Pray4Africa

In Case You Didn't Notice

In case you haven't noticed (or more importantly, in case you have) this blog is no longer being updated, and all of the posts are going to http://twoandtwomakesfive.blogs.com now. It was too much to try and maintain two blogs with separate original content, so you can find all of our news at the main blog.

I'm working on moving over some of the important information that was only on this site, but in the meantime, update your links and RSS feeds. If you're not sure what RSS is, go to the main blog and look on the right-hand side for the RSS or feed buttons. You can get the new posts automatically sent to your browser, email client, stand-alone RSS reader, or online RSS reader - that means you'll never miss a new post! You can also sign up for FeedBlitz, which sends new posts to your email account. Not sure what any of that means? Drop me an email and I'll try to help out.

So, to recap, don't look here for updates - look at http://twoandtwomakesfive.blogs.com.

Thanks!

Ummm... Sorry?

I've ignored this blog for the past few weeks of traveling - sorry about that. The good news is that I haven't completely ignored the other blog - just mostly ignored it. So anyway, we're in Austin and having a great time with friends old and new. And I flew an airplane over the Pacific Ocean and California on Monday. Those are facts that the other blog readers don't have yet. :)

Relaxing

Thanks for the prayers - we're relaxing and enjoying doing nothing much at all in Antwerp, which is a great city, by the way. Lots of chocolate and waffles - the way Belgium should be. See you on Tuesday, America.

Coming to America... the Long Way

We leave tonight (around 11:30 PM) to fly from Cape Town to Amsterdam. From there, we'll take the train to Antwerp, Belgium, where we'll be visiting for the next couple of days. We make it to Atlanta on the 21st.

All of our things (which isn't much) has been moved into the house, and everything is nearly finished inside - finished enough for our friends to stay there for the next two months. The kitchen sink and the bathtub are both leaking, but after that gets fixed today, there will be no more major work inside. Work will continue outside, but we won't get to see the end result for a while.

Finally, please keep praying for my family. My grandmother's funeral is this morning (American time, at least), in Clemson, South Carolina. She will be buried alongside my grandfather on a hill overlooking the Clemson football stadium, so she'll be watching her Tigers forever. Thanks for praying. See you soon.

Family News

Just heard that my maternal grandmother died this morning - she was 95 years old, never had any long illnesses or suffering, and passed away very quietly. Our family is so thankful for her life, her influence in our lives, and for the example of a loving generous Christian woman that she passed to each of us.

Thanks for joining us in praying for our family, including my mom and her brother.

80%

Today we got about 80% moved in to the house, which is about right, since the house is about 80% finished. :) Internet isn't working at our old flat for some reason, so I'm borrowing the Wi-Fi outside a local coffee shop. Completely knackered (I'm going to start using that word more) and ready to crash in our new house for the first time. Hopefully we'll get back online before leaving on Wednesday night. Keep praying that these last few busy days go smoothly. There is enough work to keep us busy for weeks and we have four days...

Busy!

It's been a while since I blogged... we've been busy!

• Amy is finishing up her ministry in Red Hill and Muizenberg until we return.
• Our intern Patrice and I are finishing up our ministry with the sewing/business classes.
• We're both working hard to get our work in Sudan and Zimbabwe organized to continue well in our absence.
• The house is pushing along with all of the final details and we're moving tomorrow.
• Oh yeah, we're making all the preparations that need to be made to leave for two months!

Please remember all of these items as you pray, and hopefully we'll see you soon!

Home, Sick, Anniversary

1. I'm home. For a little while. That's nice. I've only been home for five (5!) days in the past month, so it is very nice to be home. Even if Cape Town is cold and rainy. It is nice to be home.

2. I'm sick. For the past three weeks or so, I've had the feeling that I was going to get sick by the next morning. Yesterday (or maybe the day before) I finally got sick. I picked up some excitingly powerful cough medicine over the counter in Nairobi yesterday and this afternoon I'm going to the doctor in Cape Town where I hope to get some antibiotics. I get sick every winter. Apparently, the streak will continue.

3. I'm nine years into being married. Today is our anniversary, and I'm celebrating by getting high on codeine (not really... just in case you were worried), going to the doctor, and doing laundry. If I'm feeling better, we'll go out to eat tonight and postpone our "day out" celebration until Saturday. The good news is that I love my wife more today than ever before!

Happy Birthday, Daniel

It isn't Daniel's birthday, but today was his birthday party in Nairobi. Daniel is my nephew, and we're having fun hanging out in Kenya with my brother and his family. We'll be around until midday on Tuesday when we head back to South Africa. I'll catch up more then with the news and emails and blogging... until then, keep praying for our trip and for Moses as he is now in Sudan among some of our partner pastors who have recently returned.

On the road again... actually I'm in the sky again

Thanks for your prayers while I was in Kampala. Moses and I had a great time together dreaming and planning for the future of ServLife in Sudan.

We're moving the Adjumani (Uganda) ServLife Christian Leaders' Library to Nimule, Sudan, because most of the pastors from the refugee camps are moving on to Sudan to prepare for the repatriation of their communities.

We're helping pastors come together and cooperate by providing another pair of oxen and a plow that they can share to help cultivate their fields, grow crops for their families, and spend more time working for their churches.

We're planning to help the widows in ServLife's womens groups in refugee camps and inside Sudan by getting them training in goat breeding, catering, and making crafts. Already they are raising goats and decorating traditional Sudanese linens. With more training, they will become more skilled, earn more income, and be able to teach the women in Sudan when they return home.

We're revisiting the orphaned children that you have sponsored in refugee camps and providing new shoes and school supplies for the second half of the year and helping their caregivers start saving for next year's school fees.

We're helping refugee pastors relocate their families back to South Sudan ahead of UN repatriation so that they can re-establish churches and build their homes and be ready to help when the rest of their communities arrive home.

And that is just what will happen in the next several months. Beyond that, we have more dreams that we want to share with you in the future...

So today I'm off to Nairobi. I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging from there, but we'll be back home in Cape Town by next Wednesday.