I find myself missing Zambia today. I'm rarely sure what brings on the different emotions I experience lately. I'm learning about myself that I've come back from Zambia a much more emotional person. Sometimes I smile when I think of our trip to VOH. Sometimes I find myself wondering what the kids are doing at the moment I'm thinking of them. Sometimes I wonder if they remember us...
Today, I decided to take a few minutes and let myself just remember my time there. I've decided to share with you some of my thoughts from my journal the day after we returned from Zambia:
I woke at 3:30am thinking of Africa. I can't go back to sleep so decided to write in my journal. I'll plan to take a short nap today and probably go to bed early - hopefully that will be the end of the jet lag...
I am thankful. My experience in Zambia has changed me. I am thankful that I don't have to worry about our tap water making me sick. While in Zambia, we learned to be thankful for bottled water. It's nice here in America to not have to keep track of my water bottle, and if we'll have enough water at night to drink while we are at our house. I'm thankful we don't have huge wall spiders that I have to look out for... or lizards. I'm thankful for the opportunity to drive yesterday to the grocery store. Most people walk in Africa, or have to take a crowded bus to a "market". I say market loosely because of course it is probably a shack with a table of tomatoes, banana's, wood, etc. I'm thankful that all of our laundry I brought home can be thrown into a washing machine. And then if I choose to hang my laundry on the line I can do that or I can simply put my clothes in the dryer. I'm thankful for green grass. Everywhere in Zambia is dry and dusty in August. The temperature was beautiful there! It is hot and humid here 90+ degrees. But I am thankful for our air conditioning that we can choose to use to be more comfortable. It is not even an option in Zambia during their hot, rainy season. I'm sure they would think we were rich if they felt our house... I don't know what they would think of central air.
What are you thankful for? I've been encouraging my kids lately to be thankful for the blessings God has given us. They've been having to wake up early everyday for the past 2 1/2 weeks and it is hard for them. But I want them to find joy in the life we are choosing to live. We chose to participate in football, cross country and band. We are blessed to have a good school to go to. We are blessed with minds that soak in information and teachers who are willing to spend their days teaching. I am thankful for a husband who provides for our family financially so I can be at home caring for our children and home. The list could go on.
I loved Zambia and the people there. They taught me much about life...
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
You're invited!
Hi everyone,
You are all invited to Calvary Bible Church in Neenah on Sunday September 8th at 6pm to hear our team tell about our Zambia experience. We are so thankful for the way God worked through you to make it possible for us to visit VOH last month, and we would love it if you'd plan to attend our presentation.
Calvary Bible Church is located on Oakridge Rd. in Neenah. Take the Main St. exit off Hwy 41 and the church is on the south west corner of the intersection of Hwy 41 and Main St. (Main St. becomes Oakridge Rd. on the west side of Hwy 41.)
The church driveway is the first turn to the south after exiting the Hwy. Follow the driveway take the first right turn to go to the back of the church. We expect to be presenting in the music room.
We hope to see you there!
scott
You are all invited to Calvary Bible Church in Neenah on Sunday September 8th at 6pm to hear our team tell about our Zambia experience. We are so thankful for the way God worked through you to make it possible for us to visit VOH last month, and we would love it if you'd plan to attend our presentation.
Calvary Bible Church is located on Oakridge Rd. in Neenah. Take the Main St. exit off Hwy 41 and the church is on the south west corner of the intersection of Hwy 41 and Main St. (Main St. becomes Oakridge Rd. on the west side of Hwy 41.)
The church driveway is the first turn to the south after exiting the Hwy. Follow the driveway take the first right turn to go to the back of the church. We expect to be presenting in the music room.
We hope to see you there!
scott
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
my first thoughts upon returning (after 12 hours of sleep:))
So here I sit, back in my chair typing on my computer after having been away for two weeks to Zambia. I do not have any work scheduled today because I expected to need the time to get my "head back on straight." I'm glad I don't have plans other than that. Al has to leave in a few minutes for cross-country trials, I hope that goes well for her. She hasn't been training for the last two weeks. God, please be gracious to Al and help her to have a good attitude this morning. Please also help her to do well despite the lack of training while in Zambia. Ab has football practice this afternoon with his team who's been practicing for two weeks. God, please be gracious to Ab by helping him to have a good attitude and do well despite his not practicing with his team for two weeks, and please help him to fit into the team well. Erin seems to be well on her way to being adjusted to home life again. It will be interesting to participate in conversation with Erin as we let this Zambia experience percolate in our hearts. The two most prominent questions in my mind and heart as we've come back are these.
Proverbs 30:8b-9 rings true:
"give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'
Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."
7
I believe that God has created us with purpose. I wonder if i've been missing out on being amazed by God because I spend so much time focused on myself. Again I wonder... Who has God designed us to be/become? What has God designed us to do?
scott
- Who has God designed us to be/become?
- What has God designed us for doing?
- When someone has more than me, I despise God's grace in giving me what I have because I don't have everything I want.
- When someone has less than me, I puff out my chest for my skillful living and choosing (not God's grace) has secured my life for me.
Proverbs 30:8b-9 rings true:
"give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'
Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."
7
I believe that God has created us with purpose. I wonder if i've been missing out on being amazed by God because I spend so much time focused on myself. Again I wonder... Who has God designed us to be/become? What has God designed us to do?
scott
Sunday, August 25, 2013
We are home...
We returned home today at 3:30ish pm. We are so thankful that all of our flights went well and God showed our team much grace as we spent two weeks at the Village of Hope.
I truly do not know what to write tonight, but wanted to let you know that we continue to be so grateful for the opportunity God gave our family. We are continuing to process (and probably will take a lot of time these next few weeks) to see what God is teaching us through this trip. I am so tired tonight. We spent 36 hours traveling and I did not get much sleep. This is true for most of our team.
I thought I would take a couple of minutes to post a prayer request from this past Thursday. I thought I might be able to have access to the internet, but it wasn't meant to be. The post still rings true for me though. I know that our team left a piece of each of our hearts at the VOH. I do not know how the kids feel about us leaving, but it was very difficult for us to leave...
Written on 8/22/2013
We have had limited access to the internet. Right now I am typing a note that I hope to post later today. Thankfully God is timeless and whenever you see this prayer request God is faithful to answer. I would like to ask for prayer as our team prepares to say good bye. We have been asked to not be emotional as we say our good byes. The kids here have experienced so much pain in their lives they don't need to experience it once again because of us leaving. So, our goal is to say good bye in a positive fashion, like how we might say good bye to a friend that we plan to see again soon. This is a difficult idea for me because of course there is no guarantee we will be able to come back soon... maybe not ever. But we do want to honor the request and I do understand the request.
We have all developed relationships here that have touched our hearts, with the children, Mama's, Aunties and workers. It is going to be hard to leave, so if you could pray for the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and faces so we can smile and love on the children as we say good bye on Friday we would greatly appreciate it.
Today: Saying good bye was very difficult for me. I made many connections with the kids, but especially with the children in House 6. We had the opportunity to visit with the kids each night after dinner in their homes. We each picked a house and then continued to visit with the same kids the whole 2 weeks. So when it came time to say "See you later"... I know I had a couple of tears in my eyes. I hope the kids know that it wasn't necessarily a sadness, but more of a thankfulness that God allowed us to be together... If you would continue to pray for the children as they adjust to a more structured schedule this week while they finish up their "holiday" from school, I know they would appreciate it.
Blessings ~ Erin
I truly do not know what to write tonight, but wanted to let you know that we continue to be so grateful for the opportunity God gave our family. We are continuing to process (and probably will take a lot of time these next few weeks) to see what God is teaching us through this trip. I am so tired tonight. We spent 36 hours traveling and I did not get much sleep. This is true for most of our team.
I thought I would take a couple of minutes to post a prayer request from this past Thursday. I thought I might be able to have access to the internet, but it wasn't meant to be. The post still rings true for me though. I know that our team left a piece of each of our hearts at the VOH. I do not know how the kids feel about us leaving, but it was very difficult for us to leave...
