Ninas Family Missional Life

     Time seems to be rushing toward our departure for Zambia on June 1st.  This past Saturday, we were awakened at 4:30 AM by a new addition to our farm.  He is the son of our Nubian goat, Millie, and a dwarf goat we borrowed named Harvey.  He looks alot like his daddy, except for the white spot on top of his head-just like his mother.  Stephen, our son, named him Gavin.  He is a precious, furry ball of love.  When we was first born, Lynne handed him to me wrapped in a towel.  He instantly began sucking on my chin-I guess the bear made me look like a goat.   We are looking forward to goat's milk to drink and for our coffee.      With Spring and the time change my opportunity for photographing sunsets is on the increase.  I love to photograph sunsets and sunrises, but favor sunrises "Great is Thy Faithfullness" is one of my top 5 favorite hymns.  Each sunrise reminds me that "morni...

      Lynne and I thought we were heading off into an adventure where we only know two people, Wes and Laurie who stayed with us during their furlough (briefly).  Received an e-mail from a Christian friend and former shipmate that blew me away.  It seems his mom's best friend make regular trips to Macha, Zambia.  The husband of the couple is a doctor the the Macha Mission Hospital.  The doctor will be in Zambia starting the end of June.       My family has had fun visiting the Oracle of Bacon .  You can type in any actor or actress's (nobody uses that word anymore) name and the site will tell you how many movies separate that actor from Kevin Bacon.  It will give you details on the movies also.  So here we are preparing for Mapanza, Zambia, and we will have web acquaintances just a few miles down the road in Macha.  Who would have thought I could have "people" in Zambia!?!?!?!?!?!  I believe ...

   We are into March and the time we depart for Zambia in June  .  .  .  well it seems as if it is quickly approaching and as if it will never get here.  Excited about the opportunity to serve and meet these children in person after studying their faces online.  However, there is trepidation about this adventure.  A line from Steven Curtis Chapman comes to mind, "saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to lay, through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace."   The red tag to the right is what Collins Maps tells me is Mapanza.  Lusaka is northeast and Livingstone is southwest.      Found a reasonably priced birding field guide for Zambia.  You know when you are looking at books for birding in southern Africa on Amazon, there are not a lot of reviews.  Most of the in depth field guids are old and expensive.  This "pocket" guide had good reviews for the four people who reviewed....

     Yep, that is our lovely faces above the mantle.  We are selling portraits of ourselves to raise money for our mission fund  .  .  .   LAUGH OUT LOUD!!!   We are attempting to devise some creative fundraising ideas to pay for our short term mission trip.  I have offered my services as a math or science tutor in exchange for donations to our mission fun.  Hopefully that will yield some results.     I thought about renting out our cats as  mouse chasers.  The black cat, Sterling, is no longer with us.  The big furry one trying to steal the Kindle, Prissy, is 'special."  She was a 6 months old before she realized she could jump up onto things.  She still has difficulty remembering where to potty.  Smoky, on Lynne's back is an excellent mouser.  However, she only hunts when the mood strikes her.  That isn't very often if the weather is cold or rainy.  We have two dogs, Jake ...

      We continue to make progress in preparation for our mission trip to Zambia.  The sketch at left is from a photo of my daughter Maribeth and me in Chicago.  She is an Applied Linguistics student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.  She is studying abroad this semester in Israel.  Tomorrow my wife, Lynne, leaves for a week-long mission trip to Guatemala.   I spent so many years traveling without my family and now I sit home while they travel.      Our reservations are made to arrive in Zambia June 3rd.   I am excited in anticipation of seeing Africa, meeting the children and seeing what God will do in my life through those children.  Took a break from listening to my favorite podcast (Stuff You Should Know from How Stuff Works) and listened to the new Chris Tomlin album Burning Lights.     Love the song Lay Me Down.  Singing the chorus brought Zambia to mind for me: "I’m not my own I belong to you ...

      Awesome!!!! Just heard back from Darbi & Blu.   They have a hut that will accommodate this panda and his wife from June 3rd to July 11th.    Not sure if they grow bamboo in Zambia, but will check that out on CIA Factbook soon.       I began doing some research on Zambia this week using CIA Factbook and Lonely Planet.   The first thing I learned is that it is in Africa.  You may think I say that because I'm ignorant or just trying to be funny.  Not at all.  I have visited Europe, Asia, and North America.  In total there are 7 continents  .  .  .  can you name them.  Africa is a continent I have flown by in aircraft (if I tell you any more I would have to shoot your), floated by in the Big Ditch (Suez Canal, and read about in books.  Never set foot on the continent of Africa.  As Po would say, "there is no charge for awesomeness  .  .  .  or attractivene...

     We just received a note from Wes and Laurie Wilcox asking us to arrive in Zambia on June 3rd and depart July 11th.  Wow!!  This is so exciting.  Lynne is searching airlines for good rates as I type this.  We covet your prayers as we begin planning and start the processing of finding a good airfare.   Very excited about what God is going to do in our lives.