! Luke has really thrived in the dorm. His dorm Mom says that he is her right hand man and is constantly in the kitchen helping her cook. He really has taken an interest in cooking - he even joined the cooking club. Faith loves being in the dorm surrounded by all of these girls. She did great on her grades, earning all A's and B's. She loves her teacher and still loves being in Africa. She is on the junior basketball team and really likes playing.

Electricity has been much improved in the last month. Although we have lots of brown outs, we rarely lose power. That is great! We have heard that this is just until February when the elections are being held. You can pray about that - pray that it is a smooth, fair process.

We are excited to be in the process of coming home for furlough. While we love being in Africa and know that this is where we are supposed to be, there are days it is hard. We are excited to be back in the States and see our family and friends. We are continuing to work on figuring out schooling for the kids, living arrangements, travel, visiting churches, etc. We know that time will fly and we will be home before we know it! We love and miss you all greatly and look forward to when we are hanging out!

We have finally settled in and really feel like we are in a groove! Our transition to the girls has been a smooth one and we really feel like this is where God wants us! We love being with the girls and love discovering all of the differences between parenting both. School is in full swing and has started with a bang. In addition to being dorm parents, we are also in charge of student senate. We host our first event this Friday night and are hoping it goes off without a hitch. Zach is a rep for the sophomore class and really enjoys being part of this leadership team. Luke is finally adjusted to being downstairs and has settled in to the role of helper. He loves being in the kitchen and helping his dorm Mom and she loves his help too! Faith is playing basketball and learning piano and is doing really well with both. She loves being with all of the girls and is totally included in their lives. She has been given a secret sister and loves writing and receiving notes and gifts. The kids are really thriving here and are growing in their relationship with the Lord!!

We are continuing to plan for our time in the US this summer. We are happy to report that friends of ours are letting us use their mini-van, so our transportation is covered. We are still looking for a furnished apartment or in-law suite, if you know of anything please email us!

Life in Dakar continues to march on - power still has been an issue, despite tons of money being dumped into the economy. The economy still continues to be an issue with the nationals. There is an election slated for February and it promises to be interesting. Our current president Abdoulaye Wade wants to run again, but has already met his time quota. Some want him to continue more want another leader. The people are tired of no electricity and staples being so expensive. We pray that it is a peaceful election!!!!! Many of the staff here have gone through an evacuation and nobody wants that. We are preparing for the worst - praying for the best! We will continue to update as the time gets closer!

We love and miss you all!

School is here

Our 3rd year of dorm parenting started Wednesday with the arrival of our 12 girls. They arrived with lots of luggage and hugs and giggles. Faith has loved being with the girls - she definitely feels a part of the dorm. We have some younger girls, so that has been nice for Faith. The boys are down stairs and are loving being in the dorm. They have come upstairs often - so that has been nice for us! We definitely miss them being in our apartment though. But the fact that they have amazing dorm parents with 23 years of experience, I think is going to be such an great time of growth.

School started Thursday - so we only had 2 days of school and then the weekend. That was nice to be able to get started, but then have a break to get settled. We are finding the differences between boys and girls pretty great - not that we didn't know that with our own children, but when you have large groups of boys and then have large groups of girls, the differences are vast. The biggest difference of course is food - they barely eat compared to the boys. However, I did discover they can chow down on some brownies!! I have heard that the first week is a little bit weird with nervousness, etc. So hopefully it will increase a little bit once they get settled. Another big difference is communication - in these 4 days the girls have talked with me about missing their parents, periods, nervousness, etc. Boys tend to keep it tucked inside. But so far it is great - we love the girls and think it is going to be a great year!

PRAYER
Here are our girls names if you ever want to pray for them: Erin, Susanna, Akinyi (pronounced like bikini with an a), Yea Lim, Hannah, Rebecca, Heather, Gloria, Ha Young, Grace, Allison, Yea Rang.

Pray that they would transition quickly - especially the new girls. Pray that the home sickness won't last long.

We continue to make plans for our stateside time - pray that the detail will come together.

Thanks again for your support and prayers for our family!

Zach took this and edited it - the roman aquaduct in Segovia.


Royal church by the palace

Royal palace

In Mallorca

Statue in the park

Went to the bull fighting arena - there are bull fights every Sunday



Streets of Madrid - 11 o'clock at night

In Segovia



Mallorca


Met this priest and his brother who is a baker and baked this bread for communion - they loved Faith!