Written on 8/22/2013
We have had limited access to the internet. Right now I am typing a note that I hope to post later today. Thankfully God is timeless and whenever you see this prayer request God is faithful to answer. I would like to ask for prayer as our team prepares to say good bye. We have been asked to not be emotional as we say our good byes. The kids here have experienced so much pain in their lives they don't need to experience it once again because of us leaving. So, our goal is to say good bye in a positive fashion, like how we might say good bye to a friend that we plan to see again soon. This is a difficult idea for me because of course there is no guarantee we will be able to come back soon... maybe not ever. But we do want to honor the request and I do understand the request.
We have all developed relationships here that have touched our hearts, with the children, Mama's, Aunties and workers. It is going to be hard to leave, so if you could pray for the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and faces so we can smile and love on the children as we say good bye on Friday we would greatly appreciate it.
Today: Saying good bye was very difficult for me. I made many connections with the kids, but especially with the children in House 6. We had the opportunity to visit with the kids each night after dinner in their homes. We each picked a house and then continued to visit with the same kids the whole 2 weeks. So when it came time to say "See you later"... I know I had a couple of tears in my eyes. I hope the kids know that it wasn't necessarily a sadness, but more of a thankfulness that God allowed us to be together... If you would continue to pray for the children as they adjust to a more structured schedule this week while they finish up their "holiday" from school, I know they would appreciate it.
Blessings ~ Erin
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Ready to be amazed.
Today is the day! I am excited to travel and see what God will do in and through us. I'm a little nervous too. We've never travelled internationally with 4 kids in tow. I think a good picture to capture my feelings is this: we're sitting in the first car of a roller coaster train, at the top of the first big rise, and we're facing down waiting for the train to get half way over the peak so that our plunge can begin.
The first words out of our little guy's mouth to his sister this morning were, "I'm excited." The first words out of our oldest son's mouth were, "We're flying half way across the world today!" I asked him if that was his "wow" moment, and he said with a smile, "I don't know."
Ready to be amazed,
scott
The first words out of our little guy's mouth to his sister this morning were, "I'm excited." The first words out of our oldest son's mouth were, "We're flying half way across the world today!" I asked him if that was his "wow" moment, and he said with a smile, "I don't know."
Ready to be amazed,
scott
We're off!
Today we depart for Zambia!
Our neighbors stopped by last night so we could go over some things they are going to take care of for us. We appreciate them so much. For the first time I started getting teary eyed. As we were talking about how great God is, that He has provided for us to take this trip, it is so humbling and we are so thankful, I started getting a little bit emotional.
I wish I could say I wasn't nervous. I know God provided this trip and I don't need to worry, so I am continually putting my worries at Jesus' feet. I didn't sleep well last night (wondering if I have our house in order, flying over an ocean, taking kids to a different country, losing my passport, etc.). I couldn't fall asleep so I read my Bible for awhile. And this morning I woke up early... thinking about Zambia :) So, I'm glad we don't leave until this afternoon, we are mostly packed and I may even get a nap in. We'll see.
Emotions are a weird thing. The other night at supper our oldest son said he hasn't had his "wow" moment yet. :) We keep waiting for him to have it and when he does he is supposed to write about it in his journal. He hasn't been so involved in the packing scene because he keeps going out to play with his friends, so we wonder if that could be why he hasn't had his moment yet.
On the other hand, our youngest son will just occasionally come into the room and tell me how many days until we leave. He will have a smile on his face sometimes and sometimes it's just very matter of fact. I do wonder how much he is comprehending. I pray that God will even work in his little heart. I think it will be incredible to watch him interact with the children at the Village of Hope.
And my girls are different too. My oldest daughter is so excited! She has a countdown app on her ipod, and she's been watching it for a couple weeks now at least :) Pray for her as she loves the people in Zambia. I don't know what God will teach her while we are away, but she is sensitive to Him right now and I want her to be able to hear Him with all her heart.
And my youngest daughter is nervous. She said she's excited too, but mostly she'll say she's nervous. I'm not sure what she is nervous about but I want her to enjoy her time and not be thinking of things that she doesn't have control of (I guess she takes after her mommy). She's so fun to be with and the kids will just love her and she will love the kids.
And Scott and I, well, we aren't sure what God will teach us either. We do pray that our hearts will be softened though. That we will be available to the people in whatever way God asks us to be. And that this will be an incredible growing experience.
Well, I best get onto my last minute "to-do" list! Woo-Hoo, we're off! :)
Our neighbors stopped by last night so we could go over some things they are going to take care of for us. We appreciate them so much. For the first time I started getting teary eyed. As we were talking about how great God is, that He has provided for us to take this trip, it is so humbling and we are so thankful, I started getting a little bit emotional.
I wish I could say I wasn't nervous. I know God provided this trip and I don't need to worry, so I am continually putting my worries at Jesus' feet. I didn't sleep well last night (wondering if I have our house in order, flying over an ocean, taking kids to a different country, losing my passport, etc.). I couldn't fall asleep so I read my Bible for awhile. And this morning I woke up early... thinking about Zambia :) So, I'm glad we don't leave until this afternoon, we are mostly packed and I may even get a nap in. We'll see.
Emotions are a weird thing. The other night at supper our oldest son said he hasn't had his "wow" moment yet. :) We keep waiting for him to have it and when he does he is supposed to write about it in his journal. He hasn't been so involved in the packing scene because he keeps going out to play with his friends, so we wonder if that could be why he hasn't had his moment yet.
On the other hand, our youngest son will just occasionally come into the room and tell me how many days until we leave. He will have a smile on his face sometimes and sometimes it's just very matter of fact. I do wonder how much he is comprehending. I pray that God will even work in his little heart. I think it will be incredible to watch him interact with the children at the Village of Hope.
And my girls are different too. My oldest daughter is so excited! She has a countdown app on her ipod, and she's been watching it for a couple weeks now at least :) Pray for her as she loves the people in Zambia. I don't know what God will teach her while we are away, but she is sensitive to Him right now and I want her to be able to hear Him with all her heart.
And my youngest daughter is nervous. She said she's excited too, but mostly she'll say she's nervous. I'm not sure what she is nervous about but I want her to enjoy her time and not be thinking of things that she doesn't have control of (I guess she takes after her mommy). She's so fun to be with and the kids will just love her and she will love the kids.
And Scott and I, well, we aren't sure what God will teach us either. We do pray that our hearts will be softened though. That we will be available to the people in whatever way God asks us to be. And that this will be an incredible growing experience.
Well, I best get onto my last minute "to-do" list! Woo-Hoo, we're off! :)
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Build Your Kingdom Here
Perhaps you've heard a new song on the radio the past couple of months? It's got a catchy tune and a fun music video. It's a song by a band that I had not heard of before: Rend Collective Experiment. The song has become a family favorite and one that we listen to often. It's also become a prayer of mine and a theme song for me when I think about our trip to Zambia.
It has some good lyrics and I think a mission minded vision. I have several thoughts while listening to it and I thought I would share just a few.
We are not going to visit the people in Zambia, at the Village of Hope, on our own but we are going with the power of the Holy Spirit!
I do not want to waste my life. I don't know that I have been, but I have never put myself in a position of experiencing a short-term mission trip, and God has placed a desire in me to hear from Him in this way. I want to live for Jesus, to love people here in America and around the world.
I have been praying that God will not only continue to build His kingdom in Zambia when we are there - but starting first in our family. I've been asking God to change our atmosphere daily, and that our home will be a place that anyone can walk into and see we love Jesus. Then, our family can be a part of Jesus' love spreading to our neighborhood, community, and all the way to Zambia.
We pray. The song is filled with prayer requests that I believe God loves to hear from us.
Build your kingdom here, in our family, in our team traveling to Zambia, in our family and friends who are supporting us, with those we meet in Zambia.
