Jude in the garden, having some fun!

More Critters!

We'd just got into bed last night when we heard our dogs going nuts outside... I thought they were trying to get out of our gate as there was lots of banging going on. So we went to investigate with our handy maglite and found this huge rodent dead in our driveway, aka Bush Rat (they actually sell these on the side of the road for meat). Anyway I guess our dogs had managed to catch and kill it. Kinda freaking that huge thing was running around in our yard!

Jude turns one!

Our little boy turned one this past Friday. He's walking now and just the cutest little thing tottering around everywhere. Now I can take him out in the garden with me when I'm working out there and he has a great little time exploring the back yard. I made him a cake and had plans to make a great design, but the dog we're looking after, snuck into the kitchen and ate half of it as it was cooling! Ahhh! So made another one the next day but didn't have much time to decorate.

Seth made Jude a very sweet card, it says "I Luf you Jude," how cute is that! Not bad for a kindergartener :)

God working in Africa

I friend sent me a really cool article on missionaries in Africa, here is a bit of it, you can read it all at:
www.blancocountynews.com/news/article/10997


World magazine reported recently on an unexpected comment by English columnist Matthew Parris about desperate conditions in Africa and what he saw as the solution to them. Parris was raised in Malawi, from which he had just returned, and undoubtedly surprised his London Times Online opinion page readers with the following title of his report: “As an atheist, I am truly convinced that Africa needs God.”

This atheist has observed that something very special has happened to Africans who have responded to the words of missionaries. Those who have heard and heeded their message of faith are changed from within. A transformation has taken place that has produced new life. He has seen this approach to Africa’s problems break old bondages and bring hope to those who believe. No wonder he pleads for more missionaries rather than more money!

I thought it was really interesting that even an atheist can see that Africa needs God! And it sure does, everywhere does for that matter.

To change gears a bit, we had an interview with a potential "Ma and Pa" for the orphanage today. It went really well and looks promising. Both parties are praying and seeking the Lord and we'll go from there. Please keep it in your prayers, as this us a huge responsibility and we want it to be a ministry for the couple, not a job.

Devotion

When we were back in the States our church there asked us to write a message for the devotional they put out at the start of each year. My topic was Africa (very appropriate) and it was for today. You can check it out on their website if your interested.

www.eastcoastdevo.com/2009/02/10/day-31-africa/

Our little preacher!

I got to share at the Crusade as the Speaker (Chris Schneider) was preaching a message geared to children as well as adults. We got there early and made balloon animals and hats to get the kids to come in and of course that worked like a charm. Once the crusade got under way, Chris called all the children forward to hear a special message. We sang a song and then shared the "wordless Book" with them through colored balloons. They were all very excited and payed close attention.



Josh also got to share his testimony, we were VERY proud of him! We talked about it at home and I asked him to just tell how he asked Jesus into his heart and if there was anything else he wanted to share. He chose the Story of Joshua and how we must have faith and trust in God too and then quoted John 3:16. When he finished everyone cheered and clapped, very cool! There was at least 450 people at the crusade. We're hoping to get a video of it up on the web soon. Anyway at the end of the night many came forward for salvation (100+) and lots of them were kids, praise God. Also got to pray for many people at the end for things such as barrenness to doing well in school.

Not a very clear picture but you can kinda see the size of the crusade