Saying Good Byes...Day 15

oh the lovely reaction, I feel quit weird this morning but today is just a packing up day so I should be good. We packed up fast this morning then movie marathon this afternoon. I ended up starting to run a fever from the shot. So I took a nap most of the afternoon, but during all this God had a plan.  I ended up having a wonderful talk with Randy and Aaron on just how I am not ready to go home even though I have to and need to. Wouldn't you know that God would point to Psalm 55:16 and Psalm 56:4.
 These just assured me that no matter what happens when I leave here I know I can count on God when I can't count on anyone else.  Going home is going to be hard knowing no one is going to really understand what happened on this trip. Then we had our celebration dinner. It was a blast, we laughed, singed, danced and said out good bye with the translators. Oh wait and one more movie October Skys to end the night as a team.  We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow before we leave. tonight can last forever

Me with several of our translators

boys being boys

singing and dancing

Day at the Artison.... Day 14

Today pretty much started off with us being lazy and watching another movie. For the most part of the afternoon we went to Olympia to eat pizza. Then off to the artison. I hated that place! It was like a big court year with thousand of people coming your way asking you to buy their things. There isn't prices on anything you bargin for what you want. I got a couple good deals. I don't know if my first one was a good one or not. Then we came back to the house and part of the group went to the def school, So that tomorrow we can have the day just to pack up. The rest of us watched Ever After and then as a whole at frozen pudding and watch the Lion King with a couple of our translators. Oh and Lovely shot time. I made it a little over 3 days this time! Which is a first!  At least I got to wait until the end of the movie for this one or pick to, to say the least. This shot did not end so well. I had a bad reaction again. Good thing I just went to sleep.


Sorry I don't have any pictures from this day, as the trip started to wind down I didn't take as many picture.

reuniting... Day 13

Romans 10:15
And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the scriptures say "how beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring good news."

It is weird staring out the day not being in the village and with the other team members, but I am sure today had something in store that we never new. We all had some pretty good talks before the other half of the team made it back. They got back around 2:30 . It was as if we hadn't seen our team for days. Which I think is awesome that we are that close to each other. So the afternoon was spent than none other showering and watching the Goonies! Yes we watched it on VHS too! Then we all set out for dinner to where we went our first night. We sat around the table and did our high and lows of the trip. It was fun hearing from everyone and how our hearts and things just change over the trip. It is amazing what God did in all of our lifes.

The TEAM or my African Family!

Breaking Heart..... Day 12

Last morning in the village so sad. It was weird coming and now it is weird leaving It is going to be hard leaving early but God has a plane and a reason for everything.

" be still and know that I am God." psalm 46:10

From teh time I went to bed last night to when I woke up this morning this verse has been in my head. We may not understand why we are leaving early but God has a reason and now we just need to trust him.
1John 4:16

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. god is love whoever lives in love lives in God and God lives in them.

Psalm 18:39
You armed with strength for battle, you humbled my adversaries before me.

We have all had our weakness out here. Some it has been home sick for me my asthma, but God has given us the strength to be here to push through these things to glorify his name.

2 Corinthians 12:16
That is why for Christ sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in headships in persecutions, in difficulties. for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Saying bye to Sita today was probably the most heart breaking thing that has happened to me. I could not let her go. Yep tears and all. It didn't help that when I finally put her down she looked at me like she was going to cry. Tracy told me I had to be strong  but when you are saying bye to a little girl that has been attached to you all trip it is hard. I had her in one arm and Adam holding me in another. Leaving the village was for sure not easy. God for sure captured my heart this time in ways I never expected!  We made it back to Bomiko fine. The group we came back with is pretty neat. We went out to dinner with them and had a fun time, sharing stories from both villages we had been in. Charity and me gave Aaron a work out because we are in the roof bedroom and couldn't figure out how to lock or unlock our room. He ever gets a break from us! lol

Picture of Sita thanks to Adam

Sita hitting Adam with a water bottle

May I just say I love how they are both smiling...one because she is hitting

him the other because he is getting hit

The Season of Engagment

For all of you who want to know how it happened here you go:

