Pre-field Training in NYC

Paul and I are spending the month of July in New York City, living in upper Manhattan, helping with MTW's pre-field training for their new missionary candidates. We've never done this before so are praying God would use us in the lives of the couples and their families we are helping through this training. We each have two couples to "mentor" and are enjoying getting to know them. We are spread throughout the city in different ethnic neighborhoods and the church where we have our meetings is in Queens. We are living in a predominately Dominican Republic neighborhood in a little flat on the fifth floor of a six floor apartment building (with no elevator :-}). Here are some pics of our neighborhood.

Each group of candidates is helping in a different church. I'm working at New Life Fellowship (Pete Scazzero is the pastor, author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality) and Paul at Ascension Presbyterian (PCA). So basically we do whatever the church needs us to do. We just finish ed VBS and Paul's group will begin theirs next week. MTW's Global Training and Development department provide the training this month. Topics covered are things like language learning, contextualization, team issues, church planting, etc. There's lots more to it. We've only been here a week and have three more to go. We're praying for lots of energy, skill in mentoring, opportunities to be a witness in our neighborhood as we do things like laundry at the local laundry mat, and usefulness at the churches we are working in. We're learning the subway system and how to get around, where to find groceries, etc. Here's a picture of the families I'm working working with waiting for the subway.

A Day at the Beach

What do you think of when you think about going to the beach for the day. I think about wearing shorts and a bathing suit, feeling hot, swimming, ice cream on the boardwalk.... We went to the beach on Saturday and it was nothing like the above picture. I guess that's the difference between going to the beach in England and going to Atlantic City in New Jersey. But either way, it can be fun and we had a fun day. We took two coaches (around 70 folks) of ladies and families from the English classes at church as well as some random church folks and moms and kids from our kids' clubs at church. I'm not sure I took my sweat shirt off for more than five minutes and never even thought about putting my shorts on. But we enjoyed each other, played games, chatted, and walked along the beach. Paul and I took our kites and the kids enjoyed them (and even some of the adults). We won't have classes again until September but pray that God will give us opportunities to run into these ladies on the street or in the park and give us words to say that will be a clear testimony of God and His love for them.

A Week with Meg in Tanzania

I just spent a week in Tanzania with Meg. It was so good to go and just be a Mom as I followed her around. We didn't do anything special like take a trip to Zanzibar or take a few days off to go to a beach resort but instead I got to go to school with her and meet her students and go to her classes, go to her church (it took 7 daladalas/matatu/mini buses and 1 taxi), go on a field trip to Bagamoya (and see a 500 year old baobab tree along with other stuff), meet the soccer team she coaches on Saturdays, spend time with her housemates and two special young women Meg is sponsoring in school. It was wonderfull feeling the warmth of the sun and seeing the Indian Ocean again. Eating mangos and African oranges was great as well as going for Ethiopian and drinking a Stoney (ginger beer). I loved seeing familiar East African street scenes. But most of all I was just happy to be with Meg, see what her life is like, meet her friends, and just be together. If you would like to see more pictures you can go to the following link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43622&l=8096c&id=624702564

Garden, 2008

We finally got almost all our garden planted. Our soil is so bad so we've added sand and compost over and over. It's still got so many clay chunks but I couldn't wait any longer to plant. I'm so excited to watch these little plants grow and bloom. Already we have lots of flowers, most of which weren't there when we put the plants in a few weeks ago. I'm looking forward to watching the plants grow and spread and cover the beds. I'll be sure to post updated pictures at the end of the summer. We're enjoying being able to BBQ again and sit outside without winter coats on!

Is it really mid-May?

Last week the sun was shining and it was warm. I finally removed my electric blanket from our bed and even wondered if our duvet was too heavy. We planted our garden, went for ice cream on the motorcycle, I enjoyed my new bike, went for few evening walks in the local park, sat out in the sun preparing for Bible study, etc. You get the picture...it was so nice. I talked with a Kenyan friend living here and we both said "this is Nairobi weather".

Well, things change and last night we decided to put our electric blanket back on our bed. I REFUSE to turn the heat back on but did think about it a little bit. So I'm back to wearing my sweatshirt and socks. The weather this week is dreary and cold...high 50's during the day, mid to low 40's at night. A friend told me yesterday that this is really London Spring weather, not what we had last week. But at least my flowers are growing well with all the rain.

