Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Now that the weather is FREEZING this is how we stay warm- snuggled up with Dad in the chair with our Jayhawk hats.  :)

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

Did you know that the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, taken at Christmas time in Southern Baptist Churches, is more than half the yearly budget for the International Mission Board? And that every single cent of that offering goes straight to the field? 

Thank you for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering so that nearly 5000 IMB missionaries can share Jesus throughout the world.

Thank you for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering so that our family can live among the Lozi people in Sesheke, Zambia, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ!!

We love you and thank God for you!! 

Mark, Melynda, Madylanne and Matthew Wint

Hip hip hooray for cousins!

Thought this was a great shot of the Wint side cousins. What a fun night they had sleeping over at Grandma and Grandpa's!  :)

Yummy yummy

Isn't summer great.  :)

Go Go Madylanne

Madylanne has been enjoying dance classes this summer, can't you tell?

This generation...

Lord, thank You for using THIS generation to praise You and make Your Name known!!! Here is a great shot of Pastor Given with Pierce, who has come to Sesheke to share Jesus three years in a row! We love you both! May God continue to use you to make His Name known!

Raising the Roof

Yeah! Look at all the kids in this picture! When the volunteers from Tabernacle Baptist Church came to Sesheke they took pics of all the things they did with the church during the week- thank you for sharing your pictures guys! Isn't it exciting to see kids learning about Jesus! And also so exciting to see the church has put up rafters for a roof!!!!

Back in the good ol' USA

Thanks to all of you who prayed for us to travel safely to the States. We are here in Kansas and adjusting to life in the US again and enjoying time with family so very much. We have been blessed by spending time visiting local SBC churches and attending with our families too. Thank you to so many of you who have helped us in one way or another...be it help with the car we are renting, help with the lovely home in which we are staying, or letting us borrow something...we are so grateful. You bless us!! May God return the blessing to you.  :)

Ta-da! This is the new sign that Pastor Given and Bo Dominic made for the church- the Baptist Mission of Sesheke Church. And here is the body of Christ that makes up the Baptist Mission of Sesheke Church! Please be in prayer for Pastor Given, Deacon Dominic, Bo Teresa, Betty, and others who are and will be leaders in the church...and also for the entire body to grow closer in their relationships with Jesus and to reach out to others with the Good News of Jesus!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday we used the Resurrection eggs to tell the story of Jesus going to the cross for our sins, dying, and rising again on the 3rd day....it's a little strange to realize the kids have no connection with Easter eggs- that is why this little girl holding the blue egg is pretending to eat it- but none the less they enjoyed opening every egg to find out what was inside and hear that part of the story. The best part of all- the empty egg representing the empty tomb- Jesus is alive!!!!
I wanted to share a video with you of the church singing praise songs Easter morning but I am not clever enough to make it work. sigh :)

Fellow missionaries

This is Pastor Eduard and his wife Sister Eden. They are Filipino missionaries and dear friends who are also doing ministry here in Sesheke. They have recently had some set backs...please pray for them as they seek the Lord's direction in their ministry and lives. They are always so encouraging and kind whenever we see them. (and you might notice they are MY size!) ha ha

Gett'n muddy

 Tuesday morning we had the joy of helping mud the new addition to Pastor Given's house. We sang praise songs as we worked and prayed it will be a strong house for Pastor Given. What a blessing to do this with Bo Teresa and Bo Masaliso, and also one man, Oscar, who mixed the mud for us. Even Madylanne pitched in. What a beautiful memory for my last time with the ladies. Lord please bless them and keep them!

 

Finished!

Here is the finished wall...it will dry in a few days and look just like the rest of the house.

sweet friends

Over the last week we have been saying goodbye to many good friends...so long and farewell....and Lord willing we will see you again in 9 months....
The top photo is Madylanne and her pal Tammy. Tammy's parents own a lodge about an hour away from here and she gets to come and play sometimes. Madylanne and Tammy get along so well and really enjoy each other's company.
The middle picture is of Madylanne and one of the boys who comes to church on Sundays and on Tuesday he walks with me to the ladies Bible study and offers to carry my backpack for me. His name is Junior. He and Madylanne like to play together, too. Please pray for Junior to come to know Jesus as His Savior!
The bottom picture is Matthew, Madylanne, Country, and River Belle eating their yummy treats that Aunt Sky brought for them. The Scotts stopped by on their way home from a meeting and we were so blessed to see them one more time and pray together.
Thank You Lord, for friends.