He came and woke me up at 8am yesterday wanting to spend the day with me because he didn't have work. Well I had a full list of things I wanted to get done. One being my online class. So while he went out to run some errons I tackled that and making cake pops for something on Saturday. I really didn't want to leave the house!  Then we went out to lunch probably around 2ish at Qdoba. After that he drove around acting like he had no clue how to get to Lake Springfield! He was just being really really weird and not him self! He went to the river off of battlefield first. Which is where we went to the first night we were together! Then it was off to the lake. Which was nothing new for us. We go there quit a bit to fish and just chill by the lake. When we got there he took out his backpack to walk up the trail to the cliff that over looks the lake. If any of you know it is a short short walk and no need for a backpack! Once we got up there and sat down he pulled out all the letter that I had wrote him since we had been together. read a few that had certain things in them. Then pulled out the photo timeline book I made for our one year. Looked through that and when we got to the back I had wrote a letter in it. He told me to read it. I said I wrote it I don't need to read it. But I did out loud. The last line says. " I am excited for where God is going to take us this year. Then He went on to say that he had been thinking about where we would be and praying about this next year. Got down on a knee and asked me while over looking the lake! Of Course I said YES!!!!!

The Perfect Closing..... Day 11

Psalms has truly been a book that has reveled it's self to me on this trip. It seems like almost every day I am turning to it! Psalm 67 may this just be my prayer this morning over the day.
3:00pm so far it has been a pretty laid back day. Aaron, Charity and I stayed back this morning while the others went to the village that has never heard the word of God before! We will be going their tomorrow night to show one of the films. Charity has been pretty under the weather all day. Two IV's down and she is starting to come back to life. Mean while I finally finished Choosing to See! Such a good book! The end was filled with nothing more than a ton of Psalms. Funny how God can work. Staying back has been good. We have had a few good conversations. Aaron and I got into a good one about taking your faith in your own hands and how in the world God got us here! It has been a long afternoon! My asthma has started to some what react not bad though! We had some other missionaries show up this afternoon to stay the night with us. With everything going on Randy made a decision to send Aaron, Charity and I back to the city with the other missionary's tomorrow. I just had another shot  and it hit hard! I had a reaction to this one like I hadn't on the others. Tonight has been hard I don't want to leave. If God knows how to break my heart he did tonight. It sucks don't know how else to say it. In the midst of crying I got to see the perfect sunset!Tonight the stars are shining and lighting up the sky. Amazing and a shooting start like none I have ever seen before! It was almost like a firework across the sky! God knew what he was doing. It was like a closer. The hardest part was sitting by the fire with Adam next to me having scubby on his lap and sita on mine falling asleep and her just not letting go!  If someone could have taken a picture or just pressed paused I could have stayed in that moment of having those two kids that way forever! But sad enough it had to end! Her mom taking her away for bed was almost to hard to take. I am tearing up writing this. If I could take her home I would. Saying bye is not going to be easy tomorrow. I for sure don't want this night to end! I can say I FELL in LOVE! This is my new home!

Amazing Sunset

Light Pictures.... Day 10

Woke up feeling pretty good this  morning. Still a little in the fog but not bad at all.

Joshua 1:9
I've commanded you to be strong and brave. don't ever be afraid or discourage! I am the Lord your God , and I will be there to help you wherever you go.
I love how God lets you know he is there. Yesterday morning I just sat and cried out to God why? Why can't I have a normal day? why my asthma? I just wanted to be able to help out and not always sit back and take it easy.  This afternoon we went out of the village and met up with the other Team. We went to a village that is very heavy Muslim. There we greeted the chief and tried to let them have us put in a water filter, but they didn't want the water system. We headed on to the lake from their. We spent a couple of hours at the lake eating lunch, talking, resting, and worshiping. It was so pretty the cattle kept coming  down through out the time. After the lake we were going to try to go to a village that has never been reached before. The road was so narrow there and bumppy. We could not make it. So it was back to our villages we went to take showers and make dinner. Which was very good! Made it through the day without any asthma attacks. Been a good day! For our nightly  entertainment we did light pictures. Aaron, James and Me made pictures out of swing or head lamps around or even putting them on the huts and having a shadow light. This is what happens when we don't have Technology.

