Our Blog

Reminded.

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:08:53 +0200

So the other day we sent out another prayer partner letter to give people an update on our situation: we’re still stuck in S. Africa waiting for the car to be fixed. We’d gotten it back from the mechanic but it had acted up majorly during our personal test drive on Sunday and therefore we had to take it back to the mechanic. We’re waiting again. Ugh!

Several people wrote back to say they were praying and/or to offer some encouraging words. One friend in particular closed her letter with the following words, “ . . .I pray you feel blessed in this trip . . .”

Blessed in this trip? I have to be honest, my gut reaction was almost a laugh. I felt anything but blessed. I’ve felt frustrated and at times a touch angry!!!! Afterall:
• we’re currently 16 days past our planned departure from S. Africa
• ministry funds are extremely low and definitely not enough to cover the car repairs and increased lodging/food necessary for an extended stay down here
• we missed our annual mission retreat and the fellowship/fun that would accompany that
• Karunia and Josiah have missed/are missing school
• we’re missing ministry things
• we’re tired of sitting around and/or having to create things to do
• the kids are bickering more and more b/c they’re out of routine

But then, as I was talking with someone else about being stuck suddenly the Lord reminded me of the blessings he’d given on this trip:
• We are stuck in SA where the car can be fixed and we can have housing/food/and modern conveniences as opposed to being stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere without a means of getting the car to a mechanic, without accommodation or cell phone coverage to call help, etc. etc. etc.
• We found cheaper accommodation than what we initially had that also provides two meals per day thus saving us even more money. It also has a yard to run in, a pool and bunches of movies to help keep the kids occupied.
• The mechanic has been working like crazy, trying to get things fixed so we can get out of here and isn’t planning to charge us labor fees for the hours he spent disassembling the engine and putting it back together.
• Already we know of several churches/people who are generously giving to help cover the expenses of the car repairs/our extended lodging. We trust He’ll provide for it all.
• Kent, the gentleman who runs the guest house where we’re staying, has graciously loaned us a car to use - thus allowing us freedom to move around and do things and go places without the expense of hiring a taxi or renting a car.
• We’ve made new friends - another family who also serves in Mozambique (though still quite far from us) came down for some medical work/car repairs (sounds familiar) and was staying here also. They had two daughters with them so the kids had a great time having someone else to play with and we enjoyed the conversation with their parents, Carlos & Silvia.
• We’ve had a couple great sight-seeing days (Carlos’ family came with us on one of these excursions) and seen many spectacular views of God’s diverse creation.
• Convenience foods, yummy treats we can’t get in Mozambique & sushi!
• The guest house has laundry facilities (very necessary for a family of 7, especially when traveling and therefore on limited clothing) and free internet.
• When we got the car back thinking it was good, it went bad on our day of “test driving” rather than once we were out of help range.

Those are the huge blessings but we’ve also had small blessings:
• our delayed return allowed us to pick up the new Francine Rivers book.
• we’ve gotten several new dvds, live worship music, and teaching videos to take home with us.
• Dan’s had time to work on his PhD.
• we got new clothes for Karunia (who needed them).
• we’ve picked up lots of food items to carry back with us to Mozambique - either things we can’t get there at all (tofu, TVP, some spices, flours, etc) or things that are much cheaper here (meat, cheese, granola).
• The weather has been cool (actually we’re cold today) whereas it’s still very warm in Nampula apparently

So yes I’m blessed.

I’m still struggling in the moment by moment to “feel” blessed. I’m still feeling stuck and wanting to get home. But I’m blessed.

The rest of my friend’s statement had said, “I know God has blessed you already in so many ways, . . . it certainly has had it's pitfalls.”

Yes God has blessed me/us. Yes the trip has had it’s pitfalls, but thanks for the prayer that we’d feel blessed in the trip. The blessings are there and I simply need to change my focus.

Thanks Linda for the letter. Thanks God for prompting her to write what she did & thanks for reminding me of Your given blessings!!!

It’s a Small World / Making New Friends

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:03:27 +0200

It’s a small world! We’re forever discovering that and yet constantly amazed by it.

As we travel we often meet someone who knows someone we know. Or perhaps we simply have mutual friends or a common background location. It’s happened time and time again.

