Nuru Ya Mapendo   (love's light)

What a perfect gift I received for my birthday- an English-French-Swahili dictionary! Did you know that Swahili is spoken by over 50 million people? And of that group, the most common second language is French.

May I share with you a Swahili proverb from the book?

"La kunvunda halina ubani". This means "There is no incense for something rotten."

Do you know what this means? I'm not sure I do, but at least I can pronounce it!

30 hours of work later, and I'm still buried in non-profit application justifications. And a letter of inquiry for grants still due...does anyone know a good grant writer?? A week in San Diego for business is looking pretty good right now...

After a break visiting family in TX, it's time to begin an arduous process of paperwork. First to file this weekend to become a corporation. Followed by an even greater task of filing for non-profit status. And somewhere in the month will also be the application process to become approved as a Volunteer Missionary. Even if I do spend my corporate days processing detailed paperwork, this can challenge even the best of us. Lord, be my strength!

God's blessings flow! A grant has been received for the ministry to provide for my training as a Volunteer Missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) and also with ECHO. All of this valuable information will be used to benefit the District of Kasenga. I am so excited about the work that God wants to do there!

Tomorrow will be the day that the keys to the house are turned over to the new owners.

Friends appeared at my doorstep last night after work and offered to help me clear the basement of empty boxes, remove the final bags of trash, and load their cars with the few remaining boxes. How God blesses us with such undeserved love!

Someone asked me if I needed a moment before we locked the doors to say good-bye to my house. Two days earlier I had asked myself that question. This place had been the home where our family had lived the longest period of time. It was a place holding precious memories, love and laughter, and hopes for the future.

I responded to this friend that God in his grace had prepared me for this time. When I "neutralized" the house to prepare it for sale, it was no longer "ours". I slowly stripped away wallpaper, and with each stroke He slowly stripped away my attachment to this special place.

Our life, when we are in God's hands, is a constant state of preparation. He has used my whole life experience as preparation for this time. He used the sale of my home to prepare me for letting go. He leaves me with the dream of a new life, one filled to overflowing with His love. His love will overflow to others that He has placed in my path. He will bless both the giving and the receiving. How can one be sad for such a gift?

As I walk out the door, I am filled with deep love and affection for my God, love and gratitude for my family and friends, and a heart filled with joy and hope.

The past eleven days have been a whirlwind of activity. The inspections on the house have been completed and are acceptable, the closings have taken place, family and friends have gathered around me at the last days to help finish packing, and the movers have come, loaded the truck, and delivered my belongings to the shipping container.

Never could I have imagined things taking place at this time or at this frantic pace! It is so obvious to me that God is at work in each and every detail. God's timing is perfect, and stronger than any human plan. In some instances we have only to step out of the way and watch in amazement as He puts all the wheels in motion to accomplish His work.

Upon receiving the closing statement, I was surprised to see that the proceeds from the sale of the house was more than what I had anticipated; the overage was almost exactly the cost of the container that I had to purchase! (Remember that the price was "God's number"...)

I was told that no reservation was available for the movers on the weekend, but when I called to book, they had an opening on Saturday afternoon. I was down to the wire on getting the packing finished and feeling overwhelmed, and God called a friend who stepped in for 1.5 days to help and see things through to the end. The weather for moving was absolutely perfect- 65 degrees and sunny on December 1! The movers finished loading everything just before it turned dark, even though the job was supposed to take longer. No one was injured, nothing was damaged or destroyed, and everything is safe and secure.

Each of these things individually is cause to give God praise. Imagine the fullness of my heart with all of His wonders! He has placed people in my path during this time who may never see me again, and yet God has called them to be a part of this ministry because they have participated in His work, some unknowingly. He has allowed me to share with them that they are now partners in His work. They are surprised, yet pleased.

"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.

They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds." Psalm 145: 3-6

I love you, my Lord.