In a little over two weeks I go to Tanzania to visit our daughter, Meg. I'm sure I will be plenty warm there and may even get a little color in my skin. I hope so. I've never been this white in my life! Sure hope you are enjoying the Spring weather wherever you are!

Visit with my Mom

I went to see my Mom April 8-11. It was a special time with her as well as my sister, Louise Larsen. My Mom is 85 and lives at the Quarryville Presbyterian Retirement Community in the Convalescent Unit. She isn't able to walk very well and is slow to process what she hears. She also can't hear well so you have to talk right into her hearing aid. I'm finding it hard to see her so sporadically.

Sometimes I think about the different stages of "leaving" during our missionary career. I thought leaving my folks those early years when I was still in my 20's and 30's and our kids were little was hard. Then we began leaving kids in college and that was really hard. Then our kids started getting married and having their own children and we had to leave grandkids and that was tough. Now, I'm back to leaving my Mom again and I'm wondering how long I can keep this up. When we took our second son to college I was reminded of a song that talked about "calling" and goes something like this "When you called my name I didn't know how far that calling went". Now I find myself thinking once again about calling and how calling and honoring my Mom go together. I long to be by my Mom's side, touching her, smiling with her, putting lotion on her dry skin, wheeling her outside to feel the warm sun, pushing her food onto her fork so she can still feed herself, cleaning her glasses, praying with her, hearing her precious giggle when she mistakes me for my sister, reminiscing as we look at pictures together, seeing her eyes light up when I kneel down beside her and wake her up from a nap, feeling her kiss on my cheek, hearing her call me Lizzie. I want to honor her and I want to honor God. For now, that means being far from her and writing to her often. But, I pray God gives me the privilege of being by her side when He decides to take her home.

Visit to the Wards March 2008

I've had the wonderful privilege of being with Kirk, Sarah and Joanna for the birth of Samuel Paul, March 26th. I was there for three weeks--one before the birth and two after. It was a special time of caring for Sarah, playing with Joanna, talking with Kirk, and witnessing Samuel's birth. I thank the Lord for this new little grandson and for the family He has placed him in.
It was a crazy time, in some ways. Anna came up for about five days over Easter and was there to care for Joanna when Sarah went into labor. I was so happy to have some alone time with her while others were napping or doing this or that. God has carried her through some hard times these last few months and it was neat to hear how He has been caring for her.

Paul was the next to visit. Thanks to some FF miles he was able to come for five days. He arrived about a week after Samuel was born. He was able to help fix a few things around the house as well as get some good Grandpa time with Joanna and Samuel. We took Joanna to the zoo one day and that was really fun.

Rinnie also came for a quick visit to meet her new nephew and see the rest of the family. We had some great time together. I know Sarah enjoyed having her there too.

I just loved getting to know Joanna better. She's verbally expressive and loves to sing. I miss her numerous hugs and unending "What happened?"s. We read books, sang songs, cooked, did dishes, played, went shopping, and the list could go on. I'm grateful to Kirk for putting up with his mother-in-law for all that time. The weeks hold special memories for me for which I am very thankful. And a big thankyou to Sarah for her tenderness and love. I loved just being together. If you would like to see more pictures of Samuel and these weeks together go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36153&l=710f5&id=624702564

Christmas, 2007

Almost all our family was able to be together for Christmas this year. Wil and Amy joined us for a few days at the end of our time. We are thankful to Missionary Care Ministry that has a home available to missionaries free of cost in Athens, GA. We began planning this reunion a year ago and were able to book the whole house then. It has six bedrooms, two kitchens, two living/diningrooms, 11 acres of wooden land, a playground, and a wonderful, generous hostess there to be sure all your needs are met. We were totally overwhelmed with the graciousness shown to us and our children. We were there from Dec. 21-Jan.1. It was a wonderful time of reconnecting as a family and getting to know our grandchildren better. Here's a picture of the whole gang.

Besides celebrating Jesus' birth and having a traditional Christmas dinner, we enjoyed just being together, playing games, cooking, eating, looking at old slides, and the list could go on. We also went to Stone Mountain Park for a picnic with my sister, Sarah Taylor, and family. After that we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. It was Kirk's (Sarah's husband) first experience. It's one of our favorites so we really stuffed ourselves.





Another highlight for the grandkids and their Grandpa was a train Paul and I found right before Christmas. It actually is really fun and the girls just loved it.