This past year has been an incredible experience. God has blessed us through so many people. He has built a team traveling together who gets along well. He has encouraged us through so many people. We have been touched by the financial support people have given, prayers that we have heard and that only God has heard, support and love through notes and words that people have spoken to us. We are so excited for the next two weeks! :)
Blessings ~ Erin
I've attached a link to the music video for the song.
Build Your Kingdom Here - Rend Collective Experiment
It has some good lyrics and I think a mission minded vision. I have several thoughts while listening to it and I thought I would share just a few.
We are not going to visit the people in Zambia, at the Village of Hope, on our own but we are going with the power of the Holy Spirit!
I do not want to waste my life. I don't know that I have been, but I have never put myself in a position of experiencing a short-term mission trip, and God has placed a desire in me to hear from Him in this way. I want to live for Jesus, to love people here in America and around the world.
I have been praying that God will not only continue to build His kingdom in Zambia when we are there - but starting first in our family. I've been asking God to change our atmosphere daily, and that our home will be a place that anyone can walk into and see we love Jesus. Then, our family can be a part of Jesus' love spreading to our neighborhood, community, and all the way to Zambia.
We pray. The song is filled with prayer requests that I believe God loves to hear from us.
Build your kingdom here, in our family, in our team traveling to Zambia, in our family and friends who are supporting us, with those we meet in Zambia.
This past year has been an incredible experience. God has blessed us through so many people. He has built a team traveling together who gets along well. He has encouraged us through so many people. We have been touched by the financial support people have given, prayers that we have heard and that only God has heard, support and love through notes and words that people have spoken to us. We are so excited for the next two weeks! :)
Blessings ~ Erin
I've attached a link to the music video for the song.
Build Your Kingdom Here - Rend Collective Experiment
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
4 Days!
We are 4 days away from departure and we have a lot to do. We started packing our personal items today. Even though our goal is to sleep on the plane I have no idea how difficult it will be for us, so we are bringing cards, music, books and coloring books. You can pray that our flight goes smoothly and we are able to get enough rest on the plane since we will be flying through the night. We are shopping today for cosmetic items and we are praying for good deals. This week is flying by. Mom just told us that we don't have time to fool around, bummer!
~ Lanz (number 1)
~ Lanz (number 1)
Friday, August 2, 2013
God continues to care for us...
Last night our team held a "packing party". Our goal is to be able to fit all of our personal belongings in our carry-on luggage. That will leave our bag that we can check for items we want to take to Zambia to leave there.
Our church family is amazing. We have one teen girl who God laid it on her heart to hold a shoe drive for the Village of Hope and people in Zambia. She asked people to donate shoes that were new or lightly worn. Wow, did our church deliver!
When we showed up last night for our packing party it was a little bit overwhelming. We had 13 suitcases that we could fill and not be charged for. They have to weigh 50 lbs. or less and be a certain dimention. We can take extra but we have to pay a significant price for it (we think possibly $150) As we looked at all of the stuff we were planning on taking I think we all felt overwhelmed. We had a lot of shoes. I don't know how many pairs, but probably 100 or so. The Village of Hope also sent a list of items that they need and is hard to get there or very expensive. Things like: kids underwear, ink cartridges, notebooks, folders, deodorant, games, etc. We have a team member that attends Appleton North High school. He found out that their soccer team was getting new soccer uniforms and was willing to donate their old ones to us to take to Zambia. We also got their old soccer balls and it is so cool! We think the kids will love to be able to dress for a soccer game (blue against white). Well, once again God cares. We did fit everything in our suitcases. We did decide to take 3 extra bags because God provided the stuff to take and it would be expensive to mail it. So we have 16 bags that God gave to us, most of them just under 50 lbs!
Will you pray with us for our luggage? We have a few prayer requests. First, we used a scale we believe to be accurate. But several of the bags are very close to 50 lbs. If the airport scale is over, then we may need to move some stuff around or decide to leave something behind (stressful!) Second, will you please pray that when we check the bags in, the person helping us, may allow us to take the 3 extra bags for a lower cost since it's a donation for the Village of Hope? I don't actually know if they ever consider this, but nothing is impossible with God. :) And third, will you please pray that all of our luggage will arrive with us, in the airport, at Lusaka? Of course traveling such a long distance and getting on three different planes, our luggage is not guaranteed to arrive.
Woo Hoo!! We are so excited to be able to have this experience. We are so thankful for everyone's support. I don't want to waste a minute of the next few weeks and am asking God to cause us to know what His plan is for our family.
Our church family is amazing. We have one teen girl who God laid it on her heart to hold a shoe drive for the Village of Hope and people in Zambia. She asked people to donate shoes that were new or lightly worn. Wow, did our church deliver!
When we showed up last night for our packing party it was a little bit overwhelming. We had 13 suitcases that we could fill and not be charged for. They have to weigh 50 lbs. or less and be a certain dimention. We can take extra but we have to pay a significant price for it (we think possibly $150) As we looked at all of the stuff we were planning on taking I think we all felt overwhelmed. We had a lot of shoes. I don't know how many pairs, but probably 100 or so. The Village of Hope also sent a list of items that they need and is hard to get there or very expensive. Things like: kids underwear, ink cartridges, notebooks, folders, deodorant, games, etc. We have a team member that attends Appleton North High school. He found out that their soccer team was getting new soccer uniforms and was willing to donate their old ones to us to take to Zambia. We also got their old soccer balls and it is so cool! We think the kids will love to be able to dress for a soccer game (blue against white). Well, once again God cares. We did fit everything in our suitcases. We did decide to take 3 extra bags because God provided the stuff to take and it would be expensive to mail it. So we have 16 bags that God gave to us, most of them just under 50 lbs!
Will you pray with us for our luggage? We have a few prayer requests. First, we used a scale we believe to be accurate. But several of the bags are very close to 50 lbs. If the airport scale is over, then we may need to move some stuff around or decide to leave something behind (stressful!) Second, will you please pray that when we check the bags in, the person helping us, may allow us to take the 3 extra bags for a lower cost since it's a donation for the Village of Hope? I don't actually know if they ever consider this, but nothing is impossible with God. :) And third, will you please pray that all of our luggage will arrive with us, in the airport, at Lusaka? Of course traveling such a long distance and getting on three different planes, our luggage is not guaranteed to arrive.
Woo Hoo!! We are so excited to be able to have this experience. We are so thankful for everyone's support. I don't want to waste a minute of the next few weeks and am asking God to cause us to know what His plan is for our family.
Monday, July 29, 2013
luggage
It's less than two weeks away now, and the date seems to be racing toward us.
It seems like there is still a lot that needs to be done between now and our departure. We are making progress in our preparations, but it sure seems like it will be easy to forget something. We are trying to trust and be faithful, even though it feels stressful.
God continues to demonstrate His kindness and power to provide. We are planning to pack our personal effects in one carry on piece of luggage (luggage is commonly lost on these kinds of flights), and we are planning to bring things to leave in Zambia in our checked bags. We didn't have enough luggage for that plan. One of our team members was at a local thrift store looking for luggage on Friday. After talking with a manager about a piece that seemed priced too high at $25 the manager showed her other luggage for sale that wasn't on the store floor. She called E and E went to look at the luggage too... E came away with 6 full size bags to be used for our checked bags for $18! Amazing! So Saturday, we took stock of the carry on bags that we have that we could use. We had 2 carry on size suitcases with wheels and handles for easy transport through airports. We decided that the 2 youngest kids could pack in duffle bags (which we have) and those could be toted on top of the rolling carry on suitcases. That left us with only unwheeled luggage, and we thought it wise to try to find at least two more wheeled carry on size suitcases. Our plan was to go back and look at thrift stores and hope for another amazing deal. Well, before we went shopping, I took my son over to mow some lawns (two couples have been supporting us by paying us to mow their lawns this summer). After the first lawn was completed, I was chatting with the man and I told him of our luggage story. He said, "hold on, let me call my wife." It turns out they had 4 suitcases that they were planning on giving away to a thrift store, and two of them were the carry on size that we were looking for! God sure is amazing!