For a week now I have been spending hours on the internet and making dozens of calls to locate a seaworthy shipping container. I had what I thought was a really reasonable plan- to buy a container when my house sold, store all my belongings in the container, pack them for shipping as I had time within the container, and add donations after the belongings were finalized. This way I did not have to pay for a storage facility until the move to Africa.

Well it turns out that my logic is not logical for the shipping industry. No one wanted to sell me a container unless I was ready to ship it. Many had containers but could not certify them seaworthy. And only 1 party was even willing to give me a referral or point me in the right direction. I was very discouraged and wanted to give up...

But God prompted me to go to the prayer chain at church. While writing the prayer request, I felt God's Spirit covering me and at the same time felt compelled to write Sylvain in Africa and have him ask the churches in the District to pray about the container. My impression was that this was the beginning of our ministry together, that God wanted people on both sides of the ocean to pray over this matter, to be brought into unity/community for a common purpose.

Within 24 hours of the prayer request I located someone who had a seaworthy container, but he would not sell it to me until he was convinced that I had a way of loading the filled container back onto a truck. This task, he explained, was done by a very specialized $200,000 piece of equipment with only a few locations in the U.S.The equipment is called a swing lift or a side-lifter.

I continued searching and calling, and within 24 hours after the location of the container, I located someone in KY who had the piece of equipment that was needed and was a price 40% below what I was told to expect. The man is ready to be in Dayton on the day of the move.

This is the power of prayer, to remind us how ineffective we are when we try to go it alone. When we share the burden and take it to the Lord, what mighty things He can accomplish! May His name be praised forever and ever.

I have been asking many people to "pray" during the inspection process for my house. The house is finally under contract, and most people know ANYTHING can happen during the inspection process. With a 100+ year old house, you never know what might show up! Friends were sharing both horror stories and surprises with me from their own experience. I became worried about it and asked people to pray.

I was told to expect a general inspection and a termite inspection. The general inspection found very few concerns, but a few (disconnected) knob and tube wires from the original wiring generated a request for an electrical inspection. The electrical inspection generated an additional list, but all but 2 of the requests were unfounded since the knob and tube wiring was no longer active nor a safety hazard.

The termite inspector found no termites, even though I had heard from surrounding neighbors that from time to time they had been seen in the neighborhood.

The sum of the inspections yielded 2 small electrical jobs and tightening down a toilet.

I had prayed for God to "cover the eyes" of the inspectors as they walked through and around my house. Some friends criticized me for this.

You decide...did God answer prayers? I choose to decide that He covered the entire process, and that the results are truly one of His miracles!

DS Pastor Sylvain has been trying since July to meet with Bishop Katembo. Today he had his opportunity and he wrote this to me:

I went to meet the bishop and his assistant, rev. Shebele. With the bishop I told him about your visit and the joy of the people in my district to work with you. I told him every thing that is happening these days. I also told him about your determination and joy to serve God with the people of the Kasenga district.

I did not forget telling him about the import step of you selling your own house for the Lord's sake. He was touched by your deed. In addition, I told him about the construction that we are about to begin, and about the storage house we have built.

The bishop was just looking at me quietly, with a smile. He was very happy to hear about what is happening in the district of Kasenga. He said, he is going to support you for you have come to build the church of God. He assured me, that you have his support. I was very happy to see his joy. It is an important fact in our mission if we can have the support of the bishop. He aslo said, he will come and see us in Kasenga.

God again shows us His plan to move the ministry forward. So blessed!

My house sold today and I am so amazed at God's hand in this process. His love and grace saturate every moment of my days. The buyers and I could not come to a price last week, and so I walked away. I scheduled an open house with the realtor. They must have seen the sign, and called their realtor to meet my price. This tells me that they really want the house and I am happy for this. Everything is moving much faster than I ever imagined. Now I must locate a shipping container and have it delivered to store my belongings until the move! Pray that the inspections within the next 10 days will go smoothly and not cause a problem with the sale. My trust is in the Lord, from whom all blessings flow. Go God!