He gently leads...

Isaiah 40:11 “…He gently leads those who have young.”

“Here you go – thank your husband for me,” said the quiet, slender, young man.  I looked at the wad of cash in my hand and not only did I not have any idea how much he just gave me, I also had no idea why!  Later I learned Dan had acquired a much needed motorcycle part for him in Johannesburg, but as I looked at that money, I felt like God had given me a hug.  Dan has managed the finances in our family the last couple years and the idea of either asking for a ride or driving two carseat-less children (who both have figured out how to wiggle out of their seat belts while driving!) to a bank to stand in line and exchange money into a currency I barely understood, not knowing whether or not I was getting a good rate…it made me tired just thinking about it.  The fact that I had cash in hand to buy a few snacks for the kids was such a huge help.  (You can use debit cards, but the system was down the day I initially tried! Power failures have occurred 5-8x a week so far in town.)

this is where we are housesitting for the month of September

The kids and I arrived in Zambia about a week and a half before Dan.  This wasn’t intentional – we were hoping that our containers would arrive in time for Dan to leave a few days before us to drive up to Zambia to meet our flight.  (As I type this we have received one container, but the second one still has not come.  It is now exactly 12 weeks late from the date we asked it to be delivered.)  The kids did decent on the flight, but the 1.5 hours in line for customs with poopy diapers and trying to carry 3 bags and keep two kids close to me almost put all three of us over the edge!  There could’ve been some questions to answer (Titus’s passport isn’t in order even though we applied for renewal in South Africa seven months ago!), but the customs official felt so sorry for me as I finally reached his desk, that he just stamped the passports, apologized for me waiting in line so long, and welcomed me to the country.  No fees!   Again, a gift from God.



  can't express adequately what a blessing it is to process with a sister who is going through a similar season of change!

 I could go on and on, but I just feel that the Lord has gently led us and surrounded us immediately with support and love from new friends in a season where everything is new to us.

I miss quite a few things from South Africa – friends first of all, our church (Sunday school for the kids especially!), and paved tar roads.  J  However, I have to say, I am totally in love with Zambia.  You always go through a honeymoon period when entering something new and I am not living in a tent yet J but I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of the gorgeous sunsets, elephants by the side of the road as you drive to and from the base, the majestic Zambezi River and Victoria Falls.  Most of all, I love hearing story after story of what God is doing in and through this ministry and the people serving here.  It is so exciting to me!


Can you see the mist in the distance?  That is the Zambezi river going over the Victoria Falls!



Elephants crossing the road in front of us as we drove from base back to where we are housesitting in town.

As I sat through my sister Julie’s Advanced Mission Training class’s graduation ceremony last week, I was dreaming about all God is going to do in the future through these students.  As we chatted later, one student said he is planning to come back and assist with the rural pastor’s training program, another is a skilled mason, another wants to help lead short term teams, another teaching, and others evangelism, discipleship, medical, midwifery, administration and more.  I am thrilled at the possibilities for future ministry and excited for our family’s role in this program in the future.