Sailing together in Jesus’ boat…

by | Jan 21, 2017 | Ethiopia, Health, South Africa

“Jesus commands us to get in the boat with Him to cross over to the other side…it is not the other way round.” While at first this seems to be a rather simple statement, the words of the speaker at chapel this past Thursday at Trinity School for Ministry struck a chord. When one seeks to follow Jesus, you follow, you do not lead, and when you follow where He leads, exciting things happen…storms are calmed and demoniacs are set free.
So we have climbed into the boat with Jesus…again…
This past week, our first week back in the US, has been both uplifting and encouraging. We had a debriefing meeting with the SAMS leadership, and a wonderful luncheon given in our honour. We attended many lunches and dinners with dear friends, and visited with Barb Costa in her lovely home where we have been staying. We heard wonderful sermons in the chapel and attended informative lectures on Discipleship with the Rev Dr Amy Schifrin. People we have never met before would come up and tell us they have been praying for us. Quite a few students told me that they had read my doctoral dissertation on Missions. Really? Apparently, they were told to do so by the faculty. And we also were told: “You two are so stinking cute!” Thank you Lord…you have spoiled us.
We will also be attending a “class” on Monday on how to prepare short-term missionaries taught by our very own Lynn Bouterse of SAMS-USA. Thanks Lynn!
God willing we will leave Ambridge on January 24, and sleep over in Charlotte with our youngest and his family. Amelia is over a year old now…we last saw her when she but a babe in arms. On January 25, we plan to leave for Greenville and will be with Larry and Tess Worley until the 27th. 
SOOO…Greenville friends, let’s hear from you…we have only one night this time round, so we could plan a general get together…but we shall return…so stay tuned…
On January 27 we plan to leave for Mobile to be with our oldest and his family…we haven’t seen them for an even longer period of time as last time they were all sick and could not join us at Camp St Christopher’s. We hope to attend Holy Spirit Anglican on January 29…they have been great prayer warriors and supporters and we long to see them again too. Our children have planned a family getaway for us all in the GA mountains so, God willing, we will all be together even though only for a brief period of time.
On February 20 we plan to leave for Charleston to see friends and supporters in both the Diocese of the Carolinas and the Diocese of South Carolina. We will be staying at Camp St Christopher’s so we hope to see many of you while we are there. On February 26 we will be speaking at the Historic Church of the Epiphany in Eutawville, SC…but the other days and nights are wide open!
On February 27 we plan to leave for Greenville and will stay there until early March…see, I told y’all Greenvillians to stay tuned!
That’s as far as we have planned for now…
While we are still in the same boat…with Jesus and with SAMS-USA…we will be crossing over to a different side.
God willing, we will join “Growing the Church”, a team of committed Anglicans who seek to teach discipleship, prayer, and missions to individuals and groups in parishes in seven southern African countries: Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, and the St Helena island group. We hope to be based in Kenilworth, South Africa, a suburb of Cape Town.
However, as the cost of living is higher in South Africa (especially the rent!) than in Ethiopia, we will have to raise US$1,500 per month more than what we currently receive. SAMS will also have a special project account for us for transportation, as we will be travelling quite a bit from Diocese to Diocese and country to country. Both of these can be accessed in the same giving page on the SAMS-USA website: https://give.samsusa.org/missionaries(Please note that while our current SAMS-USA page still has us down as missionaries to Ethiopia, Bonnie Walker is busy creating an amazing new page for us as missionaries to Southern Africa!)
Will you hop into this boat with us? We already have a number of faithful friends hoisting the sails with us, so to speak, and we are and always will be eternally grateful for y’all.
Do you perhaps know of others who might want to partner with us in this new adventure? Please let us know who they are or let them know who we are!
We can only promise exciting things happening ahead as the church in Southern Africa stands at a crossroads…political solutions have failed in so many ways and the people are disillusioned…South Africa, among others, is now listed as one of the most dangerous tourist destinations in the world! The folks here need Jesus and what better method than to come alongside and walk with them as Jesus walked with His disciples? Discipleship, prayer, and missions.

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Let’s go sailing together, shall we?

New Year

by | Jan 19, 2017 | South Africa

One of the best things about living in South Africa is that the country virtually shuts down during the Christmas season. Not only is it the holidays, but it is also our big summer vacation. Many people are off for the three-four weeks, including us at Growing the Church. For Americans, who struggle to get off for two weeks during the year, a month-long holiday is a treasure.

I thoroughly enjoyed my leave. I spent most of the time reading and sleeping, two of my favourite things. We had such a hectic year; the rest did me wonders.

