Kisima Outreach

Mark, Pastor Mike, Dennis, and Mama Dennis 

had the opportunity to lead an outreach 

the last two Thursdays to the community around Kisima. 

They were able to share the Gospel 

with more than 50 people 

who came to share a meal. 

Praise God for this way to serve the community! 

They will do this each Thursday 

for the next few months. 

Pray many more will hear about Jesus 

and respond to His call on their lives. 

 

With One Mind

I had the incredible opportunity to attend 

a ladies meeting in Greece last week. 

Yes, I said Greece. 

This was the first time I have flown without 

Mark or the kids to a different country since we were married!

The week was centered on Philippians 1:27:

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, 

so that whether I come and see you or am absent, 

I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, 

WITH ONE MIND striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel....

Worshiping with a Greek body of believers.

The Acropolis

The Parthenon

Below is Mars Hill in the Areopagus...Paul preached here in Acts 17. 

Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious....

what therefore you worship as unknown, 

this I proclaim to you...The God who made the world 

and everything in it, 

being Lord of heaven and earth, 

does not live in temples made by man....

He commands all people everywhere 

to repent because He has fixed a day 

on which He will judge the world 

in righteousness by a man whom 

He has appointed; and of this 

He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead. 

 The one with my face in it is Corinth. 

Yes, Corinth! Visiting these places 

made the New Testament come alive in so many ways. 

I am so thankful to God for Jesus, 

the Word of God, 

for how the New Testament churches began in these places, 

and how God is still reaching people's hearts 

with the good News of Jesus Christ!

What a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

I am so grateful!  

Istanbul

I recently had the privilige of traveling through Istanbul for our meeting. 

We decided on a super long layover so 

we could have a free tour of the city. It was amazing! 

To think of all that has happened in history in this place. 

15 million plus people live here right now. 

When I was looking around the airport I stumbled upon this prayer room...

located in the middle of 3 prayer rooms. One specifically for Christians!

So naturally I went inside to pray. 

To speak the Name of Jesus over this people, this place, this country.

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples!

For great is His steadfast love toward us, 

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Psalm 117

Jesus is the only way for us to know God the Father. 

May He be known and praised! 

I visited some very old places. 

The kids wanted Turkish Delight...

what better place to buy it than here, the Grand Bazaar, begun in 1461?

 I bought mango, pomegranate, pistachio, and almond.

 And everyone in our family loved them!! 

                                       

This was a sign in our taxi! 

Making peace

 Thank you for praying for the meeting that was held on October 5th between our newly formed association of churches in our coastal area and an older association of churches in this same area. In this meeting pastors shared their convictions and even though we still have some major doctrinal differences, the Lord has helped bring healing where there was bitterness. Please ask the Lord to continue His good work. 

Beautiful Esther

Here's a shot of Esther and her radiant smile in her new house.

 She invited me over and fed me lunch! 

Thank you, Esther, for your love for Jesus, kind heart, and friendship.

Flour Baby

 Matthew had a 14 day project at school that involved giving a face and a name to a flour bag...so meet Spencer, Matthew's flour baby. He did a great job taking care of him for 2 weeks (most of the time) although his big sister did babysit a few times. :)

Tay is in the house!

These two gals are long time friends. Taylor and her family 

have lived and served in Botswana since October 2009, 

which is the same month and year we moved to Zambia. 

 We had our training meetings together before coming to Africa 

so these two teenagers have known each other since they were 2!!

What a blessing to have her visit us for a long weekend!

 They made t-shirts together just like 

they have in many times past. 

Taylor, we're so glad you came to see us. 

We are praying for you as you finish up 

senior year and for all the adventures God has ahead for you!

Here's a picture of them together 

with Taylor's Mom Amanda at our 40/40 training in 2009. 

making friends and marshmallows, too

The little girls at church love Madylanne. 

And she loves them, too.

 Having fun making marshmallows

 in her chemistry in the kitchen class!

Goat Derby

 Something that happens every year around here 

in October is the Goat Derby. 

Yep, that's right! We have goats instead of horses....

they race around a track and it's pretty entertaining. 

All the proceeds go toward non profit organizations. 

Micah turns 10!!

Micah has begged us for 3 years to take a ride on one of these boats...

so for his birthday we finally said yes. 

He got to invite a friend from school to come with him. 

You can see all 3 boys (Micah, his friend, and Matthew) 

hanging over the roof! 

 Birthday meal...pancakes!! Happy birthday, Micah! 

We praise God for making you and 

pray your walk with Jesus grows as you grow! 

loving our Moms

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who prayed for Judy, Mark's Mom, over the last month while she was in the hospital for heart related issues. We thank God for her recovery and that Mark was able to visit her while she was in the hospital since he was in the US for a meeting. God's timing is always so perfect. 

Thank you too, for praying for Melynda's Mom, Beverly, who was also in the hospital for heart issues. 

We are grateful for God's mercy on our mothers, and for excellent medical teams, and for those who prayed for their recovery. We praise God for His hand of healing and continue to pray for our moms to get their strength back.

Life is fragile! We are grateful for God's healing and for our Mamas!! 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His Name; give to Him glorious praise! Psalm 66:1-2

New School Year

A new school year has begun...

Matthew is in year 9 (8th grade)

and Micah is in year 5 (4th grade).

Madylanne is officially a junior and 

you can see she will be busy in homeschool this year! 

It's always more fun when you can do school with your puppy! 

Huckleberry Jam

For my birthday Mark brought home a very special treat...

huckleberry jam. OOOHHH it is so delicious!! 

Thank you for thinking of me 

while you were in the US at your training, Mark! 

What do you do when it rains?

During the summer holiday we had some friends come visit 

from a different place in our country. 

They stayed with us a few days 

and we cherished every moment! 

One day it rained so we dug through our art and craft box 

and discovered a long lost homeschool activity....

Shrinky Dinks!    

Baby dedication

Mark had the joy of leading a baby dedication 

service at Emanuel Baptist Church recently.

We pray these precious gifts of God grow in the love of Jesus

and come to know Him as Savior.

May we as parents and as the body of Christ 

point them to Him in all we say and do.

 

Madylanne's summer travels

 Madylanne has had the huge blessing 

of being able to attend a summer camp 

of sorts for third culture kids her age. 

What a view! She got to see a new part of the world.

We are grateful for the blessing 

of a sending agency who cares about 

and invests in the lives of our children. 

Puppy palooza

 Our dogs Kali and Cruz had puppies 

in the middle of the all the summer fun 

with volunteer teams. They are cute little roly poly fur balls. 

This is a first for our family...

we've had many dogs 

but never puppies. 

We're all enjoying their energy and adorableness! 

Back seat reading

This picture makes my mama heart so happy.

All three kiddos are reading in the backseat 

while we were on the way to the big city 

not too far from us to renew our visas. 

Thanking God for kids who like to read, 

good books for reading, and a successful trip to immigration. 

                                                

Lifepoint Church

 Lifepoint Church in South Carolina came to serve with us in July. 

Their team was really big so we had multiple places 

for ministry while they were here. 

One group taught theological education 

to pastors and lay leaders. It was such a blessing 

to see many national pastors and leaders 

come to learn more about Biblical doctrine and leadership. 

Another group led VBS for the kids in the therapy group 

plus had special devotions for the caregivers, 

giving them ways to rest in Jesus.

They prepared many care bags for the families. 

Some of the men made a home visit to Samuel.

And there were many opportunities for home visits, evangelism,

and visiting a new boarding school for children 

with physical disabilities as well as visiting Salama Care.

We are so thankful for Lifepoint Church 

and the many many ways God worked through them while they were here!