Worship with the Local Church - Day 6

Ephesians 4:1-6 (New International Version)

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

• Pray for the afternoon training with the Camaroon Christians.
• Pray that the Lord's presence be in all the details.

UPDATE FROM AFRICA

[telatype] dit, dit, dit....dit, dit, dit......dit, dit..... (whew! that's a lot of dits :D)

***UPDATE***

A little bit ago I received a text message from Kari that the team just arrived in Garoua. It was getting too late to drive so they decided to wait a bit before leaving Chad. All is well, actually as she put it, "great!" and they were on their way to the church for the day.

Oh yes, she pointed out that it is HOT there too!!!

(I type this smiling as snowflakes are fluttering down outside my window.)


Brent

In-Country Orientation and Training - Day 5

Ephesians 6:19-20 (New International Version)

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

• Pray for the door-to-door afternoon evangelism.
• Pray that God will empower the group in Africa and those going with His word.
• Pray for our translators that they too would be receptive to the gospel.

Travel to Garoua - Day 4

1 Corinthians 15:58 (New International Version)

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

• Pray that the Cameroonian Christians commit to the work of disciple-making.
• Pray for safety on our bus ride from N'Djamena to Garoua.
• Pray that there is no problem crossing the Chad/Cameroon border.

Arrival in Chad - Day 3

Ephesians 1:15-21 (New International Version)

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Pray for focus, vision and that God would be glorified.
Pray for the complete peace of Jesus throughout the mission trip, that there is no confusion.

Leaving Seattle - Day 2

Psalm 27

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Today we leave Seattle and spend the rest of the day on the plane.

• Pray for travel safety and good connections.
• Pray for the blessing of peace for the family and friends of those that are going.
• Please pray especially for my Mom as I travel to the place that evokes so many memories and feelings for her.

My introduction into the blogger world.

Good Morning everyone!

This post is from that ever so "cleverly" hidden boyfriend, Brent. :) I will make this short and sweet as I have been "blogging" for many hours now attempting to help Kari prep for her trip by preparing prayer requests and update posts. Check back each day for specific ways to pray for Kari and her teammates.

I would like to thank all of you for your warm welcome into the world of Kari. :) I especially would like to express my personal gratitude and appreciation to all the friends and family of Fergus Falls and the Cities who have been wonderfully inviting, warmly hospitable and incredibly gracious to me these past weeks.

I once was told that the companions you keep say a lot about your own character, and I can say without a doubt that this statement is completely accurate about Kari and all of you that I have had the pleasure to meet in person. God be praised for the blessing of friends and family.

Until we meet again... or for the first time!


Brent

Leaving for Africa!

Can you believe it? I sure can't!!! The day is finally here, I'm leaving for Africa! Actually, I fly to Seattle today and then will be meeting the rest of our group in the morning at the airport. We'll be flying to Paris and then on to N'Djamena, Chad.

While I'm gone, I won't be able to update anything in real time since I'm not bringing my computer. I can't wait to get back and tell you all about the amazing experiences I'll have! I'm already thinking about the fact that there's no way I'll get to portray all of what we'll have done, but I'll do my best to give you a taste of the trip.

In the meantime, will you pray for us? Pray for our team? Pray for the Cameroonian church members we'll be working with? Pray for the missionaries we'll get to visit on our way through Chad? Pray for the people we'll be trying to reach with the Gospel?

THANK YOU! I know I can count on you!

To help you out a bit, I've added some things from our team's Prayer Calendar. I also have a little surprise for you. Check back tomorrow and each day while I'm gone to see what it is!

Ephesians 3:16-19 (New International Version)

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

• Pray for campaign preparation, both for us and the nationals.
• Continue to pray that all travel preparations and paperwork have been completed and that there will be "smooth sailing" from here on out.

Introducing Brent to Fergus Falls

So it's past midnight and I should be either finishing packing or sleeping, but decided that it was much more fun to look at pictures! Actually, I've really wanted to post these, but have been pretty busy the last few days, with working and wrapping things up for my trip to Africa. I can hardly believe the day is now officially here! It seems like just yesterday was springtime and I was making the decision to go...

This past Thursday I had the great joy of going to Fergus Falls! Brent had the idea that since he had a few days off from school for conferences that he wasn't required to attend, we should head to Fergus so he could meet a few of the people I talk about so often! What a lovely idea! He ended up getting to meet quite a few people, and yet there are always more for another time. If we missed you during this trip, know that we'll be back again and would look forward to our visit!

We made a quick stop in Alexandria, just in time for a pirate-sighting. Luckily even with one eye covered with our patches, we were able to stop the pirates from doing any damage...

