Questions???

When you move to a new place there are lots of questions.  Where is…; How do you…; Why is….; What about…?  But the questions that are filling my mind these days are not questions about the details of living life in South Africa; the questions that are filling my mind are questions about the stories of the people around me.  There are lots of stories that come with living in a new place.  The stories of the people you meet; the stories of how things developed and came to be.  Right now as we are driving in the rural part of South Africa, my head is filled with questions and stories. 

We have been in South Africa for a week today.  During that week we have gotten settled into our home, unpacked our suitcases, we have bought a car and a variety of other things we needed for our home.  We had the privilege to have the Maluleka’s in our home for breakfast and a time of sharing about the vision for the Africa South Field.  We felt the hospitality of missionary friends and colleagues through meals, trips shopping, advice, and other acts of friendship..  We were also able to go to the Africa Regional Office and see and hear about what God is doing there. 

We also had the privilege to meet so many South African’s who are being faithful to the ministry God is calling them too.  We took a trip on Thursday and Friday to Hazyview South Africa.  Which is the site where the upcoming Work & Witness team will be working.  While we were there we were honored to be able to stay in Pastor Robert’s home and meet his wife and son.  We were also able to see several of the other area churches and hear and see the ways that God is working through people who are willing to be used by him. 

One of the churches that we visited started under a tree.  Soon they out grew the space that the tree shaded so they built a church that could seat 60 – 80 people.  Then they out grew that space so they tore that down and built a space that would hold more.  When they out grew that space they built again.  They are currently working a church building that will be to seat 2000 people.  It started under a tree with a few people being faithful to what God called them to.  And now they are continuing to be faithful to what God is calling them to.   To steal the words of Rev Mashangu (Field Strategy Coordinator for the Africa South Field and our boss) “If trees could talk this tree would tell the story of the first pastor who preached here, the story of the first soul that was saved here…” It would tell the story of the conversations and dreams about building a church building, and then the conversations and dreams to continue to grow. 

The questions that we sometimes wonder when it comes to ministry are things like can God use me, will He use me, etc.

But I am beginning to see:

The question is not can God use you?  He created you in His image Of course He can use you. 

The question is not will God use you?  Look around at the hurting people around you and the various needs in your community.  Of course He will use you. 

The question is: are you willing? 

The question is not: who you are or what you have.  The question is are you willing to be faithful with what God has given you and how He has gifted and graced you.  It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, it doesn’t matter what you have or what you don’t have.  The question is, are you willing to be faithful. 

The location that you are in is not important; whether you are in a small town or village, whether you are in a large city, whether you are in your birth country or not.  The question remains the same; are you willing? 

If you are answer is yes, then the question will become, I wonder what God is going to do next?

Until next time; remembering to keep asking questions and keep telling the stories of God’s faithfulness. 

Sometimes numbers mean a lot!

 Some of the numbers that made up our deputation journey:

4,000+ miles driven/ridden (we took turns driving and napping J ).

Spent give or take 64 hours in the truck.

Stayed somewhere between 1 day to 2 weeks in 12 different states (KS, MO, ID, IN, IL, CO, FL, NC, OH, PA, MD, TN)

Drove through/in an additional 7 states (AK, SC, GA, MS, AL, KY,  DC )

We were blessed by the hospitality of 15 different hosts who opened up their home and blessed us during our deputation time.

We were blessed to share in 16 different services/meetings/camps.  And hear the stories of countless Christ-followers being faithful to what God has called them too!

Received the love and support of countless friends and family. 

Some days it felt like we would never reach June 26^th but here we are less than 2 days away. 

If you are reading this then chances are good that you are among the ones who poured out your love and support on us and for that we are very thankful!  We have been so blessed by the amazing people in our lives who are loving us, praying for us, and thinking of us.  We are also doing the same for you (we have over 17 hours on a plane on Thursday/Friday and we will have lots of time to pray J )! 

God has richly blessed us and our hope is that we have been and will to be a blessing to those we come in contact with. 

As we embark on our journey overseas, we leave overflowing with love, sad to say goodbye, but at the same time excited to say hello to our new friends and family on the Africa South Field. 

Until next time…remember when on stage don’t miss the very important last step off the stage.  Although I will say that it gave Joe and I lots of laughs as we watched me ungracefully miss the last step on stage on the webcast of the service (don’t worry I didn’t actually fall). 