It seems like there is still a lot that needs to be done between now and our departure. We are making progress in our preparations, but it sure seems like it will be easy to forget something. We are trying to trust and be faithful, even though it feels stressful.
God continues to demonstrate His kindness and power to provide. We are planning to pack our personal effects in one carry on piece of luggage (luggage is commonly lost on these kinds of flights), and we are planning to bring things to leave in Zambia in our checked bags. We didn't have enough luggage for that plan. One of our team members was at a local thrift store looking for luggage on Friday. After talking with a manager about a piece that seemed priced too high at $25 the manager showed her other luggage for sale that wasn't on the store floor. She called E and E went to look at the luggage too... E came away with 6 full size bags to be used for our checked bags for $18! Amazing! So Saturday, we took stock of the carry on bags that we have that we could use. We had 2 carry on size suitcases with wheels and handles for easy transport through airports. We decided that the 2 youngest kids could pack in duffle bags (which we have) and those could be toted on top of the rolling carry on suitcases. That left us with only unwheeled luggage, and we thought it wise to try to find at least two more wheeled carry on size suitcases. Our plan was to go back and look at thrift stores and hope for another amazing deal. Well, before we went shopping, I took my son over to mow some lawns (two couples have been supporting us by paying us to mow their lawns this summer). After the first lawn was completed, I was chatting with the man and I told him of our luggage story. He said, "hold on, let me call my wife." It turns out they had 4 suitcases that they were planning on giving away to a thrift store, and two of them were the carry on size that we were looking for! God sure is amazing!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Just a little more practice...
The countdown is on! We have just 19 days until we leave. We made a paper chain to help with our countdown. It is exciting to see it getting shorter and shorter!
Next Sunday we are going to start taking our malaria medicine. It's a natural medicine and we have to take it for 14 days before we leave, the whole time we are in Zambia and then for 14 days after we return. Now for some this is not a big deal, but for our kids, especially our 2nd born daughter it is worse than getting a shot :) You see, this malaria medication involves swallowing a pill, and it is pretty big. And for our daughter, she cannot swallow even the tiniest pill. She detests medicine and I avoid giving it to her at all costs. She will throw up taking tylenol and if she ever has to take an anti-biotic I have to give her several pep talks and a milkshake :) It's really a frustration for both of us.
So, here we are, just a week away from taking medication for the next 42 days and she is practicing swallowing tic-tacs. And praise God, she finally did it this morning! It took her two tic-tacs and about 15 minutes of encouragement but she did it. So, will you please pray with us that during this week, with just a little more practice she might be able to swallow the "pill" with no problem, so the bigger malaria medicine will not be so intimidating? Thank you in advance for your prayers. And if you have any suggestions for how she might have an easier time swallowing a pill feel free to let us know :)
Believe it or not our youngest child learned pretty quickly how to swallow his tic tac and now just likes practicing because it tastes good...
Also, we are scheduled to get our Yellow Fever shot on Wednesday of this week. We will all be glad when this is over. It has been a frustrating experience to not know if this vaccination was necessary and how expensive it is. But again, we are trusting that God has a plan for this and I am going to let it go now and not complain about the circumstance anymore.
Blessings ~ Erin
Next Sunday we are going to start taking our malaria medicine. It's a natural medicine and we have to take it for 14 days before we leave, the whole time we are in Zambia and then for 14 days after we return. Now for some this is not a big deal, but for our kids, especially our 2nd born daughter it is worse than getting a shot :) You see, this malaria medication involves swallowing a pill, and it is pretty big. And for our daughter, she cannot swallow even the tiniest pill. She detests medicine and I avoid giving it to her at all costs. She will throw up taking tylenol and if she ever has to take an anti-biotic I have to give her several pep talks and a milkshake :) It's really a frustration for both of us.
So, here we are, just a week away from taking medication for the next 42 days and she is practicing swallowing tic-tacs. And praise God, she finally did it this morning! It took her two tic-tacs and about 15 minutes of encouragement but she did it. So, will you please pray with us that during this week, with just a little more practice she might be able to swallow the "pill" with no problem, so the bigger malaria medicine will not be so intimidating? Thank you in advance for your prayers. And if you have any suggestions for how she might have an easier time swallowing a pill feel free to let us know :)
Believe it or not our youngest child learned pretty quickly how to swallow his tic tac and now just likes practicing because it tastes good...
Also, we are scheduled to get our Yellow Fever shot on Wednesday of this week. We will all be glad when this is over. It has been a frustrating experience to not know if this vaccination was necessary and how expensive it is. But again, we are trusting that God has a plan for this and I am going to let it go now and not complain about the circumstance anymore.
Blessings ~ Erin
Saturday, July 6, 2013
a few nerves... mostly excitement
Good morning~
I woke this morning thinking about traveling to Zambia. I'm a little bit anxious but mostly excited! Time must be approaching quickly... I'm feeling pressure about making sure that our family is ready to leave. Not only physically ready, but spiritually and emotionally too.
We found out this past weekend that our team has met our financial goal! Isn't that amazing? God is faithful. As I've been praying these past few months, I've been praising Him that He can be nothing but faithful! I'm so thankful for that. Life can be so up and down and I'm thankful for the trust that I can put in God's faithfulness. I just found out this morning that we need to get the yellow fever vaccine. That is very expensive, and we are bummed about having to get it. But I am thankful for an answer in my email box that was very decisive. (There was quite a bit of confusion about if this shot was necessary or not.) God is faithful and He knew that when we booked our flights through South Africa that we would need this shot... so I will trust in His plan and hold loosely to our finances. We are still needing to save for traveling expenses. But I trust that God has this under control too.
I wanted to share another example of God's blessing on our family as we prepare for Zambia. We just recently got our immunizations (all of them except Yellow Fever). As I was getting information about what we needed to get and making the appointment for our family to go to a travel clinic, I somehow managed to call 2 different travel clinics (I did not realize this). I did think it was strange to be quoted two different prices for a consultation. One place said it would be $65/person. Another place said it would be a $98 group fee. I just thought, "Huh, maybe the group fee is something the first person didn't know about." (I was still thinking this was one clinic.) Well, as time went on, it was brought to my attention that there were in fact two different travel clinics and I'd better call the clinic we had our appt. at to clear up the consultation price. $65/person (6 people in our family) vs. $98 is quite significant! After being on hold for a few minutes with the clinic that has the $98 group fee, the woman came back on the phone and pleasantly said, "Well, it looks like it will be $98." I couldn't believe it and asked why it was so drastically different than the other place. She said, "Actually, it is supposed to be $98/person, but because you were quoted a $98 group fee we will stand by it". I couldn't help but smile and say, "Well, that is God's blessing to our family, isn't it?" She laughed and said, "Yes, it is." That saved our family $500! The immunizations were still plenty expensive, but God has been so good to us.
It's been a humbling experience to raise support for our family to travel together. We've seen God provide for us over and over again. I want to say Thank You to each of you who have supported us financially, but also Thank You to each of you who are lifting our family up in prayer. We don't know exactly how we will be different when we come home from Zambia. I know we need the finances to get there. But we need the prayer for our hearts to be ready. We will be changed in some way and we want to be soft to whatever God's plan is.
Blessings ~ Erin
I woke this morning thinking about traveling to Zambia. I'm a little bit anxious but mostly excited! Time must be approaching quickly... I'm feeling pressure about making sure that our family is ready to leave. Not only physically ready, but spiritually and emotionally too.
We found out this past weekend that our team has met our financial goal! Isn't that amazing? God is faithful. As I've been praying these past few months, I've been praising Him that He can be nothing but faithful! I'm so thankful for that. Life can be so up and down and I'm thankful for the trust that I can put in God's faithfulness. I just found out this morning that we need to get the yellow fever vaccine. That is very expensive, and we are bummed about having to get it. But I am thankful for an answer in my email box that was very decisive. (There was quite a bit of confusion about if this shot was necessary or not.) God is faithful and He knew that when we booked our flights through South Africa that we would need this shot... so I will trust in His plan and hold loosely to our finances. We are still needing to save for traveling expenses. But I trust that God has this under control too.
