DrawingOtherstoChrist

Christmas Comments

2011-12-26T13:35:00.001+02:00

"Everyone" worries about us having a decent family Christmas when we have a prison outreach right on Christmas day, but here we are after the prison (which only took about 3 hours this time!) between lunch and gift time, definitely having a family day.

I'd love to post prison pictures, but that's not ordinarily allowed, so I'll just tell you a little about it. We were invited to speak to a section called Medium [security] C. We were told 900 guys would be there, then, later, it was only 780. I'd say the reality of who showed up, was closer to 300, maybe a little less. But we didn't know that, so we dragged treats for 800 into the prison, just to make sure we were covered. Leftovers are not a problem as we still have another prison outside of town, about an hour and a half or so away, where we need to go soon.

There's some frustration in getting started. I'm not sure waiting would be considered one of my talents, and when I knew 5 kids were waiting for us at home, the pressure was on! I wanted to do a little prison reorganizing and streamlining and speed things up, but we had to wait for ages (it felt like) before things could finally get rolling.

There were oodles of interruptions, guards jingling gigantic noisy bunches of keys, people laughing and passing in the corridor, and prisoners coming in late, but for awhile as Paul preached and drew, there was that holy hush of intent inmates, thrilled to hear about heaven. When Paul put the blacklight on his drawing of heaven and hell, the applause came out loud and fast. There is a hope for murderers and rapists and such, if they will turn to Jesus for mercy. They have only junk to give up, and all Heaven to claim if they trust Him who died for us all. He is good, and it is good to tell ofHim especially on the day we celebrate as his birthday.

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner mostly prepared by Gloria while Paul, James, and I were in the prison.

Joshua initiates Connie into the delights of the new exercise bike. Both Paul and I are both having knee pains, and we've heard an exercise bike may help.

This picture shows off my newest discovery--see my earrings? I can swing the ends up so that the largest bead becomes an ear plug! Why is this so thrilling to me? Well, I discovered it at a service with HUGE speakers, and the music was too loud for me, so this muffles it a bit.

Daniel made us laugh with this toilet paper roll. He opened his Christmas Cracker (my favorite little British/ South African tradition) and said, "Nice!" about the toilet paper roll which is strictly to keep the paper in place, but he thought it was the gift. The gift was really 2 chocolates.

Daniel got his own little tent for Christmas! He liked it so much he slept in it last night.

Connie's so intrigued with Uncle Paul's new book. Connie's 10 months now, and was quite pleased with her first Christmas. Anytime all her people are in one room, smiling at her, is a happy time for her.

Rated PG for violence :-)

2011-12-04T11:30:00.013+02:00

Just a few crammed into our small house to celebrate with us. That's Sarah with the long pretty hair, wearing a skirt and blue top. She the photographer for most of what follows.

Evangel loved the sword fighting, but got "killed" a few times.

Jason, the youth group leader, was not too dignified to get involved.

If you stopped playing for a few minutes, the wind was cold, as Megan demonstrates here.

Looks like Daniel is about to get Ellie! But I can't be sure. Maybe they were on the same team.

Another youth group leader, Ryan, really getting into it. James and Jason must be dead at this point, while Paul supervised the whole thing.

Benjamin was dead for sure. He's not a half hearted type of person. If he got killed, he would do it with gusto.

Megan, Daniel, Ellie, Julia, and Benjamin in a mostly action shot.

I don't like to see my Josh "dead" in this one (he's the red spot on the ground) but it is nice to see Timothy defending his body.

Jesse might be on his way out. The flag gives a little clue about the wind situation. We actually were planning Capture the Flag on the beach, but the sand hits painfully when the wind is this strong, so we shifted to this less painful (?) game.

The dividing of teams looks like a patriotic moment. The kids said cars stopped as they marched to the park with the American flag.

The big guy is mine! and the little one too.

Henry, Evangel, and Andrew in a rare peaceful moment.

Half of Josh, Jesse, James the standard bearer, Ellie, Ben, and Henry Ker.

I am so thankful for our friends here. As I looked over that group, I just love the idea of all that potential! And they're such dear people to come together with us, and risk getting their knuckles smashed, in the celebration of Tim's 14th birthday. Friends are special! And I thank God for them.

Epic picture of Josh!

2011-11-27T18:11:00.001+02:00

Look at the cats’ faces.

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T18:20:00.006+02:00

What a relief! The big feast is over, and I must confess, I got nervous about cooking it this year. Gloria and I have been doing the cooking together for years, so to do it without her left was a little daunting. However, as you can see, I did have 3 assistants.

Spookie, Beulah, and Guylo watched my every move and were very eager to be taste testers. They were ready to chase every nut that fell to the floor, bat my skirt as I walked by, and endure being stepped on a lot, all for the sake of helping me. I'd rather have Gloria to help.

We are still in Vryheid, staying with Gerrie and Rika Ploos van Amstel, who are the parents of our wonderful scheduler, Lizelle. We decided to have a proper American Thanksgiving, and they were eager to have one, so we did the turkey, sweet potato casserole, pecan pies, and the gravy. It was the gravy that stressed me out! I'm not good at it, and haven't made any in years. Gloria does the gravy, and hers is delicious. I probably even lost sleep over that gravy. I considered a package mix, but that's a shame when you've got all those lovely drippings.

I'd like to say I conquered that gravy, but I caved in and yelled, "Darling!" when it wasn't thickening too well, and Paul came and added corn flour til it gelled nicely. Phew!

We had a nice time fellowshipping as we feasted, and everyone seemed to like everything. We went around telling what we are thankful for. Several people mentioned the pecan pie. No one mentioned the gravy. After that we took a long walk to settle the food.

I also don't want to forget a few other things, like the time I heard doors slamming and ran out into the hall yelling, "Joshua, I told not to slam the doors!" and it was Gerrie who can slam his own doors whenever he likes. Oops. One should really not shout at their host.

I've wondered if our GPS gets occasional bouts of demon possession. As Paul tried to get to one school, the GPS led him over dirt roads, grass trails, and through a remote Zulu village filled with staring, wondering people, but never did get him to the school. How do we punish a rebellious GPS? He did finally arrive, over 40 minutes late, and was still able to preach.

Tomorrow Paul is to preach twice more, and we have to pack, but today we're just thankful we don't have to move too much more.

Free in Vryheid

2011-11-13T14:45:00.004+02:00

Since I last blogged, we've been home to Cape Town for about 12 days, then headed back up the N-1 to Jacaranda territory again. I snapped this purple petal trail on the way to church this morning.

We stopped overnight in a tiny town called Geriep Dam, where the main feature is (can you guess?) the dam. A sunset stroll had us captivated with the changing colors on the hills and lake.

I picked just these two out of the oodles we took, but the funny thing is the darker one was taken first, then the light changed and we got this more purpley one before the sun completely quit. It was one of those magical, memorable walks. I guess they can happen at the end of any long, tiring day, but after 9 hours or so of driving, every muscle rejoices in a chance for a good stretch.

"Psalm 90" here is just an example of why we do those long drive. We're preaching the word in season and out of season. Well, Paul does the preaching, and the rest of us do whatever we can.

One special little story, Paul preached at one local school in Vryheid, and a teacher brought a little boy up afterward in tears. His brother was home with a bad back and had missed Paul's preaching. Happily, Paul was able to slip the boy a DVD with chalk talks on it, to show his brother. The boy hid it as Paul instructed, so that he (Paul) wouldn't be stampeded by other kids wanting DVD's, and went away with eyes now made happy.

Vryheid means "freedom" and we're having lots of freedom to preach here. We plan to stay in one house (!) with one family (!) for most of the month of November. We'll even be having Thanksgiving here. I'm thankful!

Vryheid is in the province of Kwa Zulu Natal, and is about 18 hours of driving from home in Cape Town.

I got mauled by a lion

2011-10-20T08:28:00.006+02:00

and I loved it! This 7 week old just about licked me to death with his rough little tongue.

Josh liked the cubs better on the ground than in arms. He got some rather bad scratches on his neck when he was holding one.

Lizelle, on the right, our newly-wed, helper-in-scheduling, guided us to this neat lion ranch on a windy day (clearly illustrated by Evangel's wild hair!) so we could meet these cubs.

Sweet and cuddly! The cubs too.

My idea was to try for a wonderful African Christmas card.

Between the wind and the wigglers, these were more action shots than your average posed pictures.

The noises they made were so funny and adorable. They said, "Ow, ow, ow!" Maybe we'll have that sound on the little video Evangel took.

This one's uplifting, if you focus on our hair.

This one might make a good card! We look pretty happy, though Paul looks concerned about Timmy's cub.

That one looks posed.

I think Timmy's getting needles in his stomach.

Any opinions on which one is the best?

I just feel so blessed that we get these neat experiences while in the line of duty.
"Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." This was one of them for me!

More Mokopane Memories

2011-10-14T10:27:00.003+02:00

A glimpse of a jacaranda tree against a blue sky gives a little thrill. Mokopane is a dry dusty town, but spring has these gorgeous trees all over the place! They line some of the streets which makes me admire those who came before who planted them thinking of the years ahead when all of us unborn people would get to walk in their shade and admire their purpleness.

A major highlight of coming to this part of the country is when we get to be with the Frews. The Lord has blessed them recently with a move to a house in the country, complete with horses for their teen girls to ride! It costs less for them to rent this house, and the owners are very kind as they are ones who share the horses with them.

Paul and I took a walk with David and Tessa. We passed many termite or white ant hills, and I finally had to get a picture of this one, just for my blog. It's about 6'10'' because it's about the same height as Paul.

Wanna know the most shocking moment of our trip? I put both hands on an electric fence at their farm. Ouch.

We did have one good spring storm while we were here. It hailed! Josh got a bunch of the marble-sized hailballs and put them in the freezer to use for ice cubes later.

This last glimpse of a jacaranda tree, right with Piet Potgieter's grave, is impressive. Potgeiter, an Afrikaaner, founded this town, and it's name was only recently changed to Mokopane.

More wedding pictures

2011-10-08T10:07:00.000+02:00

The getaway car? No, just a borrowed moment in a cool Cobra.

The wedding party in action.

The Wedding of the Year

2011-10-03T12:05:00.000+02:00

I present: Mr. and Mrs. Pieter Schoeman!

Lizelle's brother Lewellyn enjoys "sprinkling" a little rice on his new brother in law. :-)

Lizelle was a dreamy bride! Her Dad carried some kind of a gun (paintball?)down the aisle to make sure Pieter didn't get away.

God bless the newlyweds!

Borrowing a screwdriver

2011-09-18T10:42:00.000+02:00

Paul and I went to borrow a screwdriver from a seminary student while we were in Pretoria. We had screwdriver on the brain, to do a little repair job on our broken heater, but the Lord had a testimony to heat up our spirits, even though our heater was beyond repair.

Johan and Lourika were the seminary students who told us of how the Lord had brought from a careless, money loving lifestyle, to sacrifice their money and lifestyle to obey the Lord to have a fruitful life.

Johan is the son of a pastor, and the grandson of a pastor, but he had made his decision to be rich. He was doing a good job at it too, making million rand deals, from the sound of it, when his father in law, who was only in his 50's, died, and he was reminded of how short life is. He began to pray, and read the Bible to find out what the Lord wanted him to do.

First of all, he realized his corporate life could not be pleasing to the Lord, so he resigned.

That caused a few ripples at home! His mother in law was furious, and his wife was quite upset. And she soon discovered she was pregnant, just to add to the fun.

He was now in a high pressure situation, with no job, no plans, and expecting his fourth daughter. The Lord gave him peace, so he told his wife and mother in law that he was at peace, but they were not too impressed.

He continued to read his Bible, and came to Jonah. Jonah's story seemed over-familiar to him, but as he read, things popped out that he hadn't noticed before. He felt like it was his story--running from God, getting into trouble, and then seeking the Lord's will. He felt that the Lord was telling him to go to Nineveh too. He couldn't leave the country without a visa, so he figured "Nineveh" must refer to someplace in South Africa.

Pretoria is the city most like Nineveh. It's a government seat (that could be 3 cities in S.A. as we have 3 capitals, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein) a center of learning, and a center of sports and commerce. It also has a place called "Wonderboom".

You know that gourd that Jonah sits under? In English it's translated a gourd, but in Afrikaans it's called a "wonderboom" or a wonderful tree. In Pretoria there's a whole suburb named after a wonderboom, and Paul has preached in Wonderboom school, and everything.

And then Jonah went east of Nineveh, so Johan looked at what is east of Pretoria, and there was Betshan, the seminary! Now, for a man in his 30's to start over and go to seminary is daunting, to say the least. He told the Lord that he was willing, but he said that the Lord would have to show his wife.

He expected it would take months or even years for the Lord to get through to his wife, as she was not one to read or live by the Bible. He was surprised when she called him home from work (he had found a temporary job) one day to tell him the Lord had answered all her concerns.

Lourika was worried that:

--here was a the new baby coming
-- they had no medical aid (insurance)
--not enough income
-- soon would have to move

The Lord met her and answered her doubts through Proverbs 30:24-28, a passage Paul calls "The Four Little Wise Things". The ants, locusts, conies, and spider reminded her that God provides all our needs, even for little things. She was crying, amazed at direct answers to her concerns.

One more verse assured them when they read in Zecariah 1:1,7 and the 24th day of the 11th month corresponded with their interview with Betshan, to see if they were accepted, but they knew in advance they would be.

There was so much more to this testimony. I wish there could be a picture, but my batteries ran out, and Evangel's batteries were flat too so we have no pictures, but you can just picture a beautiful family, eager to see what God has next for them.
was reading in Proverbs about the four little wise things.

That creative urge

2011-09-18T10:10:00.001+02:00

I think it is ironic, that I, who am undoubtedly the least artistic of our family, am the one with the passion for wall murals. Paul draws with chalk every day, so he can't be expected to start painting the walls for fun, but I would think that our children would catch the joy of painting on walls.

When I was little, I used to lie in bed and imagine painting different things on the window shades in my bedroom. Large blocks of white just call to me like that. Paul's been patient with this. Only once in 19 years of marriage has he whited out any of my creations, and in that case, I was just grateful. It was time to admit defeat and get rid of it.

I am always disappointed in my wall murals. As I mentioned, I'm not talented. In this latest attempt, I was inspired by an anniversary card, which I blew up on a video projector and focused on the wall when it was nice and dark (the neighbors thought we were really up to something!) So all I had to do was choose the lines I wanted on the wall, and trace them, then go back and paint in between the lines. Simple, right? Well, there is a lot that can go wrong.

Before the suspense overwhelms anyone, here's the card that inspired me:

and here is our wall. The kids did help, because they're obedient, and they did enjoy making the neighbors wonder, that night. My niece Ariel helped, because she's nice, and I think she might have a tiny passion for wall murals planted there. She did the hardest part, that tablecloth. I was about to admit defeat and color it all one color, but she was faithful to the little checks.

So I'm disappointed. It never comes out like I'd like it too, but I love it too, because I can see what I hoped it would be. And I suppose it's my creation. I have good memories of the making.

I wonder if this is how God looks at me. I know He loves me, because the Bible tells me so, "For God so loved the world..." But I know I've got to be a disappointment at times. I'm so thankful His son died for my sin. He paid for my escape from hell, for my entrance into Heaven, and for my robe of righteousness by His great sacrifice.

I'm thankful to my Creator!

The great springbok hunt

2011-08-20T19:12:00.000+02:00

I think the one on the right is the big bully who chased the springbok away.

Paul on the cliff overlooking Betshan Seminary

I think we're a rather citified family, for missionaries. We live in an apartment in a city of 3,404,808 people. (Cape Town) We have running water and electricity most of the time, and have nice stores and even malls we can go to. But when we travel, anything can happen! We may sleep in thatched roof huts or go to a Zulu church with the floor coated in dry cow dung or anything!

Last night we started rather late on our family walk because we had been busy on other things. Josh skipped the walk because he was playing with his new buddy Daniel, and Evangel skipped because she's not feeling well, so our skimpy little family of three headed out of the gate of Betshan Seminary where we are staying in two hotel-like rooms under a thatched roof. Betshan used to be a resort called Espada Ranch before the seminary bought it so it is still like a resort in many ways. They have zebras and some antelope on the front section.

On Wednesday a new springbok was introduced to the herd, and the male zebra took offense and chased it. Springboks can spring so this little guy popped over the high fence and was gone. On Thursday they announced it at breakfast so the students could be on the look out. That brings us to our walk.

We headed west, into the sunset and were amazed to see a little silhouette of a springbok bounce across the road! Seconds later, it bounced the other way! I think we saw it five times before we thought to call the Betshan people, as we were clueless on the art of catching a springbok. We kept walking, and lost sight of the bokkie, but 3 guys from Betshan arrived in a bakkie (that's South African for pickup truck) and started hunting. They spotted him in a fenced in field beside the road and gave chase!

It was so exciting! The sun was setting, and the guys were chasing through grass taller then the springbok. We went into the field too, to join the chase. A man who worked there came out to see what was going on, and I think he took care of a dog who wanted to join the chase. I felt so bad for the Springbok, who must have been terrified. It should be a herd animal, and it was all alone, lost, pursued by a bunch of people. With just 6 of us chase, it looked hopeless, so one man went back to the school for more help. I grabbed a jogger who's dad is the head of the school, and he joined the chase.

Then a lady who lived there came home to find a bunch of people in her field. She took it very well, and was very interested. She and Paul decided we could do this "game drive" every Thursday at her house.

Just about the time the reinforcements arrived, the springbok moved into some brush by the fence, and one of the students named Woodford caught it! They covered it's head with a jacket so it would be tranquil, and came carrying the little beastie out to the arriving trucks. By then it was dark, but we were a jubilant group returning to the school.

I love finding lost things. Paul had said during this hunt, "Without the Lord, this will be impossible." I was praying we'd see it, that we'd find it the second time, and then that we'd catch it, and the Lord granted our requests. I know how He feels about the one little sheep that has strayed, so it shouldn't surprise me that He helped us to help that little lost bokkie. "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." I'm thankful the Lord took my sin on Himself and didn't leave me in my anger and other junk.

I'd like to bring lost people to Him, more and more. If anyone who doesn't know God reads this, and is seeking God, I'd love to help you come to Him. I'll answer any questions I can, and I'll pray for you.

Connie

2011-07-22T20:49:00.000+02:00

The Wallet

2011-06-29T07:01:00.000+02:00

I heard a great story at the Biblical World View Summit on Sunday, and I think it should be made into a flash card story for children and told and retold. Until that happens, I just want to blog it. Maybe some CEF person will be cruising around the Internet, and will read it, and say, "Hey, we need to put that on a flash card story!" and it will be told to millions of people around the globe. I'd be glad.

Peter Hammond told the story, and was the chief liver of the story. He is the head of Frontline Fellowship and he and his team go to the frontlines for real. He was in Rwanda helping after the huge massacre of the Tutsis, and he also goes to Sudan, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe--all needy, but dangerous places.

