Shall We Gather at the River

One of our most faithful attenders to our storying group

This is 150 crowded around the hole just waiting for the next chance to dance and sing.

Well, we didn't gather at the river, rather we gathered at an 8 foot concrete hole in the front of our auditorium where 7 people had come to make a public profession of their belief in Christ as their Savior and Lord! Five of the men are attenders at one of storying groups. Two of them never miss it. We were so proud to stand and watch as they gave testimony of their faith in Christ.

Now let me tell you a little about baptisms in West Africa. It is an out and out PARTY! They sang, they danced, they cheered and waved their arms in the air. Each candidate was announced like a sports star and came forward to climb down into the hole. Every time the pastor needed to talk he had to hold up his hands in the universal sign for time out! After each made a profession of their faith by way of a corded microphone, draped carelessly into the pit of water, the pastor and assistant would lay them back into the knee deep water. They'd come out to cheers and an immediate chorus of people singing praise to Our Maker!

It was fun! You should have been here!!
Heather

Pulling out the Long Sleeve Shirts

So while Mom and Dad are having serious deep meetings about the future of our ministry here in the city the kiddos have been up to their own deep and meaningful endeavors. So what do you think? ;)

Well the long sleeves are not for here of course, but Mike and kids are getting excited about their trip to the states. Hope you'll get a chance to see them there. You can register for the conference Mike will be at from the link at the upper right hand corner of this page.

We are enjoying our visit from the family from Mexico. They've been a great help to us in vision casting. The daughters are precious young ladies. The girls have been wonderful with our kids and we will be so sad to put them back on an airplane home.

I have thoroughly enjoyed some time with Agira this week. She's been such a help with extra people here and we've had some serious spiritual conversations. Please continue to pray for her that she can understand and embrace Truth.

We had a new addition to the mission family as Daisy got a new cousin yesterday! Now we aren't a one dog mission family anymore. Our teammates got a little yorkie that is adorable.

OK, I think that is all of wierd and disjointed family news I can put together in one blog. We love you all!

Give Him 6!!!!

That's 6 points and for the Steelers 6 Superbowls!!! Is this not the best catch ever? Yes, we are still celebrating that great game here in the Ivory Coast!!!

Happy SuperBowl Sunday!

Mike loves the cold. I do not. For several months now he's been teasing he's going to take another wife that likes to sleep in the AC, not that the fact that I don't like the AC has kept him from running it mind you. Our little dog Daisy has turned out to be quite the rotten little dog and when I saw her curled up on MY pillow in the AC waiting for Mike to come to bed, I figured he'd found my replacement!

Karis and her little bed buddy Mindy. We can tell who's used to sleeping under the fan, huh?

Emily with Agira

This is the biggest group of kids we've had in Abidjan so far. Some are only here for a couple of weeks, but they are all really enjoying themselves.

I imagine you are all planning on where you will watch the big game tonight, or no, wait a minute, maybe that's just the wildly obsessed people like my husband!!!!! Anyway, one way or another, he's gathered three at least pretty big steelers fans, one NFL in general fan, and a few guys that are just glad to be hanging out with the guys to come to our house tonight at midnight to watch the game. All I have to say is that they had better watch quietly!!! HA!! I really wanted to find another place to sleep, but I'm afraid they'd lock the gate and never let me back in if I did that.

Our life has been full the last few weeks. We've welcomed new families to our city. We've said goodbye to a dear friend and colaborer. My friend returned from Burkina. We had an African child in our house for a week. My very dear friend was seriously ill. My sister had her second baby, that of course I would love to see. We've continued to have issues with our rentals. We currently have a missionary here with us who is going to help us get a handle on God's plan for this city, but we only have 2 weeks, so we have to work fast. So all in all, life has been interesting. Our Lord and Savior has walked us through all of the things we've dealt with and He's never left our side. Most of those issues have been resolved at this point. We really do appreciate all of you that faithfully lift us up in prayer, though.

In other news, we have completed the qualifications for our French language learning. This in no way means we've arrived, but our formal tutoring time in French is done. We will be learning language as long as we live here, but that is a load off for now. Now we get to start all over again!!! We have to learn a local language as well. We've actually decided to split and learn two. We figure we cover more bases that way! ;) That will officially start in March. I hear Mike's language is a lot easier than mine, though and so I'm trying to learn as much as I can before we even start. We'll see how that goes.

