April

I write this as the snow falls...hardly seems possible that it is almost MAY!  We forgot that Montana only has two seasons...winter, and July. :)  The kids had a barefoot race in the snow the other day.  I think they are getting desperate to get rid of their shoes.

Our time in Bozeman is winding down.  We have a little over three weeks left, and then we head to the east coast for a month before heading out.  How did the time go by this quickly?!

Musa finishes school and will be filling in the time with a couple projects in Bozeman, and then hopefully on to ECHO in Florida for a short time.  He has thoroughly enjoyed his time here, and Bible college, but I don't think he will be sad to get back to his friends, family, and "normal" food.

We continue to feel so blessed by connecting with friends.  It's common knowledge in the missionary community that you shouldn't count on the same friends every time, as people move on and make new friendships while you are gone.  Our friends, on the other hand, have been so gracious in including us back into their lives and making extra time for us on a regular basis.  THANK YOU.

God has generously given us this time to regroup, get a new perspective, and work on some of our own areas that need reshaping in order to be more faithful servants for Him.  We are praying that we will go back with new enthusiasm and patience for what is required of us!

More Travels

Very few people that I know are able to travel around as a family meeting amazing people. We are some of those privileged few! While traveling is sometimes tiring, we are so blessed to meet people from all across the spectrum, share with many different churches, and see the heart of the Body of Christ in many places. We feel like our family has the best of both worlds—being on the “front lines” of orphan care in Africa, and also being able to come back and see all that God is doing right here.

 

One of the highlights of our last trip was visiting our friends in Nebraska, Dean and Shanna. Having known eachother well for a long time, it was especially incredible to meet the newest members of their family—three children that have become a part of their family and whom they are hoping to adopt soon. God has definitely poured out His blessing on their faithful love and parenting of these three. Talk about orphan care up close and personal! We had a great time sharing at their church and their terrific congregation (and the potluck afterwards :)).

 

old friends having new fun together

 From Nebraska, we headed to South Dakota, stopping overnight at the Hofer’s house—longtime friends of Mavuno and parents of our great friend Ross. They spoiled us, and sent us on our way with lots of grandparent love and good SD cheese (there’s nothing like it!).

 We had one night in Sioux Falls, where we met with Christian Begeman, who made our Mavuno video. Christian’s office generously bought us pizza and showed us all around their commercial editing studio. That night we were able to share about Mavuno with a group of people from his church who are involved with orphan care. Like I said earlier, we have been amazed at who God has put in our path!

Christian at work

 Billings was our next stop, but we detoured to Mt. Rushmore. Dave and I had only been one other time, but I remembered it being worthwhile. I didn’t remember how incredible it actually is. I was so amazed, in fact, that the kids had to tell me to pipe down about it. :) The longer I’m away from America, the more patriotic I feel!

 Catching up with more friends in Billings for a day or so was so sweet—our little children now teenagers, and our fellowship just as rich as ever.

 Last stop, our friends the Brosts, who pray faithfully for us and also spoiled us all. Their goodies kept the girls busy for the rest of the two hours home.

 A good sign, especially at the end of 2200 miles!

What an honor to have these people in our lives!



Our in-house Haitian, Hannah

We joyfully welcomed Hannah back last Friday night.  I asked her if she would share about her trip:

Thanks to everyone who prayed for me on the trip to Haiti!  It was such an awesome experience that did serve to draw my heart closer to Christ.  Our team was amazing and we all worked very well together.  We had great devotions every night and our converstations were edifying and humorous!  It was great to see who people really were when placed in sometimes uncomfortable situations.

The Haitian people were extremely generous and kind to us, despite the fact that we were much wealthier than they are.  It was such a blessing to play with the kids and see their incredible joy in the midst of poverty.

We had the pleasure of serving the mission as well, by repainting the house we stayed at with several coats of new paint.  The afternoons were spent with a message and skits for the kids and then we did games and art activities with them.

The trip was a great lesson for all of us on the team for Christ-like service in a culture entirely different from our own.