In Rwanda he was impressed with the work of Samaritan's Purse, the group headed by Franklin Graham, and in Sudan he saw a need he thought they could fill. He wrote to them to tell them of it, and a secretary sent a polite letter saying basically, "No." He tried letter number 2, and got a similar response.

Then he heard Franklin Graham was going to be preaching in Cape Town and he got an invitation to a prayer breakfast with Franklin Graham. In a "wise as serpents" move, he rode his motorcycle to the meeting, and entered with his helmet under his arm, knowing full well that Franklin Graham was an avid biker. Sneaky guy!

He got there early, and walked up to Franklin Graham with that helmet, introduced himself, and talked a second or two about biking. Instant rapport!

He told Franklin Graham he knew of a wonderful opportunity in Sudan, in a place called Moruland. Now, Samaritan's Purse had been in Sudan before, and it had been something of a disaster because of the dishonesty and stealing of the people. They had left and were not too excited to go back into a situation like that.

Peter Hammond assured them that Moruland was different. Missionary Kenneth and Eileen Fraser had gone there back in 1920 and started a hospital, a school, and a church. The people were primarily Christians. Peter Hammond told the leaders of Samaritan's Purse, "If you dropped your wallet in the market place, someone would give it back to you."

Samaritan's Purse went to Moruland in Sudan to investigate. They were pretty skeptical about it all, so at one point, one of the Americans (an audacious American, apparently) turned to Peter Hammond and said, "Do you really believe that about the wallet?"

"Yes, I do," Peter reaffirmed.

So as they were passing the market, the man took Peter Hammond's wallet and threw it out the window of the Land Rover!

Peter confesses that he felt sick! Not so much for the contents of his wallet, his ID booklet, etc. but to know so much was at stake! If his wallet was returned, Samaritan's Purse might go ahead and help with the building of a new hospital for the destitute people of Sudan. Thousands of lives might be saved, and people reached for Christ.

If the wallet was not returned, the Samaritan's Purse leaders would know that Peter Hammond had overstated the honesty of the local people, and they were not such a special people. He might also suspect Peter Hammond was not entirely honest! If it was not returned, that hospital might never be built, and thousands of people would continue to be affected by the lack of a hospital.

Peter Hammond spent a miserable night, wondering. The next day the shadow of the wallet overhung everything. It was a long day.

The next evening, a Moru man came with two boys...and a wallet. He found Peter Hammond and told him that the two boys had found that wallet. Peter Hammond was jubilant, and said the looks on the faces of the Samitan's Purse leaders was worth all the agony of suspence.

Those two boys had no idea what was riding on the return of that wallet. But they returned it.

Lord, make me see that my own small choices to do right are so important, and to do right, always.

Count it all joy!

2011-06-23T06:30:00.000+02:00

Paul's coming home tomorrow! That's a joy for sure. While he's been gone for these 2 weeks, we've had some home trials.

a leaking roof

broken washing machine,

car repairs

got yelled at by the neighbor because our dog scared them

struggles with kids school

and other little things. When I called one of the repairmen, he said, "Count it all joy" and launched off into this sermon. I wonder if he isn't a pastor on the side. He was right. We are to count it all joy when we fall into different trials and temptations.

Another little trial was that my brand new camera that my parents sent over with my niece Ariel, just quit working. It was only a week old! I haven't even figured out how to put pictures on this computer, hence the pictureless post. Gloria helped me out on that one. She told me the camera has a rechargable battery. Oh. What a relief!

Yet another trial wasn't so bad at ALL! We have new neighbors and wanted to make some food to welcome them. So I baked a batch of cinnamon rolls with the delicious Cinnabon recipe my friend Margie gave me, but the wretched things failed to rise...so we ate them. Then Evangel was babysitting little Jessie and Holly who live around the corner, and she made mini donuts with them, so she saved out a plateful for the new neighbors, but that was the night it stormed so hard the roof leaked around the chimney, and we couldn't run to the neighbors with donuts in that kind of weather...so we ate them too!

I think we'd get fired from the Welcome Wagon if we were members. Maybe tomorrow I can get that done, more cinnamon rolls AND get them delivered before they slide down hungry Young throats.

In the meantime, I need to read the directions on the new camera so I can post all the fun events of late, but no pictures of food as it gets eaten too fast.

2011-05-29T14:16:00.001+02:00

Peaceful fall day. We're just revelling in all these crunchy fallen leaves, bright colors, and cool nights. At least Paul and I are. (We don't get an autumn like this in our part of Cape Town.) Timmy commented about not liking the leaves.

"Why not?" I demanded.
"You can't sneak up on people in leaves."
Oh. Well, that makes sense, I guess.

We spent one night in stables, and this paper mache rooster ruled the roost. I analyzed him, and would like to make one like him, but it's not going to happen. There's a missing link between my art ideas and my artability.

Josh turned 10 here! Isn't he long and lean? Like a bright red hot dog! My parents sent him that outfit, and he didn't want to take it off for days. The shirt says, "Do you want my autograph now, or after you lose?" and that just tickles his 10 year old funny bone.

Our family is memorizing 1 Timothy 2 right now and I'm liking it, partly because I memorized it before so it is sticking easier then most verses. I like this part "prayers be made....that we may lead a "quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."

We are leading a quiet and peaceable life here in Oudtshoorn! Get this: I haven't gone any where in the car for one whole week! How's that for quiet and peaceable? Paul takes the car every day to the schools. Even if a school is close, his equipment is heavy enough that he wants to drive as close to the spot as he can.

I walk to the grocery store and to whatever necessary stuff we need to buy, and also to explore a little. Oudtshoorn has a lot of touristy things. We have been to the caves, and to an ostrich ranch on other visits, so we haven't done anything big in our free time this time. Saturday we did walk to a chocolate shop called Chocoletier Rococo, and then to a place with goats' milk cheese and fudge, and that little outing was a big hit with the Youngsters. We checked out the pet store, and have been to the Post Office a couple of time`s.

Each evening we have a fire so we all stay in the same room to stay warm, and we read aloud, or do school work. One memorable evening we had two kids struggling over difficult math ideas, so our cozy scene wasn't so fun as when we can read.

For several nights we read the biography of James Chalmers, missionary to cannibals. He was inspiring, even if he did get eaten in the end. He was ready!

Another way we keep warm is to sit in our car (like right now) when the sun is out as the car gets nice and warm.

Election Day

2011-05-18T17:20:00.000+02:00

After a tremendous struggle, we have a victory over technology! My pictures wouldn't upload, for whatever virtual reason, but after days of delays and retries, there we are! We were only at Kwasizabantu for 2 nights this time, and it was nice. Ever since, I've found myself trying to explain to people what is so special at Kwasizabantu, besides the price of the stuff in their bakery. (Really, I could do a whole blog entry on those goodies!)

I would sum it up in 2 words: changed lives. Kwasizabantu in a mission station out in the boonies between Greytown and Stanger. I hear you can see it on Google Earth. People come there to visit or to stay and work. They are a successful community with a great mix of people from many nations. It's a God thing, for sure.

The 10,000 seat auditorium burned down in 2008, and has been rebuilt, better then ever. It looks small in my picture, but we are looking at it from across the airstrip. It's ready for great gatherings. May the Lord continue to bless this place of Zulu revival.

As we traveled, we landed one night in a place called Gunubie, and there was this tree that is 350 years old. Evangel immediately wanted to do a remake of Swiss Family Robinson with a house in this tree. :-)

Cows crossing the road is no big deal. A much better photo would have been the faces of the herders. They were delighted that I was taking pictures of their cows, smiling, instead of frowning about the delay. Cows are the pride and joy of Zulus.

We stayed over one night at the Willows in Port Elizabeth, and I was trying to catch the beauty there in the above and below pictures.

Today is South Africa's election day, and I'm so, so thankful. Frankly, I don't keep up with politics here very much, but my beloved Paul needed a rest, and election day is a holiday, so it's a good thing. He slept about 12 hours, got up, ate breakfast, led us in family devos, and went back to bed for another snooze.

The kids did a half day of school work and I revelled in the chance to do laundry, pull splinters, and blog a bit. It was a relaxed day.

The only problem is I'm reading the book Radical by David Platt, and I was in the mood for action! I'm extra inspired to glorify our great God, and we didn't see many people today, but I can at least tell a few things on this blog, and hopefully the pictures of some of the alluring places we have stayed will upload. (As you saw, they finally did, though I started this on Wednesday, and only got it to happen on Saturday.)

5 Testimonies

2011-05-12T20:09:00.000+02:00

We left Jivannadi Mission yesterday. Sniff. I think this is the first place that has tempted me to leave Cape Town as a base of operations. Let me tell you what won my heart: the people! They are a loveable bunch, I suppose because they are so loving. They welcomed us, gave us a nice place to stay (our house on stilts). I collected a few testimonies there.

One Indian lady who interviewed me for the radio station is such a honey. After the interview, we just sat on the lawn and talked and enjoyed each other. Yogie was from a Hindu family who turned to Christ when her dad died. She said the Christians reached out to her and her mom when the Hindus were leaving them alone. Her mother and brother began going to church, and she turned on the radio to hear a preacher from India. Her mom and brother were a little confused by different things they had heard at church, so as the three of them talked, she told what she had learned from her radio preacher. They all started listening to him, and were saved and baptized later.

Their family lived on a huge farm, but that ended abruptly shortly after her father died. Five men sneaked up on the roof of their home. They waited until my interviewer left for work, and then entered the house through the roof. Her Dad had made a bathroom in their bedroom and covered the entrance with a mirror so that no one who didn't know, would know it was there. Her mom hid, praying hard, hid in that bathroom. She prayed they wouldn't find her, and she prayed her cell phone wouldn't ring. (It was new and she didn't know how to shut it off.) She could hear them in her bedroom, saying in Zulu, "Where is she?" as they opened every cupboard and searched.

The Lord kept her safe, but they moved out of that home immediately. Yogie is a radio announcer for Good News Christian Radio now, and a good one because she acts very interested in her subject and gets them talking, and she's very professional.

Michelle works at the radio station, does announcing and organizing, and interviewing. She also took good care of us and made sure we had all the stuff we needed. She shared how the Lord had brought her out of drugs when she was about at the end of her rope. The Lord delivered her from smoking and the drugs, and we got into a good sharing time about others, like my uncle, who were delivered immediately from smoking.

She also delivered me to a speaking engagement at Umhalanga Pre-primary School. That was a rare event for me. I spoke to the moms of the preschoolers, and really enjoyed that opportunity. My new friend was an encouragement in my case of nerves. That sounds like a skimpy testimony, but her life was a rich one. Watching a woman of action gets my blood pumping to do more for our Lord.

On Friday evening two ladies had us over for a Malaysian meal. It was in the home of Althea, an Indian woman who has been at Jivannadi for 30 years. She gave us a very animated account of her testimony. She came to Christ after hearing the gospel on Trans World Radio. She listened for three days, and prayed, knowing her Hindu family would not approve. She kept it a secret for a time, but when the truth came out, she was kicked out of her home, straight into the rain!
Imagine how that would feel, as most everyone she knew was a Hindu, so where would a new Christian go? She knew one Christian "auntie" and went to her, to stay there until things had cooled down and she was eventually welcomed into her own home again.

I think it was before this that she had been pressured into marrying a man of her parents' choosing. He was a wicked man, and they eventually separated. As they were separated, she continued to study her Bible and learned that God hates divorce! So she decided she would try to reconcile with her husband. He seemed agreeable, but he had one condition, she must become a Hindu again. She could not deny the Lord. I'm not sure how long it was after this that her husband took his own miserable life.

She later came to Jivannadi Mission and now has a rich ministry. She has a daily, hour long program for ladies, is a counselor, and helps in other ways.

The Malaysian lady is also a missionary. Aunty Betty was raised by a Buddhist mom and a nominally Christian dad. She only got saved when she was a little older. She went to school in Australia and then was a missionary to Sri Lanka. She told a heart wrenching story. She told of how she was asked to teach a Bible study in Sri Lanka. The ladies didn't bring Bibles or anything, so she wondered how many of them were really Christians. So she began by asking, "Do any of you know Princess Diana?" Many hands lifted.

Next she asked, "Would one of you come forward and tell me how you met her. I'd love to hear what she's like." They admitted they didn't really know the Princess, they just knew about her.
"Do any of you know Jesus?" was her next question. She didn't even have to explain. Some of the ladies began to cry as they realized they knew about Jesus but didn't know him. Many were saved that day.

The vicar of the church sought out the Malaysian. Do you think he wanted to congratulate her? No, he told her he didn't want that "born again" stuff in his church. She was not welcome back. "Woe to you... [who] shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in" ( Matt. 23:13).

My last lady is Dr. Ida Scudder. I'm reading a book called Dr. Ida, by Dorothy Clarke Wilson. I'm loving it! She was a missionary doctor to India. In fact, her grandparents and many of her relatives were missionaries. At the time she was alive, they had served a total of over 1000 years as missionaries on different fields.

I loved how her parents got engaged. In church in Massachusetts, her future dad, John, slipped her future mom, Sophia, a note, that had 2 John 5, "Now I beseech thee lady...that we love one another."

Without hesitation, Sophia sent back a note with Ruth 1:16-17, "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go...."

Isn't that sweet? I love it. Makes me want to go back and re-do our engagement. Forget the cemetery, the car in front of my parents' house, the kiss...um, maybe not. I'll keep my own story, but I do love hers too.

Throughout her book, Wilson gives mini testimonies that just whet the appetite for more of the story, and I wish there were dozens of books about these heroes of the faith in India. I have read a few, such as Ten Fingers for God about Paul Brand, and Granny Brand about Paul's mother. I have one about Paul's wife Margaret too.

Dr. Ida was a champion of women's medicine in India. She had an unusual call to India. She had spent her teen years in the USA and chose that as her place to live. But she had to go visit in India again as her mom was very sick. While she was visiting, three men came in separately, but all in the same night, trying to find a woman doctor to treat their wives. None would have a male see her. All three women died, and Ida Scudder's eyes were finally opened to the need there. She got qualified as a doctor, built hospitals, and trained others to serve their own country. She sounds tireless! She took in orphans, did roadside doctoring, and built a vacation home where she could invite others. That's as far as I've read, but I'm enjoying it.

I hope I continue to hear and collect testimonies. The way God changes us is one sign of His power! I just realized that all 5 of these above are single women. They have a freedom to do all kinds of things that us married women cannot, and I'm impressed with them. I love it when single women use their single years to do big things for the Lord, instead of waiting for "Mr. Right" before they get busy.

Jivannadi

2011-05-07T18:13:00.000+02:00

My 3 kiddos have been busy making sure Mother's Day is special.

I am blessed to have these kiddos! Evangel and Timothy are both taller then me, and I think Josh will pass me next year. That is just a comment, not why I'm blessed. We have really enjoyed staying at this mission. This mission is a little community of believers actively seeking to obey the Lord in everything and love their neighbors as themselves. They have welcomed us generously and we've enjoyed great hospitality.

Many of the people live in cute little "Wendy Houses" like this one.

The gardens are productive. Timothy grabbed this picture of "paw paw" or papaya. They're near the trampoline where we liked to go. They're almost ripe, but the monkeys might get them first.

There's our whole gang trying to get a decent picture to send my Mom for Mother's Day.

Look at all those bananas!

Paul is posing with Aunty Betty from Malaysia. She wanted a picture with "Goliath and the teeny, tiny Asian."

One of my favorite things about Jivannadi is their radio station, and the fact that they have wanted me on it! It's nice to be asked to speak and to be useful, and it's also a good way to get to know the workers here in the interviews. So tune in to 93.6 GNCR Good News Christian Radio to hear Paul, Evangel, and me as all got to help on programs.

101

2011-05-03T09:29:00.000+02:00

Look where we're staying! It's a log cabin with 3 bedrooms, shiney wood floors, and nice wide porch. We're blessed! I have another blog called www.100houses.blogspot.com that may become a book about some of the ways God has fulfilled his promise to give a hundredfold to those who have left houses and lands for the sake of the Lord.

The grounds at Jivannadi Mission are rich with gorgeous flowers. I love the velvety centers of this hibiscus.

The view from the porch can be summed up in one word: green!

Yesterday we had a special invitation to an elegant Indian home overlooking the Indian Ocean.

What a meal! Breyani, macaroni and cheese, roti's, kabobs, stir-fry, and more were made with low doses of curry for us wimpy Americans. Our host Eugene Nadsen had suffered a heart attack just a few days earlier, so he was eating very carefully. Pastor Greg Denashen is there above. He's the director of Jivannadi Mission. We watched TV reports on Osama bin Ladan's demise before we had dessert.

Such a lovely thing to get together with other believers, to laugh, to relax, to share, to learn, and to get a glimpse of how blessed we are to be part of the Lord's family.

Good Friday!

2011-04-23T11:51:00.000+02:00

I love this picture of us Youngs with Anton and Edna Roos, the most gracious hosts who have arranged our 8 day stay and schedule in Port Shepstone. Anton had Paul speak to over 5000 in schools just in the first 4 days, and for that, we bless him. Edna is fun and kind. She invited us to do laundry in her house, and Evangel and I had such a fun visit with her.

But aren't we a funny little group, caught on camera when most of us weren't ready. It makes me smile.

This cutie little monkey was camera fodder on one of our rare stops on the long ride to Hibberdene.

I have had a birthday since I last wrote! I had to do the family tradition of modeling so that I could properly thank my Mom for the gifts, and this was the best of the pictures that came out of that. I am half way to 90, which is a thought provoking mark to have passed.

Evangel made me one of her little creations on a dessert fork...see it? It's a little brownie with whipped cream and a cherry on top. She and Paul found me this fictional biography of Jane Austen for a birthday present. I've never been a Jane Austen freak, not like the mother of Franklin Graham's wife who named their daughter Jane Austen, and calls her Jane Austen, but I was interested, and am growing more so as I read. Evangel bought the video Sense and Sensibility, and I am moved to see it again as I have read something of what went into its writing. Her life is encouraging me. I also would like to write more, but she went through years of no book writing when her life was unsettled.

And my boys blessed me with an unusual gift, guppies and an angel fish. OK, so they can ony be seen if you zoom way in, and the angel fish has already gone to his reward, but I like that my boys know what their mom likes!

