Time Back

In South Africa if you work overtime you get time back and most people use that time here and there. Mike and I took some time back over the last week in the form of a holiday. It was a very blessed time for us and we have been rejuvenated and are ready to finish off the rest of the year. Monday was our first day back to Living Hope and we have been non-stop since then. Monday evening we had an incredible light show behind our flats. The fire department burns mountains around the area to keep fires down during fire season so the area behind our flat was the target area. It went on for about 6 hrs. The point where the flames were so intense was unbelievable. It was like a tornado the fire was spinning and the winds seemed like they were about 40 mph. All the neighbors were out back watching the firefighters working hard to keep it controlled. We found out a little later that the fire was actually out of control for a short period of time right behind our place. One of the ladies didn’t see Mike and she said is Mike inside praying because it was a miracle that the fire didn’t shoot across to one of the houses on the hill. I told her he was watching the fire from upstairs but he had prayed previously for our safety. It is good to know that our neighbors see us as praying individuals

Date night with Hillary Clinton

Yes we did spend time with Hillary Clinton on our date night, but it was for a very short period of time. Here is how it all went down. Mike and I were headed to our favorite little restaurant that we like to go to at the V & A Waterfront Mall for date night. Living Hope/Living Way were invited to bring items to sell, Khumi’s bags and Vusi’s candles, in the 2 hotels where Secretary Clinton and the media were staying. Pat Ball, one of the American Volunteers at Living Hope was asked to man the table. She called us before we left home and asked us to bring some Living Hope brochures to the hotel. By the time we got there Mrs. Clinton had already walked through and said hello. We figured we had missed our chance and went on about our day. After dinner we thought we will walk back to the hotel and see if any of the bags or candles had sold. They hadn’t had a lot of business, but after a few minutes someone came in quickly and said here she comes, here she comes! So yes she came into the little vending room and the room got very quiet. It was really difficult for her to shop because we were all just staring at her not knowing what to say. Hillary began to ask questions about particular items and I spoke into Pat’s ear and suggested that when she gets around to us start telling her about Khumi’s bags and Living Hope. Mrs. Clinton took one of the rugs and started moving toward us. Pat moved in for the kill and when it was all said and done she had bought one of Khumi’s bags. When Pat mentioned Living Hope, Hillary said, “wow you guys are all around” Pat said, “Praise the Lord”, Hillary said, “Praise the Lord”. We had a fun time and left them shortly after and headed home.

Toyi Toyi

No, this isn’t something we give to the children here in South Africa. This is the local word for a public demonstration or protest. Last week, we witnessed our 2nd uprising in the last couple of months. There are issues going on in the community of Masiphumele where the government is promising to build concrete houses to the people who have land if they will tear down the shacks on the property. They want to put in 1 house for one family, but the way it is right now there are 6 or 7 shacks with 4 to 6 people in each one. When it is all said and done it would leave about 10,000 people without a place to live. Most of the people that live here are not from here but see this as a place of opportunity. They are coming here from other places in South Africa and other countries in Africa. This is causing much controversy and strife amongst the people. We found out this past Monday that John Thomas has been asked to be the interim chairman of a group to work out a compromise for all the people involved. As he puts it, there is no solution right now. They are building some flats (apartments) that were donated by an organization from England. It has forced some of the people off of this property but promised them they would get first dibs at the flats. These people are upset about this because they have to pay rent for these places. They are being asked to pay R30 per month (about $5.00 dollars a month) and they normally don’t pay rent because they get income from the people living on their properties and paying rent to them. This “thinking” is way over our heads of understanding!!!! We work across the street from all of this and know when things are getting out of hand. As volunteers we are all advised to stay clear when they are demonstrating. Please pray for resolutions to these issues. We, as humans, may not be able to understand all that is going on but God has a plan and we have to trust Him for it.

