Many of you who recieved our letter know that we needed to have half of our money raised by today in order to purchase our plane tickets to Kenya. We have surpassed the 50% mark and are well on our way to reaching our goal amount.
We are very thankful to all of you who have contributed to us financially and very thankful to those of you who have been praying for us. We are most thankful to God for providing for us. We have been very humbled by this experience and God is definately showering blessings upon us. Without question we know we are to be in Kenya this summer-God has made that abundantly clear to us through support raising (among many other things).
So thank you, thank you, thank you. You have blessed us greatly and we are so grateful. You have been a wonderful reflection of Christ to us in your gifts and willingness to give. We just cant say enough so please know our hearts are full of thanksgiving.
On a side note the last blog about the bugs-I was mostly kidding. I do not like them but can deal with it. My great friend Connie was a litte worried about me so I wanted everyone to know I am okay and was just adding some humor. You can pray along with me that God will keep all the bugs hidden while we are there and that is okay with me :) You never know I may end up saving Tim from some critter!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
One more thing...
I have had a lot of people ask if we are scared to go to Africa and honestly I have said no. Before we started talking with CMF I had a few weeks filled with some sleepless nights thinking about civil war, random violence, getting eaten by lions etc. That passed quickly as I realized I was being irrational. So when people ask now I can truly say NOPE I am not scared.
Until today.....I finished reading this book called All you cant leave behind: A rookie missionary's life in Africa by Ryan J. Murphy. It's a great book about his family's first year in Kenya. It is written like a blog so it is easy to read and I finished it in 2 days. Anyway, in the book he talks about he bugs and other pests they have encountered in Kenya. These included (to name only a few) beetles the size of walnuts, various spiders some with huge red eyes, roaches (my personal fave), and the clincher a RAT. So some of the fear is slowly creeping back in. If I can be perfectly honest when I picture these things I get a rushing sense of panic taking over my whole body. I try to picture myself in the situation and how I will handle it. Sometimes I do well and other times I seriously freak out.
To many (like my husband) this may seem silly but in my defense I handle these things better than expected in the situation and I always get rid of the critter for fear it will eat me or end up on my face. But I am thinking when people ask about my fears I may have to change my answer from none to bugs!
So if you are praying for us and you want to add this to your list I would for sure be grateful!!
Until today.....I finished reading this book called All you cant leave behind: A rookie missionary's life in Africa by Ryan J. Murphy. It's a great book about his family's first year in Kenya. It is written like a blog so it is easy to read and I finished it in 2 days. Anyway, in the book he talks about he bugs and other pests they have encountered in Kenya. These included (to name only a few) beetles the size of walnuts, various spiders some with huge red eyes, roaches (my personal fave), and the clincher a RAT. So some of the fear is slowly creeping back in. If I can be perfectly honest when I picture these things I get a rushing sense of panic taking over my whole body. I try to picture myself in the situation and how I will handle it. Sometimes I do well and other times I seriously freak out.
To many (like my husband) this may seem silly but in my defense I handle these things better than expected in the situation and I always get rid of the critter for fear it will eat me or end up on my face. But I am thinking when people ask about my fears I may have to change my answer from none to bugs!
So if you are praying for us and you want to add this to your list I would for sure be grateful!!
Just an update
Just a quick update. Life for us has been very busy lately. I have a hard time deciding if I am coming or going and many days I have no idea what the date is or what month we are even in! My caseload at work has about doubled since January and I am working a second job as well. Tim has been subbing and Upwards Basketball just ended last Sunday. We are planning to move out of our apartment at the end of the month so we have some packing and painting to do. We will be moving in with Granny and Gramps Stewart until we leave for Kenya. We are super thankful to have family who support us and allow us to shack up with them when we need to.
All this busyness is sure making time fly by and so before we know it we will be in Kenya :) Our support raising is going well and that has been one thing we havent had to do much with. God has really taken care of the financial part of this trip for us. We said we would go to Kenya no matter what and the rest has been all His doing! Support raising has been such a humbling blessing. What a great God we serve! We have had many people give to us in such a way that we knew it could only be through God. We have had people who we know do not have many extra resources but have given much. We have had money come from suprising places. We joked the other day about how many people dread opening the mailbox for fear of all the bills but we are excited everday to open ours because it usually contains another gift (and not many bills). I say it again God is good and so are those who love Him! We thank you!