Trip Flavors

2011-03-27T13:41:00.001+02:00

Every trip we go on is colored or flavored by our family read-alouds. This trip we loaded up on cassette tapes (one of the perks of having a 2004 car--it still has a cassette player!) a CD, and books to enrich the trip. There are big ol' books written, plus scads of little articles, on why it is good for a family to read together, and we agree! It gives us harmony, and lots of similar little jokes. That first book, Family Sabbatical, was a fun fiction by Carol Ryrie Brink, the same lady who wrote Caddie Woodlawn. Now this book is not so good that someone could get saved reading it, or dedicate themselves to the mission field or anything. This is just good in the sense of warm fuzzies, lots of laughs, and a close family who reminded us of ourselves. The Dad gets a year sabbatical leave from his teaching job, so the whole family goes to France where he can do research, the mom can write a novel, and the 3 kids try having a French governess for awhile. From now on, if anyone calls, "My child!" we'll all instantly remember a French castle and a doll down a hole, for example, and Abyssinia has become a family joke word for "I'll be seeing you" thanks to George (Shorges) in the book. Beyond Survival, the middle book, was not a family read aloud, and should not technically be on here at all, but it's in the picture and is worth explaining. That book gets my creative juices flowing in all things homeschooling. It is inspiring, while also being a fun read. I haven't read it to the family, but they have heard me tell a few stories from there at the dinner table. The third book is the best in the eternal sense of being a GOOD book, helpful not just to amuse us, but also edifying and inspiring and challenging to a sacrificial life of leading others to the Lord. It is Peace Child. We have seen the video of it, and want to see it again, but the kids and I had never read the book. It does have some EXTREMELY gross little parts as we have to learn about this degraded culture in New Guinea, but to see the Lord touch the hearts of these impossible looking people, is a wonderful story. Don Richardson tells the story in such a way that we care and are glad when the headhunters turn to the Lord and away from cannibalism. Our car was not functioning for most of the 2 weeks we were away. We got it back on Friday, and then headed for home, and our choice to listen to was Lords of the Earth, also by Don Richardson. We have this on cassette, and it's a little bit too beloved. It's worn out, but we could hear enough between squeaks to remind us of how good that story is. For people to die for Christ, and then have their killers surrender to Jesus because of an "accident" is such a good story. (Ariel, if you're reading this, Peace Child is part of the guinea pig thing!) If anyone wants a copy of Peace Child or Beyond Survival www.christianbook.com would have it. Family Sabbatical is probably way out of print, but http://www.abebooks.com/ is my usual place to look for out of print books. We just found it at the CAFDA book shop in Tokai, and for locals, your best bet is just to borrow our copy. :-) While we're enjoying books from New Guinea, I'll mention Otto Koning's ''sermon'' CD's again, The Pineapple Series for sale at iblp.org That is our family FAVORITE SERIES OF SERMONS IN THE WORLD. On this past trip, a lady was asking me to recommend good videos, and I love having good videos recommended to me, so I'm going to make an effort to recommend and blog about our family favorites.

Only in the Karoo...

2011-03-22T18:36:00.000+02:00

This perfectly symmetrical picture of Timothy (even the Taco Bell Chihuahua's ears are symmetrical!) is such a stunning example of symmetry. It kind of reminds me of my "Saint Vicki" picture, my first FB profile picture.

For real! This donkey cart pulled right up to the pumps. I didn't see anyone raise an eyebrow, until I started taking pictures then the eyebrows raised at me! These guys were putting air in a spare tire, just so no city slicker is deceived into thinking they drink petrol (gasoline).

The Beaufort West Trap

2011-03-22T11:36:00.000+02:00

Bonny is a 6 week old puppy we're hanging around with in Bloemfontein.

We had some interesting moments on the way to Bloemfontein. Did I say moments? I should have said days!

Paul had to go ahead on Greyhound and leave us in Beaufort West. Never fear, we did not starve! We found bananas to eat.

We found a sushi place we could have eaten at too, and since it's in the Karoo, the sushi place is called Karushi. Get it? Karoo shushi. Cute, but the kids were of the opinion we didn't want sushi, even if it came in a restaurant with a cute name. I was of the opinion it would be cheaper to buy food in the grocery store, and it's best to be frugal, particularly in the middle of a breakdown.

We explored the whole length and width of Beaufort West. We went through the museum in a church in the middle. Josh was impressed with this machine gun.

The house where Christiaan Barnhard grew up is part of the museum tour. His dad used to be the pastor of the church, so it is next to the church that is now a museum. Chris Barnhard did the first heart transplant in the world, and we in South Africa are thrilled that he was a South African.

So Paul made it to Bloemfontein to preach by Monday morning by taking the bus. The kids and I hung around for the car, but they were not able to fix it since Kia's are not too common in the Karoo. Finally we gave up and took the bus too, arriving in Bloem. at 1 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday. The car came on Saturday on the back of a truck from some dear people who saved us over R9000. (about $1500 !!) for towing. We don't know them at all, but they are friends of Marie, our beloved Bloem. hostess.

Now we just hope and pray it will be fixed in time for us to drive home at the end of the week.

Meetings here have been exciting. Paul preached to over 5000 in schools during the week. Church Sunday was at a very friendly, welcoming church, with lots of familiar faces and even a few good friends.

While we were here, our hearts were also turned toward home, praying for my Dad in America as he was admitted with an enflamed pancreas which sounds scary. He's 85, and rather frail, so we are pleased that he is home again, doing better.

Off to the mosque

2011-03-11T15:16:00.000+02:00

This morning Paul went, as usual, to preach in a school. He's been doing lots and lots of new ones --new to him, that is--for the whole 5 months we've been in Cape Town. This was another new one.

He found the intersections easily and early as traffic was good. But there was no sign of a regular school, just a mosque. He asked a guy on the corner, who confidently told him that the school he wanted was right there, at the back of the mosque. Hmmm. This was an unusual situation.

First he called the school to confirm his appointment, and the lady agreed he was in the right place, and someone would open up for him soon. He told them he had a Christian message that would help the kids' behavior [if they repented], and they said they were not strictly a Muslim school; they had a few non-Muslims and it was all right for him to come.

Next, he called home to ask for prayer. I was in the shower and didn't hear the call, but got pretty fervant when I heard the news.

He went ahead and preached Two Ways which has a picture of Heaven on the right, with a cross and a narrow road leading to it, and Hell on the left with the broad way leading to it. He also gave out books and DVD's as he usually does. He noticed the teachers especially wanting Kent Hovind DVD's with his c reation vs. evolution message.

I get goosebumps thinking of all those books going out! It is good. God bless them! We don't know when another opportunity like this will come up, but this once was more then we thought would happen, so it can happen again!

Get this: they applauded for him THREE times when he was done!

Pause here and sing, "I stand amazed..."

A month ago he got to preach in a school of about 1200 kids where 60-70% were Muslim. "Thy will be done."

Connie from the Cabbage Patch

2011-03-01T11:33:00.000+02:00

"What in the world is this green stuff?" wonders Connie.

"Ewww! It's cold!" I don't know how Anne Geddes does it, but the more I try to imitate her, the more I admire her photos.

Up close and personal, wearing a hand me down that my big cousin Evangel wore 15 years ago!

Joe is the number one ball handler in the WORLD! He can dribble 6 balls at once, and has the world record for dribbling the longest. He can spin them all over the place, but what to do with a newborn?!?!?

Baby Connie in all her glory! I wish I could control the order of these photos getting on here. I just think I've got it figured out, and here's Connie in the middle of 2 Joe's.

Joe gave us a demonstration right in our driveway! We're privileged folks. It was way cool.

Connie Continues

2011-03-01T11:03:00.000+02:00

Is Timothy trying to make a football enthusiast out of his new cousin?

The happy moment when Daniel meets baby sister with Gloria being greatly relieved that it was happy.

Babies have such special moments!

The little pink person

2011-02-21T07:30:00.000+02:00

Actually, 2 pink people in this photo!Cousin Evangel is thrilled with our new little person.

Consuelo loves her own hand.

Gloria's soooo happy!

We snapped this one as they wheeled Gloria and Connie through the hallway. I just melted into tears at the sight of the little sweetie.

OK, for the ladies, I know you need the full, detailed story. Gloria was very uncomfortable during the night Saturday night, but didn't feel like it was labor. At breakfast I didn't think anything, til she said she had been sick. I insisted she go lie down, to see if the pains would stop. We had an early church, so I figured we'd be home early and we could help when we got home.

Well, our church may have started at 9:30, but it was an anniversary celebration, and went on for hours! We never got home til after 12:30, but, happily, when Paul saw that there were hundreds of people there, he sent me back home for extra books & DVD's. That interlude at home was providential!

While I was at home, I realized she must be in labor. I figured the first question the doctor would ask is, "How far apart are the contractions?" so Gloria started timing them. When I saw it was only 2 minutes between some of them, it became clear: it was time to go! James and Gloria headed off for Constantia to the hospital, while Tim and I had to go back to church, but I figured it would be about over since it was now 11:30.

Wrong! Paul had just been called up to preach. It was torture to sit still for that last half hour, but we made it. Danielito, James and Gloria's 2 year old, was with us now, and he did a good job of keeping quiet in church. I was sure glad we only had him for that last half hour. If he had been there for the first 2 hours of music and all, it would have been rough.

This church, by the way, was only about a 5 minute drive from our house. After the service was over it took over 1/2 hour to get cleaned up and distribute books and stuff. We dashed home, I slapped some chicken burgers in the fry pan while Evangel meticulously put a salad together. She's a perfectionist, even in a rush. We woofed our lunch way too fast, and Evangel and I dashed to the hospital with a chicken burger for James, leaving Timmy to joyfully (more or less) do the dishes.

At the hospital, we couldn't find them. I called James on his cell phone, but he didn't know where he was, but he said he was in scrubs and it was happening! We did find a nurse named June, who quickly became our friend! We gave her the video camera to take James. She was so nice, but she couldn't find the theater either! She had us laughing so hard. She put on her surgical scrub shoes, and walked right out of them. She kept dropping things. She put us to work pushing the incubator, but throughout all she kept up a cheerful chatter, and eventually we followed her to the operating room.

We had to wait outside, and a blond nurse kind of muscled us into a different waiting room. Undoubtedly she was more the efficient type, but not half so friendly.

I rather enjoyed that lull of waiting. My lunch settled down. I guess Evangel's did too, because she wanted to go down to the Coke machine, and the chocolate machine, and the jelly bean machine, and....finally June breezed by! She told us Gloria would be coming soon on a gurney, so we whipped our cameras out and waited. Evangel got that first picture above, while I was wiping my eyes!

James came through next, passing out tracts to all who had helped. We settled back into our waiting room for a few minutes, then James came out to get us so we could go visit. Gloria was so radiant! I think she wants a slew of visitors so all can see her beautiful daughter. She wanted us to come back in the evening to try a shoe picture, like we have of Evangel sitting in Paul's big shoe.

We did try, but as tiny as she is, she didn't fit in the boot we brought. We're going to try again with a proper high top basketball shoe like Evangel had.

James and Gloria are thrilled with how quickly this all went, and how much less tired they were then with Daniel 2 1/2 years ago when they did an all night attempt at labor and delivery, and then an emergency run across town to have a C-section. This one we just knew it had to be a C-section right from the beginning.

Connie weighs 3.1 kilos and looks like perfection! Her full name is Consuelo Katherine Young!

We hope she comes home on Tuesday, Washington's birthday, which was supposed to be her birthday too, til she took matters into her own hands. We thank our merciful Lord for her safe arrival, and for all the hyper joy that has come with her!

Countdown to Connie: 9 Days to Go

2011-02-13T17:13:00.001+02:00

We had a little Baby Shower for Gloria with the ladies from our ladies Bible study.

Bonny made the "cake" out of diapers while Evangel carved the watermelon in the shape of a cradle. Rice cakes were for those of us who were dieting, but we had cake too, so I'm not sure how much good those rice cakes did. Maybe it was a psychological goodness.

Church was interesting this morning. Our family got seated with the choir. We were the only ones not wearing white shirts and pink ties or scarves, so it was obvious we weren't in the choir, but our lack of familiarity with the service was probably obvious to all. We were a step behind on the sitting and standing, and we stuck out like sore thumbs, but they were such a nice group. Anyone that loves my husband that much, is a loveable bunch. One lady said that when Paul used the word "vagabond" it brought back childhood memories. She said that when her pastor said they were having someone named Small Paul in to preach, she didn't like it because she didn't know what some small kid could tell them. Now she knows!

He told the story of Cain and Abel and people flocked up afterward to schedule him in schools, request the picture, and to tell him how wonderful his preaching is. It was nice!

Back to the Connie topic, I recently downloaded a month of slow cooker/crock pot recipes from a website called www.groceryshrink.com Those recipes are going to be such a help when Gloria's in bed recuperating from her C-section. I love dumping it all in the pot while the kids are doing chores in the morning, and then it's done when we stop school for lunch. Gloria normally cooks lunch, and does lots of dishes and cleans the kitchen. We'll be scrambling to fill in for her.

2011-01-30T20:14:00.000+02:00

Mrs. Ross dressed in purple is such a fun person. I put her testimony on here in December of 2009, and we've become good friends. I love to visit, and not just because she gives me millionaire bars. I should have put this on with the photo of Timothy on the slide in an earlier post, but that is where the kids went sledding in the mall.

We had an outing to the penguins and the Scratch Patch. See all the little rocks on the ground? They're semi precious stones you can collect...for a price.

Berdine and Michelle Frew visited us for a few days after the kids went to the Worldview Summit Camp. The 3 girls went up Table Mountain, while I had a peaceful, relaxing time waiting in the car. After awhile, I finished the work I had brought with me, and hopped over to a bench where I could see this beautiful view of Cape Town, marred only by this sign that makes a mom nervous when her daughter is tromping somewhere else on this same mountain.

2011-01-30T19:56:00.001+02:00

2011-01-30T19:16:00.000+02:00

Church in Khayelitcha was rough today. The pastor's son was shot and killed this morning, at 2 a.m. for his cell phone.

It's not every day we go into Khayelitcha, and I sort of wished I had our camera, but I never want to look like a tourist when we're doing ministry--we sort of stick out like sore thumbs enough. If I had had our camera, I would have been chasing little kids around with it, trying to capture their eyelashes. I love curly eyelashes! Sweetness personified.

In the absence of Khayelitcha pictures, I'll dig deep into the archives of this past month to find something interesting to my hordes of readers.

We went to see Christmas lights in December. My friend Margie organizes us into masses of walkers, though this year I was a roller, in a wheelchair. The kids loved pushing me on the downhills, but Paul got the tough, up-hill stuff, poor guy.

We didn't decorate the whole house, by any means, but we made the corner by the fireplace look respectably Chrismasy.

Devine came to stay with us over Christmas and for a week. She and Evangel loved trying out Evangel's new donut maker. It's so cool. It works like a waffle maker. You put a tablespoon of batter into each donut mold, press down, and voila! 7 mini donuts! Just what I needed. The rule is: no donut maker unless we have company to eat them up. No wonder we have so many people over.

Dad & Mom, Evangel is wearing the dress you gave her, and Josh is playing with the Legos you gave him for Christmas!

2011-01-02T19:40:00.000+02:00

Here's a shot of our Timothy sledding in the mall snow! It's for real, just came out of a machine instead of out of the sky. Don't laugh at the boy for wearing shorts sledding, at least he was wearing shoes! A lot of the kids there took their shoes off at the beginning. Cherish tried that too when we went 5 years ago.

Yesterday was our big outreach at the Pavilion in Muizenberg. We woke up to thunder storms that morning, so our usual crowd was MUCH smaller this year, but still much bigger then other days of the week.

Paul preaches with his chalk board, while the rest of us pass out tracts and try to lead people to the Lord.

This morning at breakfast, we all compared notes on what happened yesterday. Evangel had the funniest story. She was walking with one of the Uys girls and they offered a tract to a lady who was loaded down with all her beach stuff, like a cooler, umbrella, towels etc. She wanted a booklet, but didn't have a free hand to accept it. The girls were perplexed, but not the lady. She told them to just stick it in her cleavage! That was definitely a first in passing out tracts. I'm glad it was the girls and not the boys.

Today we celebrated the end of THE GREAT INTERNET CRISIS! 10 days without Internet access felt way too long for us, and we're very thankful to be back on line. I'm taking a little bit of my joy out on this blog! And the rest goes to writing the prayer letter which I need to send.

My little revelation

2010-12-05T09:52:00.000+02:00

Recently I was reading through Ezra 2, and I was not exactly connecting, you know? I was just lacing the lists of guys through my mind. "Now these are the children of the province that went up...the children of Parosh, 2172, the children of Shaphatiah, 372..."

I stopped to ponder a bit in the middle, as in "be still and know that I am God." I knew there had to be a reason why this list is significant to Christians in all generations, and I wanted it to be significant to me too, so I am not just a dumb, clueless blond. So I pondered, and read a little more, and it hit me! Is that irreverent? Probably I should say, I think the Lord gave wisdom as He promised (James 1:17). That's better.

Who do you you know that can get 2172 of their descendants to move? I mean, we're in a generation where parents struggle to get their kids to eat their carrots!

So then I had a ton more to ponder, like first of all, how did someone get 2172 descendants! Were they Duggers? Multiple wives? Maybe, but obviously no abortions in there. Babies must have been welcomed as blessings, Parosh believed God when He said, "Be fruitful and multiply."

So trust and obey, that explains part 1.

I assume that most of these who moved had lived in Babylon area for their whole lives since the captivity was 70 years, so I'm wondering what went on in those 70 years to influence that whole horde of people to move.

I have to assume again, and I'm assuming Parosh and the rest of the list, did what God told His people to do in Deuteronomy 6: teach them diligently to your children, and to your children's children. When you take a walk, talk about it, when you sit down, talk about it, when you lie down and when you rise up.

I bet they drew pictures of Jerusalem to stick up on their walls, and faced Jerusalem way when they prayed. They let their love of God's land show through to their kids.

There must have been some who blended into Babylon and never went back.

I want our kids to get a vision of the place where we're going. I want my grandkids to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. I want all the descendants of Paul and Vicki to get up and move when that last trumpet sounds. I don't know how many "seed" of ours will be running around the earth when the Lord returns, but I pray we'll have done such a good job painting a picture of the glories of the Lord, that EVERY one of them will be there and that each one will bring others with them.

I don't think I'll ever yawn in Ezra 2 again! Now, what about 1 Chronicles 8....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T10:58:00.000+02:00

There's the nose! Evangel had quite an accident. If Paul and I sprout a ton of new grey hairs, it may be related to this one. She was rollerblading with Berwick, our German shepherd, and Josh, and her feet crossed. She did a nose dive onto the pavement. Paul picked her up out of the puddle of blood, and escorted her home so I could be traumatized too. There was a LOT of blood, covering her whole face, neck, and hands, not to mention her clothes, and on Paul, too.

We dashed off to the doctor's, and from there to ER. The bone was broken, but it would heal fine, we were told. Everyone said, "I could stitch it up, but you really need a plastic surgeon to stitch that up." So we went to a plastic surgeon, and he put 18 tiny little stitches in the bridge of her nose.

I like more mudane days like when Joshua finds creative uses for polymer clay, while Daniel looks on admiringly.

Evangel went on a cooking binge, experimenting with our newly sprouted lentils. Josh was her chief helper, and Berwick a very attentive audience.

Results were delicious.

I just had a funny call, but sweet and encouraging.l. A lady called and when I asked, "Can I help you?" she said, "No, man, I want you to pray for me." She has been reading Paul's book, Answers to Prayer and she and her husband are both out of work, and want to be hired in law enforcement. She's not only praying, she's going to the Union.

Yesterday a lady called who I had met last December when Paul preached in Rondebosch. She was telling me that her Muslim stepdaughter had heard Paul preach in Mitchell's Plain and was very enthusiastic about it, and was considering what it would mean if she were to become a Christian. How nice to get a glimpse into the on-going effects of Paul's preaching since we don't see much of what happens after he's there.