The single digit count down begins... 8 days till take off

It is hard to believe that in 8 days we will be boarding a plane and 17 and 1/2 hours later we will be arriving in our new home Johannesburg, South Africa.  We have spent months preparing and planning for that day.  Now the only things that stands between us and South Africa is a few days, one more checked suitcase and our carry ons to pack, our VISA arriving, one more road trip (from PA to MD), and some goodbyes.  We are very much excited about this new chapter in our lives but wish it did not have to come with some many hard goodbyes. 

We have been blessed over the last 2 or 3 months to spend lots of time with friends and family and count our times together as a huge blessing.  We have been able to share meals together, laughs together and makes lots of memories.  We have reconnected with family and friends and made new friends as well.  Every week or so we have found ourselves in a different place sharing life with a different group of friends or family.  We have loved our time with each and everyone of you that we have gotten to connect with and have been overwhelmed by the amazing people we have around us supporting, loving and praying for us.  

Over the last two weeks we have spent time with family and friends in North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and now Pennsylvania.  We also got to spend the week making new friends with the awesome staff and teens of the Missouri District.  We have had some great adventures and are looking forward to many more adventures!  We even got to have our name in lights as one Church welcomed us on their church sign!  

If you are reading this then you are a part of the blessing!  Thanks for loving and supporting us and for reading about what we have been up to.  

Until next time remember you are only as young as you feel and when you are surrounded by teenagers you will feel pretty old (even if you are not! :) ) 

Feelin' the NC Love and Flat Framily

Well Joe and I made it to North Carolina safely and have had a great week spending time with my family.  We got to spoil my nieces and nephew and spend some great time with our friends and family.  We also had the awesome privilege of sharing our story in the church that I grew up in as well as in the church where my parents now attend.  We were overwhelmed by the love and support that we received from our church families in NC.  It is a huge blessing to have several church families who love and support us.  We would not be who we are without them!  We are very thankful for the love and support of all our church families and friends.  We have been blown away by the ways that God continues to provide for us through our family and friends.

We also wanted to take a few moments to explain a little bit about the Flat Framily pictures you may have seen popping up on our facebook wall.  We stole the idea from a book called "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown.

Here is a little synopsis from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley
"Stanley Lambchop and his younger brother Arthur are given a big bulletin board by their father to display pictures and posters. He hangs it on the wall over Stanley's bed. During the night the board falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under the door, and playing with his younger brother by being used as a kite. One special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope. Stanley even helps catch some art museum thieves by posing as a painting on the wall. Eventually, Stanley is tired of being flat and Arthur changes him back to his proper shape with a bicycle pump."   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley

As we were preparing to leave Kansas City I was trying to think of creative ways that we could stay connected with our family and friends (our Framily).  A friend of mine mentioned that she had received a Flat Stanley from a student and that he had gone with them to a Festival.  Which got me to thinking hey what if we could have Flat Heath's and decorate them and leave them here and we could let our framily decorate a flat version of themselves and so the idea was born.  Then another friend of mine and I did some searching and found some Flat "Stanley" templates that we could use to make our own Flat People.  

Unfortunately a bicycle pump will not pump up our flat framily but we did think it was a great way for some of our family and friends to come along with us as we journey to South Africa and begin our lives there.  It is also a way for us to be a part of our friends and families lives here in the states.  While we can't be at all the cookouts, or ball games, and can't be at Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner the Flat Version of ourselves can be there.  It is nowhere near the same but it is small way to be a part of what is going on.

So if you are reading this and say I want to be a part of that you can!  Go to http://bleieracademy.blogspot.com/2012/02/flat-stanley.html to download the Flat template decorate it and then attach a cut picture of your face.  Then take a picture of it and tag us (if you are on facebook) or you can send us an email to find out the best place to mail it to us if it is before June 26th.



Here is a picture of the Flat Heaths hanging out on the Owens' fridge waiting for the next adventure.


Until next time remember to be present in the moment that you are in and enjoy it as much as you can.  Because time keeps marching on and before you know it your baby nephew is getting ready to go to Jr High School.

On the road again....

Tomorrow morning we get back into our little truck that is a little less loaded down with stuff and head from Florida to the great state of North Carolina.

We have had a wonderful week with the Florida Heath's.  Eating lots of great food, sharing memories, eating lots of yummy desserts and generally just enjoying time with family.  Wednesday we had a great day at Cocoa Beach.  We went to Ron Jon Surf Shop, ate at Grill's Restaurant and were able to see a dolphin, a sea turtle, and lots of pelicans.  Then we went to the beach and had a great afternoon of relaxing on the beach, playing in the water, boogie boarding (it was as awesome as I remember), and walking along the beach.   Other highlights include enjoying the Red Sox vs Tampa game (in spite of the Red Sox not winning) and a cookout on Saturday with the extended family in Florida and a few friends at church.  On Sunday we had the privilege of sharing at Center Pointe, which is where Joe worked on staff for three years.  Then we were able to have dinner with some friends from church.   And those are just a few of the highlights that have made this week wonderful.