Christmas in July

Yes, we celebrated Christmas Eve last night with all of the volunteers. My apologies for not blogging sooner, but it has felt like December in Nashville with all of the running around and hustle and bustle of the holidays. We played white elephant gift giving and had all the eats that one would have for the evening, including a year round Christmas tree at Pat’s place. July has been crazy!! The children have been out of school for three weeks and the teams and individual volunteers get involved to try and keep the kids off the streets. They spent about 4 hours each day playing games, feeding them, loving on them and sharing the gospel in their own kind of way through drama. Then the last week we brought in a new ministry called Upward Sports. It is a very big program in the states and we kicked it off here last week. It lasted only a couple of hours each day which left Mike and me to figure out what activities we could do with the volunteers for the remainder of the time. We had some afternoon work projects where we worked at Living Way and then the last day we cleaned up the inside of the Masi Baptist Church and rehung all their curtains. We had someone come in and clean the carpet but unfortunately that will be an ongoing problem. They have lots of sand around and no way to get rid of it. We have had as many as 4 teams here at one time and that means lots of hello’s and goodbyes and how’s it going and are you happy with what you are doing with your team? Then we have had some emotional college age individuals that want freedom from authority yet want someone to come and check on them so they are not forgotten We are grateful for all God has given us to do here but we are ready for a little R&R in mid August. We are planning a little get away so we can unwind and get ready for the next whirlwind of volunteers. Speaking of Christmas it is right around the corner and we will be making plans soon to be coming back early December. Please pray for us for the coming year as we know God has someone in mind to take over as Volunteer Coordinators but we haven’t heard from them yet.

Who am I to Judge?

I opened up my computer this afternoon to find another shocking story of a person who has died long before he should have. Steve McNair seemed so much closer to home than Michael Jackson or Farrah Fawcett, because of his ties to the Tennessee Titans. I am saddened of the loss but it reminds me of how important it is to live my life in obedience to what God would want me to do. As I look back over the last couple of weeks at the people we have lost, I am reminded of the lives these folks have lead and it seems that no one has a testimony of a relationship with Jesus Christ and where they might be now. I believe it is so critical to know what you believe so that if your life should end so abruptly that you are at total peace with where your soul will be. Michael Jackson was not at peace with himself and Steve McNair was a married man. I believe God can take our lives at any moment and it is in my best interest to trust that the Bible is right, that Jesus is the only way to have eternal life in heaven(John 14:6). I choose not to take my chances, miss the boat and live in eternal hell. I don’t want to be critical or judgmental about these folks but their public lives did not lead me to believe they were people of God. I hope that when I die that people will say she was a person who was faithful and lived for the purpose to serve “An Awesome God.” When I am in heaven I hope to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt 25:21)

UPS and DOWNS

We have had a lot going on this week and I will do my best to give the short versions. Tuesday was a public holiday, youth day, but we had a team here and the Life Skill Educators wanted to hold hygiene day for the kids. They taught them how to cut their finger nails and toe nails and also how to wash their hands and feet. I was privileged to be asked to teach them oral hygiene instructions. I have also been blessed to have met a Colgate Rep. here that is supplying me with toothbrushes and toothpaste for the kids. We saw about 60 kids that morning.
Wednesday night was our Bible study and while we were waiting for everyone to come we heard screaming from over the wall. Mike and Tafadswa ran out of the gate only to find it was 2 of our girls that had been robbed. Fortunately, they didn’t have their phones on them and one of the girls had put her money in her mouth so they didn’t steal anything. They realized that Blessing wasn’t screaming and started trying to figure out what was in her mouth, about that time the other guys came around the corner and they took off over the wall. We spent most of our evening praying for peace and protection for them. Thank the Lord no one was injured.
Friday was another eventful day in one of our communities. Living Hope had an open day, which people can come to our facilities for free testing of HIV, diabetes, blood pressure, and to learn about the love of Jesus. For those that were tested we gave them food and an opportunity to spin a wheel for a prize. It is difficult to say how many people were seen because of the stigma associated with being tested. We do know most of them go to different communities to be tested for HIV so that the people in their community won’t know their status by their attitudes when they leave the site. Also in the same community of Masiphumelele, Living Hope paid to have a zinc building erected for the kids club about 4 weeks ago and the corrupt counsel of that area didn’t like it being on the property and ordered it to be taken down. The community of ladies was on our side and they were yelling at the counsel telling them to leave the building that the children needed Living Hope’s presence. Unfortunately, the end result after 4 hours of trying to negotiate resulted in having to take it down. There is much needed prayer for this community.
We had another grandson born last night his name is Landon Ross Talley. 45 minutes after Karen had him, Jordan had his computer set up at the hospital so we were able to see him on our computer here. Jordan had also sent a camera to us via Cooper, so everyone was able to see us too. Technology is wonderful. Thanks for your prayers and support!!

