Homesick

We listened to one of my favorite albums on the way to church this morning. We were to speak at a church about 2 1/2 hours away, so we had a lot of time to kill. It was an album we bought in Abidjan and is my favorite not because of the perfection of the recording or the magnificent voices of the singers but because it sounds just like a worship service in our Abidjan home. It is all in French and decoding what is being said is part of what keeps my attention always on the praise that is wrapped up in the wording of each song. Sometimes when I sing familiar songs in English, I just get caught up in the singing and don't really "hear" what I am singing about. I was also imagining my favorite Africans leading and dancing and enjoying the words of the praise that was being sung. One of the choruses to a really happy song said "...Even when things are bad, I won't be afraid, because You are always with me." It was so neat to hear that and another that says that "God is a God of miracles". I hope and pray that yesterday they were able to join together and sing and believe songs like that.

While we were in worship, I was so thrilled to see several African American families there. To have them worshiping with us was great. All of this and talking about our beloved city and friends and brothers and sisters began to make me very homesick. But even in the middle of all of that, I know how terribly I will miss my friends and family here. So I began to really think about something else. Maybe the home that I am more homesick for than anything else is that day when we are all at home in the Lord. Then my worlds will collide. I've often said that it feels that I live in two worlds, one in Abidjan and one in the states. As our career goes on, I imagine that we will be fortunate enough to call many places home, but we can know that all of those that believe will one day be reunited to worship the Lamb in our many languages. I hope we are yet given more time. There are those that I pray are with us on that day worshiping the Lamb that haven't yet gone that direction.

We are still ever so sad and mindful of our friends in Abidjan. They are still having such a difficult time. Please don't grow tired of praying for them.

We are getting ready to go to Vancouver. We are deciding what will go in a suitcase, what will go in our ocean freight crate and what we need but don't have. I hope we can get it all together because we are now down to less than one week. We have to get the house we have lived in and the car we have used well cleaned and prepared to be returned to their owners. We are so thankful for Joyce, Eastwood Baptist Church and The River that have given us a great place to live for these last 5 months. We are thankful to Macedonian Call for a vehicle that has never failed us.

We love you all. For those we leave behind here in the states, it has been so great to be with you. I wish that we could have seen some we missed and seen others that we did see more, but it has been a good time. To those that we are missing in Africa, I wish we were getting on a plane to come to you, but all in good time. To those new friends in Canada, we are looking forward to a time of learning more of what it means to serve in an urban setting with you.

Serving Him,
Heather

Visiting

After our trip to Cullman, AL for their missions conference, we headed down to FL to see my family. I've been able to visit my grandparents home and enjoy the nostalgia of so many good memories with them and made some new ones. I got to visit with some of my cousins and my aunt and uncle. Now we are back with my parents and sister's family and my youngest brother. There is only a short time left until our departure, so there is much to do!

Please continue to pray for the people in Abidjan. Things have gotten pretty bad since I last reported. We pray that things calm down for the sake of our people and so we can go back in July.

Heather