We have also started to try to go for two 30 minute walks everyday (see eating lots of great food and desserts above and needing to fit in the clothes we are carting around the country).  It has been a good time to exercise and a unwind and also just take a few moments to reflect on everything that is happening.  Our hope is that the pattern once formed will continue once we get to South Africa.  Here's hoping (and trying :) )! 

Tomorrow morning we leave Orlando and head to spend the week with my family in Creswell and New Bern, NC.  I am looking forward to another great week.  I am often overwhelmed by the awesome friends and family we have and the blessing we have to get to spend some time with some of them before we head to South Africa IN ONE MONTH!!!!! 

Until next week remember to be present in the moment you are in....you can't get it back and it will be gone before you know it!  

Goodbyes and other things that keep us busy

Goodbyes and See you laters have been the theme of the last couple of weeks.  With a few other things sprinkled in.  We have an amazing group of people we call framily who have loved on us and supported us. We are very thankful for them and are looking forward to continuing to hear from them and continuing to be a part of their lives.  Technology is a wonderful thing!!

Here are a few of the things that kept us busy since our last blog post.

Got everything packed (well mostly) and ready to go either in a suitcase to go to South Africa, or in a bin to store or to be donated.  (we still have two suitcases to repack and reorganize).

Flew to Denver and spent the Saturday night and Sunday with an amazing couple from the Lakewood Church of the Nazarene.  We also had a great Faith Promise service at Lakewood and met some more amazing Nazarenes.

Spent every moment we could with our KC framily; which included lots of meals together, zip lining and several cookouts.

Had wonderful send off service at our home Church of Crosspoint Community Church of the Nazarene.  There were lots of tears and hugs, a wonderful goodbye video and plans made for how we will stay connected.

Spent a week with fellow Missionaries who are either already serving, planning on serving or considering serving.   It was a great week to focus on what we are getting ready to go and be a part of. Made some great friends there that will be friends for years to come.

Made flat Heath's and exchanged them with some of our framily so we can still "experience" life together.

With the help of some friends, loaded up the truck and tied everything down for our road trip.  It was a little weird having most of our earthly belongings all packed in our little truck.

Had a great Faith Promise weekend in Webb City MO.  And again meet some amazing Nazarenes who are working to love the community they are in.  

Drove through the night Sunday from Webb City to arrive in Orlando and then took a long nap.

This week we are spending time with Joe's family, taking in a Boston Red Sox game, going to the beach, working on Thank you notes and finishing up packing.  We are also spending time in prayer for the framily and ministries we are leaving behind here in the states and the framily and ministries we are going to be joining in South Africa.

So what filled up your days over the last two weeks.  We would love to hear from you as well!

Until next time remember when on a long trip to limit your liquid intake if you don't want to do the potty dance while driving.  :)

Time keeps ticking away…tick tick ticking away.

We have passed the two month mark.  In less than two months we will be arriving in our new home in Johannesburg, South Africa.  It is a bittersweet countdown.  We are very excited about going to South Africa but at the same time we are not ready to say goodbye to our Framily (Friends + Family = Framily according to the Sprint commercial).   So we are trying to make the most every moment we have left in the states and we are trying not to dwell on the upcoming goodbyes. 

The last couple of weeks have been full of lots of activity. 

We had our garage/moving sale; which was made possible by lots of help from friends.  We had a lot of community people stop by which was really cool.  And only a couple of people walked away empty handed, which was awesome. 

We moved out of our duplex; which was made easier by the garage/moving sale.  J We have most of our suitcases packed except for our clothes suitcases.  We are staying with some wonderful friends from our church, who graciously offered up their basement until we left Kansas City.

We had another of many upcoming road trips.  We traveled to Wheaton, IL to see some friends of Joe’s and a had great weekend with them and then got to share in their Children’s Church which was awesome!  Then we drove to Northwest Indiana to connect with our LINKS district (in Nazarene language that is a district that supports missionaries through prayer and such.)  It was great to connect with the great people of Northwest Indiana. 

This week we have been finishing up things and doing all the stuff that comes with an international move.  Today someone is coming to buy Joe’s Jetta and we have sold almost all of our Craigslist stuff!   Slowly but surely we are getting ready for our move. 

Pray with us as we continue on the journey and let us know how we can be praying with you. 

Until next time remember the last leg of any road trip always seems the longest (even though time passes at the same rate…)