I wanted to share another example of God's blessing on our family as we prepare for Zambia. We just recently got our immunizations (all of them except Yellow Fever). As I was getting information about what we needed to get and making the appointment for our family to go to a travel clinic, I somehow managed to call 2 different travel clinics (I did not realize this). I did think it was strange to be quoted two different prices for a consultation. One place said it would be $65/person. Another place said it would be a $98 group fee. I just thought, "Huh, maybe the group fee is something the first person didn't know about." (I was still thinking this was one clinic.) Well, as time went on, it was brought to my attention that there were in fact two different travel clinics and I'd better call the clinic we had our appt. at to clear up the consultation price. $65/person (6 people in our family) vs. $98 is quite significant! After being on hold for a few minutes with the clinic that has the $98 group fee, the woman came back on the phone and pleasantly said, "Well, it looks like it will be $98." I couldn't believe it and asked why it was so drastically different than the other place. She said, "Actually, it is supposed to be $98/person, but because you were quoted a $98 group fee we will stand by it". I couldn't help but smile and say, "Well, that is God's blessing to our family, isn't it?" She laughed and said, "Yes, it is." That saved our family $500! The immunizations were still plenty expensive, but God has been so good to us.
It's been a humbling experience to raise support for our family to travel together. We've seen God provide for us over and over again. I want to say Thank You to each of you who have supported us financially, but also Thank You to each of you who are lifting our family up in prayer. We don't know exactly how we will be different when we come home from Zambia. I know we need the finances to get there. But we need the prayer for our hearts to be ready. We will be changed in some way and we want to be soft to whatever God's plan is.
Blessings ~ Erin
Friday, June 28, 2013
"Dad, why do you think God had you be unemployed right now?" My oldest son asked this question the other day. Good question. I told him I didn't know. After a brief pause he suggested, "I think it's so that we see that we have a lot more than the people in Zambia even when you're unemployed." Well... I think my son may be proved right. My heart swells with pleasure, even now as I'm writing, at the wisdom that God is building into my kids' hearts.
It's been an emotional roller coaster these past couple of months. We've watched God generously provide support for our Zambia trip, we're moving closer to the goal all the time and the end is in sight. As for my employment status... that's changed a bit too. I have taken a temporary position with a home improvement contractor that attends our church. It's a blessing. It pays significantly more than unemployment. My emotions are struggling to agree wholeheartedly with those thoughts though. The main emotional obstacle is that I had my own business in the past, and my customers paid me for my skills. As one would expect, I make less as an employee than I did while being self employed. Nevertheless, it absolutely is a blessing. It's my sin that makes it difficult to agree.
I wish character was built through comfort... It's a humbling thing to watch God provide support for our family to go to Zambia. It's humbling to see that support come sacrificially from the hands of some who we wish would keep it for their own needs. It's a humbling thing to not be able to provide for my family without seeing our savings diminish like the sands of an hourglass. Sometimes I'm afraid, and sometimes I'm ashamed.
It's adversity that tests our beliefs that God is sovereign, God is good, God is present with us, God is loving, and God is gracious. I want to be the kind of man who will praise God when any in my family (and anyone else) believe these things more from any of these experiences.
It's been an emotional roller coaster these past couple of months. We've watched God generously provide support for our Zambia trip, we're moving closer to the goal all the time and the end is in sight. As for my employment status... that's changed a bit too. I have taken a temporary position with a home improvement contractor that attends our church. It's a blessing. It pays significantly more than unemployment. My emotions are struggling to agree wholeheartedly with those thoughts though. The main emotional obstacle is that I had my own business in the past, and my customers paid me for my skills. As one would expect, I make less as an employee than I did while being self employed. Nevertheless, it absolutely is a blessing. It's my sin that makes it difficult to agree.
I wish character was built through comfort... It's a humbling thing to watch God provide support for our family to go to Zambia. It's humbling to see that support come sacrificially from the hands of some who we wish would keep it for their own needs. It's a humbling thing to not be able to provide for my family without seeing our savings diminish like the sands of an hourglass. Sometimes I'm afraid, and sometimes I'm ashamed.
It's adversity that tests our beliefs that God is sovereign, God is good, God is present with us, God is loving, and God is gracious. I want to be the kind of man who will praise God when any in my family (and anyone else) believe these things more from any of these experiences.
Friday, June 14, 2013
What's been going on?
It has been a little while since I've had time to post... Life continues to go on, and we have to still attend to things other than our Zambia trip :) School just finished for our kids this week on Tuesday. I have no idea why we went so late, but we are on summer vacation now and it feels good!
I've had a couple of things I wanted to write about recently but of course can't take the time today for both. But I did want to share that we are hosting a rummage sale today and tomorrow to benefit our Zambia team. Our church family is awesome! We have had so many people donate items and we are so thankful. It has been so encouraging for the past two weeks to interact with people from our church. They have been willing to bring things to our house and pray for us and it is so humbling. God is so big and cares so much. Will you join us in asking him to bring many people to our rummage sale? We are asking that we will not only be benefitted but the people buying our items will feel blessed as well.
Happy Summer! I will try to keep updating often. I'm pretty sure we are going to have to start a countdown paper chain to keep track of how close our Zambia trip is coming :) We are getting really excited!
Blessings ~ Erin
I've had a couple of things I wanted to write about recently but of course can't take the time today for both. But I did want to share that we are hosting a rummage sale today and tomorrow to benefit our Zambia team. Our church family is awesome! We have had so many people donate items and we are so thankful. It has been so encouraging for the past two weeks to interact with people from our church. They have been willing to bring things to our house and pray for us and it is so humbling. God is so big and cares so much. Will you join us in asking him to bring many people to our rummage sale? We are asking that we will not only be benefitted but the people buying our items will feel blessed as well.
Happy Summer! I will try to keep updating often. I'm pretty sure we are going to have to start a countdown paper chain to keep track of how close our Zambia trip is coming :) We are getting really excited!
Blessings ~ Erin
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thankfulness
My heart is so full of thankfulness tonight. There have been several times during this year that I have felt so blessed with the way people are supporting our family during this Zambia adventure and tonight I just can't rest until I let you know that our family feels very loved and supported by our family, church family, friends and community.
There have been so very many ways that people have been loving and supporting us. I'm sure I would miss someone if I tried to name all of the ways but to let you hear a sampling of people's generosity I will name a few: pocket change from a little boy, girls selling hair ties and giving the money towards our trip, garage sale money, containers of coins, people supporting our bake sale and brat sale, lawn mowing jobs, many generous donations, teachers supporting our kids at school with very kind words and gifts, people praying for us, the list goes on and on.
Tonight as I was praying with our kids I was thanking God for the blessings that He gives to us. Sometimes He blesses us and we do not even realize it, and tonight I just can't stop thinking about all He has done for us. It is because of His grace, we certainly do not deserve it, wow... I just don't know what to say.
Tonight, I want you to know that we do not take any gift that you've given to us, large or small, lightly. Every little bit helps. And we are thankful. My prayer tonight is that we won't ever waste these gifts. We want to bring glory to God with our trip (before, during and after). May God bless each and every one of you. And if there is any way that we can be praying for you, please feel free to let us know. We'd be honored to lift you up in prayer.
With a grateful heart ~ Erin
There have been so very many ways that people have been loving and supporting us. I'm sure I would miss someone if I tried to name all of the ways but to let you hear a sampling of people's generosity I will name a few: pocket change from a little boy, girls selling hair ties and giving the money towards our trip, garage sale money, containers of coins, people supporting our bake sale and brat sale, lawn mowing jobs, many generous donations, teachers supporting our kids at school with very kind words and gifts, people praying for us, the list goes on and on.