I wish I had taken pictures yesterday! The phone calls wouldn't be much to see, but the company was beautiful! We had the Johannekans, as we affectionately call our friends Dion and Johanneke, over, so that we could meet Johanneke's sister Miryam and her fiancé Mattais. We celebrated Thanksgiving with them. Gloria outdid herself in the cooking department. She whipped out the meal for 15 people, complete with a stuffed turkey, potatoes & gravy, sweet potatoe casserole, greens donated by our friends the Becketts, green beans, and pumpkin pie. The Johannekans brought all the drinks. Both of our families particularly enjoy juice spiked with Sprite or something similar. What a feast!

Then we did a little Thanksgiving skit before we split up by boys, girls, engaged couple, and married couples. Boys swam, girls did crafts, engaged couple took a romantic walk, and the married couples hashed out some theological problems. It was a precious, relaxed day with like-minded people. Praise the Lord for friends and time to be with them.

Tonight we're going out to share a Thanksgiving dinner with the Hammond family and others at Frontline Fellowship in Rondebosch. At home we spent awhile reminding ourselves of all we have to be thankful for.

Wonder Secretary

2010-11-08T14:18:00.001+02:00

Such a variety of experiences, for Paul, all in one day, I just had to tell you.

First he went to a school in the Paarl area, and got THE blank look. Most schools remember the appointment. But some: "Who are you? What are you doing in our school? WHO scheduled you here?" That sort of thing. Most of the time, someone figures out who done it, and he is at last allowed to speak. Today it didn't work. Nobody would admit to anything, and was told, "Sorry" at the 8 o'clock appointment. So he did some other errands until the 10:00 appointment, and that one was a success!

There he also got the blank look, but the principal saved the day! She acted like she didn't know what he was talking about, but then decided to go for it. She called the entire school outside to the courtyard of the school, and it was a school! One thousand, three hundred, forty five students! That sort of made up for the other one falling through.

So Paul had to hustle to get his easel and chalk equipment set up, and then away they went. He always asks lots of questions as he preaches, and after a few minutes, he could tell this group of Xhosa kids wasn't understanding too much, though they were watching him draw pretty respectfully. He asked for an interpreter, and the principal stepped in again! He said the students listened so well, and she was also quick to squelch a little pushing incident that was starting in the middle of that huge crowd of kids standing up listening.

The kids were attentive, and responsive at the invitation. One time they all started waving their hands at a part when he hadn't asked for a response, so he wasn't sure what was going on with the translator at that point, but it seemed like a good thing.

He left, there and started for home and next came a hitch hiker. This hitch hiker had an unusual job: he pays the fines for Taxi Drivers. Now a South African taxi, is a 12 (or 30?) passenger van that works like a bus. Taxi drivers are notoriously rude drivers, but I had no idea a man could make a living just paying their fines for them. Interesting.

So Paul got to talk to him about the Lord, and he asked the Lord to save him! He asked for our phone number so he could get further counseling.

It was quite a positive day. Not to mention working at home and fun with the kids and counseling in a divorce situation.

OK, so the flower picture had nothing to do with this day, but I thought it was cute. It's from apple picking in August.

Check out the little dude!

2010-11-07T13:15:00.000+02:00

It doesn't get much cuter then this! Daniel and I have a new little routine. We go through my make-up bag together. He stops here to admire the beet juice around his mouth, and the lip marks on his head. The women around here can't resist him.

Evangel got ahold of him next, and transformed his conservative cut, to something a bit more African/wild.
What a coy guy.

Joshua got ahold of my crutches and boot. In fact, he even got the right look on his face! I think that's my "longsuffering" look.

Next comes a flashback to my first cast. It wasn't removable like the boot. The kids decorated it a few days before I had it off, and I put my favorite card (kitten in cast) between my toes to make this precious memory.

I'll be glad when all casts and boots are just a "precious" memory, but I have high hopes of growing in grace and patience and being more like Jesus when this is over.

And one last murky glimpse of the new family fish tank. We all like it, but watching the 2 year olds around here watch fish, makes it well worth our while to keep a tank. Maybe I can have a better picture next time. Maybe I'll even catch a glimpse of Curly, the eel.

I graduated

2010-11-02T08:50:00.000+02:00

to a boot. It's a high tech boot! It's so cool. It has 3 big Velcro straps, and a little inflatable bag on each side of my ankle. I can pump up the little bags to give a safer, snugger fit. So I'm good to go! But I can't go. I am supposed to sit around for 6 more weeks! Six whole weeks! 42 days, well 41 now, since my appointment was yesterday. I feel like getting depressed, but I'm procrastinating. Procrastinating is normally something I struggle with, but occasionally I can make it work for me. Like I thought about making "The Procrastinator's Diet". If someone procrastinates eating long enough, they ought to lose weight, right? Nice theory.

Grace is still with us. She got her passport in just a few hours yesterday at the American Embassy which is just about 10 minutes from our house. We couldn't rouse anyone there on Friday or over the weekend, even on the emergency number, but we were impressed with their quickness yesterday.

Now we have to wait to hear from Joy on when the rescheduled plane ticket will be. She is waiting for some money, because the airline charges $250.00 for a changed flight, apparently, even when the ticket was stolen on the way to the airport.

Paul hasn't had time to get the car lock fixed, but he and Grace are off in it to Paarl this morning to two schools. He is so pleased with November's schedule. Lizelle scheduled him in 30 schools, all in the Paarl area (not far from where they were robbed). He's only been to one of them ever before. It's an evangelist's dream--that is one of his good dreams. In his nightmares, he dreams he is at a school or church and has some essential piece of equipment missing.

I got out Goodbye, Pie one of the kids' old books this morning, to read to Danielito. He didn't last past page 2, but my 3 big kids hung around attentively while I read this book aimed at 5 year olds. It was funny, and rather a sweet moment.

We need a few sweet moments. I feel like I just sit and boss all the time. It's a whole lot easier to say, "Hurry up and do your chores," when I'm bustling around too. I feel like a hypocrite cracking the whip from my prone position.

Our Funny Kids

2010-10-28T09:36:00.000+02:00

Evangel's really growing up! She turned 15 this month, and has started babysitting. She made me laugh the first time she babysat at night. She called home and said, "Mom I'm so creeped out." The father of the baby showed her around. He showed her where the panic button was, to call a Security Company, and then took her to the silverware drawer, and showed her the steak knives. He told her those were to use if the security company didn't get there in time.

Yep, she was freaked out. The baby was already asleep, so the house was very quiet. She kept checking to make sure the baby was breathing, and she checked out which knife was the sharpest. When she got home around 9:30, she burst in the door looking radient, "I survived!" she let us know immediately.

I'm pleased with her. In spite of how scary it is, she's thrilled with the job. The 2nd time she borrowed Danielito's monitor, and put it right by the baby's nose so she'd know if the baby stopped breathing.

On Thursdays, she has a craft class with the daughters of the ladies who come to our Ladies Bible study. Last Thursday, for various reasons, she had no little girls the right age, so she ended up with these 3 clowns Josh, Tim's special buddy Oliver, and Timothy.

She let them make chocolate cakes in the microwave. There was a lot of teasing going on, but I think all four of them enjoyed themselves.

Timothy is almost 13, so he and Paul joined 2 other father/son teams for a special weekend in the wild. I stayed home and painted our bedroom, and wondered how our guys were doing. No need to worry, they had a wonderful time.

Joshua (9) and Danielito (2) are buddies. They had a jubilant reunion at the airport when we got back in September. Daniel calls Josh, "Daddy." Daniel hasn't quite got all the languages he hears sorted out, but we think this little mistake is so cute.

We found out yesterday that Daniel's expected sibling looks to be a girl! I think he's going to be a protective big brother.

Meditations`@ 4 AM

2010-10-28T09:19:00.000+02:00

4 AM WIDE awake and such creative thoughts coursing through my brain--or maybe it's the codeine in my pain killer

Maybe in the light of day, I'll have nothing for our blog, but I was lying in bed, twitching, turning, aching a bit, and decided it would be better for Paul's sake to hobble out to the living room for some devotions. I got a bonus! The laptop was left on the couch, so here I am.

The Lord has ordained that my 2 weeks in bed not be too boring. The last 3 days have had such surprises, surprises of the heart wrenching nature, that I certainly cannot say I'm bored. So I'm lying on the living room floor, with my foot propped on the purple exercise ball that has become a favorite piece of furniture around here, and will give you a glimpse into some of the things that take my mind from my troubles.

Three days ago in the evening, a runaway called to find out if she could stay with us. We have known her for almost 9 years and, yes, we wanted her to come! But were also concerned about the legalities. So Paul and Gloria went to fetch her (nice SA way to say it). We had her for the next 24 hours, until the police and her foster parents came to fetch her (That fetching wasn't nice --- many tears shed that night.)

Yesterday I chased her social worker around on the phone, and was so pleased when I caught her. She was so nice! She says she is interested in setting up visiting rights for us, so that we can have her on weekends, and that gives hope she will not run away again so we're trying for that.

Obviously, this whole thing gave me a lot to think/pray about, but there's so much more. There's the usual stuff going on, Paul and his sister Grace having several meetings, our 3 kids having homeschool, plus at the moment they're grasping at all the outside classes they can squeeze in, and all the visiting they can manage. The cars needed servicing, the bills need to be paid, book & DVD orders need to be filled, new DVD's are being made all the time, along with eating, sleeping and exercising that have to be squeezed in. And then there is the unusual.

I called a missionary friend, also homeschoolers, with a homeschool question, to find she has cancer, and has had since June! How did we get so out of touch?!?! I felt like a crumb.

Later, I called another missionary friend to see if they were back from the States, and she had had a malignant growth too, and had the same operation!

Just as I got off the phone with her, a friend from our Ladies' Bible study came to visit (her little girls are fascinated with my mega-foot) and she told us that another Bible study friend had had a miscarriage. Ouch! I know how much she wanted this baby, and I'm grieving for her.

Our string of bad news got a little break here when Gloria came in with the news she is having a baby GIRL!!! Yippee! Gloria was leaning towards wanting a boy so Danielito could have a brother, but I'm thrilled with a little pink person to dress. And I know Gloria will love this little person anyway.

Then I got an email that my Peruvian missionary friend Nancy's Mom has had a mini stroke. I found out in the morning that my Dad has to have a Defibrillator put in, so I know how Nancy feels to have this stuff happen when you're far away. The difference is that I'm confident that my Dad is saved.

O, Lord, here's my list of hurting friends. I'd like them all healed or put into wonderful homes or saved immediately as I'm told at least one of them is not saved. I know You not only want their best, You know what is best so I ask that Your will be done in each situation. Please show me my part. I want to take action! Send a meal! Adopt! Introduce the 2 hurting missionary wives! Send a book to the miscarriage Mom. But everything I do involves someone else doing the leg work right now, since my foot is in the air.

I'll end by singing one of my most sung prayers, "Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah"...

The Offending Foot

2010-10-23T14:02:00.000+02:00

Here's the guy that's giving me so much trouble. We left my head discreetly out of the picture as it probably wasn't quite up to perfection. Timmy's mug is cuter.

And the x-ray showing the screws is right there to horrify. A picture's worth a thousand words.

10 more days til I can be sitting up! It is really starting to get to me, but I'm thankful for my helpful family and friends who visit and do nice things. Erika, the lady in the bed next to me at the hospital, was going to be alone, and I've wondered how she's managing.

Reforms

2010-10-21T15:07:00.000+02:00

My two nights in the hospital this week have left me completely qualified to write a paper on Hospital Reform. There is only one basic reform I would like to institute in these institutes. The theme is Respect Sleep.

In the story of Lazarus, in John 11:11 Jesus told His followers, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go to awaken him out of sleep."

And the followers answered, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will do well."

"If he sleep, he will do well." That phrase is dancing around in my mind after a largely sleepless night. I think it's true, sleep is healing. Yet where would I expect to spend one of the least restful nights of my life: in the hospital, the place I go to in hopes of healing! It's ironic.

I wonder if hospitals need to put a much higher priority on sleep. To me, the wide awake observer, most of the reforms to accomplish this are pretty common sense, but I'll list a few.

--it's not necessary for nurses to wear stilettos. Quiet, rubbery shoes should be used instead.

--keep rustley plastic clothing to a minimum. (I guess you can tell from that one, I'm a pretty light sleeper, even when I'm drugged!)

--use softer lighting. My room had fluorescent lighting for more then 19 hours a day! It must be important in surgery, but at 5 AM, I just can't think why fluorescent is necessary.

Let the patients sleep! Their blood pressure will wait, their pills won't spoil, and their bedpan will be rousing them soon enough because of the IV drip keeping things humming.

My next reforms I dreamed up were homeschooling reforms. Not one of my precious 3 chidren came to visit me during my 3 days in the hospital! I was astounded. True, I am the one who arranged for them to have extra classes on the only complete day I was in there, and true, their dad had an especially busy week, doing his own thing and mine as well, but still! Their one and only mother went under the knife!

So on morning number 2, I was busy jotting down ideas for how my children can realize how other people need them, when they need them! Not just at scheduled intervals.

Then a thought struck me: what if they didn't visit me because I'm me?!? These 3 have seen me be grumpy once or twice in their lives. They've seen snappy, nasty, weepy, whiney--the works! What if they didn't actually want to come visit me?

Now things were getting serious. I started in on the weepy, whiney, wimpy right there in the hospital as my imaginaton went into overdrive and I saw myself as an ancient widow in a dark room, with no visitors. There was anger and self pity in there--- it must have been the drugs, right? No way I could have given in to the Enemy like this! But I did.

Finally, I turned to God. I read 1 Peter 1:2, where Peter prays for the readers of his letter, "Grace unto you, and peace be mulitiplied." That's me! I'm a reader of his letter, and I needed both grace and peace. I couldn't muster any feelings of forgiveness, grace, or peace--it was all agitation, annoyance, anger. I prayed for grace and peace, and the Lord gave it to me. I'm so thankful!

The Lord gave me sleep, which is always a help to my mood, and I awoke with peace and grace. It was unnatural! I felt full of love for everything and everybody, and I acted right!

What a difference. Instead of coming home wailing, "You neglected me!" I came home with new resolves to be interested in them. Results: the entire family has been in the King sized bed with me! It's been cozy. They told me about their first writing class, and their plans for next week. Evangel had her first babysitting job, and that was a major event! Timothy's mind keep revolving around his birthday party which isn't til December, but he's making plans. Josh wanted me to read him a book, which I did, and that inspired a trip with the cousins to the fish store and now our fish tank is full again after a year or so of rest.

I've got nice kids! Thank you, Lord, for reminding me, for giving me grace and peace toward them. And please help them to visit me when I'm old. :-)

3 Reforms 1)Hospitals 2)Homeschooling priorities 3) ME!

In Memory of Carol Lewis

2010-10-11T11:43:00.000+02:00

Our friend Carol Lewis went to Heaven on Saturday morning, October 9, 2010, exactly 15 years after she helped us welcome our firstborn into the world. We're not sad for Carol. She was a dear friend,a vibrant Christian, and there is no doubt in anyone's mind that she is in Heaven, having a wonderful time.

We have wonderful memories of her. Several people will remember her Mexican/Guatemalan slide show. We laughed til we ached as, for one picture after another, she'd say, "Well, you can't see it, but this is a __________." She had a camera that didn't want to focus, but each photo had memories for her, and we enjoyed her sharing them with us.

I remember when I first met her. She took me under her wing and gave me lots of advice on how to be a good wife to Brother Paul. She should know! Paul's address was with the Lewis Family for several years. They set up a prophet's chamber in their basement, complete with a king sized bed, for Paul to land in between preaching appointments. Not only that, but she was the one who helped Paul schedule his preaching appointments!

I remember when she was "the chip lady" in Westville, collecting and distributing chips to everyone she knew. She set me a great example of hospitality, opening her home to many, many people. I think the most I ever heard of her having was the entire Pacific Garden Missions Choir, but that was just for a meal. Another time she had 15 people sleeping under her roof, eating 3 meals a day with them.

I remember her thriftiness, and money making ideas, like the time we went blueberrying. I loved that one.

Now we think of her in Heaven, just having a blast seeing her little Kurtis who died before he was born, and our little Cherish!

She had a dream before she knew about the cancer. I'm so glad for her. I know that dream was a comfort to her because she told me about it twice. She dreamed she was in Heaven, and a man was there walking his dog. He said to her, "It's nice here; you'll like it."

Comfort

2010-09-17T06:01:00.000+02:00

This morning in my devotions, I came to I Kings 14 and a verse that particularly comforted me when our Cherish went to heaven 4 years ago. I still am comforted by it. It's verse 13,

"And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him, there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam."

This verse reminds me that there are worse things then dying, and it can be a privilege to die and miss those worse things.

Jeroboam was so bad, he set the standard for badness, and any other bad kings that came after him were compared to him, "he walked in the way of Jeroboam." But still, his child's death was not a punishment.

I like that the Bible doesn't say how old this "child" was. Maybe little like our Cherish, or maybe as old as Solomon when he became king. He was 40, yet he called himself a child.

Brother Andrew told in his book, God's Smuggler, about the death of his brother. He couldn't understand how God could let his brother die. Later when Holland was in the grip of famine caused by World War 2, he was so glad Bas wasn't there to suffer through that.

I haven't had that feeling about Cherish, that I'm glad she isn't here for any certain thing, but I do have the feeling that we have one safely tucked in to heaven.

Back to reality

2010-09-13T13:37:00.000+02:00

Wednesday saw the Young family hopping into the car about 5 AM, and heading North on the N2, a nice highway that goes right up the middle of South Africa. The first few hours were clear sailing, then we came to road construction sights where only one lane was open.

I was good to get out and stretch our legs.

And there's the offending toe, that crooked one on the right foot. I have to get it operated on in October. I'm planning about that now, planning to turn the big freezer back on and stock it up and what books will I read when I have to have my toes higher then my heart for 2 weeks.

Camp

2010-09-13T12:58:00.000+02:00

The nicely renovated camp stands amid trees, trees, and more trees. We had forgotten how many trees there are in Maine, but I love them. Any time I smell pine trees, it takes me right to Maine. Square Pond ought to win a Pulitzer Peace Prize.

From the other side, out by the road, Mom's flowers brighten up the place.

And then there's the view from the outhouse. We don't usually go there often, but we had reason to make many trips up the hill and into the little house. The septic system was having problems, so we went back to the old ways. A friend we visited on Sat. was shocked, "I didn't know anyone in America still used outhouses!" We're a dying breed, but there are a few of us left.

We did leave Maine occasionally, even dipping down into Pennsylvania where Eagle Heights Bible Church gave us a delicious anniversary cake. They had a baptism in that lake. About 10 people were scheduled to be baptized. After Pastor Hicks finished, he asked if anyone else wanted to obey the Lord to be baptized. Three more people came forward and went out into the lake too! What a joyous occasion.

Last but not least, my dear parents. They put up with a lot from us with all our comings and goings.