Great visit with Cooper

The last 2 weeks have been spent with Mike’s youngest son, Cooper. He graduated from high school on a Friday night, boarded a plane for Cape Town on Saturday, and arrived late Sunday evening. Mike and I made a promise to ourselves that we would try to spend as much time with him doing what tourists do but that we were also at our busiest time with volunteers. It has been an awesome couple of weeks he has seen all of the tourist attractions, including shark cage diving, and seen one of the most beautiful places in the world. Cooper has also been able to see all that we do and it has given him an understanding of our “call” to be here. I pray he will be able to convey this to his siblings. He has had the opportunity to work in the communities in kids club; he helped our maintenance guy by hanging a door and fixing a generator and lots of other small jobs. (This was right up his alley) Lastly, he had the opportunity to hang with the 11 volunteers on several different occasions. It has been quite the experience for him to be able to be with people from all round the world that were here because this was where God called them to be and the bonus was they are all close in age. Today is our last day and we are taking him, along with all the volunteers, to a Rugby game. It has been great for Mike and I know it has been great for Cooper too. As soon as Cooper arrives back in the states, he will embark on the next season of his life. He will be heading to Nashville to Diesel Mechanic School. We are very proud of him and pray this transition will be easy for him. Mike’s sister is going to let him live with them so he won’t have to get an apartment. That is a huge blessing from God!! Please pray for traveling mercies for him, the transition of leaving his family and friends(girlfriend), and for his mind to be focused on school.

The Ups and Downs of the Week

This week has been filled with ups and downs and we have been grateful that none of these things are left up to us, but to the Lord to handle. I have been battling with planters fasciitis for at least a year and I finally got some relief. I kept thinking it would get better on its own, but I finally saw a doctor a couple of weeks ago for a cortisone shot in my heal to help with the inflammation of the ligament. It helped about 97%, but I went back last Friday for another one to take care of the other 3%. It worked!!! The only issue left was that I had changed the way I walked for so long that my knee was messed up. After lots of prayer and retraining my walk, these last few days have been great. Praise God for needles!!
We have asked for prayer for our friend Khumi because she has been so sick the last couple of months. We found out she had gone off of her medications and developed lots of other problems. It is too soon to ask her why, but if she had not agreed to Mike forcing her to go back to the Healthcare Centre on Tuesday she could have died. She lives in a tin shack with cold damp floors and air that comes through like she has a window open all the time. She has lost close to 50lbs and can’t eat anything. She was diagnosed with Tuberculosis of the stomach. I spent some time with her on Friday and she is doing much better. Please continue to pray for her!
We have 2 teams here this week working in the communities and spreading the love of Jesus. One through a Sports Ministry and the other is helping out at Living Way and the Children’s afternoon kids clubs. The sports ministry has a net ball game planned for this afternoon against some of friends who are in our Bible Study. This should be an exciting afternoon. The Zimbabwe girls invited us to come on Wednesday night, so we will have a tough time deciding who to pull for!
Unfortunately, for our individual volunteers it has not been such a great week. One of the guys got mugged, at knife point, walking home for lunch. Mike and I had not agreed with them wanting to walk but they insisted it would be ok. We have been suggesting that they move to a new location because it just is too close to the township that we work in. Yesterday we got everyone moved and they are much happier. This goes back to young people who come with their own ideas and agenda’s then get taught hard lessons by God. We had another issue with a new volunteer whose expectations were way over the top. She was ready to get on a plane and go home but Mike and I spent about 1 ½ hrs talking to her yesterday to suggest to her to allow God to work in her life to see what He might be up to. She called us last night apologizing and telling us she would give it another try next week.
Ending a positive note, we went to the grocery store yesterday and one of our local volunteers, who started at the Healthcare Centre yesterday, had a wonderful experience and was so encouraged and excited to see how God had used her nursing abilities to take care of the ladies. We never know how people will respond in tough situations and we just seek the Lord’s guidance for each one and are grateful for His hand on their lives.