The lake

worship

This is what we came to when we met up with the other team...lol

One foggie day .....Day 9

Today I woke up at probably 3-4 am and the moon was unbelievably Gorgeous! If I could have captured it I would have. Got to sleep in a bit. For sure feel like I have been hit by a train just because of the steroids and how bad the attack was. i did wake up to the song completely by Anna Laura. Such a smoothing and comforting song. especially with all these asthma attacks.
Psalms 56:9-11
my enemies will retreat when I call to you for help, this I know God is on my side! I promise God for what he Promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?

We had church will the Village people today. I missed most of it because I went out in the bush before not knowing to have some alone time by the tree. Then played with bubbles with the kids. So much fun! As for the afternoon I took about a 3hr nap under the hut. My body needed it! After the nap I felt a little better some of the shot had warren off.  We had a group of three boys come and put on an African dance performance. It was really neat to watch them. Who knew Randy had moves. He did a hand stand. The boys dancing ended up accepting Christ and dedicated their dance to the Lord. It is neat to see them see that they can use their talents to show others to Christ. Then the boys had fun trying to take a million pictures of me as I ran and hid! Quit attractive pictures came out of that let me tell you! And may I add we had probably I would say at least 100 people in our family complex and a little boy managed to lay on the ground and fall asleep!We are currently in F showing the Hope film. Adam and me just dance with the kids like no one business. They can move! It was quite the work out. So far today no breathing problems just still a little warn out from last night and in a fog. Hopefully I can make it the night! We had 33 come to Christ tonight at the movie!

Church in the village

Bubbles

The dancers

team dancin

little boy asleep in the middle of all that was going on

God painted Country! Day 8

"You are powerful and mighty No one can stand against you!" 2Chronicles 20:6
After the last few days of something giving in my body this was a wonderful verse to stumble upon. We are going to another Village today and I would love to have one day of satin not attacking me every way possible. We went to farco this afternoon. Got split up from the guys for the first time the whole trip like a normal African day should be. Charity and me helped make lunch which was just a little weird the meat that went into it was the bones and all. We really weren't sure what part of the animal it was. Kinda gross! Then we walked around the village. Our crowd was pretty much kids. So we told them Creation to Christ story by Charity colors on her nails. Then I told them the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 it was fun and nerve racking at the same time. I hadn't really got to story yet. We got to see how shae butter was made as well. there was a group of women making it and leaha took us over too see. Soccer Clinic time! all the kids love Barnabas! He had them do a skit and then they played soccer.  Mean while the boys where doing water filters.  I forgot to add that when we arrived I pretty much got handed a new born. It couldn't have been any older than 2 to 3 weeks. So sweet melted my heart! Once we got back we were all hoping to rest. I got a little girl attached to my hip. Which was all morning. they even tied her to me. A little boy had came that we are pretty sure broke his leg this summer when he feel off a cow and now it is infected. It just makes you mad that they don't have the medical care. Then Leaha literally drug me to take a bath because she thought I needed one.  I took one yesterday I could have lasted one more day. James and me were working on dinner and every where you looked there were stream of kids. soon enough we see this person on a bike with an instrument. It was the music teacher of the school. Now we are in B with the other group showing the Hope film. Charity, Adam, Aaron and I went to look at this tree, Well it started with Aaron running around like a cray man looking for us or me and I was like two feet from him the whole time. This tree was huge, you literately walked around the tree! So pretty though like one of those out of the lion king and the sky it had the swirls with he cloud and stars like it was painted! What a beautiful sight! God has painted such a beautiful Country here! We had another 38 come to Christ tonight! Most children too. The trip is almost half over and I can't see my self leaving! As much as asthma stuff going on i have truly falling in Love with Mali. Well Asthma is kicking back in probably the worst attack I have has since I have had asthma.  So another Shot it was! breathing got back to normal shortly after! God is defently showing me to have trust in him and he will take care of me.