Reminiscing

2010-09-12T20:48:00.000+02:00

I thought we had a new Christmas card here, but I was having a bad hair day, and Evangel is missing so we'll have to keep trying. Here's a sweet memory. My Dad was given a special book written and autographed by Warren W. Wiersbe. My pastor gave it, and got the special signiture from the 90 year old author, and then, my Dad thought it was a joke! That's what he gets for being such a joker himself. :-) He doesn't even trust the pastor.

We were out in the Boonies so far, it was even labeled: The Boonies. Paul and I hiked with the boys about 3 miles to get... something. I can't remember what. I just know we didn't buy any donuts, tempting though they were.

A stunted blog. I want to add more pictures, and am having no success so will start another entry.

Missionary Moments-Kenya 1999

2010-08-21T18:15:00.001+02:00

One of the joys of staying with my parents, is that I have old photos to go through. We look like messy travelers.

The Kenyan version of the local swimming hole was refreshing. I think Paul was deep in that blackness when I snapped this.

At that stage, we were ambitious parents, diligently teaching our 3 year old Evangel to read.

Paul taught 3 months in Mulango Bible Institute, and then got this snap with the grads.

Kara taught me to scan, but what went wrong here? The sky was white, so the computer just doesn't acknowledge there is a sky.

Kimanzi was a frequent visitor, and I can't remember the girl's name.

Timmy was such a cute little toddler. He learned to toddle in Kenya. We were shopping in Nairobi.

Evangel (3) & Timothy (1) on our porch in Mulango, Kenya, with Kaletkye & Mueni Mutetei.

Trip to Maine

2010-08-17T12:53:00.000+02:00

We are having a wonderful trip!

We had a bit of a rough start with Evangel being sick, so we just treated her like luggage on the way here. She rode the trolleys right through the airports, and we managed to get here with her feeling better each time she slept. It was tonsillitis; we prayed and gave her antibiotics, and we thank God she's better!

One of our purposes for coming this month was to be here for Dad's 85th birthday. He turns 85 on the 25th, but my sister Wendy had to leave on the 7th, so we had a big party on the 6th. Mom told him on the morning of the party, so Dad ran around all that day telling people, "I'm having a surprise birthday party tonight.''

Dawn thrills me on Square Pond.

Timothy, Josh and I went blueberry picking that first Saturday while there were still many left. They marveled at the "Honor System," where you pick your blueberries, weigh them yourself, and leave the right amount of money, with no one to check up on you. We all laughed at the idea of anyone doing business like that in Cape Town.

It was good picking.

Camp Belle is where we're staying for the month, built by my great-grandfather Walter Earl Campbell, it has been in our family since 1935. The peace and tranquility are supposed to heal Paul's tiredness, while I'm reveling in having lots of family around.

We're buzzing around in this Suburu, thanks to Lynn and Helene Sprague who loaned it to us. It's got EZPass on it which we had never used before, but we really enjoy! It means we get to just buzz through the toll booths without stopping, as the tolls are paid automatically. God bless the Spragues! I know He will because He promised that when someone gives, it will be given to him more "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over" (Luke 6:38).

I had a neat little answer to prayer on Saturday. Tim was at loose ends, not bored exactly, but I didn't feel like he was using his time well. I sent him jogging a little, then we did a family boat ride using the canoe (Paul and Tim), kayak (Josh), and sailboat (me). Swimming was next, and then I was out of ideas. Somewhere in there I prayed for help in keeping him profitably busy. A little later my Uncle Walter, Aunt Linda, my cousin Ivy and her 2 active boys Calvin, 16, and Ben, 14, arrived, and all boredom was vanquished. The cousins swam and fished and laughed and laughed.

Five cousins: Ariel, Evangel, Josh, Tim, and Kara Ashley.

Mom ran into someone at church who knew her when she was a Meserve.

Quite nice to look down the pew in church on Sunday and see the 5 cousins on my side of the family. A few minutes later the church was packed for the second service of the morning.

2010-07-27T11:30:00.000+02:00

We got to visit a neat farm (http://www.donkeytrail.com/) with 19 donkeys! The babies were adorable, but when I tried to get a shot of the cuties, I got nostril close-ups! Donkeys are very curious.

This one has 1 ear up and one down. His mom was a rescued donkey, and he was a little bonus surprise. I wish I could remember their funny names.

Look at the little hooves! Sweet.

Josh and Evangel got to ride the horses. We're too big for the burritos. The Calitz family has a ministry with these horses and donkeys, taking young people on 4 day ride to "The Hell". It was a treat to meet other homeschoolers as we travel.

We had a rough night here in ostrichville. Paul's got a code in his nose, and his chest and feels yucky. I gave him 3 grape children's triaminic in the night, and 3 orange vitamin C's and 3 children's orange motrin, a night-time fruit salad. It slowed his nose down enough so he could sleep.

As he was dosing off, I thought I heard him mumble, "Happy Anniversary". What? Our 18th will be in August, so I had to whisper, "What?!" sure I had heard wrong.

Now you have to know, Paul strongly resists anti-men jokes. He objects to people saying men never ask for directions. He does ask, and doesn't like these over-generalizations. He also doesn't like it when people imply that men always forget anniversaries and birthdays and such. Ever since we got married, he can, and will, tell how many days, months, years, and even hours we've been married at any given time.
But this is not our anniversary. It's his birthday--62 1/2 years, to be exact.

He was a little embarrassed at his little mistake, which gave me the giggles. That pleased him because one of my goals for marriage is to laugh a lot, so he feels he has accomplished something when he makes me laugh.

We aren't laughing this morning. He has to preach 3 times today, and it's cold out, and he feels miserable. Poor guy.

Check out my mate

2010-07-22T20:37:00.001+02:00

I've got a happy husband today. He had 2 good school services this morning. In the first, he saw his picture of Two Ways with the narrow way to Heaven and the wide road to Hell that he drew last year, posted predominately in the back of the hall. The principal told him that sometimes when he has problem students, he brings them to that picture to talk to them and ask them which way they are on.

Before Paul preached this morning, the principal called some students to the front to tell what he had preached last year. It's not too many people who can remember a sermon they heard a year ago, but Paul's sermons are a little different. It's wonderful when leaders appreciate and reinforce the message!

The second school had a sober atmosphere as they were also having a memorial service for a 9th grade student who had died. When Paul asked about the cause of her death, it was that she had had a baby 2 months ago, and died of malnutrition and lung problems. That is sad.

Because of her passing, students were in a more receptive frame of mind then students sometimes are. The principal said that the message Paul brought was more important than any other thing the school teaches.

While he's off preaching, the kids and I are doing school back at Attakwas Budget Accommodation where we are staying. Josh is on a rollarskating binge. He's been wearing them about 6 hours per day this week, and I got that cute picture of him playing chess with Paul in the grocery store parking lot, rolling from move to move.

Our Town is today's headline in Cape Town

2010-07-20T14:37:00.001+02:00

I was so surprised to see Muizenberg, our own suburb of Cape Town, in the headlines this morning. I had to buy the paper so Paul could see it too. It appears this huge boulder fell off Muizenberg Mountain, bounced once on a road, and crashed through a roof!

The family had just left the room where the rock landed and was spared. The insurance guy said he'd never had a case like this one.

I must admit, I've often looked at that mountain and wondered when those rocks would fall. I know about the 2nd law of Thermodynamics which basically says all rocks will fall if given enough time, or something like that. The nicest houses in Muizenberg are right there at the mountain's edge, but I'm glad we're not quite so close.

If I did live right there, I'd make sure I was right with God! Come to think of it, even where I live, it's a good idea to be right with God. We live in a flat place, only 5 blocks from the ocean. One good tsunami wave, and...it's good to be ready to meet your Maker! I'm thankful He tells us to seek, and He can be found. That is, after all, the reason we're in Africa, to help people be ready if rocks come through their roof.

Evangel's Ode to her appendix

2010-07-19T09:50:00.000+02:00

The Part of me that Is no More.
by Evangel Young, age 14, plus she wrote the prose at the end in a letter to her grandmother to explain

I want to exchange my scar,
For my appendix - in a jar.
I wish that it was whole,
So I could keep it - in a bowl.

The organ in my stomach,
Why did it have to burst?
The little bean-shaped thing,
I wanted to see it first,

Yes, it took quite a long while,
In the process of taking it out,
But now I can look back and smile,
Cause it's really quite pointless to pout.

True, it didn't feel too pretty,
In fact it was rather a pain.
But look on the bright side,
It's now on the outside,
So now it can't pop again!

I wanted to use the word 'detonate',
Somewhere in this rhyme,
But sadly it did not affiliate,
Since I sort of ran out of time.

I was getting a little desperate,
But now I have thought of a verse!
I was free with poetic licence,
To tell of the thing that burst.

I used to have an organ,
That apparently disliked me,
We didn't quite see eye to eye:
And we certainly did not agree,

You could call it a little bomb,
With a website name to boot,
Termed, "packaged pain . com
"Which I'd agree would suit

The Thing felt under-loved,
My Idea is this,
Could not get my attention,
And so it went ballis-,

It blew it's cover, made a mess,
And sat there for a week,
Before we realized it was stressed,
And wasn't being meek

I nearly didn't make it,
Or so the surgeon said.
An intriguing thought indeed-
I was nearly dead!

But thanks to God Almighty,
And servants praying down below,
I survived my tribulation-
I'm still alive to crow!

So I refuse to whine,
For in His perfect time,
His purpose he'll reveal,
And it won't have to rhyme!

The tiny thing inside of me,
The thing by my intestine,
That felt misunderstood, you see,
Should've done more restin'

Decided it wanted a break,
But didn't ask for leave,
Didn't think of what was at stake,
And now I feel bereaved,

On to the happy hunting grounds,
Or wherever it is that organs go,
My appendix made me lose some pounds,
But why it left, I'll never know.

At first I felt abused!
Wasn't I a loyal host?
I stand un-accused -
And I'm not one to boast!

But pride remains a sin,
And so I am condemned,
Along with all my kin,
All the way back to Shem!

But God, in his great mercy,
Sent his only Son, to die,
Creator of the universe,
The Lord who lives on High!

And because He died for us,
Paid the debt on our account,
We can live forever now,
Without another doubt

So sing with me forever!
Of His mercy and his love,
Shout it from the rooftops!
Thanks be to God Above!

Another thing was gone for good,
Thanks again to God alone,
A thing of evil parenthood,
Upon its evil throne

A man-made throne,
Not carved in stone,
But one of my own making,
My sin condoned,I was owned,
I couldn't do forsaking.

Another war was waged,
This also for my life,
But this was far more vital,
Between my sin and Christ

But finally, I saw my sin,
The error of my ways,
I ran to Christ for refuge,
To stay there all my days.

I wrote this poem to explain these things,
In my own odd little way,
To tell the truth of the happenings,
Of the things that didn't stay,

The part of me that is no more,
The part of me that's gone,
The part of me that battled hard,
But in the end I won.

I say 'I' won, because it rhymes,
But it wasn't really me,
It's God who sets the pris'ners free from chains,
And that is why I'm free

So escape your evil captor,
Don't worry my troubled friend,
For I read the last chapter,
We win, in the end!

*Dedicated "To Him that love us..." and my Mom.(Revelation 1:5)

History of "The Part of me that Is no More"_______________________________________

Mom and I were driving home from my piano lesson the other day and I was in a happy, rather "rhythmic" mood. One of us, I'm not sure who, was laughing about something, and Mom, as she sometimes does, sang a little of it - something about a scar, or a car, or 'afar', or something like that. I thought it was funny, and after revising the words a little I wrote down the first 3 verses so I wouldn't forget, and could finish them when I got home for fun. It started out as purely for laughs. Rhymes and jokes that surprise me are often the funniest, and I thought it would be fun to finish it later, and then laugh over it with Mom. Next day, being Saturday, I lay around a lot (For some reason my biggest ideas usually explode directly after being 'sedentary' for a day, rejuvenating me and triggering my 'creative juices') watching the end of a Kent Hovind debate - in which he came out well on top - and against 3 evolutionists at that! - a Vision Forum filmmakers academy DVD, and another episode of Kent Hovind - which inspired the last line to this poem, "Don't worry about all this new world order stuff. I read the last chapter. We win." I finished it Saturday night, thinking to "redeem" it a little with a small message at the end, but then I got going and couldn't, or rather didn't, stop. Then, after several hours of mulling it over, added verse 3 Sunday afternoon.

I'm not too big on poems that don't make sense. Aren't they supposed to be telling you something, not flaunting the author's superior knowledge of the English language? They're supposed to make you think. I usually like one's that tell a story. This one is a true story - or rather stories. We were on a trip at the time, and I really did almost die when my appendix burst - mostly because nobody knew what it was, so it stayed there for a whole week "marinating". Consequently, when they finally did operate and discover it was my appendix, it was everywhere - a real mess. I was rather disappointed I didn't get to see it, too. As to whether it left a scar - it did. A big one. Last time I measured it was about 7 inches long, and between 1 and 2 inches wide at the bottom, thanks to the infection that caused the surgeon to reopen the "incision" at the bottom so it could heal "from the inside out". Gone was the neat little trail of silver staples that "didn't look so bad". To those who follow in my footsteps and have to have staples removed (and it terrifies them no end): please know only the last one hurts, as the skin pulls back a bit. I wanted to save a few as a souvenir, but Mom thought it was a little gross - and they weren't too clean - so I skipped it. I sort of have a 'souvenir' - or rather 3 of them - right on my stomach, anyway. Well, that's how this poem was born, and it was fun writing, so I hope you enjoyed it.
In Christ, Evangel

What a Sunday

2010-07-19T09:36:00.001+02:00

This picture goes with the blog entry before last. It's Josh's dumpster find, and has nothing to do with our Sunday. It makes me shiver just to look at his bare toes!

I have just learned something: a mouse window does not work if you are wearing gloves. I haven't tried leather gloves, but these stretchy ones are confirmed useless on these mouse windows, touch pad thingeys.

I'm sitting here wearing my beloved hot pink bathrobe, and my hot pink stretchy gloves even though I am indoors, fully dressed. We are having a small clash of cultures here. I am American and believe in the great American way of being warm indoors. I shut doors and windows, light a fire or turn on electric heat or something, and warm the space so I can sit and work in comfort. This is not the South African way!

The South African way is to dress really, really warm and then open all the doors and windows and freeze. It is fine if you're doing a job like waxing the floor or chopping wood, but blogging is not quite strenuous enough for open doors and windows. I can see my breath. The funny thing is, the delicate little birds outside the window are not moaning about the cold. Their naked little toes look like they should be bothered.

Other then the cold, we're having a good trip. The snow on the mountains around Oudtshoorn is gorgeous!

I'll paste an account of our memorable church experience yesterday:

Paul wrote--

Greetings from The Ostrich Capital. Last time we were here Evangel and Joshua rode an ostrich. (see May 2009)

We left home Monday for Plettenbay Bay where a church there put us up in The River Club, a very nice resort. A former principal scheduled me in four schools in those two days with appreciative principals and attentive, responsive kids. Then we had some good services in George. Now we're in Oudtshoorn. We've seen a lot of snow capped mountains, and it's been cold at night. In one of the schools the doors were wide open with the kids sitting on the floor at one degree above freezing. At another school it was pretty cold and windy as the students stood outdoors for the preaching.

Today I misunderstood the schedule that was emailed to me, and we arrived at the church 30 minutes early, we thought. But the service had already started. I walked down the side to the front, and the pastor asked what I was doing there. We discussed the situation while the congregation watched and listened! He was very gracious and scheduled me on the spot. It turns out I was not really scheduled anywhere. Afterward, different people said it was of the Lord; it was not a mistake. The pastor also scheduled us again for next Sunday night. The rest of our time here I'm scheduled in about a dozen schools.

Here's Vicki's version of the episode I copied from her letter to her mom:

I have to tell you our interesting church experience this morning. We got there 1/2 hour early, we thought, but there was already singing going on...not a good sign and the parking lot was full of cars...not good. So with fear and trepidation, we went in. Paul did not stop to talk to the guy at the door, but walked down the side aisle toward the front.

The pastor was speaking in Afrikaans, and what a gracious man! He stopped and asked what we were doing there, but very nicely. He knew he had not scheduled us. Turns out the schedule said we were supposed to be in another church of the same denomination on the other side of the Outeniqua Mountains! Oops.

Though later we found out we weren't actually scheduled there either, but it was on our schedule. Evangel never did come into the church, she was mortified over the whole thing. 14 is a difficult age for parents to make huge mistakes :-) I got the giggles, so Timmy and Josh were rather jolly too, and I had to keep poking Josh as he was rather too jolly!

So the pastor, under pressure from his wife and the audience, let Paul preach and then scheduled him for next Sunday evening again! And a lot of people assured Paul afterward that the Lord was in it, it was not a mistake, etc.

Personally, I think the audience enjoyed the drama of it all. They were expecting a regular Sunday, and in we walk, disrupting everything. Then Paul and the pastor discussed it right in front of everyone. It was tense for me, but probably just intriuging for the rest of them.

Love,

Paul for all

I hope Paul doesn't mind my sticking his letter in here. I'd better check with him before I do it.

In all this coldness, visions of Maine in August keep dancing in my head. My family writes of 90 degree weather while I'm shivering, and I want to be there!

One of my traveling challenges is getting the laundry done. The boys don't normally wear socks much, as they wear Crocs most of the time, but it's been so cold, that we're insisting they wear socks more now, so both of them ran out of clean socks, and then Timmy sprang a hole big enough for a teacup to fit through so it was time to do laundry.

Saturday evening, Paul read to the family, and I started washing out the socks in the kitchen sink. The problem is, I love doing hand washing, once I'm started, and I washed everything that was dirty, which was a lot.

Next problem, where to hang it?

I went outside and found some wash lines, but they were almost full. I was using a trash bucket for a laundry basket and put about 2 bucket loads out there. Now what?

Our windows in our little appt. had wooden cases over them, and they held 2 pairs of pants, a shirt, and some socks. The kitchen had about 5 hooks, and in the bathroom I hit the jackpot! There was a fold out rack which held Paul's long pants and about 5 shirts. I used the 3 hooks over Timmy's bed (living room couch) and hoped the undies wouldn't drip on him.

I thought I had our problem solved, but in the morning, nothing felt ANY drier. The socks could still wring out a lot of water. I'm not the greatest wringer. Evangel is a good wringer, but I'm a good laundry shepherd and Evangel is not.

After our embarrassing church episode, I whipped us up some whole wheat spaghetti for lunch (that's another whole story! Paul doesn't care for white flour as it sends him into a sugar low, but I love spaghetti so we were both happy when I recently discovered whole wheat noodles!) and then went in search of sun for our clothes.

I met a helpful maid, and she showed me a clothes-tree on wheels! How cool! It means you can chase the winter sun around with your clothes. It's the first time I've seen one of those. I filled it and left it.

I had to roll the whole tree away from the house several times to keep it in the sun. Clothes take a lot longer to dry when they're only wrung out by hand.

Finally we were at the shepherding stage. I couldn't roll that thing any further, but there was still some sun left on the bushes. I put our clothes in the bushes, which I know is a tacky thing to do in town like this, so I didn't dare go off and leave them. I got a book, and soaked in the lovely afternoon sun while I shepherded the clothes through the last hour of sunlight on the bush.