We got our packing list and a list of our team. Sixteen people will be joining us in the slums of Nairobi. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to go. Pray that the team will really connect and be able to accomlish much this summer. Please pray that Tim and I will be able to get all the things done we need to get done before we go. It definately feels a bit overwhelming right now.
As our departure date gets closer and closer I find saying to Tim "We are going to spend the summer in Africa!" I cant quite comminicate it to you over the internet but that statement includes a great deal of excitement. Most definately a dream come true and who am I that I get to do this? The cool thing about God is I dont have to be anyone special just available. With that I wish you all a great weekend!
All this busyness is sure making time fly by and so before we know it we will be in Kenya :) Our support raising is going well and that has been one thing we havent had to do much with. God has really taken care of the financial part of this trip for us. We said we would go to Kenya no matter what and the rest has been all His doing! Support raising has been such a humbling blessing. What a great God we serve! We have had many people give to us in such a way that we knew it could only be through God. We have had people who we know do not have many extra resources but have given much. We have had money come from suprising places. We joked the other day about how many people dread opening the mailbox for fear of all the bills but we are excited everday to open ours because it usually contains another gift (and not many bills). I say it again God is good and so are those who love Him! We thank you!
We got our packing list and a list of our team. Sixteen people will be joining us in the slums of Nairobi. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to go. Pray that the team will really connect and be able to accomlish much this summer. Please pray that Tim and I will be able to get all the things done we need to get done before we go. It definately feels a bit overwhelming right now.
As our departure date gets closer and closer I find saying to Tim "We are going to spend the summer in Africa!" I cant quite comminicate it to you over the internet but that statement includes a great deal of excitement. Most definately a dream come true and who am I that I get to do this? The cool thing about God is I dont have to be anyone special just available. With that I wish you all a great weekend!
Friday, April 4, 2008
African Children's Choir 2
Here is the whole group of us. We had a great time. Our friends the Jacobsons had 3 boys and we had 3 girls so we hung out both nights. They are a great group of kids and we were so blessed to have them in our homes for a few days!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
African Children's Choir
The African Children's Choir will be in Decatur on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. They will be performing in the Kirkland auditorium at Milllikin University. To get tickets click this link:
www.millikin.edu/kirkland or call the box office at 217-424-6318.
If you have never seen them before I encourage you to go if you can. It will truly bless your heart. If you can't go and watch them check out their website. The story of how the choir began and how it has grown over the years is incredible.
Tim and I have offered to host a few of the kids at our house for a few nights next week. If you know me at all you know this is quite a precious gift from God!!!
www.millikin.edu/kirkland or call the box office at 217-424-6318.
If you have never seen them before I encourage you to go if you can. It will truly bless your heart. If you can't go and watch them check out their website. The story of how the choir began and how it has grown over the years is incredible.
Tim and I have offered to host a few of the kids at our house for a few nights next week. If you know me at all you know this is quite a precious gift from God!!!
Monday, March 24, 2008
It's been awhle....
So it has been awhile since we wrote on here and we just wanted to update anyone who reads this what is going on with us.
We got all the shots we need to go to Africa. That was a pretty simple task. I was a little concerned because last year I had to get 7 shots (which is never a fun time). After the shots, I was really sick for several days and ended up with an infection in my arm. So it is safe to say I am not really a fan of having a needle shoved in my arm. Fortunately, this round of immunizations went well.
We are definately overwhelmed right now. God has been using so many people to provide for us to go to Kenya this summer. The support we have recieved to date has been tremendous. We have over half of what we need for the whole summer.
We are getting closer to reaching our goal of $11, 000. There is still a lot of money to raise but we are seeing God work in such a great way. To say God is good is such an understatment. When we go to thank him for all He is doing it is such a struggle to find the words to say. We are so thankful to all of you for your prayers.
Please continue to pray for us-your prayers are certainly being answered.
We got all the shots we need to go to Africa. That was a pretty simple task. I was a little concerned because last year I had to get 7 shots (which is never a fun time). After the shots, I was really sick for several days and ended up with an infection in my arm. So it is safe to say I am not really a fan of having a needle shoved in my arm. Fortunately, this round of immunizations went well.
