Mali West Africa – Day 5

What we are doing today:

Wednesday December 31st 2008
Conference day Kagoro Church
Breakfast, prayer/worship and assignments
Work among the Kogoro
New Years eve celebration and team communion

Prayer points:

Pray for day one of our discipleship conference with the first Kagoro believers.

Pray that we can build-up, encourage and strengthen the new church planted among the Kagoro.

Today pray for Aaron (Tech./Video team)

Mali West Africa – Day 4

What we are doing today:

Tuesday December 30th 2008
Leave for Bush House
Breakfast, team prayer/worship and ministry assignments
Greet Chief and Pastor Andre (national pastor of first Kagoro Church)
Dinner and team worship and time with prayer partners

Prayer points:

Pray for safe and un-eventful travel in the “bush-bus” as we drive to the village of the Kagoro Church)

Pray for the Kagoro Church leadership Conference we will be leading.

Today pray for Tracy (Food team leader)

Mali West Africa – Day 3

What we are doing today:

***Update*** We are actually (supposed to be) leaving today since our flight out on Saturday was canceled.  So, the schedule from this point on is going to be “fluid” (we’ve passed the flexible stage!) We should be doing the same sort of things, but the timing of them is questionable now.  Keep praying. Love you all!

Monday December 29th 2008
Gather supplies and prepare for team out-reach
Breakfast and cultural orientation
Gather needed supplies
Gather bio-sand filter needs
Rest and prepare for conference
Dinner and team worship and time with prayer partners
Prayer points:

Pray that we are able to secure all the necessary supplies that we were unable to travel with.

Pray for the Kagoro & Fulanke people groups that a church planting movement within their people groups would be sparked that brings glory to the name of Jesus.  Acts 2:46-47

Today pray for Taylor (Communications team/Prayer team)

Mali West Africa – Day 2

What we are doing today:

Sunday December 28th 2008
Arrive in  Bamako, Mali West Africa
Flight arrives about 9:20 pm Bamako time
Dinner and prayer time
Unload vehicles and organize luggage
Spend night in IMB guest housing

Prayer points:

Pray for recuperative rest from the flights, and energy as we begin to prepare to lead the conference.

Pray for an effective Christian Radio Station to be planted among the Kagoro and Fulanke people groups.  Romans 10:17

Today pray for Jenna (Mercy team/Drama team leader)

Mali West Africa – Day 1 UPDATE!!!

Well, here it is 7:20 pm on Saturday night and we’re still in Springfield, as a matter of fact, we’ll still be in Springfield until Monday.  For some reason that is still unclear to me our flight from Springfield to Detroit was cancelled, and due to overbooked flights tomorrow, the earliest flight out of Springfield was Monday.

So, for those of you following along, thank you for praying, please continue to do so.  This is a frustrating situation that we have zero control over, but for some reason, God did not want us flying out tonight, and we trust His sovereignty.

Mali West Africa – Day 1

Hello!  This is day one of the trip, we fly out this evening, and are looking forward to an amazing time ahead of us.  I’ve pre-posted  here on the blog for each day that I will be gone . . . SO, you will have an opportunity to follow along daily with what our itinerary is.  Of course, we will be open to where God leads us, even if that means changing our schedule, but I’ve posted what we have down as our tentative daily schedules.  Please check back to see what we are up to, and to find daily prayer requests, prayer points for our team, and a team members name for you to pray for each day.

What we are doing today:

Saturday December 27th 2008
Depart Springfield
1 hour layover in Detroit, and a 5 hour layover in Paris.
Spend one night on the flight over the Atlantic
24 hours travel time from Springfield to Bamako

Prayer points:

We have a very short layover between our first flight, and our international flight.  Please pray for good weather conditions, and no flight delays!

Pray for safety & rest during travel for the team and their health each day.  Psalms 4:8 & Psalms 121:7-8

Today, pray for team member Randy (leader).

Christmas pt.2

Christmas part deux … My brother and his family came over this morning for our family Christmas … Started out with cinnamon rolls, thanks Harold, and ended with a frenzy of gift wrap flying and presents emerging.

It was a great morning . . . I got a few final things I needed to pack for the trip (sunscreen, bug spray, hand sanitizer, undies ), a bottle of my favorite cologne, a head lamp, and several gift cards for some of my favorite places!

My dog got a new ball for Christmas, but I think she’s getting old, she didn’t want to play for more than a few minutes!!

So now, the hustle and bustle of the holiday as come to a screeching halt and it is time to transition into final preparations for leaving tomorrow.  I’ve got one last load of laundry to do when I get back home today, and then will double check all my luggage to make sure I’ve got everything that I need taken care of.

I’ve been asked several times in the last week or so if I was “ready for the trip” or if I was “excited for the trip” and my answer has always been, yes.  I’m not really sure if I can be prepared for this trip.  I’ve read and studied all of our material, learned about the culture, taken all the necessary steps to be ready to go, but not sure if I can really be prepared for what God has in store for the next 2 weeks.  My best preparation is coming before the Father and just completely surrendering my thoughts, fears, expectations to Him and asking Him to use me however He sees best … my response is just to be obedient to what He says.