My girl tied to my back!

The Shea butter

leaha doing lunch

This girl was a crack up

Soccer camp! This was the skit being acted out!

Unexpected God! Day 7

today is defently a shower day! When I take my hair down and it stays in the same spot it is time for a shower! So fair I can still breath! After breakfast this morning I read letter from Misty. In Misty letter today she told me she was praying that God would use me in ways I wouldn't expect! Not two minutes later a women comes with her son saying that he has evil spirits the more and more she talked it was like he had autism.  Sure enough God used me and I didn't see that one coming what so ever. I jumped right in and started playing and working with the little boy! It was so great I wish the little boy would have stayed around longer! Never thought I would work with a kid like this over here! Once the kid left he came back again once for a short while longer and I worked with him a bit more. We tired playing in lotion but he wanted to eat that.Then Tara worked with Sita on her walking. She had a hurt foot and has been baby that foot but now she should been fine. Tara did therapy with her, then it was off to the Market. Oh How I HATED that place! To many people in to small of a place. But I did get fabric for my outfit! Once we got back I got extremely light headed as the other team was heading out. I guess I had had to much water! My heart was up to 140, So guess what Aaron came to the rescue. I seem to keep him on his toes! We are going to be buddies by the end of this trip! After drinking nasty gaterade and sitting in the shade I was fine!  Then it was off to the tailer to get my outfit made yes and custom made the way we want it!  I have been told as well if my heart rate is ever up at 140 again I will have an IV in. So taking it easy the rest of the trip becasue I am not getting anything poked in me! It was so funny because Aaron told leaha (our translater) that I had to take it easy so she took it I couldn't take a shower!lol. Luckly that was straighten out!  Hopefully tomorrow is much better day. As for now all of the little kids that accepted Christ last night are here at the camp learning song and singing and dancing around the fire!

boy with autism

Tara working with sita

the market

All the kids at the camp coming to sing and learn!

Letting the Spirit lead Day 6

Lovely wake up call this morning with goats beside my tent, but I managed to go back to sleep.  I didn't sleep great last night so I laid and starred at the stars! God's creation is wonderful. After  breakfast I was with Tracy walking around when two  to pray with them. Tracy told them the story of creation to Christ. They do not believe. One said she believed Jesus in her mind but not in her heart. God is working on these women for them to just come and talk to us.  Then as a team we went out in the bush to get away from the village to a tree to depref. We just sat around and discussed what we thought God was doing and where we should go from there. One of our groups was to go up North to some Villages but we all felt it would be better to stay in this area we are and split up to the villages around that way if something where to happen or what not we were all still by. After Tracy and I seeked out to find our "outdoor bathroom" much better than theirs.  Oh LOVELY Asthma how you Love Africa. Yep inhaler again and lunch time.  WE made ramen noodles! The problem with the meals seem to be that we seem to be feeding more mouths every time. My Favorite part of the day seemed to be coming! NOT!!!!! Since my Asthma seemed to be getting worse Aaron thought it would be best to give me a shot that should help for 3 days. That way I can breath! It WORKED!!! I haven't been breathing this whole trip. Not long after a group of us went out prayer walking while the others went around the village storing. We went to the school the clinic and the mosic. The clinic was eye opening again! WE got  to see a baby that had been born that morning and the mom was up walking around! You wouldn't see that in the U.S. As a group we prayed over the mother and the baby that they may have good health and grow up in the lord. This girl was for sure much younger than me probably not any older than 16 maybe that. When we got back the children where back of course. Well lets just say one hit one and another one got stuck in the much. I had kids all around me crying. Thank the lord it only lasted like 2 minutes. I didn't have enough arms for them. Got to talk to my mom and her first question would be how is my asthma doing. "It's doing Great mom" She doesn't need to worry and nothing she can do about it any ways. So.... Jenna came up after they got back and says let me hear your lungs laying her head on my chest.  The boys had told her that my asthma had been reoccurring not that I was fine now! OH BOYS! Dinner was chicken salad tonight or what we to make it with. Then Adam came to the rescue and fixed my head lamp. Not to hard I guess the batteries were just dead. Currently we are showing the Hope film to the Village. There are so many people around. Also lots and lots of children they will probably be dropping like flys before it is over. I think I am staring to fall in Love with this Village.