We met a family in one of our supporting churches in IL who had lived in the small KY town where Robin grew up and knew her former swim coach. This same family had then lived in another town, moving from there just as we moved there, but had been a part of the small group forming a new church where we went to serve.

We met a family serving in Malawi which is from Robin’s hometown and was good friends with other friends we know from our time in Bowling Green.

A current example - the gentleman running the guest house where we’re now staying while stuck in SA, his wife is from the same small area of IL where our sending church is.

It’s a small world in another way. As Christians we have brothers and sisters all over the world that we’ve never met and honestly will never meet on this earth. When we do have the opportunity to meet however there is a bond which binds us quickly. We’ve experienced that within the last couple days. Friday evening a family arrived to stay at the same guesthouse where we currently are. Carlos and Syliva Bauza and 2 of their 3 daughters. They’re from Argentina but live and work as missionaries in Beira, Mozambique (a good 12 hrs from us in Nampula). The kids had a great time playing together Friday evening and some on Saturday. They were supposed to stay only one night but ended up staying longer so they could have some car repairs made (hmmm - that’s a familiar theme). We visited some with them on Saturday and then invited them to go sight seeing with us yesterday. What a fun day we had together - great conversations and many laughs. It’s a quick formed friendship. Dan commented that he wished they were closer to us in Mozambique or that we had business in Beira occasionally so we could see them more frequently.

I love this great big small world!

Monkeys - Josiah’s Love/Hate Relationship

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 14:48:00 +0200

Josiah LOVES monkeys! Actually he likes all animals so it’s hard to say monkeys are his favorite, but they’re definitely near the top of the list. He really would like to have one as a pet. A few years ago we almost got one for him from colleagues of ours who had one and didn’t want it anymore (they’re son had gone off to college), but at the last minute we decided not to; occasionally, Sally the monkey, got a little too rough and it made me nervous.

Since we’ve been back from furlough he’s again asked if he could have a monkey for a pet. We told him he could - if he’d be patient until we found the right one.

When we took our day trip through Kruger Park we were a bit disappointed to not see any monkeys. Since that time we’ve seen them come to the guest house where we were staying. Then yesterday we wondered if we might see them at Blyde’s River Canyon. Afterall, there were signs which read “Don’t feed the monkeys.” We walked around and explored and then decided to let the kids have ice cream before heading home. We hadn’t seen any monkeys. Oh well.

Suddenly however, Josiah sees a monkey. The next thing I know he’s yelling and crying. Apparently the monkey was walking towards Josiah and he thought the monkey was going to let him pet it. Of course you and I know a wild monkey would not approach someone to be petted but he didn’t. Instead the monkey grabbed his “still in the wrapper” ice cream and ran away with it!!!

He was one sad boy and a bit perturbed at the monkey. Wonder if he’d still like one as a pet? It might still all his snacks. hee-hee.

Oh - in case you’re wondering, we did buy him another ice cream.

Creating Family Fun While Stuck in SA

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:34:52 +0200

We decided to find something to do as a family today. Something to get us out of the house, besides running errands; something fun. We took off for a small town about 25 kms from Nelspruit so we could do some hiking (so thankful for the truck this guest house is letting us use). How much fun it was! How beautiful is God’s creation and how diverse. It was a great morning - topped off with a yummy lunch!

PLAN #5 (the sequel to “Best Made Plans Gone Awry”)

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:11:41 +0200

Plan 5 still isn’t very clear. We didn’t get our truck back on Thursday, nor have we gotten it back today. The mechanic said at 2pm they were “getting ready” to start it and would let us know. It’s now 4:30 and we still haven’t heard anything more.

I’m guessing at this point the earliest we’ll get it back would be tomorrow evening.

The question then becomes do we take off immediately to get home ASAP or try to stick around the area for a couple days to get more drive time on the car to test it well and make sure nothing is going to go wrong? We need to get the kids back for school. They missed this last week and now will be missing some of this upcoming week, even if we took off tomorrow evening. For Karunia in particular that is going to make it harder to catch up. Also the longer we stay here the more $ we are spending on lodging which we really don’t have.

On the other hand, the mechanic did have the engine 100% disassembled. He’s a great mechanic and will do a substantial test drive but still. There are many intricate pieces to be put back together. It might not be wise to take off into the land where we can’t have repairs done or could get stuck along the way without having tested the car a bit more.

Lord please give wisdom and help us know how this plan should be written.