Tonight as I was praying with our kids I was thanking God for the blessings that He gives to us. Sometimes He blesses us and we do not even realize it, and tonight I just can't stop thinking about all He has done for us. It is because of His grace, we certainly do not deserve it, wow... I just don't know what to say.
Tonight, I want you to know that we do not take any gift that you've given to us, large or small, lightly. Every little bit helps. And we are thankful. My prayer tonight is that we won't ever waste these gifts. We want to bring glory to God with our trip (before, during and after). May God bless each and every one of you. And if there is any way that we can be praying for you, please feel free to let us know. We'd be honored to lift you up in prayer.
With a grateful heart ~ Erin
Friday, May 17, 2013
Brat Fry #2!
Tomorrow, May 18 our Zambia team will be hosting our 2nd Brat Fry for a fundraiser for our team. Thank you for supporting our last one. We were very encouraged. If you live in our are please consider stopping by and enjoy a brat or hamburger while supporting our team. We will also have baked goods available. We will be at the Neenah Pick 'N Save on Green Bay Rd. from 11 - 5.
We continue to give thanks to God who is providing for us in amazing ways as we are preparing for our trip. God is using family, friends, teachers, and people we do not know to encourage our hearts as we continue to trust in Him. Thank you for praying for us, that is a great encouragement too.
Also, we won the Baker of the Day contest at Great Harvest Bread! Thank you for voting for us. We will be helping out Great Harvest Bread Co. on Memorial Day. Stop in and support them and our team by buying some yummy baked goods :) We appreciate you!
With a humble heart ~ Erin
We continue to give thanks to God who is providing for us in amazing ways as we are preparing for our trip. God is using family, friends, teachers, and people we do not know to encourage our hearts as we continue to trust in Him. Thank you for praying for us, that is a great encouragement too.
Also, we won the Baker of the Day contest at Great Harvest Bread! Thank you for voting for us. We will be helping out Great Harvest Bread Co. on Memorial Day. Stop in and support them and our team by buying some yummy baked goods :) We appreciate you!
With a humble heart ~ Erin
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Profound...
An internet search for the meaning of "profound" will return results that refer to intense feeling, completeness, depth of insite, or difficulty with understanding complexity. So it seems a fitting word to use as I describe circumstances of these days. It also conveniently fits with the alliteration we used in the support letter we sent out:) If you haven't seen the support letter, I published it for you in the previous post.
So what's profound?
On Friday last week my brother and employer closed on the sale of his business to some of his employees. I was aware that would be happening, and on Monday (of this week) I went in to work and, as expected, all of us who had been employed by my brother's company heard that we were unemployed because that business was no more. We were then offered a job by the new company... For good reasons I didn't accept the job, and I believe I made the best choice for the moment. However, that does present a new challenge to our family. I have some ideas about what I might be able to do to provide for my family, but I have no idea what God has in mind for us. I also don't have any idea how soon any opportunities will start to yield an income. So we will look to the Lord, and remember that just because one Bible verse comes right after another it doesn't mean that only one moment passed in between. Our hearts remember our good friends who unexpectedly learned the provider for their family lost his job last July during their family vacation. We hope their story soon will be, "He lost his job last July, but now he works for..." It's profound to me that whenever they make that statement (we pray it will be soon) the hardship of the time between a new job and last July is contained in the text, ", but". Four characters and a space are all that describes everything between one job and the next.
Please join us as we look to the Lord to help us be righteous and faithful through this profound time of "comma but."
scott
An internet search for the meaning of "profound" will return results that refer to intense feeling, completeness, depth of insite, or difficulty with understanding complexity. So it seems a fitting word to use as I describe circumstances of these days. It also conveniently fits with the alliteration we used in the support letter we sent out:) If you haven't seen the support letter, I published it for you in the previous post.
So what's profound?
On Friday last week my brother and employer closed on the sale of his business to some of his employees. I was aware that would be happening, and on Monday (of this week) I went in to work and, as expected, all of us who had been employed by my brother's company heard that we were unemployed because that business was no more. We were then offered a job by the new company... For good reasons I didn't accept the job, and I believe I made the best choice for the moment. However, that does present a new challenge to our family. I have some ideas about what I might be able to do to provide for my family, but I have no idea what God has in mind for us. I also don't have any idea how soon any opportunities will start to yield an income. So we will look to the Lord, and remember that just because one Bible verse comes right after another it doesn't mean that only one moment passed in between. Our hearts remember our good friends who unexpectedly learned the provider for their family lost his job last July during their family vacation. We hope their story soon will be, "He lost his job last July, but now he works for..." It's profound to me that whenever they make that statement (we pray it will be soon) the hardship of the time between a new job and last July is contained in the text, ", but". Four characters and a space are all that describes everything between one job and the next.
Please join us as we look to the Lord to help us be righteous and faithful through this profound time of "comma but."
scott
Support Letter
If any of you are reading this blog without having received the letter we sent out requesting support, THANK YOU!
In case you're interested to know what we said in the letter, here it is (with a few small changes for the blog post.)
In case you're interested to know what we said in the letter, here it is (with a few small changes for the blog post.)
Dear Friend,
We’ve signed up to go to Zambia in August 2013! Yes, all six of us!
Wow. Why? Well...
Perspective. Have you ever noticed in yourself a ready tendency to feel like a victim? Do you find yourself feeling like you deserve better? Are your thoughts focused more regularly on having what you want then wanting what you have? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we can relate. We realize that our perspective, too often, doesn’t agree with God’s perspective. So we’ve decided to change our...
Position. What are your chances of winning the lottery? Other than a miracle, we have no chance because we don’t play. If we spent all our money on lottery tickets, we may not win but we’d have a better chance than we do now. Unfortunately, too often we treat God the same way. We want to see Him work powerfully in and through us, and change our lives, but we don’t put ourselves in positions where it’s likely to happen. Perhaps we’ll be in a better position for God to rock our world through...
Partnership. There are some people in the world who God is definitely using as instruments of grace in the lives of the needy. We believe that Benedict and Kathlene Schwartz (check out www.akcli-voh.org) and others in the Villages of Hope are some of those people. How might God change the perspective of one who is in a position of partnership with these people? We don’t know the specifics of the answer to that question, but we believe it will generally be life changing. So we’ve started saving our...
Pennies. Literally. It’ll cost approximately 2,100,000 pennies ($21,000 or 105,000,000 Zambian Kwacha). We can’t afford to go on our own, but we are trying to save what we can. It’s a family effort too. We’ve set up a “Zambia” jar and we add money to it regularly. From cutting the “fat” from our budget (even though it doesn’t feel fat, there’s that “perspective” thing again) to a child who convicts the rest of us by saying, “I guess I won’t buy that with my money. Instead I’ll put it in the ‘Zambia’ jar.” We are trying to pay our way. We’ll never be able to do it on our own. That’s why we need...
Prayer. We’ll be the first to confess that we don’t know how exactly God decides to do what He does. However, we are certain that God is able to make the impossible possible. We know if He wants, He can and will pay the bill. We also know from the Bible that He wants us to ask Him for help to accomplish those things that are important to Him. We believe the spiritual growth of our family and others that we interact with is important to Him. WILL YOU COMMIT TO PRAYING WITH US THAT GOD WILL DO SOMETHING BIG IN AND THROUGH US THROUGH THIS ADVENTURE? And maybe God has put it on your heart to spare some of your own...
Pennies so you too can join the
Partnership, and move yourself to a new
Position. Then perhaps God will mightily impact your
Perspective, even as we hope He mightily impacts ours.
May God richly bless you even as He blesses us through you,
The Ribbles
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
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P.S. Thank you Chris for the picture :) |
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Our 2nd born's perspective :)
I was just going through some paperwork and came across the letter that my 2nd born wrote as we were preparing to send out our support letter. I realized I never posted it, so thought I would take a minute now to do so. ~Erin
I want to go to Zambia because I think this vacation may be a life changer for not only me but for my family. I am ready for helping out. I am a little nervous to get my immunizations and the possibility of losing my passport while traveling.
