Difficulties leading to praise.

Wow, January has been a crazy month. We have probably had the hardest month so far on the field. As many of you know Adam's nephew David had surgery to have a tumor removed from his spinal chord. This was incredibly difficult knowing all the potential dangers that went along with the surgery. Knowing that we could not and still cannot be at the hospitals and encourage and stand beside the family physically was and is hard. Also, knowing other family members were having test run and minor procedures done made us feel inadequate at times. Furthermore, though we did well on our language proficiency test (ahead of schedule) we hit the biggest wall of our short Malagasy learning careers. The wall is still there but I do believe we have put a giant sledge-hammer through it. On top of it all we got one of the largest electric bills ever and had to change some things around financially. So in the midst of beginning to feel useless the Lord decided to teach us His Mighty Power. First of all the Lord has answered and is answering our prayers concerning David. He had a very successful surgery and none of the scary scenarios occurred. He is now in rehab learning to use the right side of his body again. The other family members seem to be doing well overall. Language seems to be coming along and we are understanding more and more each day. The best part is that the Lord is allowing us to develop friendships and have opportunities to share His Greatness. This week we get to teach God's Word at a school. People are asking us to come back and share. So humbling considering that we feel so inadequate but our Lord is so able to do all things. We do have five Bible verses memorized in Malagasy and that is cool! Finally, through finding ways to cut back a little due to the electric bill we have been able to find new places to buy items. Most if these items are better and half the price. Furthermore, we have been able to give 24 Bibles to a Pastor starting a Bible study. We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and support. We are so appreciative.

Prayer Request:
  • We have an upcoming vision trip to Toliara. 
  • For the Antandroy to be ready to hear the Gospel
  • For relationships to continue to grow and for us to effectively communicate the Gospel while in Language school. 
  • For upcoming training time.  We will have many transitions over the next five months.
  • Language acquisition.  That we would be able to begin to broaden our vocabulary and gain the speed and intonation that the Malagasy have.
Praises:
  • Our first Oral Proficiency Test went well.
  • David is doing better each Day!!!!
  • We are seeing the Lord move in lives.  One person is beginning to teach his family what we are teaching him.
  • We are being presented with many opportunities to share the Good News.
  • Phoebe had an Awesome time at youth camp.

 The Red Island

 Lake Tritriva while Phoebe was at camp.

 Happy Girls!  They are doing Great!

 Trash Day!  People digging through it.  Also here it is burnable, burnable or burnable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Time to Come Home

Image
The Lord has prepared us and led us to make a significant change.  We're coming back to the USA!  Many things have helped us make this decision, but ultimately, the Lord is leading us, and we are just continuing to be faithful to Him. We haven't changed.  Our hearts remain steadfast.  The passion and desire for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done continue to grow within us.  However, we will now live this out on the front lines of the USA in Texas. We are excited to announce Adam will be the senior Pastor at First Baptist Church Valley Mills, Texas.  He will be officially starting at the end of June.  Suzie should be teaching at the elementary school in Valley Mills.  Baylee and River will finish the school year in Nairobi as we pack up the house and say our goodbyes well.  Baylee graduates high school on May 25th.  We will return to the USA in the first part of June to take a little time to decompress before beginning ministry in Valley Mills. We are forever grateful t
Read more

Walking By Faith...through a Never-ending Storm

Image
This past month has been difficult for us as a family.  Actually, this whole year has been tough. We have a need to heal physically but emotionally we just don't feel strong due to not being able to do all the required/wanted activities physically.  We are responsible for so much and we feel as if we are giving our all but it just isn't enough.  However, in our physical and emotional weakness the Lord is faithful. All this to say, what keeps us going is serving the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord's. Being actively involved in God's Kingdom work is where we find ourselves being strengthened and reminded that He is strong and Mighty no matter how we feel. Thus, when things break down, when we find ourselves weak physically, when we feel all alone and abandoned, He is there! The Lord is shining His grace and mercy on so many here in Nairobi and around all of Africa.  He has allowed us by His grace to be a part of it.  He is good and so today be encouraged that He can do
Read more

Short but Packed

Image
February is a short month but we packed it full! (No surprise!!) Baylee kicked off the month in Olepolos, a village south of Nairobi, where she served a church and its community alongside some classmates. She was able to share the gospel, serve in the church, work on the church and love on the children and students in the village. Adam & Suzie got to tour Istanbul on a long layover headed to Athens where they spent time with others leading the strategy for their cities in other parts of the world. It was incredible to visit places with such rich histories and ancient landmarks, both in Istanbul and Athens. God is on the move around the world. He's the same yesterday, today and forever, which is mind-blowing, especially when your standing in front of an olympic stadium that was built in 330BC, and that's still not as old as creation. Friends from Madagascar had a long layover and we were able to reconnect for a short visit.  It had been years since we'd seen each other a
Read more