The Calm before the Storm

Last week was supposed to be a time for us to prepare ourselves for the next 7 months of Volunteers. Unfortunately, time to prepare rarely happens around here. There is so much to do and things just creep in on us. This past week, we finished our entrepreneur training at Living Way. We now have to mentor these folks to help them write their business plans etc. so they can get capital to start their businesses. Next week starts the “storm.” We will have two teams here at the same time involving 33 people arriving on Monday evening. We also have an individual volunteer arriving with them. They are all from the Nashville area, so we are excited to hear some good southern slang. One group is a sports ministry and the other is an Academic Study Abroad group. This will keep us very busy for the next 13 days. From this time forward we have 25 teams coming to do volunteer work and 26 individuals that will be here anywhere from 30 days to a year. We are excited to have them come but it can be tricky in getting everyone organized where they feel the most useful in the ministry. Please pray with us as we seek to place each one where they are the best fit. Also, pray for them to be content. We have a lot of college age students that are quite set in their ways and we know God wants them to be obedient and content in whatever job they are doing. This can be difficult when you have 3 or 16 people here at the same time all doing different duties thinking they have it tough and want to do something different. This was one of the main reasons we had to keep their stay to a minimum of 30 days. It usually takes 2 weeks for them to adjust.
I hope the “storm” isn’t like the storms that rolled through here last night. We had wind gusts up to 35 miles an hour and about 6am this morning we heard this crash of glass, and of course our first thought someone has broken in, but after we got ourselves awake we realized it came from next door. We proceeded to put on our rain gear and check it out. Turned out our neighbor had left his window open and the wind blew the window off. We are expecting more rain today, so this has turned out be a good day to stay indoors get prayed up (this is a joke of course we stay prayed up) and catch up on work. We are beginning to get into winter here but it is usually rain with wind instead of freezing and snow. It is quite different from Tennessee. Thanks for your prayers and support because we couldn’t do this without you!

Where did the last 2 weeks go?

We have begun another entrepreneur class with 5 people attending not as many as we would have liked but the percent of entrepreneurs here is about 3%. There are a lot of people that think they want to be their own boss, but they soon realize they don’t like all the hard work that goes along with it. We will have 3 more days next week and that will complete the class.
We also had to take our car in for service, which seems like a monthly event lately, and they were going to charge us R6000.00 to fix it. Mike asked the guy is there any way this can be fixed without having to order a whole new shifter and the mechanic said “no”. Well we sometimes don’t like to take no for an answer, so we prayed about where we could take the car and we have a friend that recommended someone. We called him, took the car over to his house and he fixed it in a couple of hours for R400.00. We obviously won’t be taking our car back to the dealership for service as we realized last month we probably got ripped off for R4900.00. It always pays to have a second opinion but being in another part of the world you have to be careful.
We completed our 1st home cell group (Bible Study) course last week and had a celebration dinner for everyone last night. Mike made homemade potato soup and I made the main course, heavenly hamburger. We set everything out and had bread and soup for starter, then salad and casserole for main course and doughnuts for pudding (dessert). They were all talking in Shona, their native language, and we could tell they were talking about the food. Mike said to them, hey, we have an agreement that you all are going to speak English so we can understand what you are saying, so they told us what they were saying. One of the guys said, “I have never had this much food in one meal. I might get some bread in the morning and a small dish for lunch and then something small for dinner, but never have I had this much at one time! He then proceeded to ask, is eating this much a sin? We explained the difference and told him he was ok to be able to eat all of his meal at once. They loved every bit of it. We have really been blessed to be able to give them food and provide a meal for 13 of them. Thank you for supporting us so that we can give to others!
I completed my last presentation for the Life Skill Educators today in Ocean view and it is such a delight to be able to teach them the proper ways of brushing and flossing so they can teach the children that they reach each week. Next week is hygiene week for them and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Please pray for me to be able to secure some products from the Colgate representative so we will have items that we can give to the very poor and needy folks in the communities.