At one point, Josh wanted me to go throw a rugby ball with him down in a field. I gave Evangel the choice, did she want to shepherd the clothes for me, or go throw the ball with Josh for me? She made me laugh with her answer, "How could I tell my journal I was shepherding clothes?" She went to toss the ball, and I got to continue my peaceful interlude in the sun.

Finally I had to move the last few item back inside, where they are STILL damp after hanging over the curtains all night.

Such are the thrills of doing laundry.

What a man

2010-06-30T17:08:00.000+02:00

I'm admiring my husband anew today. Evangel, Tim and I went with him to his 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. preaching appointment. We thought we understood what he was to do. Wrong. He thought he had 2 hours to preach to the whole group, do puppet shows, games, songs etc. Wrong. Instead, he had 5 groups of about 15-20 kids at a time, for about 30 minutes. He had about 22 interruptions from kids and adults poking their heads into the room. The message was totally not important to some little people, and some who should have known better.

I was so frustrated for him! To see adults come into the front of the room, take a few pictures, and then walk back out, giving little waves to some kids--um, hello! am I the only one who realizes that is distracting? and rude!

But there he stood, calm, cheery, and focused on giving God's Word. Those 22 interruptions occurred during the first session. The group of little girls listened pretty well, maybe they're used to such thing?

Now, the reason I was particularly along, was to help with the puppet show. Evangel and Tim were the puppeteers, and I was the mother :-) I do have one role that is superior to my mother role, and that is "Helper to Paul", so I left the kids with the puppets, and moved out in the passageway to be the Guard! I didn't know it was in my job description to be a guard, but there's a lot of fine print under that Helper title.

I had already heard Paul's sermon, so I didn't mind missing that, and it was kind of fun guarding the door from interruptors. I filtered out the kids at least, but one lady interrupted every single one of his 5 talks. Gotta wonder! Maybe she was in some official capacity--she had a clipboard, but I couldn't figure her out.

I met one little cutie who wanted to just open the door to take a gander at what was going on. I said no, so she started asking me for things. Could she have 50 cents, could she have my keychain, could she see my cell phone, and so forth. She was a charmer, and a begger. I was so curious as to how one little girl out of the crowd came to be like that, and tried a little interview, but she was too busy flattering and begging to give much info. It does not bode well for her future if she continues on like that.

Well, our 11-1 appointment kept us til well after 2, and then we were rushing off to a more informal appt. we were late for, but with me full of admiration for a man that handles stuff like this day in and day out.

Dumpster Diving Delights

2010-06-11T11:50:00.000+02:00

I was just looking at my World Cup entry, and realize what a flop that must be to anyone seeking real news on the World Cup. They want action shots, scores, and details, and I give them...car mirror socks. :-) That's funny.

Today's Friday, trash day. Here on Windermere Road, we put out big rolling bins of rubbish, and then trash pickers flood down our street, looking for goodies in the bins. They will completely empty out the bins, down to the gook at the bottom, in their quest for goodies. It's pretty gross sometimes, but also a nice way to recycle stuff. I can throw anything away, and know that it will never make it to the dump if there's any goodness left in it at all.

I should be appalled by this, but I've done my share of dump picking in life. Yesterday we found a prize! We stopped at the dump yesterday with my friend. Someone had dumped a surf-board/boat thing called a Macski. We paid the dump guy a little bit of Josh's birthday money, and he's the thrilled owner of his own little floating thing. It dumps Timmy and I, so I think we should name it The Dumpster Diver or something. Josh doesn't agree. He was going to call it The Alpha or something like that. Sounds a little sacrilegious.

Dumpster diving is like Treasure Hunting, only messier.

By the way, the first game is over, score was 1 to 1, Mexico against South Africa. South Africans were pretty sad.

World Cup

2010-06-10T19:34:00.001+02:00

We Youngs are getting into the World Cup act. We got mirror socks for our car! Aren't they cool? I never heard of them before, but they're all over the place here now. That's the South African flag, for anyone who doesn't know.

Paul is having openings to preach in funny places for this special month in South Africa. He even got invited to preach to Ratanga Junction which is the closest thing to Disney World in Africa.
There are no school meetings for about a month, so holiday clubs and street meetings are possiblities.

This unique podium made me smile, and reminds me that unique is a good place to speak from, because we're all unique, talking to unique people about our unique GOD and His unique plan to save us from a grim destiny.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2010-06-03T09:07:00.000+02:00

June 2 was my mom's birthday. She came to visit us in Cape Town in January, and brought Ariel with her.

In spite of car troubles, we got to do some touristy things with her.

And, of course, shopping! My mom's a diligent, Proverbs 31 woman, and she enjoys sprucing us all up when she can so the whole batch of us got new shoes. Ariel is the one with the wild shoes. Those white, flowery ones are me! They're not so white now, six months later, but they have a lot of kilos on them. (By that, I mean they have gone far, NOT that I weigh a lot of kilos. That might also be true, but I'm not admitting it here. :-)

And she loves "coffee breaks" when we're shopping. I wish I could be as patient with my kids, as my mom has been with me. God bless her.

The Robbery

2010-06-01T21:01:00.000+02:00

Tonight, while we were all eating supper in our room of a B & B in Swellendam, someone stole a laptop out of the kids' room next door. Paul and Timothy went to make a statement to the police. The computer is an Everex, sort of an unusual brand here, so I suppose there's a chance we'll get it back. I know God can do it. He brought back our car when it was stolen in 2006.

I didn't like what it did to the kids. They are nervous now about sleeping in that room, and one of them had a quivery lip. Come to think of it, I don't like what it does to me! I listen for noises after things like this, and am too jittery.

We had family Bible reading late today, so it was after the robbery. I read Psalm 119:61 with feeling, "The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law." We all laughed, but it's comforting to remember these things happen to other Christians, but God's law is still there through the ages. His Law of sowing and reaping, and justice and all of them.

I'm clinging to one of my favorite promises again, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind."

Fifa Fever

2010-05-29T12:02:00.001+02:00

The World Cup starts in a few days, and signs are everywhere around the country, like in George where we were for two weeks.

George is particularly host to Japan.

For Josh's birthday, we had a special lunch at McDonald's where they had a Count Down showing 20 more days, 14 hours, 49 minutes and 29 seconds until the World Cup Soccer championships begin.

Paul & Evangel made it on a long hike with Benjamin to Pepsi Cola Falls. Tim, Josh, and I almost made it, but we wimped out because of blisters.

Josh's legs and an elephant's leg--whose is prettier? For his birthday we went to George museum.

I am so not a pottery/china expert, but I've learned to spot the Willow Pattern in china here. In the pictures, you can see the story of a princess who tried to run away with a commoner, since her father wouldn't let them get married. They were captured and then turned into birds and flew away. It's not strictly a true story, but see the 2 birds near the top of the plate?

And my favorite moment in the museum. I tinkered with a music box, and that antique blasted out music as though it were attached to big speakers! Evangel dropped to the floor to hide. It was kind of fun to be the embarrassing one for a change.

gorgeous George gorge

2010-05-18T10:56:00.001+02:00

There's a treasure of beauty at the end of this rainbow.

Monkeys continue to intrigue us...

even their cute little footprints on the volleyball sand.

Volleyball: our new family sport! We drilled and played and felt very sporty. I hope we do more in the future.

See the whale!

We moved to George on Saturday where we are staying with a dynamic widow lady named Leonore Bushakowitz and her son Benjamin. They took us on a hike into the scenery yesterday. Today, blogging is about the only thing I can do without having knees or thighs scream at me.

Evangel looks fresh at the beginning of the hike. She was even pinker when we were done.

We hiked to the end of the earth, the beginning of the sea.

We'd better skip the next few pictures. It was steep.

Evangel brought her book. She's a Sherlock Holmes addict.

We climbed down to this isolated beach, where we explored caves, dipped our feet in cool water, and lounged for awhile before heading back. Josh signed his name, so you can tell I snapped this on the way back.

Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well! Ps. 139:14b

Daniel Boone & his faithful steed Berwick

2010-05-15T20:16:00.000+02:00

I'm in love with this picture. Danielito looks so serious, so aware of his important mission in life, and Berwick is in a noble pose. Our two babies have come a long way in less then 2 years.

How did James and Gloria get them to be still?!? Did Daniel get dumped 3 seconds after the picture?

The Willows

2010-05-11T15:09:00.000+02:00

While Paul is preaching in Port Elizabeth, he stashes the family at the Willows. We've stayed here enough times over the years that it has lots of memories. Here's our "rondavel" where we're staying this time. Thatched roofs again! I thought this sign was funny. The Eastern Cape has been having dry times, so water use is restricted, but it just looks funny with the whole Indian Ocean there in back of the sign. It's been raining today, so I think the water shortage must be over soon.

This time, Timmy has been doing a pop-up book of London. We have a new respect for pop-up books after all the time and effort that went into this one.

A special Willows tradition is bran muffins in the tea cups. Paul, Evangel and Tim are vying for the affections of this last muffin.

A new thing that might become a tradition is Hermit Crab Races. We drew a circle and put the crabs in the center. First one out of the circle wins! I think this was one of the fast guys, but I'm not sure. Maybe next time we can put little numbers on their shells.

Daily monkey visits are a Willows highlight. How many do you see in the photo? there are 4, see the baby? That's me, teasing them with a banana. It's not a good idea to feed them, but it's fun. They lose their fear of people, and they don't just beg, they DEMAND a banana. They also riffle through the trash, and make a dreadful mess.

Craddock-just a glimpse

2010-05-03T12:15:00.001+02:00

Craddock is where we landed between "jobs". Paul had to preach in Hofmeyr, a little town which reportedly doesn't even have a restaurant, so we found a place to stay in nearby Craddock.

Who needs a sign saying "Keep off the grass"? Not Africans! Someone just put huge thorns on
their lawn to get that subtle message across.

True I wanted a picture of Tim straining over his school work, but also I just loved the colors and pattern in this quilt.

Craddock is known for this street, where all the houses are authentic Victorian. I'd like to tell you all about it, but I can't remember the name of the street, or the years, but I do remember that it's a rare thing to have all the houses still there from Victorian times.

Notice the Karoo sky in the background. I read somewhere, while we were in Craddock, that the Karoo is the most people-friendly desert in the world. It's not nearly as dry as the Sahara, for sure, and a lot of people do live and even farm in the Karoo.

In Craddock, we went to a little museum about a 19th century authoress named Olive Schreiner. She was a "free-thinker" which includes being an aetheist. Evangel was slightly intrigued by her, wondering, as we all did, what went wrong. Her parents were missionaries with the London Missionary Society. She had rather a sad story, in spite of her fame and fortune.

At the museum, the guy in charge told us that if we visited the local cemetary, we could see a grave for Harry Potter. We haven't read the book, or seen the movie, but I thought a picture of a Harry Potter grave would be fun, for my blog. Unfortunately, I didn't decide that until the man was long gone, so I couldn't ask where the cemetary was, or where in the cemetary the grave was.

We found the cemetary, no problem, but it was a big, big place. We were out for a family walk anyway, so we spent a long time hunting Harry Potter. Next time, we ask for directions. We never did find him, but we did find many of interest including the poor guy below.

The Queenstown Chapter of Our Lives

2010-04-30T11:30:00.000+02:00

I've just noticed, I'm a pretty pathetic picture taker. Here we were, staying on a farm with wildebeast, zebra, blazebok, warthog, and what do I get a picture of: Beegs, the Beagle. He was cute though.
We drove up here on a Saturday afternoon, and I fell in love with the entryway.

The huge fireplace saved my shivering hide, but not the zebra's.

Our kids loved the outdoor "toys'' like this foofie slide

When I tell people I'm writing from a house with a thatched roof, I know Americans think, "oh, you poor thing." The truth is much more elegant then that. And you can't beat that thatchy smell. I wish it could be bottled.

We're having a nice time, but always miss the family left at home. From the look in Danielito's eyes in this photo, I'd guess he's missing Evangel too.

2010-04-30T11:21:00.001+02:00

I am bad about taking pictures of ministry stuff. I wish I had pictures of the moonlit service in a Xhosa village. Visitation before hand was efficient: the pastor would drive to the door, hoot and shout the news that there was a meeting at so-and-so's house, and off we'd go, whipping along at about 40 k's per hour over some very rough roads. Our city born Kia didn't know what to think, but we only scraped bottom about 7 times, and it seems to be ok.

Anyway, over 60 people gathered at so-and-so's house and Paul preached on the narrow way and the broad way. Pastor Frik had to shine a light so it could be seen as the sun finsihed setting and the moon rose over the flat topped mountain behind the village. As I listened and shivered, I just felt such a thrill at the life God has called us to. It's rare and privileged and very satisfying. We're blessed!

So the picture below is just of the fall day which made me want to go back to school, and rake leaves, and be in New England. We're going, Lord willing, in August, so we may get glimpses of days like this.

2010-04-30T11:21:00.000+02:00

A Day at the Shore

2010-04-14T16:32:00.000+02:00

A mist moves into False Bay while we observe from the rocks past Simon's Town.

Evangel, Danielito, and Joshua are smiling though about to be squashed by a huge boulder. (Joke)

Our friend Margie Collins (see Facebook for a photo as we neglected to get Margie and Oliver) arranged this delightful day to go observe sea life in tidal pools at low tide. It was fantastic! We took all these pictures in ankle-deep water, with a small camera, but look at the creatures!

Sea anemone, urchins, and all types of shells were so beautiful.

These sea urchins were mostly purple, but their shells are green if the spines come out.

The rough rocks hurt our feet, but didn't bother star fish a bit.

The glare of the flash is the only way you can tell this is under water.

And finally, last Sunday Paul preached at a Salvation Army Church. I got all tickled at their sign on the Ladies' Room door:

Catherine Booth and her husband founded the Salvation Army. Do their toilets say that all over the world? I wonder.

Holiday Happenings

2010-04-08T18:48:00.000+02:00

School holidays are happening in South Africa. Here the whole country pretty much has the same schedule. 8 weeks of school, 2 week holiday, 8 weeks of school, 2 week holiday, then the winter holiday, usually two weeks, but this year it is 4 weeks since the FIFA World Cup Soccer games are being held in South Africa. Then comes 8 more weeks of school, 2 weeks of holiday, 8 more weeks, and then the summer/Christmas break.

You had to know that.

Anyway, since the rest of the world is having holidays here, we Youngs have caved in and slacked up a bit on homeschooling, with the intent of getting some projects finished. Evangel's projects tend to involve her video camera, so today we had 20 visitors in our house, all here to help with His Chosen the story of Abraham.

I watch my tall daughter in amazement at her poise, her organization (that must come from Paul's side of the family) and how she manages everyone. She is doing so much better in that area. I didn't see anyone cry today! The secret of her success: brownies and peanut balls. She has learned that boys particularly are much more mellow when she gives them snacks occasionally.
Danielito is the youngest actor. Here his mom had to console him a bit after the scene where the men of Sodom tried to break into Lot's house. It was noisy and scary!
Evangel getting part of her crew ready while Mom takes a "crane" shot from our upstairs apartment.

Johanneke delighted everyone by bringing Sergeant, her new puppy.

And there he is looking more calm.

Timmy and Oliver (Abraham, though not in costume yet) boning up on their sword fighting practice. This scene had a director's nightmare: goat heads, those pernicious little thorns that embed into feet and cause severe pain. They can pop bike tires too. Several kids had come without shoes, so we had to do some hopping and shoe sharing to get through it.

Moms and sibling pitched in to carry things to scene site.

There's me, the CREW. I found a really good deal on Peter Gird Production t-shirts at a thrift store, or a hospice as it was called. So I bought 5 of them, so we could look official. Only then did I begin to wonder if Peter Gird was a decent sort. I googled him, and found only an address, so we're risking it. What we really need is Mvangel's Movies t-shirts.

What's going on here?

2010-04-01T18:23:00.000+02:00

Today Paul went to the prison to pass out evangelistic newspapers. We get Today’s Challenge papers given to us to distribute, and an issue had come while we were gone so he wanted to distribute them to the cells in Polsmoor Prison. That is always a fun job, just breezing along, greeting the guys, and chanting his little chant, “To read not to smoke” as he passes them along to enthusiastic prisoners.

Today FOUR different guys, in FOUR different places said to Paul something like, “Can you pray for me? I need to get things right.” All FOUR prayed to be saved! Plus one of them had a friend listening in who prayed too.

That’s rare, folks. People do not usually walk up to us to ask if we can lead them to the Lord.

Another rarity, was that FOUR or more others came up to comment to Paul on his book Answers to Prayer for our Family. Two of them actually waved their copy of it in front of him. (If you want to read that, it is readable and downloadable from our website http://www.drawingotherstochrist.com/ under Crucial Issues.)

So it’s rare, but please know: WE LIKE IT! If anyone else wants help coming to the Lord in prayer, we’d love to help!

We read a quote by Selwyn Hughes, "In evangelim the preacher calls on people to get saved; in revival people often call upon the preacher to ask him how they can get saved." May revival sweep across the globe!

Veggie Tales

2010-03-21T20:54:00.000+02:00

Making muddy memories.

What an amazingly big flower blossom!

Veggie Tales

Paul has been preaching this week on farms. These must be HUGE farms because he’ll have as many as about 300 workers listening to him at a time.

The first day, he came home with a box of avocados (yum!) and a jar of honey (double yum!) that they had given.

The next time he preached at a chicken farm and arrived home with two packs of chicken (take a little break here and make sure it’s thawed out to cook for lunch).

Another farm gave him SEVEN large bags of sweet potatoes! Sweet potato casserole, here we come!

Now he wants to know why the explosive factory where he preached last week didn’t give him any explosives :-). Actually, the owner of that company and his family kept us and fed us for two weeks, and we swam in their pool every day. Also they tracked down a South African supplier of chalk art paper and bought us 300 sheets. That's probably good for 7 or 8 months. Matt Bowman has good, inexpensive chalk art paper in America http://www.eternityarts.com/, but airmail to Africa is very expensive.

Paul has been traveling with Pastor Johannes to all these farms so that the pastor could translate as well as help to find the places

We’ve been staying with the Frew family all this week. Dad, David left in the middle on his own missionary trip: up to Mozambique.

Our kids have loved being with their kids. They’re also Christian, missionary homeschoolers, and have a similar ideas of fun too, so that makes for lots of good fellowship. Yesterday the kids rushed outside to try to squeeze in a scene for Evangel’s Abraham movie before a brewing thunder storm hit. They accomplished their scene, but then “Ishmael” threw some water on “Hagar” (typical!) and it all degenerated into a massive water/mud fight. Cute. I think they made some precious memories, and I know they made another load of laundry.

That sinking feeling in Carletonville

2010-03-14T13:30:00.000+02:00

Our journey continues, and we've left Carletonville behind, but I learned a lot there. One thing was that judgments like what happened to those Israelites can still happen. In Numbers 16 Korah, Dathan, and Abiram spoke against Moses, and ended up getting swallowed, not by a whale, but by the earth!