I have no doubt that God is going to do amazing things on this trip.  I’ve just thought and expected that He would be doing the “great work” among the people that we are going to minsiter to, and I trust He will do great things within the Kogoro and Fulanke tribes.  However in the last week I’ve had 2 seperate people, who don’t know each other in the slightest tell me that God was going to do something big in my life while I was on this trip.  I almost dismissed the first  comment as something they were just saying in general about the trip, but then when another person said almost the exact same thing, I took notice.  Honestly, that is what “scares” me the most about going, because I’m comfortable  where I am . . . I mean spiritually I know I’ve still got leaps and bounds to grow, but I’m really okay where I am and I’m not sure I want to go through anything “big” from the Lord.  That sounds terrible I know, but does it make sense?  Regardless, I know that God is sovereign and whatever He wants or does to or through me I want that.  In my heart I just want what He wants, so I submit to that and surrender to all He has for me during this experience.  I love you all, and look forward to sharing with you all of the amazing things God does in Mali.

Merry day-after Christmas! Here are a few more pics from today:

Christmas pt. 1

Slept in at my parents today!!  woo-woo!  We aren’t doing Christmas as a family (parents and brother’s family) until tomorrow, SO no need to get up early here.  My parents and I did have a good breakfast together this morning, and then started making final preparations for our extended family to all be here for the day.  My moms family all came here for Christmas, it was the first time in several years that EVERYBODY was able to be together.  We had about 25 people in our little house for several hours today, it was a great time.  It was fun watching the kiddos open their presents, and then our family wrapped a “gift” for each of the gifts that we bought through Samaritan’s Purse, and spent a moment praying for those gifts and the people who would receive them.  I am so grateful for a strong Christian family!

So, tomorrow morning ( I think the time is dependent upon how late my brother and sister-in-law can keep my nephew asleep!) our family will have our Christmas together … we’ll start with a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls that a family friend dropped by this evening, then gifts.

I’ll try to post some more tomorrow, but until then, I’ll leave you with some pictures of the day.

I’m trying … random Christmas thoughts

It seems like every day as I’m going to bed I think about my poor little ol’ blog and the lack of attention I’ve given it recently, I’ve been trying, but have been busy, and this is one of the things that has been put on the back burner.

I didn’t realize, however, how long it had been since I posted anything until I got a comment from a friend of mine today from my last post “3 weeks”.  Well,  3 weeks has now turned into just 10 days until we leave for Africa.  How exciting!  Honestly, that has been consuming a lot of my thought life lately, but among that, I’ve been thinking a lot, and gaining a greater appreciation for this time of year.

It seems that during this time of the year many people begin to make preparations and get ready to celebrate the day we call Christmas, sort of, as a special time to celebrate the last holiday of the year with family and friends.

I’ve been working part-time in a retail store for the last year for extra moo-lah, and I’ve witnessed in the weeks leading up to Christmas that shoppers are busy walking the aisles of stores, filling the parking lot at the mall and searching for those perfect gifts for moms, dads, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, kids, etc.   It is that time of year for spending way too much money on gifts that people really probably don’t need, and will likely return the next week after the lines have all gone down at the “customer service” desks of stores across the country.  Having experienced first hand the Christmas season from a retail perspective, it is sometimes hard to see that level of happiness and peace, but overall (with the exception of a few hot-heads, and a few shoves through the crowds) I think that, for the most part, people do seem to be in a somewhat brighter mood during this season.

Families decorate trees that they bring INTO their homes, are surrounded by the smells of pine, fresh baked goodies, and wassail, and take in all the shimmering lights that illuminate the houses in the neighborhood.

It is a time of year to get together with family and gorge yourselves on yet another big holiday meal, overdoing it like always, and regretting it shortly thereafter.  It is a time of year for sending and receiving Christmas letters to update friends and family with details of the past year, for making small talk with relatives at the family get together that you may have preferred to not have seen in the first place.I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and asking myself: what does Christmas really mean to me?  Why do we do all of these things during this time of year? What is all of this celebration REALLY about? Is it more about all of this outer celebration, or is it really more about an inner celebration?

I’m sure you would all respond differently if you were asked the question “what does Christmsas mean to you”  based on where you are currently in your life.  There is no right or wrong answer I guess.

It’s different for me as I grow “wiser”, I see things differently now than I did during my childhood.  I was always more concerned with getting finished with the reading of the Christmas story so that I could get to that big, red, shiny package under the tree that had my name on it.   Now, I think I’m more in tune with a deeper, inner celebration.  It isn’t just the day of Christmas that is special to me, but I’m learning how incredibly special every day is because of the One who created it.  The day that we celebrate as “Christmas” is obviously very special because it is a day we set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus who came to save the world from their sins.  This year in particular, I’ve thought a lot about why Jesus came.  My thoughts have often gone to the cross over the last few weeks, and the sacrifice that was made there.  That is why Jesus came, that is why this tiny baby was born, but it didn’t end there … He rose!

I heard this great song by Phil Wickham called True Love, it gets me going!  Jesus is alive!

So, that’s what I’m taking from this season.  This crazy, busy, stressful time, when it seems like there is no way that everything that needs to get done is going to get done, I’m resting in the fact that as I celebrate the coming of Jesus this Christmas, I know personally why He came, and am eternally grateful for that!

So, what does Christmas mean to you?

Blessings to you this Christmas.

Eric

Dear Eric…

Dear Eric,

I’ve missed you . . . seems like back when we started this thing a few months ago, you couldn’t stop spending time with me . . . you were always excited to spend time with me, and everything was . . . well, exciting. But now, it seems like you’ve grown distant, I never see you anymore . . . other people are starting to notice that you aren’t spending much time with me anymore.  I want to know, is it something I’ve done?  Did I make you mad?

I miss you,

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