ANSWER TO PRAYER

We thank you all who have prayed with us and we praise the Lord for an answer to our prayers for Pam’s parents. Pam has been on “stand-by” for the last couple of months because it seemed like her parents would not be able to continue to live independently. Pam’s cousin, Anne, has been an absolute lifesaver, handling all the daily details that normally fall to the children. Being in South Africa, it was almost impossible for Pam to be there. Pam’s brother, Mike, even with the hectic traveling schedule of a commercial airline pilot, made numerous trips to handle issues and search for solutions. Anne, however, has gone far above and beyond the call of duty. At any rate, both Mike (Pam’s brother) and Pam have been waiting for the call that they would have to go home and make very difficult decisions.
We have prayed and have asked you, many times, to remember this situation in prayer. We have prayed for a miracle that the Lord would enable them to have the capacity to continue to live in their home and avoid the move to assisted-type living for as long as possible. This situation would be much easier to navigate after we have moved back to the US, so we have struggled with all the decisions and implications.
Most of us face many decisions like this in life, and we pray for wisdom and even relief, but the Lord is Faithful. So faithful, in fact, that He usually does not respond the way we want, and that’s usually the good news. This situation is not different, but we praise the Lord for the best possible resolution.
We were touch-and-go for about 30 days, trying to decide if and when Pam should return home to help handle various details. Then, the phone call we had waited for came, Pam would leave in just a few days to meet her brother in Cedartown. The situation had deteriorated, and it appeared Pam’s mother would not be able to care for her dad at home any longer. We had been praying for her mom to regain the stability in her memory and stamina, but her dad had gotten worse, so there did not appear to be any other options. We just did not know how the Lord was working.
When Pam’s mom realized that Mike and Pam were on their way, she was blessed by the Lord with an all new sense of independence and determination to give her very all. Her progress on memory, stamina, and appetite has been amazing and nothing short of a miracle. What looked like some very difficult decisions for her parents and a 30-day trip home for Pam, was not what it appeared. What looked like a bad situation from our perspective, the Lord turned into a blessing for all.
We know God answered prayer, and He is continuing to do so as things continue to improve. Please continue to inquire of the Lord with us for them to be able to remain independent for as long as He has planned, and for Him to use this and every situation to draw men to Him. Thank you for your partnership with us.

“Son”rise Service on the Beach and the rest of the week

What a beautiful morning our Father created on Easter Sunday! I wanted to share a couple of photos and just express my gratitude to the Lord for such a glorious day. The service began at 6:30 am and the sun arose about 7:10. We then went back home got in a quick 30 minute brisk walk and got ready for church at King of Kings. The rest of the day we spent just hanging out and enjoying the day.
We had a great evening with our Bible Study on Wednesday. The time spent last Wednesday talking about forgiveness really paid off for one of the guys. I asked Mike to ask them if anyone had a testimony to share. One of the guys that asked for prayer for forgiveness spoke up and shared a situation that happened to him over the weekend. We shouldn’t be amazed when we hear stories of how God works, but it was truly an answer to prayer for him. Another stepping stone is that almost everyone is memorizing scripture or asking for prayer to help them. Only one person out of all of them had ever memorized scripture before and it is great to see them building up confidence in themselves. Finally, as we finish up each week, we ask everyone for prayer requests. One guy asked to receive Jesus as his Saviour and Mike walked him through the sinner’s prayer. Of all the things we are doing in this place, this is the most important reason of all. We praise God for what He is doing in the lives of friends from Zimbabwe.
We have been praying for a miracle for my mom and it looks like we may have had a small break through. It is too soon to say definitely, but Thursday night I was preparing to get on a plane this weekend and fly back to the states. On Friday morning, my mom seemed to be doing better. I spoke with my brother and my cousin and they both said wait! I feel like this is part of that “test” where God says, “Be still and wait on me”. I covet your prayers and ask you to continue praying. The new medication regime may finally be kicking in.
Finally, Saturday evening we had all the volunteers over for Mexican night! Not only did we have the tortillas, guacamole, rice, Pico de Gallo, chicken, sour cream, cheese and refried beans, but we played Mexican Train Domino’s! A good time was had by all.