I want to have my eyes opened and see that our every day music practicing and other things that we may not enjoy, the Zambian kids think of as a special treat. I think the point I'm getting at is that when I go to Zambia I want to realize that they are grateful for what they have.
~from child number 2
I want to go to Zambia because I think this vacation may be a life changer for not only me but for my family. I am ready for helping out. I am a little nervous to get my immunizations and the possibility of losing my passport while traveling.
I want to have my eyes opened and see that our every day music practicing and other things that we may not enjoy, the Zambian kids think of as a special treat. I think the point I'm getting at is that when I go to Zambia I want to realize that they are grateful for what they have.
~from child number 2
Monday, April 22, 2013
Brat Fry!
This coming Saturday (April 27) our Zambia team is going to be having a brat fry fundraiser. If you live in our area please consider stopping by and enjoy a brat or hamburger and support our team. We'd love to see you! We will be at the Neenah Pick 'N Save on Green Bay Rd from 11 - 5.
We continue to see God working in our lives as we prepare to travel to Zambia. Thank you for lifting our family up in prayer. Please pray that on Saturday we will be able to communicate clearly to the community who we are, what we are doing and why. And please pray that God might grant the fundraiser much success.
Thank you and God bless!
We continue to see God working in our lives as we prepare to travel to Zambia. Thank you for lifting our family up in prayer. Please pray that on Saturday we will be able to communicate clearly to the community who we are, what we are doing and why. And please pray that God might grant the fundraiser much success.
Thank you and God bless!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Without going into detail, I would like you to pray for a miracle.
I believe what God says in Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." I can't think of a another time in my life when the truth of that verse resounded so loudly as it does today. This next week looks like it will be a week of profound trouble and heartache, or powerful deliverance. I'm praying for powerful deliverance and rescue... a miracle. Please pray with us, God knows the details.
God is good all the time, and I agree with Matt Redman when he sings:
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Thanks for praying,
scott
I believe what God says in Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." I can't think of a another time in my life when the truth of that verse resounded so loudly as it does today. This next week looks like it will be a week of profound trouble and heartache, or powerful deliverance. I'm praying for powerful deliverance and rescue... a miracle. Please pray with us, God knows the details.
God is good all the time, and I agree with Matt Redman when he sings:
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Thanks for praying,
scott
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Financial Perspective continued...
Again, I want to remind you that we realize the amount of money we are needing to raise is a lot and we are not taking it lightly.
Scott will be using his vacation time for this trip. We are certain it is going to be used wisely, but will probably feel the sacrifice around holiday time. It's okay though. We are thankful for the time of vacation he has and will work something out around the holidays.
We are also asking our kids to not attend the Bible camp, this summer, that they have come to love. We decided that it would be better for us to use the money we would have to put towards camp towards the mission trip instead. It's good for us to feel the sacrifice and I very much appreciate the kids understanding. I don't think I've heard complaining yet.
We will continue to evaluate our budget to see how we might be able to save more for Zambia. It seems our budget is pretty tight, but it is amazing to watch God stretch our dollars and continue to reveal to us how big He is.
We realize that pennies are not going to be enough for us to get to Zambia. I am asking God to stretch our dollars. He did after all feed 5000 people with a few fish and some loaves of bread, so what's a few thousand dollars, right? I want you to know that we are humbled that you might consider supporting us financially and honored if you would spend these next 4 months lifting our family up in prayer.
Blessings ~ Erin
Scott will be using his vacation time for this trip. We are certain it is going to be used wisely, but will probably feel the sacrifice around holiday time. It's okay though. We are thankful for the time of vacation he has and will work something out around the holidays.
We are also asking our kids to not attend the Bible camp, this summer, that they have come to love. We decided that it would be better for us to use the money we would have to put towards camp towards the mission trip instead. It's good for us to feel the sacrifice and I very much appreciate the kids understanding. I don't think I've heard complaining yet.
We will continue to evaluate our budget to see how we might be able to save more for Zambia. It seems our budget is pretty tight, but it is amazing to watch God stretch our dollars and continue to reveal to us how big He is.
We realize that pennies are not going to be enough for us to get to Zambia. I am asking God to stretch our dollars. He did after all feed 5000 people with a few fish and some loaves of bread, so what's a few thousand dollars, right? I want you to know that we are humbled that you might consider supporting us financially and honored if you would spend these next 4 months lifting our family up in prayer.
Blessings ~ Erin
Monday, April 8, 2013
Perspective continued...
Financial Perspective:
Isn't it going to cost an incredible amount of money to take your whole family to Zambia? Yes, you are correct in asking that question. We will need to come up with $3500 per person. If you did your math right, there are 6 people in our family and we will need to have $21,000. How are we going to pay for this? Well, it is probably my biggest hang up of committing to this mission trip. We do not have the money. It is really quite humbling to ask people to support this trip, but it is what we think God is asking us to do. I will admit that I am excited to see what God is going to decide about this part of the trip. An associate pastor at our church said something very wise at our initial meeting about the Zambia trip. He was talking about being chosen to be on the team and all of the questions that we may have about it. And then he said, "Don't worry about anything. If God wants you to go on this mission trip, at this time, he will get you there." Isn't that amazing? God already knows if we are going to be in Zambia in August or not. So this is really an opportunity for our family to trust God. I hope he changes our perspective about money and that we will continue to grow in our faith as we realize we have more than enough if we know Jesus as our Savior. Money, no matter how much or little we have, means nothing in eternity.
We understand that this is an incredible amount of money to raise. We are not taking it lightly. We want to be wise stewards of the money God has given us. We are literally saving our pennies. Every time we enter a receipt into our budget we round up to the nearest dollar and put the pennies in our "Zambia jar". Our first born son has been leading us in making hard choices. Several times now, instead of buying that soda, sucker or bottled water that he wants, he'll decide not to buy it and instead puts his money in our Zambia jar... isn't that incredible? Already his perspective is changing and I love it! The rest of us are following his example and it is amazing how the pennies are adding up.
to be continued...
~Erin
Isn't it going to cost an incredible amount of money to take your whole family to Zambia? Yes, you are correct in asking that question. We will need to come up with $3500 per person. If you did your math right, there are 6 people in our family and we will need to have $21,000. How are we going to pay for this? Well, it is probably my biggest hang up of committing to this mission trip. We do not have the money. It is really quite humbling to ask people to support this trip, but it is what we think God is asking us to do. I will admit that I am excited to see what God is going to decide about this part of the trip. An associate pastor at our church said something very wise at our initial meeting about the Zambia trip. He was talking about being chosen to be on the team and all of the questions that we may have about it. And then he said, "Don't worry about anything. If God wants you to go on this mission trip, at this time, he will get you there." Isn't that amazing? God already knows if we are going to be in Zambia in August or not. So this is really an opportunity for our family to trust God. I hope he changes our perspective about money and that we will continue to grow in our faith as we realize we have more than enough if we know Jesus as our Savior. Money, no matter how much or little we have, means nothing in eternity.
We understand that this is an incredible amount of money to raise. We are not taking it lightly. We want to be wise stewards of the money God has given us. We are literally saving our pennies. Every time we enter a receipt into our budget we round up to the nearest dollar and put the pennies in our "Zambia jar". Our first born son has been leading us in making hard choices. Several times now, instead of buying that soda, sucker or bottled water that he wants, he'll decide not to buy it and instead puts his money in our Zambia jar... isn't that incredible? Already his perspective is changing and I love it! The rest of us are following his example and it is amazing how the pennies are adding up.
to be continued...
~Erin
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
...Continued from March 27
Perspective. It's the way one looks at something.
I would like to continue some thoughts I've had for some time now and that I wrote down as we were working on our support letter: Family Perspective
Why would we desire to take our whole family on a mission trip like this? Well, first of all, God laid it on our hearts. We cannot control how He works.