 Thank you for your prayers!

Chuggin' Chai

Just a reminder to all of you Bozeman locals:  we are having an open house Saturday night, March 19, from 6-10.  KARIBU!

Montana Marvels

We have had an amazing week traveling around Montana!  It has been such a blessing seeing many of you, as well as GOD's incredible creation.  Instead of rambling about how great it was, I put a short, driving-in-the-car-with-the-computer-on-my-lap video together so you could see it for yourself.  Unfortunately, I missed MANY pictures because I forgot to check my camera before I left to make sure I had enough battery!

Sounds like Hannah and team have had an adventure in Haiti.  Dave picks her up tonight, so we will hear more then!
Thanks for all your prayers!

Haiti

While we will be traveling around Montana next week in some of this,

Hannah has the unique opportunity to travel to Haiti with our church’s youth group. This was kind of a last minute thing, with a spot opening up and Hannah having a passport and almost all of her shots. It might seem strange that we are home from Tanzania and Hannah is traveling to another part of the world entirely, but we are SUPER excited for this chance she has to minister in a different place. Tanzania is very home to her! She has always had a heart for missions, so this will be a good testing ground for her faith and service. She is also going with an amazing group of people!

 They have a blog that tells all about what they are doing, and they will be updating it every day they are there. Please pray that Hannah would be a bright light to the dark and despairing country of Haiti during these days. We are praying as a family that she would come back with a better understanding of the need of the world, a greater heart for what God is doing,

 and we would catch more of that as well!

Change we treasure

People have been so welcoming to us in every way. They have tried to understand that this might not be “home” for us anymore, and maybe we don’t find it as enjoyable as we used to. However, nothing could be further from the truth! Tanzania has become more home, but we still enjoy Bozeman tremendously!


There’s nothing sad about coming back and worshiping in our language. Listening to the Word in church, on the radio, podcasts, websites, anytime you want it doesn’t make us sad either. Rubbing shoulders with our “old” friends makes us remember what it’s like to have that constant sharpening. Raising the standard a little bit for our children is refreshing. Watching so many godly families work through issues with their kids is an example and encouragement. It does feel a bit like drinking from a hose when we are back, trying to take in every little bit until we leave.

And then there are all the “non-spiritual” things. No one cares when we go for a walk. It’s not funny to them that we are walking to exercise. No one points at us and laughs. :) We don’t stand out in a crowd most of the time. We can be relatively anonymous. That feels really good.

We can use the toaster, iron,  microwave and hairdryer without shutting down the entire solar power for the house. We can even use them all at the same time if we want to! The entire world outside our door is a refrigerator at the moment.  We have never had so much freezer room and so little need for it.

When we forget something that we need to make a meal, we can run to the store, pull bread off the shelf, or order pizza. That doesn’t make me sad.  I mean, there's nothing wrong with being a prarie woman, and I usually really enjoy it, but the option of not being a prarie woman on occasion appeals to me as well. :)

The water doesn’t smell fishy and we aren’t thinking about draining a tank.

We eat cheese just for fun.

Chocolate is an important part of our diet.

The roads don’t feel like an adventure.

This isn’t to say there’s nothing hard about America. In fact, I’m wondering these days how most of you keep your heads on straight in this culture. I’m not sad to miss all the technology that ever encroaches on having a moment’s solitude. I don’t know how we would handle all the opportunities available to our children—even just the good ones.

 I’m not sure how to help kids see how blessed they are here—we struggle with that, and we live right with the poor. It seems to me that it has never been so convenient or easy to waste your life. Granted, you can do that anywhere. But it does feel like the pull is a lot stronger here. So my cultural hat is off to you. When we come back, we learn from you. We learn how to guide our kids through this culture that they will one day probably be a part of. We learn how to keep our focus on God and not stuff from YOU. We are amazed and encouraged by your faith and your perseverance. We are blessed by your faithfulness in suffering. We praise GOD for how He is using you to shape and mold us.

And yes, we'll be excited to go back when the time comes!