Baby Steps with our Bible Study

We had an awesome night in our Bible study! A couple of days ago I had suggested to Mike that we spend some time on forgiveness in our work book. I knew there was some unforgiveness and because we were studying it this week, it made perfect sense. Mike, being led by the Spirit, really opened up their eyes to what Jesus said about forgiveness. Matthew 5:23-24 talks about if you have an issue with someone you must be reconciled with your brother before you can go to the altar. Matthew 6:14-15 says, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Mike went through a scenario with them asking them if a certain situation happened to them would they forgive and 4 of them said “No!” but after we had both shared short testimonies and lots of scriptures in the Bible they changed their minds. When we went around asking for prayer requests 3 of them stated they needed to forgive someone and wanted everyone to pray for them to be able to do this! We have also been encouraging them to memorize scripture and to do their homework. The first couple of weeks we struggled to get them to do this, then Mike came up with an idea to buy some food, because they are sooooo hungry, and reward them for good behavior. They have started doing their homework and memorizing scripture, resulting in confidence and growth. It is wonderful to see them taking these baby steps and becoming better disciples.

Praying for a miracle

Well, all I can say is we are praying for a miracle. My father has had Alzheimer’s for a couple of years, and my mom has been his only caregiver during this time. It has been very difficult on her, but it has also kept her sharper because she has had to be so responsible. Unfortunately, the last few weeks my mom has gone through some major changes in her medications and she has taken a turn for the worse. She has developed a lot of the same symptoms as my dad and my cousin and nephew are becoming overworked by all their needs. My cousin suggested I come back for a month to either spend time with my mom while she still knew me or to help come up with a plan for them. This has been a heavy burden on me and I am really seeking the Lord for wisdom and guidance. My prayer is obviously for her to get better so they can remain in their home but also for her spiritually to trust God for her needs and to ask Him to help her. He is ultimately the one in control and if it is His will she will recover. Mark 11:24 says, “All the things you pray and ask for, believe you have received them and you will have them.” If things do not improve I am going to have to fly back to the states and meet with my brother and figure out the next steps. I know God has a plan and he says in His Word “That he will not leave me or forsake me,” so I am trusting Him that He will show me the way. Please join me in praying for a miracle!

Balance

I know in the game of life we are supposed to have that perfect balance between work, family, and recreation. For most people, it is never a complete circle it usually looks like a broken wheel. In one of the Grassroots classes we took, we had to place a dot on a line in each category on the wheel and then draw the circle connecting the dots. Needless to say it looked worse than a broken wheel. There is a line in a movie that said, “All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.” We have really been struggling with feeling like we have to work 24/7 because there is so much need, but it has finally caught up with us. We have an every Wednesday night Bible study that is going great and we have a set date every Monday with some friends to get together. Today Mike and I hiked about 5 miles around a mountain top and looked down on the beach and the community that we live and work in. It is so breathtaking. These are the moments when we just want to Thank You God for allowing us to work here. We have the beauty mixed in with the poverty. The last few Sundays we would come home after church and work and then our evenings would be filled with answering e-mails etc. for volunteers. We have some decisions we have to make about how much we are trying to take on and we ask you to pray for us to make the right ones. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by telling them we can’t take on anymore work load, but the reality of it is we can’t do it. The volunteer teams have increased again for this year we had 19 teams last year and we have 31 teams committed to coming this year. We also have 39 long and short term vols planned for this year and it is only April. To top it all off my parents are not doing well and this puts a lot of stress on family. Please pray that the medication that they have switched my mom to will help her with her early to moderate stages of Alzheimer’s. My dad is already under 24 hour care with my mom so if she progresses, it will force us to have to make even tougher decisions. Thanks for your prayers and support we feel them here.