We had 41 people come to Christ not to mention the ones that come to Christ today with Randy.  While the movie was going Jenna got to talk to a guy that had a track with him form another group. The man started to say he wanted to learn more, He got to talking and I guess told the parable of the sewer.  So they got him a proclaimers which has the new testament in their language. So EXCITING!  Also the lady with the burns. The church got enough money together to send her to the hospital to get more help than what we could offer.

the mom and the hours old baby

the little boy reading out by the school

scubby and sita

Africa Janaury 2012 video!

The game of chase! Day 5

Slept pretty good last night Woke up to the donkeys this morning. Oh how I hate that sound! So IPod came to the rescue. Breakfast was oat meal and Starbucks Coffee! Then it was off to playing with the kids and start lunch. Here you pretty much start lunch up right after breakfast. Their lunch is like our dinner. Make sense why do we eat a big meal at night when we are going to go to bed? I got to help grind the peanuts! That was fun. It is  a wood bowel and a thing that is like a baseball bat and you drop it into the bowel to smash the peanuts.  We made ticadicana.  After preparing lunch I walked around the Village with James and Adam. It was fun greeting people in the village and just seeing more of the village. I got my Malian name too. it is Marium Jocitat(Not sure if I am even close on the spelling) It was neat to walk around and pray as we went from place to place. I walked back with probably 8 kids on me. Off to lunch we went and the kids stayed back. well sorta. After lunch I got to go with several other members of the team to the clinic in B. WOW was that eye opening. There doctor area is so far from ours. It is heart breaking to see that they don't have the medical help that they need. Then we came back M and went to F were my group will be going later on in the week. There we greeted the cheif. while greeting the chief me and Jenna notice everyone was sitting around but Tara! Sure enough we noticed we had left her back in M! Sean was sure in trouble! She was fine there was a translator there with her and a million kids. That is why she said she didn't notice that we where leaving.  Once we got back the lady we went to the clinic to get meds for came back for Aaron to fix her up. She had 3rd degree burns, which my understanding she would have been hospitalized in the US. It looked so bad. It was so so so so heart breaking to  see the women in pain. Later on her and her husband accepted Christ  and we all prayed for them.  Which was So amazing! After I took my first African bath! I decided that it is much more of a pain so those are going to be coming far and few between. Then it was play chase back to our camp! I didn't want 20 kids on me walking back so I ran and had them follow! Great idea! Until it lasted 10-20 min running around the camp and wait getting all sweaty.  Then one of the little girls braded my hair. I was in heaven! Off  to help with dinner and which yes another asthma attack. Oh did it scare me! But Aaron took great care of me!  We decided it was probably the fire smoke. Which stinks I can't sing at the camp fire now. As for now I am doing good. We have had alot happen today and will be staying here as a team together another day until we feel that God is leading us else where.

As I have been writing this I have been listing to Grace and Love by kuttless. oh how it gives me peace right now!

Job 1:1-22. Hope this is great! Chose hope! With everything going on to choose hope and expect it to happen. expectantly with the lady with the burns.

Also back to Psalm 34:4
"i sough the Lord, and he answered me, he delivered me from all my fear."

I have been praying with my asthma and was scared again today. God answered. Randy made the decision that no matter what on the trip I wont be apart from Randy and Aaron just in cases if something where to happen.