Also we've decided that Caleb and Karis will come along with Mike to the states the end of this month. They are thrilled and can't stop discussing all of the fast food they hope to take in while they are there. Somebody asked Caleb last night if he was going to let Gramma spoil him and he replied with a sneaky grin, "Yeah, and Mom won't be there to stop her. Hee Hee Hee!" I'll have to stay and hold down the fort here, so I wish they'd STOP talking about what they can't wait to eat!

If you are in the Birmingham, AL area, you should head on over to the conference Mike will be at. He'd love to see you and you can learn more about our work here in West Africa, and of course that of the other missionaries in the area. I'm not sure why anybody would want to go anywhere besides Abidjan, but to each his own. ;)

All of my storying groups have been continuing on. My market ladies have finished the evangelism set. One says she's accepted Christ and is following him although she's only a nominal Catholic. One says she hears, understands and believes. She says she wants to continue to hear, but her decision will come little by little. She shares the stories with her family, but doesn't feel right now that she can make the plunge. Agira continues to listen. She hears and understands. I think on some level she believes too. She loves the stories, but right now, she just listens. We've had some good discussions, so continue to pray for her.

Pray also for us these next two weeks. As I mentioned, we're making plans for how to reach the city. Pray that we follow the leading of the Spirit and pray for the lost of Abidjan to come to saving faith.

We love you all dearly and hope you are well. Come see us!
Heather

Just Another Hot January Day

There's not much new or out of the ordinary going on right now. We are looking forward to a visit from a veteran missionary the end of this month to get us really started with some good ideas and insight on this whole urban animal! ;) This also of course means that we expect to be really busy! He'll only have two weeks to spend with us as opposed to what we thought would be 6 weeks. It won't be the first time we've tried to cram 6 weeks into 2!

Karis lost a tooth this week as you can see. It looks like the other one will come out soon too.

My friend is on her way back from Burkina!!! Yeah!!! I had begun to wonder if I would ever see her again. She's bringing both of her daughters back too, so I am looking forward to meeting her oldest! If she's anything like her mom, she'll be a great kid.

Our storying groups are still going well. My market lady is still sitting on the fence trying to decide what it really means to follow Jesus and trying to decide if she's prepared to make the leap. I am looking forward to continuing to story with Agira when she returns. Some other storying groups seem to be wrapping up with no fruit, so pray as I seek out those whose hearts God is drawing.

Mike has recently found out that he'll be going to a conference in the states the end of February. So while he gets to eat bacon, fast food, and our families' good home cooking and see all of our family and friends, I'll be here holding down the fort with the kids and telling people about Jesus. Somebody has to keep their nose to the grindstone right?! ;) Just kidding. I'm not seriously jealous, just a little. ;) So if you see my dear husband in a few weeks, know that he brings love from across the ocean.

With Love,
Heather

New Year/ New People

Our new year here has brought new people here to Abidjan. Of course our wonderful teammates arrived last month before the end of the year. They are doing great here adjusting to life in the big city and learning French. Two other families came last week to join the gang here. One will only be staying for 4 months to get oriented to West Africa and learn French. The other family expects to spend their first term here. So that means life is a lot less quiet and a lot more fun, especially for the kids.

Other life is just carrying on as usual. I am REALLY hoping my friend and househelper will be coming back from Burkina the end of this week. Cell phone coverage there seems to be very spotty, but the last time I talked to her, that was the plan. I just hope that she doesn't decide to stay. I would love so very much for her to be close to her family, but I sure miss her here.

Continue to pray for us to sell our rental properties. Many of you have been so faithful to do just that and we appreciate you greatly. We know that God's timing is best, but some days he makes me nervous!! ;)

Well, speaking of loud and full of life, the gang just came to play in the sand box. In the span of a couple of weeks we've gone from 3 kids to 8. That is if you can call our teammates daughter a kid, she's actually a lovely young lady and we are so glad she is here. So I'd better go watch the kids get dirty!!

Love to all,
Heather

Caleb and Karis, Christmas Service 2008

Caleb and Karis joined the other African kids during the Christmas Service at church.  They said their lines in French and then Caleb sang Away in a Manger in English.