Days Gone By

As I realize how long it has been I am amazed at how quickly the days have gone by. Last year Avril asked me if I would give an oral hygiene presentation to all of our prevention staff and it finally came to fruition over the last couple of Friday’s. I spent a lot of time writing the presentation on Power Point and it was awesome the way God hooked me up with a local hygienist to help me get the brushes, toothpaste etc. to give to them. I was very much in my element doing this even though I had never done a presentation like this before. They were excited to learn so much about their dental health and didn’t realize how much the health of their teeth and gums related to the rest of the body.
We have also been working diligently at getting the new website up for Living Hope. We have had a volunteer here for a week helping us to set it up and put it together. She is going to maintain the site for us back in the States and this is such a huge answer to prayer. We also had another volunteer that came in to serve wherever she was needed and it turned out she works for World Vision and has worked with streamlining over 30,000 volunteers. Needless to say we have asked her to help us put together the volunteer portion of the website to take it to the next level. The website is www.livinghope.co.za
We have to consider some tough decisions with my parents so please pray for us. Pray for wisdom and guidance. My mom had to get off the medication that she was taking for memory and within a matter of days she has digressed quickly. My Father already has Alzheimer’s and needs my mom to take care of him. Financially there are some big issues at hand. My strength comes from the Lord and I know that in His timing he will give me the direction I need.

God usually knows how to get our attention

Sometimes we don’t understand why God allows things to happen in our lives, but looking back on situations we generally get the picture that He was looking out for our best interest. As I watched the Dow Jones Industrial trickle down like a time bomb today, I can’t help but wonder what God is up to? There are so many elderly people including my parents and mother in law who are losing so much in the stock market and they are asking should we pull out before it hits rock bottom. Most investors and people our age say, “You can’t pull out now there would be no way you could ever get back what you lost.” The truth of the matter is it was never ours to begin with. It is all God’s! His desire is for us to be good stewards of what money he has entrusted to us for the short time we are on this earth. I learned this lesson about 2 ½ years ago that God will use whatever controls us the most to turn us back to him. We have friends and family who are losing their jobs, homes and everything they have invested in the stock market. God is trying to get our attention!! We must turn back to Him and ask for help in time of need. This is what He is up to! Most of us think we can make it in our own power but the reality is we can do nothing without a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. America is serving money and I believe God is taking drastic measures to turn our eyes back on Him. He will allow the United States to fall to its knees and ask for forgiveness so that His ways are made known to all. He will use people, including people like President Bush and Obama, to get the attention of His People. Mike and I learned through the Crown Financial Bible Study that we did about 4 years ago, that there are over 2350 verses in the Bible about money or possessions and the only thing talked about more is love. Jesus knew that there would be many issues over money and that is why we must look to the word of God for instructions on living a life the way God would have us live. He promises us in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” I am so passionate about this time in our lives and I pray that God will use this to draw His people back. If you are one of the many that are struggling in these tough times, may you turn your eyes upon Jesus! God disciplines us for our good. Matthew 6:25-34 gives the best advice. Do not worry about tomorrow.

We have answered the call to starting a small group with a group of people from Zimbabwe.