Well, lots more could be said but they say a picture speaks louder than words so if you would like to see more pictures of our time together you can go to these two websites and check them out. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27900&l=7c436&id=624702564
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27903&l=fc480&id=624702564

October to January

Paul and I spent October through December in the States on Home Ministry Assignment. We were able to visit 11 of our supporting churches and many friends and supporters. We were also able to attend Mission to the World's Global Missions Conference, help with a training for Pastoral Associates for MTW's teams, and be small group leaders at Living in Grace, a training that all MTW missionaries must go through. We saw both our Mothers and all our siblings and many of their spouses and some of our nephews and nieces. We are very thankful for my sister and husband, Paul and Sarah Taylor, who allowed us to go freely in and out of their home in Atlanta.

In October we went to see Kirk, Sarah and Joanna. This is a picture of Joanna helping Paul build a top for the bed of our pickup. It was a great few days of being together.

In November we celebrated Anna's 23rd birthday with her and Wil and Amy were able to join us. We also joined Paul's Mom and all his siblings for Thanksgiving. It was a special time since we don't have the opportunity to see so much family all at once very often.


End of November we had a quick visit with Wil and Amy and then on down to Florida, stopping in to see Erik, Rinnie, Lauren, Meredith and Coriena on our way to Marco Island.

Sarah and Joanna came with us to visit my Mom and that was a very special time. Sarah hadn't seen her for 3+ years and Mom had never met Joanna. Joanna was so sweet calling my Mom "Great Granny" and wondering where "Great Grandpa" was since he in heaven now. She loved Mom's walker and was friendly with all the old folks where my Mom is.

In January, all my siblings, their spouses, Paul and I celebrated my Mom's 85th birthday together. It was a special time of each of us telling my Mom how much she meant to us and sharing memories together. My Dad's sister and husband (the only living relatives besides my Mom on either side) were also at the party along with two of my cousins.

Christmas will have to be another blog entry. But just as a preview, we were able to gather at one place with all our kids over the holidays. More on that and pictures to come later.

A week with Rinnie and family

I just got back from spending a week at Rinnie's in Orlando. There's nothing like coming off the plane after flying all day and hearing "Granny!!!!" from across the airport lounge and having two granddaughters come flying into your arms with a third not far behind. And, of course, my daughter, Rinnie, as well.

It was so good to spend time with Rinnie. She's always been a real encouragement to me and a great friend. She's so sensitive to things of the Lord and is a real example of a Godly wife and mother.

I had a great time with her girls, Lauren (5), Meredith (3), and Coriena (18 months). We went swimming, to the Science center, to Kelly park tubing, went through the Wordless Book, made a cake, read many books, told lots of stories, walked, went to the play ground, watched Lauren play soccer, and just had tons of fun. Here's a few pictures of our time together but also a link to more if you are interested. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15365&l=e30ee&id=624702564

Holiday Bible Club

This year's Holiday Bible Club studied the Wordless Book. Those of us who grew up in the US as Christians grew up with this "book" but it hasn't been used so much here in England. It is such a great tool to use to share the gospel with kids. We averaged around 40 kids and only five were from our church. The rest of the kids came from the neighborhood. Our theme was "Code Breakers" and the code was gbrwg. Can you break the code????? Following are some shots from our time with the kids. Paul worked with grades 1-3 and I worked with grades 4-6. Notice the relay he came up with...the little boy is wearing Paul's motorcycle jacket!!
We studied a different color each day and so the leaders tried to wear those colors. Here's Paul and Chuck dressed for "black day".

At the end of the week we invited parents to come and see what the kids were learning and stay for a picnic. We were so pleased with how many came. We were able to sit around with them in the garden and chat about the week and invite them to come to church. A few did come the next day.

Meg's Visit in August

Meg came from Tanzania to visit for two weeks. The first few days Kirk, Sarah and Joanna were here and we celebrated Meg's birthday. Among other fun stuff, Rinnie sent her a box of blowpops (Meg's favorite lolly) and Sarah crocheted her a new hat.

It was a great visit together. Meg teaches history in an international school in Tanzania so wanted to check out some historical sites while here. We concentrated on the Middle Ages and went to places like Battle to see where the Battle of Hastings took place, Rye-a coastal town founded during the Middle Ages, and biking in the New Forest-established as a hunting ground by William the Conqueror. Meg left to go back to Tanzania yesterday (14th) and after a month of having some of our family here, we are once again alone. As much as we love their visits, it's ok to be just us again.