playing catch up

As you may have noticed it's been a LONG time since I was able to post any updates to our blog...the internet has been working but only S....L....O.....W.....L....Y which is not conducive to posting blog pictures. At any rate it is working tonight for which I praise the Lord so I am going to put some pics on while I can. God bless each of you this Easter week...may your hearts rejoice to know we worship a risen Savior who has overcome death and the world to give you His message of love and salvation!

ladies Bible study

Here are some of the ladies from the ladies Bible study this week: from left to right...
Bo Somaliso and her grandaughter, Bo Teresa, Bo Namasiku and her son John, Bo Mumeka, Betty, and Agnes. We have been using this Bible storying cloth to go through 42 stories of the Bible from Creation to when Christ went back to heaven. The ladies are just about to finish the Old Testament stories and will then go through the New Testament stories for the second time. Please pray for Bo Teresa as she will be leading the Bible study every Tuesday while Melynda is on furlough/Stateside. Pray for the ladies to continue to be hungry for God's Word and for Bo Teresa to be filled with God's Spirit as she teaches. Please also pray for Betty and Agnes as they teach the children's Sunday school...that they too will be filled with the Spirit of the Lord as they share truth and love with the children each Sunday.

last day of kindergarten

WOW Madylanne is finished with kindergarten as of today! I am so proud of her...she is adding, subtracting, reading, writing, locating countries on her globe and able to share Bible verses for the letters A-Z. Plus she can speak 3 languages too. ok, just kidding about that last part. But we are so proud of her for doing such a great job in kindergarten! Way to go Madylanne!

happy 2nd birthday Matthew!

Matthew turned 2 on February 2nd. How is that possible?! We love you and thank God for creating you, Matthew. :) Can you tell he helped decorate his cake?

We love you Clift!

Clift Dempsey came from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cartersville, GA in January to encourage the church and let me tell ya it encouraged us too! We thank God for the partnership between Tabernacle and Baptist Mission of Sesheke. Even while we are in the States on our furlough/Stateside Tabernacle will still be sending a team of volunteers to Sesheke to evangelize and encourage the church body. We love you Clift and we love you Tabernacle Baptist Church! We praise God for you! While Clift was here he taught Sunday School and also a men's lesson on marriage, in addition to going out with Mark, Pastor Given and Bo Dominic to share the Gospel everyday. We wore him out I think! Please pray for the team as they are already preparing to come in late June-early July of 2013. May God use them to spread His good news of salvation and encourage the church!

Betty's Baptism

This is a beaming Betty and a very happy Pastor Given. Betty was baptized the Sunday before Christmas. She is so very excited to follow Jesus in this step of obedience. We are so happy for her to be growing in the Lord! I am sure you noticed the new baptismal...this was a Christmas present for the kids that got opened early to be used as a baptismal when we realized there was a huge crack in the cement one that was making it impossible for it to hold water.

Moving Day

Mark had the privilege of helping Pastor Given move into the house on the church plot a few weeks ago. Yeah Pastor! This is a huge step for him. It's his first time to be on his own. Pray for his purity, protection, and feet fit with the Gospel of peace.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Here is how we spent Christmas this year...singing praises to Jesus with our church family and of course opening presents too. Thank You for being our Savior, Jesus.....thank You for providing the only way to our Father God.

Christmas fun

In the top photo Betty and Helen are practicing the Christmas skit with the kids from church. In the bottom photo Madylanne and Matthew are standing next to friends (Dan, David, and Spoggy) who came over with their parents (Pastor Eduard and Sister Eden) for a Christmas party.

Truck wash!

Here are my handy truck washers! Did I mention how cute they are?

my sibling, my friend

Madylanne and Matthew pretty much do most everything together. They are good buddies. Matthew likes to whack Madylanne on the head occasionally but usually they get along really well. They like to paint together, eat slushy freeze-its together, and ride their big wheels together too. Thank You, Lord, for the blessing of togetherness.

my poky pineapple

Matthew is holding the very first pineapple we picked from our garden. So cool!

kindergarten

Madylanne has been doing such a great job in kindergarten this year. I am so very proud of her! It is such a blessing to be teaching her reading, writing and math, science, poetry, geography, history, literature, and the Bible...she is doing a super job with her Bible verses, too. Super work, Madylanne!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Happy 38th birthday Mark! It was on the 5th of December so I am a little late posting this, but ah well. We love you Mark, and thank God for you.