I love to read, and I read these books over the break:

  • The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. A new friend recommended this book to me, andcircle-maker it was a godsend, giving me a fresh new look on prayer. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs new energy breathed into his/ her prayer life.
  • The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. It was the second time I read this book, and I loved it, depressing as it was. Yes, I still love my classics. The nerd is still in me.
  • Spring Torrents by Ivan Turgenev. I love the Russians, but I have never before read Turgenev. I will definitely be reading him again.
  • Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. I had to get in at least one Dickens’ novel. This was little-dorritsuch a good book, and I did shed some tears while reading it. If you don’t feel like reading the tome (although I would recommend it), the BBC produced a wonderful version of the book a few years ago. It stars Claire Foy, who is getting a lot of recognition for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Netflix’s The Crown. Check out the book and the movie at Amazon. And if you haven’t watched The Crown, start that series today.

So, we’re back at work. It’s a new year and a new start. Come on 2017!

A little about…

by | Jan 18, 2017 | Ecuador

Date: 
2017-01-18 00:00:00

Wednesday! This is my long day. I start work at Carmen Bajo around 8:30AM, teach 2 two hour sewing sessions, break for lunch, resume teaching until 4:30PM and then head down the hill to the church to help with an evening women’s group until 7PM. This is a typical day… well actually there is no “typical day” at Carmen Bajo. Often a student doesn’t show up for class and I am left to fill the time slot allotted for teaching. A very meaningful and overwhelming task at hand is organizing the sewing room–wow, such a tiny space that houses so many things! So. Many. Things. 

From what I understand, the sewing program is somewhat of a revolving door. Sewing instructors come and go, leaving behind their project materials. Consequently the sewing room has evolved into a drive-by project room for Carmen Bajo. Unfinished projects and their trail of scraps are stuffed into every drawer, cabinet, and shelf. This disorganization (which could obviously be a hinderance to productive) has somehow become an encouraging reminder of the bigger picture at hand, a nod to those who have gone before me with the same mission in mind — spreading the love of Christ through sewing. Every scrap of useless fabric and garbage bag of uncompleted projects reminds me of Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Let me pick up where one has left off and continue running the race set before me. 

 

xoxo!

Goin’ to the chapel

by | Jan 15, 2017 | Uganda

Each Thursday and Sunday evening we have a Holy Communion service. Students know that I’m very serious about keeping time, and they have much improved upon not entering during prayers or Scripture readings. I’m very proud of them. 

I don’t know whether this is an African thing, or a low church thing, but our students rarely enter the chapel many minutes before the service, if at all. It’s become something of a joke that the Archdeacon (me) comes to invite them to enter the chapel when really, I fail to understand why I have to urge clergy and ordinands to come to church. 

In their defense, at 5:00pm the heat is decreasing, and since they are all required to attend, the time before the service is a good time to fellowship. 

So Thursday, the students were scattered on the lawn outside the chapel as the team was beginning to process. I took this photo just for fun, not to shame them, yet they got the point and entered the chapel. A picture truly is worth more than a thousand words (of correction)!

Continue reading Goin’ to the chapel at Here I Am.

Work at Carmen Bajo

by | Jan 13, 2017 | Ecuador

Date: 
2017-01-12 00:00:00

Life is unpredictable when you are living 9,350 feet above sea level, but at least the views are incredible! On Tuesday I started my project at the sewing studio in Carmen Bajo, a low-to-no-income neighborhood located on a steep mountainside in Quito. The facility at Carmen Bajo serves the community in multiple ways– child daycare, elementary education, sewing classes for teenage girls, an evening group for women, kitchen jobs, and young adult education. The ministry site reaches deep into the community of Carmen Bajo.  You can feel the joy and hope we have in Christ as soon as you enter the building. I am so blessed to be part of such a special place.   

For the sewing project I work with four girls ages 17-22. Pamela, Katy, Merrily and Pamela. Their bright faces and eager hearts give me the encouragement I need, especially when I know little sewing vocabulary in Spanish. Even the simplest task, such as asking the girls to thread a needle, can be quite difficult and takes several attempts at guessing the right word. The silver lining, I am learning more Spanish, and they more English.  I planned to have a translator but here in “Flexaudor”, you need to roll with the punches. Plans frequently fall through and it’s often up to you to find an alternative solution. Thankfully, the Lord knew my path before I set out! Without knowing, I purchased sewing patterns with English and Spanish instructions. From what I can tell, two of the girls can’t read but at least I can read to them and together we can figure it out! 

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:24