If you would like to see more pictures of our time together go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10893&l=755aa&id=624702564

Wards come to London

Kirk, Sarah, and Joanna came to London as part of a group from their church to work with the World Harvest team. We had the privilege of caring for Joanna off and on during that time and then they stayed with us for a few days afterwards. Here's a few photos of our time with Joanna.

One thing Joanna loves is fish so since we have seven in our garden pond, she loved feeding them with "BaBa".

Rinnie gave us a child bike seat so Paul put it on my bike and that was another thing we did together.

But mostly we just went for walks, played with toys, read books and had a wonderful time. If you would like to see more photos you can follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9829&l=5b48c&id=624702564

Rain, Rain, Go Away!!

On Friday, 20th July, we were hoping to visit some friends and colleagues about three hours west and a little north of us. We'd been planning for ages to go on the motorcycle but it was raining, with no indication it would stop, so we took the car. When we saw this sign, we should have realized it's warning.... As you can see, the water levels were really high, even on the main road going through town but we were doing fine until a bus passed us and caused a wave of water to cover our hood. The car sucked in water instead of air and that was it for our car. We couldn't get it started again. Paul got out to push it to higher ground and ended up part of a crew that pushed other's cars as well. Here's some pictures of what it was like.


All this happened about 2pm. We called the RAC (equivalent to AAA) and began to wait. The local pub gave about 30 of us a spot on their floor with blankets for the night. We finally heard from RAC at 1:30am telling us they wouldn't make it, roads were closed. The next morning people started leaving our room around 4:00 since the roads were clearer in some directions but since our car was dead, we tried to sleep more and finally gave up trying around 5:00. We waited for the pub's office to open to use their phone and began trying to call RAC again. After what seemed like hours of waiting we were told that most likely it wouldn't be until midnight that they would get to us. We sat in our car, walked up and down the main street, had some lunch, walked some more, waited, wondered how the day would end up knowing God already had it planned, learned that a watched cell phone never rings, thought about Noah being stranded for a year... At 3:00 we noticed a RAC van in the parking area where we were. Paul asked if they were looking for our car but we were told we weren't on his list. But, he said he'd take a look at the car and within 10 minutes, he had it running! As he was working on the car we noticed the sign on the building behind where we had providentially pushed the car.

Our God-send mechanic, David, probably wondered at our celebration when he got the car going. We had been told it was probably a "write off" and RAC was not even sending a recovery van to see if they could get it started but a tow truck. So, we got home early evening on Saturday. Paul was to preach the next day and I was doing Children's Worship. Guess what we were reviewing....Noah and the Flood! I realized how impatient I felt during those 24 hours of waiting, compared to Noah who waited over a year to be rescued. I do thank the Lord for a husband who does stay calm and confident in the Lord's care during times like this. Looking back we see why there was such a delay in the tow truck coming. We give thanks to the Lord for not answering our prayers the way we wanted (bringing the tow truck) but giving us needed grace to wait for what He had planned. It reminds me of a favorite quote from the book Peaceful Living in a Stressful World, "I am not designing a day but discovering a day He has already made."

35 Years of Marriage

We had a great time celebrating 35 years of marriage with a trip to Scotland. A lady in our church owns a home in Nairn and that is where we headed for a week. We'd "won" a week there through an auction our church had to help raise money for a team from the church going to Ethiopia. Nairn is a little town along the coast near Inverness. We actually have MTW missionaries there so it was fun to visit their church and visit with them.

We followed some of the history concerning the Covenanters and went to places like John Knox's house and the church where he preached. We especially enjoyed seeing the oldest Presbyterian church in Scotland as well as many other churches. Wandering through their graveyards and reading the markers made me so aware of "that great crowd of witnesses" waiting for us in heaven. We biked, walked, and drove...it was great.

We also enjoyed visiting the Cawdor Castle, Fort George, the Isle of Skye and searching for Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. Actually just driving along the four Lochs (lakes) was incredibly beautiful. We had time to read about some of the martyrs during the Covenanter days and the history so tied to us as Reformed Presbyterians. We biked around 20 miles one day and that was really fun (except for a path we took that turned out to be overgrown and only for walkers).

It's good to be back in London. We are thankful for the work the Lord has for us and are continuing on...