See that monument above? It's a memorial to a family that lived near there. Their house was completely swallowed by a sinkhole. We were told that these sinkholes are caused by dolomite. I'd like to research more about that, but for whatever reason, an entire house with a mom, dad and 3 kids, disappeared beneath the surface of the earth. I'm not saying it was a judgment on them, just that it still happens.

We were told that this family had just come home from a vacation. They were planning to leave again the next day to head to Cape Town, but they all died in their house. Freaky! But a good lesson on always being ready to go.

Carletonville is a mining town. The Main street is called Gold Street,

Other streets are

Opal St.

Mica St.

Sapphire St.

Dolomite St.

Anthracite St.

Kaolin St.

Talc Rd.

It's like a vocab lesson in mining rocks and terms! What a fascinating place to Google. Google Earth shows up the mines around the town.

The people there were kind to us and so enthusiastic about Paul's message. We hope to go back before too long.

What a day!

2010-03-08T11:35:00.000+02:00

But we made it through without Paul getting sick. I'm thankful.

We left Carletonville before 6:30 a.m. to head for an 8 o'clock service in Johannesburg and only got home around 9:30 at night, so it was a full day.

We really enjoyed the church in Jo'burg. They had so many people that they have three services, each one geared for different people. The 8 o'clock one seemed to cater to older people, while the 10 o'clock one was primarily family groups. The 6:30 p.m. had a majority of singles. The music differed a little for each group. They had also started a church plant and some of their people were gone to support that baby church.

After the morning service we had to shoot up to Pretoria for a conference in the afternoon. Paul only had to preach once, so the kids and I took advantage of free time and went to other meetings while Paul put the seat back in the car and tried to rest a bit.

Josh and I loved our lesson on puppet shows, and I'm very charged to get ours out and in ministry again.

Evangel went to a music lesson and got some ideas to teach to her girls in Cape Town, while Timothy kind of floated between the two.

It took us less than an hour to get to Pretoria following someone, but we got a little panicky on the way back. Gypsy, our GPS, was supposed to guide us, but "she" doesn't know about construction sights, so it took more then an hour to get back to the Jo'burg church. We arrived back at church at 6:28 for the 6:30 service. Ooops. Not a lot of time to set up, but we all pitched in, and they sang a long time anyway, so Paul was ready to preach when it was his turn.

I had 3 near accidents in all that driving, and am VERY thankful that they were misses. One of them left us facing a bunch of grass wondering where the road had gone. Another one was just some slammed on brakes for a stop sign I hadn't seen coming. Got a lot of comments from the back seat on that one. So why was I driving? Two reasons: to help Paul so he can rest and because I've been feeling a little queasy with Paul's driving lately. I wonder why.

2010-03-04T09:10:00.000+02:00

Ben and Marietjie McIntyre with their grandson Jonathan at the game park Bufflesvlei.

I'm "cheating" and using a picture from a self drive, game drive, we went on last year in Mokopane.

We've all got Kudu breath this morning which is a novelty. Our hosts, Ben and Marietjie McIntyre have gone way beyond the call of duty in feeding us and doing special things with us. Last night was super special. They took us on a game drive where we saw tons of wild animals---eland, running ostrich, zebra, and my favorite, three giraffe. We even saw reindeer! The reindeer are imported, so that's the first time we've ever seen those in Africa.

However, I couldn't take any pictures as my batteries had gone suddenly and completely dead in the camera. I was frustrated, but later relieved because we all wanted to stand up for the game drive, and I needed both hands to hold on. Evangel had her little video camera, but I'm not sure about putting videos on here.

While we out at Bufflesvlei, that game park, Paul received a wonderful call. A man called to tell us the story of his wife. She was in the Sunday night service and was unsaved. Paul preached "Hands Up" about how Moses had to keep his hands up for the Israelites to win the battle. He taught how we have to keep praying for each other to have success in our Christian life.

Anyway, the Holy Spirit worked in this lady. She picked up one of Paul's DVD's after church from the book table and took it home to start watching. She watched one sermon after another until about midnight! There are 26 on there. Then she got a booklet, I think in Afrikaans, that a pastor had written. She read that and around 2 a.m. was ready to pray with her husband for Jesus to save her. That's wonderful news!

Paul preached in three schools yesterday too. I must say, I've been so worried he's going to get sick again as his schedule gets busier, that I was even afraid to go on the game drive last night. This weekend is very full, but then Monday is totally free for rest so we'll try to keep him healthy til then.

First trip of 2010

2010-03-01T10:11:00.000+02:00

Ahh, the perks the Lord provides! Our kids were not thrilled to leave Cape Town for the first long trip of the year, but look what was at the first house where we are to stay for a week! Not only that, our host is an explosives person, just the sort of thing our boys are interested in.
Sunday after church we went for lunch at the game reserve where their daughter lives. This Red Hartebeest has a funny expression.
This Wildebeest seemed to take things pretty seriously.
This mama giraffe suddenly went crazy on the game preserve and had to be shot for running through fences. Only after she was dead did they discover she was expecting the little one. Sad. I guess most expecting moms can sympathize with the "going crazy" feelings.
Our kids are enjoying the extra space in the new car.

Our new (to us) Kia Sedona.

The Youngs are off on their first family road trip of 2010! With great vim and vigor we packed and paid bills and generally ran around like chickens with our heads cut off on Thursday afternoon, to prepare for an early start on Friday. All was going well, until an ATM ate Paul’s credit card!

We’re glad that happened at home, because we had our handy Magic Jack for cheap calls to the States to sort it all out. I was able to get some cash on my card, and we got the rates paid, and James and Gloria have something to live on, and we got to pay a bit on our car insurance, and can pay the rest somewhere along the way.

Next glitch in the plans: I got insomnia. 1:19 saw me awake and aware, and that was the end of sleep for me that night. I think I could have dozed off around 4 when Paul got up, so I gave up trying and started helping. We were on the road at 5:05 a.m. heading to Worchester for Paul’s first two preaching appointments. I won’t mention any names, but one of us was really struggling with gritty eye/grouchy mind syndrome. A long day stretched ahead.

One of our missionary friends, Jonathan DeSeno in Romania, asked where we were going and I teasingly told him, north, of course. Where else can you go from Cape Town? Actually you can also go east, but we did head north, through the impressive Huguenot Tunnel which is about 4 kilometers long and makes me think of Princess Diana about every time we go through it.

Worchester is grape growing territory which has rich farms of vineyards in a rocky valley. The craggy mountains always speak to me of how violent The Flood must have been to have tossed up the earth so high. But I just squinted at them through fat eyes with less than my usual appreciation for their awesome beauty.

We got to the first school early, so Paul had time for another sandwich before he went in. There was a little break before the second one so we went to a brand new mall in between to try to work on the insurance. Paul went to the bank, while the kids and I went to check out some new wheely things that are like a j-board that isn’t connected in the middle. The saleslady made it look easy to glide on, but I wasn’t fooled. It’s way out of my coordination league.

At the second school, I went into a "coma" in the car, while the kids worked (I hope) on their school work, and Paul went in to preach. My coma got interrupted once by a little boy calling, “Tanie” (auntie) very insistently. His top had fallen through the school bars and he wanted me to fetch it for him.
After that school, we really felt “on the way.” My nap had perked me up enough that I could drive and Paul could rest. First stop, the Hex River Valley. I posted pictures of that back in July, I think. We love to stop there and buy grapes, fresh and chilled, from a Padstal (farm shop) with lovely bathrooms.

With grapes and sandwiches for lunch, we had no need to stop until Beaufort West, about 4 hours down the road, but we did stop. There were several construction stops, and once a tractor trailer’s trailer had turned over.

We made it to Colesberg around 6 p.m. and hunted a bit for a place to stay, though not long as we all wanted to get out of the car. Next came a hunt for food. The elderly hotel we were staying in had a limited selection of meals, all delicious looking, but none inexpensive. We decided to walk around to find something more economical.

Colesberg was in Friday-night-celebration mode with many people staggering around drunk already. We found a little fast food joint where we had eaten once before, but it was just closing. They sent us to another restaurant, but after we’d walked awhile in the dark, we decided that the hotel food might not be such a bad idea. It was DELICIOUS when we finally got to tuck into that stuff around 8 p.m.

Our hotel was on a hill, so I wondered if I’d sleep well, in spite of my tiredness, because of the noise of the Kwikka Likka next door, and the shifting of big trucks as they came up or down the hill. Earplugs to the rescue! I popped those in and was unconscious for the better part of 9 hours.

Breakfast was a repeat of the night before. Hotel’s too expensive, walk through the streets, can’t find anything else, back to hotel.

Traveling on the national highways in South Africa, is a lot like traveling on major roads in the USA, but there are some differences. Of course we drive on the opposite side of the road, but some other differences are not so obvious.

1. Yellow line driving is acceptable here. The yellow line is down the side of the road, so people commonly pull over into that area (stopping lane) to let others pass making for a better flow of traffic, though more risky for pedestrians.

2. After someone pulls over like that for you, it is normal to flash the car’s hazard lights at them to thank for the courtesy of pulling over. So nice and proper.

3. There are no rest areas like in the States, but the “Petrol Ports” are very nice. They have gas/diesel, a restaurant, a play area for the kids, and toilets.

Day 2 was peaceful in the car. The kids did book work since they had exchanged Thursday for Saturday as a day off. We crossed out of the Karoo (semi desert), into the Free State (one of South Africa's 9 provinces) which was greener.

Besides written school, the kids are listening to audio lessons from Vision Forum on historic battles. Those CD’s make the kilometers fly by.

Around 4:30 we arrived at the house of Ben and Marietje McIntyre where we are to stay for the week. Ben just called the kids together and lined them up like a captain giving orders. When they were nice and nervous, he pronounced to them, that they must feel free, and feel happy. They are to get drinks without asking. He told them he likes to spoil kids, and he doesn't know how he got so blessed to have this chance to spoil American kids. :-) Very nice!

They have a pool with a long, wet slide into it, so the kids and Paul had a long swim to get the travel kinks out, while I watched and shivered.

Romantic Stories

2010-02-14T10:08:00.000+02:00

Today's the day to celebrate romance! I don't know why the 14th of February, exactly, but I'm not complaining! It's a good thing to celebrate.

We have several friends who have such nice romantic stories, I thought I'd share them briefly on here. Our friends the Ronnings, met in prison in Atlanta, Georgia! Now that's a shocking place for missionaries to meet their spouse, but that's the story. Both of them were at an anti-abortion demonstration, and got arrested. They spent a couple of weeks in prison before they were released, and the guards let the men and women in both groups have exercise together each day. One thing led to another, and today they have 4 children and have spent years having missionary adventures in South Africa. Sweet!

The Penley's story was special too. One of the ways Sharon knew Frank was the guy for her, was that he threatened to put her in the lake (or river?) if she did something (I forget what.) She DID something (I forget what.) He didn't throw her in immediately, as they had a church service, but HE DID KEEP HIS WORD. He waited til after church, then carried her out (screaming, I believe) into the water. She was impressed with a fun guy, a crazy kind of guy, who kept his word! One thing led to another, and today they are church planters near Altlanta, with 4 really masculine boys, and 1 feminine little girl who had one of our boys wrapped around her little fingers last time we visited. She has an electric car :-) Maybe a future romance story there.

Dion and Johanneke had and have a romantic story. They met on the Doulos. He's from South Africa, she's from Holland, and they had a ship-board romance as they floated around the world, ministering with OM in different ports that the Doulos visited. One thing led to another, and today they have three kids, some of our kids' best friends, and they're distributors of No Greater Joy materials, which leads to a seriously mushy, wonderful marriage.

And then there's our own romance. It'll be rough to keep that one so short, because I love all the little details. I remember one night when we were living for a short time in Kenya. The electricity went out, so the whole family gathered on our bed with 2 candles nearby, and Paul and I told our kids every juicy detail of our romance. It's a precious memory.

We met one day in South Berwick, Maine (that's why our dog's name is Berwick-in memory of that happy occasion :-). Paul preached in Seacoast Christian School where I was teaching. He asked me to eat out with him, and one thing led to another, for sure. Today we have four children, have traveled to 4 or 5 continents together (depends if you count the Philipines as going to Asia) preaching to people about Jesus and enjoying ourselves. One of my goals for marriage was to laugh a lot, and we do.

Got Milk?

2010-02-01T18:50:00.000+02:00

It never fails, I get a lot of comments when I buy a week's worth of milk for our family. We're pretty big milk drinkers, and so I buy a lot at once, and freeze it so that I'm not running to the store every single day.
Until today, the most memorable comment was a lady who looked startled at my 40 or so liters of milk, and asked, "What are you going to do with that? You're not going to drink it are you? It's poison!"

I got under conviction after that one. Not about the milk, of course, but about how this woman could be so ardent about something like the "poison" of milk, and I wasn't that ardent to walk up to total strangers and tell "You're not going to indulge in THAT sin are you? It's poison!"

Today there was another chat at the milk bar. (You can get a deal if you bring your own containers and get them filled, which makes it more obvious when I come with my 3 big bags of plastic stuff.) A man came up and asked, "Are these all yours?" or something like that. We got talking about whether milk is good for you or not, and he told me he had cancer of the tongue, but that he had beaten it. He used to smoke, he said, and someone told him eating KFC could cause cancer.

Phew! I wanted to witness to him so bad. When someone tells you they've had a near brush with death, you want to help make sure he's ready for the next life, and if you know the answers, you want to help.

I don't rememeber my exact words, but I was able to share with him, which felt funny because he was quite a bit older then me, and a man, and so forth, but it went well. He agreed with me! He said Jesus could take away fear of death, but it was special. It was as though he was reminding himself for the first time in a long time. I don't know, but, as always, Cherish's story was a help as I shared about that.

We parted a few minutes after our jugs were filled. I think he bought 4 liters which is, of course, terribly important to the story :-)

shark attack

2010-01-19T10:15:00.000+02:00

Wednesday was the first day of "school" after a tremendous Christmas/summer holiday. It was hard to think of it, but we had a good book to start us back off with an interesting beginning.

You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice of men...our plans didn't work out. Proverbs 16:9 says, A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

First of all, Josh got sick during art class, while I was reading the first story of the new year. He stayed sick all day, and all my fine plans went out the window. Besides the usual interruptions, a lady came to get some DVD's to hand out to people. She was bursting with the news that she had seen a shark attack the day before in Fish Hoek, which is about 15 minutes from our house. The shark attacked in shallow water, at about 3:15 in the afternoon, a man who was just standing there. She said he was eaten in 2 bites, and it was horrible. This lady had a renewed vision for how any of us can lose our lives at any moment.

In the evening, Josh had now vomited 9 times. I was getting worried and went to Paul. He gathered the family for prayer, anointing with oil, confessing our sins, the works. From then on, Josh began to improve. He drank a little water and it stayed drunk. He asked for some grapes, and then went out on the porch where it was a little cooler, and fell asleep. I had to move him inside so the mosquitoes wouldn't get him, but otherwise he slept for about 12 hours.

So my school plans were something of a fizzle, but we were all very horrified and impressed by the shark attack. We were reminded of the urgency of spreading the gospel to people who are dying AND we were reminded of God's mercy to heal. Not a bad day of school after all, to learn two big life lessons.

Another funny sign

2010-01-12T16:00:00.000+02:00

My Mom and Ariel flew back to America yesterday so I'm a bit blue, but not so blue I can't see the humor in this sign. We saw it in Hout Bay on a little outing with Mom, Ariel, Evangel and me. OK, so it's not histerically funny, just a little, but nice on a day like this.

An "A" for "F"

2009-12-31T20:42:00.000+02:00

I'm glad I have a blog to share with at times like this when I'm just full to overflowing with the joy of our life here. Paul just preached his last sermon of 2009 to an audience of little boys in their pajamas. They were a sweet group of kids, at a Fresh Air Camp, led by Student Union workers. They broke into applause when he put the Black Light on his drawing of heaven.

I like the way they were so shocked when we were driving out. I was driving, and their eyes got wide, and they all demanded to know why I was driving and not "Small Paul". I teased them by saying I was a faster driver, but eventually told them I was just helping by driving. I don't think any of them thought they'd want anyone helping THEM with the driving if they had their own cars. :-) They can't quite imagine being so tired they aren't excited to drive.

We had our annual special prison services earlier this year, on the 22nd and 23rd. We went to each section, A-G in two days, with section F being our favorite. James exulted, "They were so quiet I could hear the fan on the sound system!" They were so quiet and respectful, and responsive at the right places. And they also broke into applause at the Black Light on the picture of heaven. But they didn't have cute matching PJ's.

In some of the other sections, Paul had to compete with radios, shouting guys in other cells, and loud rushing water, so a quiet section is a blessing not to be taken for granted. There also was almost no stealing this year, as compared with other years where we "spiritual workers" fought to keep our cool as prisoners grabbed everything they could get their hands on.

Now everything is sweetened by my Mom and niece Ariel coming for a visit. DELIGHTFUL!!

Yippee! Halelujah!

2009-12-27T14:58:00.000+02:00

For over a year I've been working on a book called 100 Houses. I'm not satisfied with it, but I decided to give it it's own space on the internet, so I made a blog called www.100houses.blogspot.com TODAY I FINALLY FINISHED PUTTING THE WHOLE BOOK, INCLUDING PICTURES ON THE BLOG!!!!

OK, so it's not perfect, but maybe this way it can be a blessing to some people even while I'm tweaking it. I'd love to find a helpful Christian editor to polish it up.

For those who want to read it, I put it on backwards, so you can read it frontwards! I put it on one chapter at a time, so it looks like seperate posts.

May the Lord use this baby for His glory, to encourage others who may not be brave in the matter of giving up houses and lands. He really does pay back 100 time more then we give HIM.

Full of questions

2009-12-17T19:23:00.000+02:00

James and Gloria have been denied a visa today, and have until January 16th to leave the country. Now what? The Department of Home Affairs said they could appeal. They have already appealed and this was the answer to that.
So.....
where will they go?
what does God have for them next?
will they come back?
how do we manage without them?

James is Paul's nephew, and he does all the technical stuff here. He puts Paul's sermons on DVD, gets them in good shape for TV stations, mails them out to TV stations, updates our website, and helps with the sound system when we need it. He has copied and printed thousands of DVD's for distribution, plus stuffing them in their sleeves.

Gloria helps around the house with dishes and cooking and cleaning, plus she has had a ministry to the Spanish women in Polsmoor Prison and teaches a class of wiggley little kids in Ocean View. She regularly saves my neck when I get in over my head with too many obligations.

Their one year old, Daniel is a joy in the family. He fell in a pool today, and his mom rescued him quickly. He's just at that exciting age, 15 months, where he has to explore the entire world, and gets into all kinds of trouble as he samples hand lotion or pushes every button he can reach.

They feed our rabbit Toffee, hamster Louise, and dog Berwick when we go traveling, plus do all the other things that keep the house going while we're going around the country. They fill most of the DVD orders that come in from all over the world.

The Lord knows ! What a comfort at a time like this. We'll see how He answers the questions.