After much prayer, and the decision to get started, we finally answered the call to starting a Bible study with the Zim group. Wednesday night was our first meeting and we had 12 people show up, 9 men and 3 women. We talked about the guidelines and the expectations and asked them how many more might join us next week. They said maybe 3 or 4 more. The truth of it is it could be a lot more than that. We asked them if we should close the class once we get started and one of the guys said, “No, God’s house should be open to everyone.” We must be prepared to take on that challenge. We have a small building on the Living Way campus that we have named our Chapel and intend to use it every Wednesday at 11:00 for prayer and service and in the evenings for our Bible Study. It will hold about 50 people but we don’t have that many chairs yet! Our first study will be from a book that we got from Brentwood Baptist titled, The Call to Follow Christ.” It will give them something tangible to work from and it guides them through an everyday commitment to memorizing scripture and praying. We also asked them how many didn’t have Bibles and 4 people raised their hands. We have the awesome opportunity to give 4 gifts of Bibles next week. I also praised them for having 9 men to show up for the group. I told them it is the men who are to be the leaders for their families and they were setting a good example. They were encouraged. Please join us in praying for this group of people only one out of the 12 has some sort of steady work and she only has 3 days. The rest are desperate to have jobs. They moved here from Zimbabwe to get away from the horrible conditions but there just isn’t enough work to go around. We hope they will go through our training classes at Living Way to give them a head start into the work place.

A Visit from President Bush’s Press Secretary

We have been told for about 8mths that Dana Perino, President Bush’s Press Secretary and Assistant, would be visiting us here at Living Hope to see all the things we have going on and to write an article for one of the major magazines. Well Saturday evening during our Valentine’s dinner, John Thomas calls us to say, “Dana and her husband Peter will be arriving on Sunday evening could you please make a plan for them for the next 2 weeks and give them the VIP tour on Monday.” Well first off everyone gets the VIP tour when Mike does it, but we told him we would do it. It turned out to be a tour for 9 people. They specifically wanted to come and visit as “Dana and Peter” and didn’t want to be considered as anything more than that! It always amazes me when I see people on TV, I think wow, they have it all together or wow, I could never be like that person. The truth of it is we all can be anything we want to be if we set our heart and mind to it and seek the Lord for His wisdom and guidance. Dana told us a story about how she got to where she is now. Starting at the age of 8, her Dad made her read 2 political articles in the newspaper every day after she got home from school. When he arrived home from work and they all sat down for dinner, she would tell him the 2 articles that she read and this would be their topic of conversation around the dinner table. Now to me that sounds “boring” but for her it helped to put her in the White House. They have had a great time so far and plan to stay for 2 weeks total. We have many opportunities to spend time with them during the work day at Living Hope but they invited us to go out to dinner tonight and we are looking forward to it!

Living Way Campus is coming alive

A lot of us have worked like crazy to get the campus to a place that is presentable for our community open house in a couple of weeks. Richard, the general manager, and John Thomas the visionary, have been in the states fundraising for us like crazy. We had a college team here from Delaware that spent lots of hours moving everything imaginable and cleaning about 6mths worth of neglect. We have had 10 locals’ to work alongside of us for the last couple of weeks and it has been great being able to pay them when most of the time they are sitting along the side of the road looking for work or at home in their shacks because there aren’t enough jobs available. Unfortunately all that must come to an end. We have shot our “wad” as they say in the states. We want to ask you to pray with us to find the provisions needed to keep up the site and the right people for the jobs. We need to be able to have a couple of people full time to keep the grounds maintained and a cleaning person so that we don’t have to go back in a few months and start all over. Maintenance is so much easier!! We have a couple of individual volunteers one from Georgia and one from the UK. Jeremy, from Dalton Ga., has felt called to be the site manager for the time he is here that is a big help to us right now. They have been awesome in working with us to be mentors to these guys and girls and sharing the love of Christ through prayer and just spending time working with them. I am always amazed at how God provides for all of our needs and I have faith that He will do so once again. Thanks for your prayers and support.
I added a photo of our computer classroom because I found it so amazing that the colors already painted in the room were the Living Way colors. God has team spirit! That was one room we didn’t have to paint inside!!