Second, we desire to shepherd our family to be Jesus' servants. A mission trip seems like one good way to learn about being servants. Not only will we have an opportunity to serve the children and staff at Villages of Hope, but we will be able to learn how to serve the team that we travel with as well.
Third, perspective. We live in a culture that does not allow one to sit back and have a right perspective with out putting in a lot of effort. We think that this mission trip will be an excellent way for our family to develop a different perspective than our American one gives to us. I have been praying that God might use this trip to change our hearts, inside to its very core, so that we might be able to think, choose and act more like Christ. Yes, we hope that God uses us to love on the children living in the Villages of Hope and serve whomever He puts into our paths. But we also hope that we will be permanently changed as an outcome of this mission trip.
to be continued...
~Erin
I would like to continue some thoughts I've had for some time now and that I wrote down as we were working on our support letter: Family Perspective
Why would we desire to take our whole family on a mission trip like this? Well, first of all, God laid it on our hearts. We cannot control how He works.
Second, we desire to shepherd our family to be Jesus' servants. A mission trip seems like one good way to learn about being servants. Not only will we have an opportunity to serve the children and staff at Villages of Hope, but we will be able to learn how to serve the team that we travel with as well.
Third, perspective. We live in a culture that does not allow one to sit back and have a right perspective with out putting in a lot of effort. We think that this mission trip will be an excellent way for our family to develop a different perspective than our American one gives to us. I have been praying that God might use this trip to change our hearts, inside to its very core, so that we might be able to think, choose and act more like Christ. Yes, we hope that God uses us to love on the children living in the Villages of Hope and serve whomever He puts into our paths. But we also hope that we will be permanently changed as an outcome of this mission trip.
to be continued...
~Erin
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Passports!
We received our passports in the mail today! We've been waiting for them for a month and we're excited to see them. It's the small things that can make our day, isn't it?
We had our pictures taken at Walgreens and were told that we were supposed to have a neutral face for the passport photo. It is hard to take a picture with a neutral face. (If you haven't tried to do this before you should try, just for fun.) Child number 4 had a very difficult time not smiling and looks a little goofy in his picture. When we were at the post office for the application process they informed us that we could have smiled. The postmaster said, "After all, traveling is usually fun and you will be smiling." Oh well, I guess. Hopefully Zambia doesn't question why we're in their country. Some of us look like we should be in jail! Hopefully, they'll not look closely at our pictures and just notice the smile on our faces as we enter their country.
We're now one step closer to our trip!
We had our pictures taken at Walgreens and were told that we were supposed to have a neutral face for the passport photo. It is hard to take a picture with a neutral face. (If you haven't tried to do this before you should try, just for fun.) Child number 4 had a very difficult time not smiling and looks a little goofy in his picture. When we were at the post office for the application process they informed us that we could have smiled. The postmaster said, "After all, traveling is usually fun and you will be smiling." Oh well, I guess. Hopefully Zambia doesn't question why we're in their country. Some of us look like we should be in jail! Hopefully, they'll not look closely at our pictures and just notice the smile on our faces as we enter their country.
We're now one step closer to our trip!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
I thought I'd take a few minutes tonight, to share a little bit, of my perspective on our trip to Zambia. I actually started writing these thoughts over a month ago as we were getting our support letter ready to be sent out. We realized that our letter could end up being really long if we each wrote about our perspective and that's when we decided maybe a blog was the way to go.
For some time now, Scott and I have felt a desire to be able to go on a missions trip with our family. I've never been on a mission trip before and I am not sure why God chose now to put this desire in our hearts. But I am really excited to see what God may have in store for not only me, but my family as well.
Our church family, CBC, has connected with and been supporting Villages of Hope in Zambia for 7 years now. Every time I hear about someone's experience there I think, "I really want to go there and experience that place." And I wonder if God will ever allow me to visit. It seems that this year may be the time God has chosen. Since last year, Scott and I have been considering the possibility of participating in this mission trip. Since the beginning of January we have been praying and asking God to make it clear to us if this timing is right for our family. We started saving our pennies, realizing that God is big enough to provide everything we might need for this trip. We decided to hand in our applications to go on the mission trip and were accepted onto the team. So, here we are looking at traveling to the Villages of Hope in about 6 months. I am excited and really nervous! And I am so thankful for this opportunity.
to be continued...
~Erin
For some time now, Scott and I have felt a desire to be able to go on a missions trip with our family. I've never been on a mission trip before and I am not sure why God chose now to put this desire in our hearts. But I am really excited to see what God may have in store for not only me, but my family as well.
Our church family, CBC, has connected with and been supporting Villages of Hope in Zambia for 7 years now. Every time I hear about someone's experience there I think, "I really want to go there and experience that place." And I wonder if God will ever allow me to visit. It seems that this year may be the time God has chosen. Since last year, Scott and I have been considering the possibility of participating in this mission trip. Since the beginning of January we have been praying and asking God to make it clear to us if this timing is right for our family. We started saving our pennies, realizing that God is big enough to provide everything we might need for this trip. We decided to hand in our applications to go on the mission trip and were accepted onto the team. So, here we are looking at traveling to the Villages of Hope in about 6 months. I am excited and really nervous! And I am so thankful for this opportunity.
to be continued...
~Erin
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Hello:)
Hello friends,
Guess what! I'm going to Zambia this summer. I am super excited about this opportunity. As I keep seeing pictures and hearing stories about other trips I can't believe we have to wait 6 months to go. When I think about Zambia I am mostly excited, but I am nervous about traveling half way across the world to an unknown country and culture. This trip is definitely going to be a fantastic experience. These kids I am going to visit have a lot less than me and are so thankful, but I struggle everyday with contentment and thankfulness. I think these kids will help me put into perspective just how blessed I am. While I'm in Zambia I hope to make some great friends and develop amazing relationships and I want to help the Villages of Hope in whatever way I can. Thank you so much for your prayer and support.
With love,
Lanz
Guess what! I'm going to Zambia this summer. I am super excited about this opportunity. As I keep seeing pictures and hearing stories about other trips I can't believe we have to wait 6 months to go. When I think about Zambia I am mostly excited, but I am nervous about traveling half way across the world to an unknown country and culture. This trip is definitely going to be a fantastic experience. These kids I am going to visit have a lot less than me and are so thankful, but I struggle everyday with contentment and thankfulness. I think these kids will help me put into perspective just how blessed I am. While I'm in Zambia I hope to make some great friends and develop amazing relationships and I want to help the Villages of Hope in whatever way I can. Thank you so much for your prayer and support.
With love,
Lanz
We spent some family assembly line time tonight packing letters to send out for support. We have about 50 finished and about 70 more to do. It was fun. We all had a job, and it felt like we were really getting it done fast. While we were working we listened to a music CD that was made by the kids in the Villages of Hope.
Scott
Scott
I want to go to Zambia because I want to play with the Zambia kids. Playing soccer, baseball, and jumprope sounds like fun. I want to eat their food (my mom thinks I might struggle with this.) I can't wait to get my passport! I'm taking my yellow guy (my favorite blanket that I sleep with) and I'm a little nervous that I might lose it. Thank you for considering helping us get to Zambia.
Number 4
Number 4
I want to go to Zambia because I want to see how different we are from other cultures. I think that if we look more closely at how much we really have we will notice that we have much more than them like all of our technology. And we can see how we can help them find the Lord in many different ways. I would also like to go to Zambia because it gives us time to spend time and relate with the kids there. I think that if we can just play with the kids and relate with them we will see how different and the same we are. Also we can teach them as well as they can teach us. I can say that I also want to go to Zambia because it will help me be content with what I have. I like to think about how we can be nice and kind to them we while we are there or mean and cruel to them while we are there. If we would think about how we can touch them with our lives the world would be a amazing place to live in. I hope that when you read this letter you will want to at least pray for me and my family.
Number 3
Number 3
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