First Baptist Church of Harlingen

On Sunday, Erik had the opportunity to speak at the church he grew up in, First Baptist Church of Harlingen.  That afternoon we were able to reconnect with old friends and meet many new people from the church at a reception.  We enjoyed getting to visit with so many people and left feeling very encouraged. 

The Goodbye Tour

We are enjoying time with friends and family during these last two weeks before we leave for Kenya.  We are looking forward to a big family Thanksgiving and catching up with Texas friends!  Here are some pictures from our tour so far:

Homeless

We moved out of our apartment in Nashville on Saturday and are now homeless and living out of our cars!  We're so thankful for good friends and family who are housing us for the next few weeks as we are on our "Goodbye Tour." 

Our first stop was in Birmingham for our church commissioning.  Our church family truly surrounded us and loved us well as they prayed for us and sent us off.  We felt so loved and encouraged and it was great for the kids to see just how many people were supporting us and praying for us!  Our small group hosted a lovely lunch for us and it was fun to catch up and spend time together. 

A good blogger would have lots of pictures to document these events, but I've never claimed to be a good blogger.  :)

Just Checking In!

We now have a little over a week left in Nashville.  We have really enjoyed catching up with our Nashville friends, but the time has really flown by.  We will be moving out on October 30th and on October 31st we will be commissioned at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham.  We are so thankful to be a part of this faith family and are honored to be sent by a church that is committed to spreading the gospel around the world.  We are looking forward to a sweet time with family and friends.  We will then spend November at an orientation with Serving in Mission (SIM) and traveling to visit friends and family. 

Right now we are feverishly trying to get packed and once again we are purging things we will not be taking.  Please pray for us as we prepare and travel.  Also pray for our kids as they will be living out of their suitcases and abandoning their routine for the next several weeks.  Overall, they are handling this pretty well, but are showing some signs of anxiety.

We are so thankful for our friends and family who are encouraging us and praying for us as we prepare to move to Kenya!  We are dependent on God's faithfulness and rely on your prayers!  Thank you!

Doubts

Lately, I have been having doubts.  I've doubted whether or not I could really do this.  I'm not exactly the adventuring type - I don't even like to go on vacation.  Why would I go to Kenya?  I'm not really good with people - there are days that I don't even like people.  How am I going to do life and ministry with people from a different culture?  After 35 years of practice I've still not completely mastered English - how will I be able to learn Swahili?  Life here is comfortable and we are happy - why are we packing up our family and moving to Africa?  The list of doubts goes on and on and the journey ahead seems really hard and a little bit crazy.

Today at Bible study the teacher talked about how Lazarus had been dead and in a tomb for four days when Jesus finally came and instructed him to "Come forth" and Lazarus got up and came forth!  Our Bible study teacher pointed out that since Lazarus was dead he had no power of his own to come forth.  Lazarus didn't do anything special nor did he possess special skills that allowed him to conquer death.  Lazarus rose from the dead because his Lord called him and told him to do it.  It was the power of Jesus' call to Lazarus that allowed him to rise from the dead.

I've known that I need Christ in me to do what God has called me to do, but in my mind I thought it was Jesus + me.  Christ alone gave Lazarus life!  It wasn't Jesus + Lazarus.  It was Jesus alone.

Right now I'm feeling a lot like dead man Lazarus.  I don't have much to offer and don't really know what I'm doing or how I'm going to do it.  But today I'm leaning hard on the God who has called us to Kenya and trusting that the very same God who breathed life into ordinary Lazarus' dead corpse will accomplish His purposes in and through our ordinary lives.  I'm trusting that with God's call comes His provision and His power!

I may need some of you to remind me of this a few months down the road when I'm in the throes of culture shock and wondering how I will survive. 

Frequently Asked Questions - Part 3

Most of the questions we get are predictable and we were prepared to answer them, but we were initially caught off guard by what is probably the most common question we are asked.  The conversation is usually with someone who does not know us well and it follows a predictable series of questions that goes something like this:

"You're moving to Africa?"

"You have four kids?"

"Are you taking them with you?"

I'm pretty sure the people asking these questions think it is crazier to take four kids to Africa than it would be to go without them.

So just to make sure we are perfectly clear...



4.  Are you taking your kids with you?

yes

Frequently Asked Questions - Part 2

2.  How long are you staying?

We are moving to Africa indefinitely.  Our initial two years will be through World Medical Mission's "Post Residency Program" (a branch of Samaritan's Purse).  WMM helps us establish ourselves in Kijabe over the course of a 2-year period just after the completion of Erik's formal training.  We then have the opportunity to transition to a long-term mission sending organization.  We are very grateful to have the chance to to work with Serving In Mission (SIM) which has allowed us to begin making plans for continuing with them after our time with WMM is completed.  We plan to make Kenya home.

3.  What will the kids do for school?

We are so excited that the kids will be able to attend Rift Valley Academy.  RVA is a boarding school that serves missionary families throughout Africa.  It is located just up the hill from the hospital and our children will be able to attend as a day school.  We are so thankful that they will be in a Christ-centered school with a diverse student population.