We are definately overwhelmed right now. God has been using so many people to provide for us to go to Kenya this summer. The support we have recieved to date has been tremendous. We have over half of what we need for the whole summer.
We are getting closer to reaching our goal of $11, 000. There is still a lot of money to raise but we are seeing God work in such a great way. To say God is good is such an understatment. When we go to thank him for all He is doing it is such a struggle to find the words to say. We are so thankful to all of you for your prayers.
Please continue to pray for us-your prayers are certainly being answered.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Contagious Joy
It is getting late and I should be getting to bed because I have a super long day of exciting paperwork tomorrow; however, it has been an great day and I have some thoughts just running through my head so I thought I would write them out.
I work with a great lady at the juvenile center and ever since I told her about our summer in Africa she has been so excited for us. We have had some great conversations about Christ, missions, our jobs, and trying to figure out this life we've been given. She has been telling so many people about our trip and directing them to our blog. (Thank you Sharon!) One day she joked that she was more excited about us going to Africa. She is for sure as excited as we are. One day I thanked her for her encouragement and she said No thank you for going. You and your husband are doing what we are supposed to be doing. I knew that in my heart but to hear someone else say it really took on another meaning. I dont say this to boast in any way at all Tim and I are just trying to be faithful to what God wants for us whatever that might be. I have to be honest though the joy I felt in that moment was just incredible. We have been so excited about going to Africa that it doesnt feel like a duty it just feels like the best opportunity ever. To have someone else so pumped about what God is doing in your life filled me with this feeling I could not describe and then it hit me-this was the joy they are always talking about in the Bible. It was just so fulfilling.
And the joy continues....We sent out support letters last Friday so if you do the math they have been out less than one week and we have already received more than half of what we need to raise by April 18. People have been giving in such a way I am overwhelmed (in a good way not in the usual lose my mind sort of way). Today as Tim and I were talking about what we had been given in the past 2 days alone we were once again just flooded with this joy.
If we dont say it enough we are so excited to serve in Africa this summer and we are so thankful for those of you who have already supported us financially. We still have a long way to go, but we know that our God is going to provide. In fact He knew exactly who and where all this money was going to come from even before we decided to go to Kenya. Wow-there is that joy again! Most importantly, we want to thank you for your prayers up to this point and to thank you in advance for the prayers you will continue to pray. Our God is doing some great things.
I should go to bed now this was longer than expected. Again thanks for your prayers for Kenya. We are so excited that a peace agreement has been signed and now healing can begin.
Much love to you all
I work with a great lady at the juvenile center and ever since I told her about our summer in Africa she has been so excited for us. We have had some great conversations about Christ, missions, our jobs, and trying to figure out this life we've been given. She has been telling so many people about our trip and directing them to our blog. (Thank you Sharon!) One day she joked that she was more excited about us going to Africa. She is for sure as excited as we are. One day I thanked her for her encouragement and she said No thank you for going. You and your husband are doing what we are supposed to be doing. I knew that in my heart but to hear someone else say it really took on another meaning. I dont say this to boast in any way at all Tim and I are just trying to be faithful to what God wants for us whatever that might be. I have to be honest though the joy I felt in that moment was just incredible. We have been so excited about going to Africa that it doesnt feel like a duty it just feels like the best opportunity ever. To have someone else so pumped about what God is doing in your life filled me with this feeling I could not describe and then it hit me-this was the joy they are always talking about in the Bible. It was just so fulfilling.
And the joy continues....We sent out support letters last Friday so if you do the math they have been out less than one week and we have already received more than half of what we need to raise by April 18. People have been giving in such a way I am overwhelmed (in a good way not in the usual lose my mind sort of way). Today as Tim and I were talking about what we had been given in the past 2 days alone we were once again just flooded with this joy.
If we dont say it enough we are so excited to serve in Africa this summer and we are so thankful for those of you who have already supported us financially. We still have a long way to go, but we know that our God is going to provide. In fact He knew exactly who and where all this money was going to come from even before we decided to go to Kenya. Wow-there is that joy again! Most importantly, we want to thank you for your prayers up to this point and to thank you in advance for the prayers you will continue to pray. Our God is doing some great things.
I should go to bed now this was longer than expected. Again thanks for your prayers for Kenya. We are so excited that a peace agreement has been signed and now healing can begin.
Much love to you all
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