Fan mail

2009-12-11T20:28:00.000+02:00

Paul is on TV in Kenya and Zambia, so we get some nice letters from viewers there. I really enjoyed this one today, it was encouraging, and shows that our prayers are being answered.
I'll stick it below so you can enjoy it too.

Dear Sir,

Forgive me for the brevity of this message; I am in Kenya and I am using my phone to write to you.I am a Christian but for the last five years or so, I have been battling despire, the feeling that I have lost my way, of not fulfilling my promises, of questioning my faith.I feel as though I have made all the wrong choices, as though I can no longer look ahead in pleasure and excitement.

Anyway, I was sitting on the couch and this tall man with huge hands was scribbling on a piece of paper and mummbling stuff, and scribbling somemore, and slowley, a picture emerged of some beautiful fruit, and a big fat water mellon. And he was saying, "...don't forget to give thanks...", and, "...prayer begins with praise."And, for the first time in a while, I felt some peace. And I gace thanks.So now, I'm thanking you for doing what you're doing, and your soft ways, and your giant hands. I am thanking you for you.So thank you SmallPaul. xxxxxxx xxxxxx

We definitely need the encouragement, especially sometimes. Last week, when we were stressing over the visa situation for James and Gloria, we decided to walk to Kalk Bay for ice cream. Paul loaded his pocket with Chick tracts for the trip, and led the pack.

This walk for ice cream is such a beautiful walk along a paved path following a rocky shore for most of the way, and then up onto the Main Road for the last little bit. (That's a good part for me too, as I like to look in the shop windows :-)

So Paul passed out tracts to a bunch of people along the way, and then, when we got on the road part, someone called to us. Paul headed over with a tract, with James alongside with a DVD, which he had been giving out a little less freely.

Turns out this object of evangelism was Pastor Percy. It can be embarrassing to give a tract to a Pastor we're supposed to know. These humbing moments make us gladder for the sweet, encouraging letters.

Virginia Ross's testimony

2009-12-04T12:09:00.000+02:00

Mrs. Virginia Ross was our special speaker in our Ladies Bible Study, and I'd like to kick myself for not having video taped her. The whole thing was excellent, and I got a blessing in an area where I had a fear that the devil was probably going to blow up into an overwhelming thing. More about that later.

Mrs. Ross was a Young! When she was young Young, her mom died, which left her with a loneliness that she says was part of what drew her to Jesus. She was involved with dancing, boys, hairstyles, movies and everything else she could think of that would give satisfaction, and yet was so unhappy. Her friend Blanche was the same, and then Blanche got saved. She couldn't understand it. They were all Presbyterians, all church people, and didn't understand what it was that Blanche had done. She remembers saying, "Blanche is not ashamed of Jesus, and I am." They thought she must have turned Catholic, but Virginia took the time to find out more. She was very drawn to whatever Blanche had, but felt she would have to give up everything, her university plans, her entertainment, and even her family if she were to follow the Lord. She determined the cost was too high and said she wouldn't do it, but then, after a week long visit with Blanche, she was shocked to hear herself say to Blanche, "Can I get saved right here or do I have to be in a church?"

She mentioned that verse "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? Nay, but rather division." Luke 12:51. It was certainly true for her. Her whole family was in an uproar over her conversion, and then she wanted to go to Bible college instead of being the first in the family to go to university (her uncle had been going to pay). Many years later her father admitted that she had chosen well, and 10 years later her twin sister got saved too so there was sweet fruit, but only later.

She went through a very dark time of doubt almost immediately after being saved, but then, as she prayed, she opened her Bible to Revelation 3:15 and knew she was one of the lukewarm ones! From that time on she was surrendered and soon planned to be a missionary.

She considered boys to be one of the worldly things she had denounced so planned to go as a single missionary, but God had other plans. She was all ready to go on one boat in 1949, at age 29, but her visa never came from South Africa. She couldn't understand it! Why would God allow this to happen? But very soon began to see reasons for the delay. First of all, Blanche's house was struck by lightning and burned to the ground WHILE she was bringing Virginia home from the boat she wasn't allowed to take.

Secondly, that was when her twin got saved, partly from reading The Robe and then with Virginia's help.

So months later, visa in hand, she tried again. This time she was one of 12 passengers on a cargo ship. As she came on the ship, she was told that there was one other missionary on board. She was glad, thinking he was probably an older missionary from whom she could learn. His name was Archibald Macintyre Ross, 2 years her junior. They were assigned to the Chief Engineer's table, right beside each other for 3 meals a day, for 3 weeks. You can imagine what happened. She was impressed with his looks, and that he knew the Bible better then she did. She would argue with him, but he was winning all the arguments.

She was in the habit of reading the Bible each night before bed, so one night she read the last 2 verses in Proverbs and a chapter in the New Testament, (she didn't say which, but I guess it was 1 Corinthians 13). The first opened her eyes to the fact that God valued married ladies, and the second opened her eyes to the fact that Archie was right in their argument about women preachers.

The next day when they met before breakfast, she said she had read some scriptures. He said, "Was one of them Proverbs 31:30, 31?" to which she answered, "How did you know?" and then he asked, "Was the other 1 Corinthians 14?" She wondered if he was a mind reader! "How did you know?" she asked again.

The answer left her dumfounded. "Because I prayed that if you were the girl for me, that He would have you read those two passages."

"Where does that leave me?" she sputtered, rather amazed at that unique proposal.

"Just where you've always been. I have my guidance, now you'll have to get yours," came the reply. All this happened on the equator, she told us, but she held off saying yes til they came into Cape Town.

Things were complicated for a bit there, as he was assigned to Zambia and was with the Brethren, while she was to go to the Transvaal with her group. So it was at least a year and a half before they got everything squared away. She became Brethren while in Durban, and he got malaria and had to leave Zambia so they finally got married and were married for 54 years.
They had 4 children, 3 girls and a boy. The boy is in Parow and the girls are in the States and New Zealand.

It was sweet to hear her talk about her husband of 54 years. She used a lot of "very"s. He was very Scottish, very good looking, very smart, very godly, and very humorous. She said the last 2 years with him were the best "because he did everything I told him to." :-) But then she said really they were the best in fellowship. He was paralyzed from a stroke, so they were living in the States, but unable to afford help there. Her back was going from helping him, so they ended up moving to Cape Town where they could afford to hire nurses to help him. She said he wanted to go to heaven ever since the stroke, but the Lord left him those 11 (I think) years, and she really enjoyed him. He could still preach, but he couldn't walk without help as it was his entire left side that was paralyzed.

She learned a lot during his illness. She started driving at age 78 (My friend Mary is totally inspired by that one!) and learned to use the computer at age 81. She confessed she's a little proud about that, because there are only 2 of the old ladies where she lives who have learned the computer and she's one of them. I think she lives in the Retirement Hotel in St. James.

She talked about love, and how there is nothing better in this life then to lay down your life for another, and how sweet the time was for them as a couple while they went through this time of ill health. That is the part that particularly encouraged me! I was under the impression that it just kind of got worse and worse and then you died, but she describes it as better and better with the Lord, and the difficulties are just incidental.

She did share about difficulties like impatience with her husband, hip surgeries, a prolapsed uterus after the birth of her son (10 1/2 lbs which is about 5 kilos!!!) and so forth, but able to see how God had worked in those situations.

El Sobrinito

2009-11-30T21:00:00.000+02:00

I don't much like photos of myself, but Daniel's cute enough in this one to make up for my double chin. He turned 15 months this week, and is such a fun little nephew. I like the way he follows our Josh around like a shadow. He likes everything Josh does, UNLESS Josh dares to us the "n" word on him. He's not crazy about being told "no" by anyone, but especially his buddy Josh. That feels like treason!

I was hoping to add a bunch of pictures on here tonight. You see, in Africa we pre-pay for our time on the internet. So we buy it by the gigabyte. We ran out near the end of the month, and I couldn't just let it wait for the next month because Thanksgiving was in there, and we wanted to call the States using Magic Jack which means it's through the computer and is nice and cheap. But, knowing we had a nearly full gigabyte, and that any "left-overs" get sacrificed at the end of the month, we splurged this evening on the internet. For a bedtime story we watched Tim Hawkins on Utube, and before that we saw a bunch of clips of the Duggars on TLC.com (We're just fascinated with the Duggars. They seem like our kind of people :-)

But my picture adding got thwarted. The pictures I wanted to add are in emails, and I can't figure how to get them out of there into here, and tomorrow we get a new gigabyte which is supposed to last the whole month of December, though it never lasts a month. We always use at least 2 gigs.

Anyway, I also did our prayer letter, and got all the trillions of those sent, so we must have used a good chunk of that gig. Enough so I can now go to bed in good conscience...hopefully to sleep better then last night.

Before I go, let me just tell you about last night. It got wild! A car was stolen to the left of us down the street, and the thief pushed it to the right of us, up the street. The neighbor below us heard noises and went to check (brave guy, Geoff!) He ended up catching the thief and standing on his ankles til the police came! Someone else was standing on his shoulders.

I heard all this commotion and was peering out windows, trying to figure out what was going on. Finally, I went to see, in my lovely blue Chinese bathrobe. Berwick was thrilled to have company outside, so she was right at my side, thankfully, when a policeman walked in our gate.
We always wondered what Berwick would do if...or should I say when...an intruder entered. Now I know! She started barking and heading for the policeman! I got a hold on her collar, but the wind was blowing like the wind blows a lot in Muizenberg, and that blue bathrobe wasn't doing the greatest job, so Berwick got dragged quickly indoors.

Not only the car robbery, but Josh walked in his sleep AGAIN! He's a bit freaky when he does that, talking, smiling, and one time jumping over furniture.

After all this excitement, I was just dozing off, and a pigeon had to have a seizure on our bathroom windowsill! Twice!! I don't know why, and didn't much care at that point, just wanted my heart to stop thumping out of my throat. Maybe the pigeon was just flying, but it sounded like a seizure to me.

So that's why I'm behind on my beauty sleep. I'll see if I can do better tonight.

2009-11-22T17:35:00.000+02:00

What a class of cuties! Evangel loves doing crafts with the Ladies' Bible study daughters. From left, we have Joy, Julia, Gabi, Rebecca, and Megan. Josh did a little craft of his own, making himself an apron out of 2 bandannas and 2 belts. Smarty pants!

While on our last trip, in Swellendam, we got to go to the Drostdy Museum. We didn't go look at these sheep, they came to look at us! They were amazed at the boys goofing around on a threshing floor.

There's our 3 kiddos in an old charcoal mill. Swellendam is the 3rd oldest town in South Africa, and is about 2 hours from Cape Town. We could get a feel for what things were like 200 years ago at this museum.

Margie and Amy, my quilting friends, this photo is especially for you!

This floor amazed me. See those little dots? Each one is a peach or nectarine seed! We all decided Josh should make a floor like that if he ever makes a house. At the rate he downs nectarines, it would take him about a week to have enough seeds. :-)

A highlight of Swellendam was picking Youngberries! It was the first time we have ever done it, and we like the fruit of our labors.

Usually in prayer letters I ask prayer that we can bring forth much fruit, but this time it was the literal fruit. We have enjoyed some Youngberry cobbler. Youngberries are similar to blackberries, but are a little bigger. They have prickles too like blackberries.

A few more pics of the Barrydale adventure have to sneak in here. I love to see Paul zipping along in his Sunday best.

And one last photo for Aunt Grace:

Barrydale and Robertson Trip

2009-11-22T16:37:00.000+02:00

Isn't Paul dignified looking, 4 wheeling/quadbiking in his Sunday best? We had such a special treat our Sunday in Barrydale. Auntie Christine invited us home to Sunday dinner, and her son and his kids gave rides on their toys. Their Josh and our Josh head off down the road.

Evangel and Chrismarie head out in the go-cart.

Timothy took a turn driving too, with their Josh on the back to save his life in case of emergencies.

We always think of Aunt Grace when we find gorgeous flowers along the way in our travels.

Evangel made friends with a monkey at Birds Paradise in Robertson. The same monkey hit Paul on the head, much to the delight of our kids.

This dramatic Toucan was one of our favorite birds.

Not the greatest picture, but I loved these haystack people and had to try showing them.

Happy Reformation Day

2009-11-09T18:40:00.000+02:00

We've deposed Halloween, and replaced it with Reformation Day as a family celebration. This year we joined Peter Hammond at the Huguenot Memorial in Franschoek. The Huguenot Memorial helps us remember the Huguenot people who fled from persecution in France and found a new life in South Africa.

Paul preached behind the Memorial. Josh and Timmy (looking dead behind Paul) helped Paul act out some of his sermon. His board is flat on the ground because the wind was a bit gusty that day.

My camera didn't capture the total beauty of this place, but it gives a hint of it.

While Grace (Paul's sister) was with us, we went to see a rose farm near our house. It's only about 15 minutes from home, but I had never been there. I'm glad she inspired our visit.

Chart Farm as the rose farm is called looks over to the Constantia Mountains. I hope I get to take other visitors here cuz I want an excuse to try their coffee shop--not that I drink coffee, but those little cakes are calling my name. Plus I might need to stock up on roses. You can cut your own for R4 each (about 50 cents in the US).

At the end of October, it was my once-a-year turn to hostess my book club ladies. Our meeting in the living room was pretty normal, but our husbands and sons decided to get together too, so they all crammed in to our bedroom to watch a war movie together. I thought they were move worthy of a picture then our normal gathering in the living room. First time we've done major entertaining in the bedroom, (except for the boys' pillow fights on our bed during ladies' Bible study, but that wasn't "legal" :-)

Josh and Bronwyn (who lives downstairs from us) were a great help getting ready for the event. They liked my little shishkabobs.

2009-10-25T19:22:00.000+02:00

Berwick's in the doghouse again. She really did it this time. On Friday we gave up paperworking homeschool, and had a projects day. I was rejoicing in how well it was going. Timothy, Josh and I got the bunny hutches repaired and painted. Timothy did the sawing, and both boys pounded in a lot of nails. We made some fake sky lights at the same time (painted the boards that cover the holes into the attic like a sky). Things were getting ship shape, and then....tragedy. One of us left the fence open, and Snowball was hopping around lose while we painted his cage. Berwick could not apparently control her baser cravings; she seems to have caught the bunny and shook him.

We were all mad at Berwick, yet trying to realize that she is created to be a dog, a predator, and she didn't do it to be bad. It might have made it easier if she were repentant. She's still drooling at the sight of Toffee and her new baby, so we know she'd repeat the performance if she got the chance.

But we are homeschoolers, and we were having a projects day, so we called Johanneke, our very brave friend from Holland, and asked if she'd help us with the bunny. She was game, so we loaded up and hurried to her house to have a biology lesson and a taxidermy lesson. I have pictures, but I'm not going to post them, at least not yet because I can't find the camera cord. Snowball looked better alive.

2009-10-17T19:43:00.000+02:00

Evangel's birthday blender is a delight to the whole family!!! Someone knows how to pick a gift.

We went on a field trip to Groote Schuur Hospital this week to learn about the world's first successful open heart surgery.

The museum was in the actual rooms the surgery took place in. The donor was a girl who was hit by a car.

Dr. Christiaan Barnhard was the doctor who performed the surgery. I was fascinated with this silicone look alike. We are all so pleased that it is a South African who did the surgery, a charming, good looking man who became the darling of the country.

He looked so real! But I found his story a bit sad. He came from a Christian family here in South Africa, but it seems as though his amazing success and popularity went to his head. He divorced his first wife and remarried two other times to beauties much younger then he was. He had 6 children but died alone on the island of Cyprus. I think his parents were probably pretty disappointed in him. "Let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children," is our prayer for our children.

Adoption--after 3 years!

2009-10-15T14:44:00.000+02:00

I introduce to you....

our friends Grant & Loki Swanepoel, missionaries in northwestern Kenya have been trying for 3 years to adopt their 2 little girls. We're thrilled with this answer to prayer. I love the "long" story, nicely told so I'm including the details and link below.
Happy endings are Biblical, and satisfying.

Dear Young Family,
Praise the Lord! He has answered our (and your) prayers regarding the adoption. This morning in court the judge signed the final papers making us the parents of Abigail and Caitlyn! In the pic we had just arrived at the house we are staying in and we are jumping for joy. (In between crying and sitting around dazed).

Thank you sooo much for faithfully walking this road with us. We have been humbled by the love and commitment shown by many, many people (some of whom we have never met) to pray for us and encourage us in this long journey.
The lawyer tells us the final documents will be out in 2 weeks and then we can start the application for the girls for Kenyan passports.
Praising Jesus!
Psalm 124:1- "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side... then the flood would have swept us away.Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth"
Grant, Loki, Caity and Abby Swanepoel

Dear Young Family,

So many have prayed for the adoption process that we felt like we owe you a bit more of the whole story... it is very long though, so we posted it on our blog, along with some of our pics...
http://nomadspulpit.aimsites.org/2009/10/05/one-day-long-long-ago/

Ps 40:10 " I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation"

PRAISE
1. For the adoption- God did miracles and we can only praise Him.
2. For a safe trip to Nanyuki and for a chance for some R &R 3. For the faithful prayers and partnership of many, many people over the last years.

PRAYER
1. For the rest of the paperwork- the biggest, decisive battle has been won, but the war with bureaucracy isn't over:) We are hoping to go back to Nairobi next week and to be able to pick up the final papers from the court. Then we will start the application for passports for the girls.
2. Plans for our furlough- there are lots of details that have to be worked out! We do take courage, though, that God who brought us so far will help us through as we make travel plans, find accommodation and plan the future (remembering ..if God wills)

Grateful to God
Grant and Loki

Happy Birthday, Evangel!!! #14

2009-10-11T14:06:00.000+02:00

Evangel turned 14 this week, and made her own cake for a party with the kids from our Ladies Bible study.

On Saturday we took a hike to explore a little sea-side village with about 20 houses, no road access, and no electricity. It captured my imagination, this little jewel of a village in such a gorgeous, isolated setting, yet only about 45 minutes from our house.

I think the village is called Smitswinkel but I'm not sure. It sure didn't register on our GPS.

We went with Timothy's good friend Oliver and his family, plus another young man named Ryan who owns a cute BMW.

As part of Evangel's birthday, I took her to the Clay Cafe in Hout Bay (nice poem :-) with her friend Sarah, and we painted plates.

Evangel and Sarah had fun picking colors. We can go back in about 2 weeks to pick them up, these heirloom plates, :-) and see how they came out after they're fired.

Mom, this one's for you! Evangel's trying on the outfit you sent for her birthday. I think it looks good.

Here's 2 striped guys, good buddies Josh and Daniel.

Evangel and Megan ready to cut the cake.

Evangel did a craft with the little girls during the Ladies Bible study. Rebecca, Gabi, Megan, baby Holly, and Megan posing with their special fans.

Home Again & Life Chain posters

2009-10-06T21:34:00.000+02:00

After 2 1/2 months of adventures on the road, the kids were glad to get home and see Danielito, their cousin's little one year old. He learned to walk while we were gone, so he's more fun then ever.

Our first Sunday home, we got to go to Life Chain in Cape Town, but I forgot our camara, so had to pose the kids in our own street with our homemade posters .