Here you see some of my favorite kiddos checking out a fun program on the computer.

Brooke and H were able to come by for a visit,
Along with Kevin and E!

Christines's little guy with the big blue eyes...After our time in Fergus, Brent and I got to the Twin Cities so that we could be there for little David's Halloween party while his own parents couldn't be there. As a surprise, Grandma got to come as well!
Tigger enjoying his frosted cookie with the bright orange frosting and black sprinkles (which turned his lips black for a bit!).
This little kid was too cute to not take a picture of!
Some of the teachers and moms/grandmas with the kiddos at the party.
My mom took these next few pictures of Auntie Kari and Tigger.
One of my new favorite pictures. He's just so cute!!
It was so fun to have Brent there with me!
Group shot of all the little kiddos. There were some really great costumes!
It was such a fun few days, showing Brent my hometown, introducing him to friends, and getting to see David all dressed up as Tigger. It's going to be so hard to be gone from him for the next few days/weeks so if you think of saying a quick prayer for us, we'd both appreciate it!

Thanks to all of you that were able to spend time with us, and THANK YOU to Wally and Candis for hosting us in Fergus. Check out their blog for a fun, cozy picture by the fireplace.

I'll miss getting to stay in touch with you while I'm in Africa! Take care!

Weekend Fun

These last couple of weekends have been quite a bit of fun! Actually, mostly all these weekends while I've been back in the midwest have been fun, but I'm just going to post pictures from the last two. A week ago I was able to hang out in LaCrosse, WI for the weekend, spending time with my boyfriend and his parents. I know... I haven't said much (or anything) about Brent on this blog yet, wanting to wait until we got to spend time with each other's parents and friends. Well, that's gotten to happen now so here are a few pictures!

Last weekend, we went to one of my favorite parks in LaCrosse on Saturday morning, and it was fun to see the trees with leaves on them, versus all the snow that defined my assignment in LaCrosse last winter. You can see it was also a pretty foggy morning.

I love the fog through the trees.

We laugh together - A LOT!

I love this bench. Wouldn't it be fun to sit and just watch the river a while from this bench?

I think this bridge is really pretty.

After spending the afternoon hanging out at his parent's house, we all went out to dinner together, and then Brent and I went to the LaCrosse Symphony's opening performance for the season. Brent used to play cello in that same symphony, so it was an especially fun treat. It was a beautiful concert, by the way! Fun pieces by Debussey, George Gershwin's "An American in Paris" and others. Here we are all dressed up for the symphony.

After church on Sunday with his parents (where we happened to run into my friend, Stacy!!!), Brent and I went up to Grandad's Bluff to look around. We saw some beautiful colors:

and I was able to see LaCrosse without all the snow piles and white! Can you remember what the winter was like for me? :) It was great to finally see THIS view from the bluff:

Here's a closeup of my old hospital:

And one of my favorite bridges.

Practicing the self-portraits. :)


This past weekend, Brent was able to come this direction. We checked out a State Park only a few miles from Mankato that I had wanted to visit. It looks like it would've been perfect a few weeks ago, but it was still very beautiful. Minneopa State Park has a great "falls" I guess, but this weekend it was only a small trickle. In fact, many leaves just fell to the water and never moved again!

Another wonderful bridge.

After driving to the Twin Cities, we had to make sure our first stop was seeing this amazing little guy! I know he looks pretty mad in this picture, but it's actually that he has a cold and was stuffed up and having a hard time breathing. He was in a great mood, and let me sit and read to him a while. Cute kid! Even tonight when he and his parents came over, he seemed to be feeling better.

After Julie and David and David headed to the other grandparents house, Brent and I went to my parents house. We were able to sit and chat a bit with them, and then my dad took us on a small tour of The Cities. Here we are at the park by Minnehaha Falls.

At the pavillion right by Minnehaha Falls, there was some big Halloween festival going on. They had all sorts of food, games, mostly kid-stuff. But, they also had Dracula come by for a visit with his princess.




My mom snapped this picture overlooking the falls. It was also just a trickle of a stream, so I look forward to getting back there again in the spring with the huge falls that I remember.

After Minnehaha Falls, we also went down by the Locks and Dam on the Mississippi River. I guess bridges and parks are the themes of these two weekends!


They were a couple of terrific weekends! We get to head to Fergus together on Thursday, and of course it will be wonderful to introduce him to friends there. It's nice to have a few days off with my 12-hour shifts, and Brent works for a local school district and it's their conference weekend. He's a really great guy, so I'm excited for more of my friends to get to meet him. If you're in Fergus, see you soon! :)