Psalm 34:8
"tast abd see that the Lord is good; blessed are those who take refuge in him"

smashing the peanuts

Doing the story of salvation with the kids with coloring their  nails

the clinic

lady with the burns

game of chase

To the Bush we go! Day 4

Yep it is 1 am here and I am out on the roof. There is no lights here at night! This is awesome. I am staring straight at the stars and moon.  I can hear laughter of a teen or older child. I just pray that that laughter be filled with the Joy of Christ. Just watching the moon get lower. And as I am just sitting singing and listing to worship music the moon is gone no where that I can see it!
This morning as we were packing up to leave a camel came by. It was so neat. Randy got to sit on the thing! It was not so happy about that one. lol So we hit the road around 10 I would say! who really knows we don't have time here!  The city is crazy here! I don't see how people don't get ran over what order there is in there driving Who KNOWS! we went over a bridge where the river was so pretty. Then we went threw a little town where we had to stop to pay a towel. People where things practically in the window trying to sell them. Then I was called the sleeping mearical because I slept almost the whole trip. we were on a road not a great road then I slept probably a half hour once we got off the road on the what I guess you can call it a dirt road path. But we got a flat tire right before the dirt road. So fix the flate and stop to eat lunch!  We finally made it to the village probably about 5 hr later I would say.
We got here and all the kids came running literally all you see is streams of kids coming from every where following the bus back to our camp! They all gave us high fives and played for hours as we got off the bus. Then it was Mac and cheese for dinner. Yum! Shortly after my lovely asthma kicked in! The one fear for the whole trip! Aaron came to save the day. And finally after along I finally broke. I had been so over whelmed. Randy and me had a good talk about Psalm 35! There was so much to take in, It wasn't bad by all means. Then it was for worship by the fire. I had the cutest boy fall asleep on me. Then everyone around me started to fall asleep. Terra and Tracy just kept yelling at me that a kid behind me beside me was falling asleep. They where falling like flys. The funnest thing I have seen in a long time!

slobbers

yep what is like to get off the bus with a million kids around

24 hr Prayer! Day 3

Today we are staying at the guest house just getting things ready to head out! We started off the day with breakfast together and figuring out the internet more. crazy we all are dieing trying ti communicate back home. I slept really well last night! Just woke up at three because I thought I had bugs all of me when it was my head phones. lol Three seemed to be a common time among half the team waking up. Right now I am on the roof. It is so amazing up here you can see everything. We are doing 24 hr of prayer so this is my hr.  I just went back to read day 1 devo we have and it is titled God please help me find a place. talking about how you can hear the voice or my be wrestling with the question of will God use me or did I come all this way for nothing. This is so what has been going through my head last night when I was thinking will I fall in love with his place like everyone that is here again.

James 4:6-10 " submit yourself to the Lord, humble yyourself before Him and he will exalt you!

As I am up here on the roof I opened my cards for the day which was From Layla. saying " Remember God is bigger than big and stronger than strong." I just started crying this is so what I needed and it came from a 3 year old! I am also listening to hillsong in which God is able is playing. So Awesome! Right when I wonder if I should be here God shows him self and makes it known.

Psalm 5:1
Oh Lord hear as i pray pay attention to my groaning"
this just flipped opened in my bible I wanted to read psalms 2 but my pages kept flipping from the wind so I gave in and read it!

This afternoon 3 of us girls just sat down in our bed room and started talking which probably lasted 2 hr or so. It was such a good good talk. We talked about our walk with god our familys and prayed over it all. Then a few of us went down the street to the soccer field. We had our cameras and the little kids just loved to pose. There was 2 then 3 then 4 and then every kid that I think was out there. So funny!

 

2 kids

3 kids

5 kids

oh wait all of the kids now

WE Made it! Africa day 2

We made it! We got all of our luggage and all the flights went really smooth. The only problem we had was when we went to get out of the air port in bamiko they wanted to check all of our food bens. So we had to pay a little to get our bens in with us. The drive into the guest house was eye opening. they just throw their trash every where. We went out to dinner tonight as a group down the street to a restraunt. I was really yummy! lol

I have got to say I am quite tired last night on the plain I looked out and it looked like gold had been shaken over the area with the lights of the citys. Didn't sleep much until brussels.

Philippians 1:27-28

just got done with a group Devo and worship time now I am shutting my eyes!

blurry but you can see the trash