RockTheDesert

Story behind picture #3

Our church site was located right off the main road through town - lots of mom and pop shops lined the same street. We saw welding businesses, little stands where women were roasting fresh corn on the cob, bike repair shops, bike washes, barbers, tailors, etc. We saw a couple of different places where there were piles of white, vegetable-looking objects being peeled and then dried on big blankets. The next step in processing these "vegetables" is to grind them up into flour. Then the flour is weighed and measured carefully into plastic bags which are then sold. The people make bread out of this flour. I found out the name of the "vegetable" is "cassava." We actually saw this same flour in Rwanda. Anyway, the young man in the middle with the white vest on - he prayed to receive Christ on Tuesday. I believe his name is Pierre. I kept running into Pierre each day - sometimes he was covered in white flour from head to toe! This isn't the greatest picture, but you can see a little bit of white dust on his cheeks and arms. Here's the dictionary definition of cas·sa·va (kə-sä'və)

n.  In both senses also called manioc, yuca.

1. A shrubby tropical American plant (Manihot esculenta) widely grown for its large, tuberous, starchy roots.
2. The root of this plant, eaten as a staple food in the tropics only after leaching and drying to remove cyanide. Cassava starch is also the source of tapioca.

Story behind picture #2

This is Gertrude. She operates a small fruit & vegetable stand right along the main paved road. We met her first thing on Wednesday morning. I should explain about our method of evangelizing the area. Each day, our team (Dan, Marina, 2 translators, 2 pastors, numerous local Christians) would meet at the proposed church site (under an avocado tree, facing the main road). We would split up into teams of three. My team always included Simon, my translator, and 1 other national. We'd then choose an area to totally saturate with the Gospel presentation. On this particular day, we headed to the lake side of the road. Our turn-off was at a dirt road in between some fruit stands and a bicycle washing station. We decided to stop at the fruit stands. One was manned by an older woman - probably in her late 60's, early 70's. The young woman at the stand next to her was named Gertrude. They both shook our hands and allowed us to share with them. As usual, a crowd quickly gathered around us to see what was going on. I introduced myself and started sharing about the love of God, using my Evangecube. The older woman listened for about 2 minutes then got up and left. Not at all interested. Gertrude, however, listened intently. The crowd kept growing larger - probably 50-75 people kept pressing in and listening. When I asked people to pray for salvation, many people in the crowd prayed out loud, including Gertrude. She had tears in her eyes and seemed to genuinely grasp the free gift of salvation through Christ. The guys on our team started writing down names of people who had prayed with us. Simon shared a discipleship lesson then prayed a prayer of blessing on everyone. I felt compelled to talk individually to Gertrude. She agreed to walk a little way away from her fruit stand. I encouraged her to grow strong in her faith. I gave her some little tracts to read. I urged her to share them with the older woman next to her and with anyone who would listen. I told her that she was an influencer and could make a difference in people's lives by sharing her faith. We then went on with the rest of our day. We had many people pray to receive Christ and shared with over 150 people. At the end of the day, we passed by Gertrude's fruit stand again. I asked her if I could take her picture. She agreed. I showed her the picture on the camera screen. She was surprised, I think, by her image. Most of the Africans I've met in Burundi and Rwanda don't own mirrors and really have no idea what they look like. I think she is beautiful and I pray that God would use her to impact His kingdom. Pray for Gertrude, that her faith would grow strong and that her business would be blessed and that she would have many opportunities to share her faith with others.

High Calling Blogs

RockTheDesert has joined a group called HighCallingBlogs.com where other followers of Jesus and blogger types have been aggregated. This means that when I (and others in the HCB group) post blog articles, they are then made available at HCB for a larger audience to peruse and read. HCB is in beta mode right now and is actually looking for new members. Check it out!

Story behind picture #1

This was my fourth trip to Africa. Each time, I am amazed and grateful for the kids that follow us around and listen over and over again to the Gospel presentation. A lot of times they pray out loud with us. And then they pray out loud again at the next presentation. And the next one and the one after that. I hope that they are sincere in praying to receive Christ. The kids in this picture live in a more upscale neighborhood. Some of the houses actually had a concrete floor. Others had a water pump in their courtyard. I was trying to discreetly take a picture of the boy in the center with the red shirt on. He was rolling his homemade toy along the ground as he walked. I looked closely at the toy. The long handle is a skinny tree branch that's relatively straight. A large, round, plastic lid, maybe from a large paint can or bucket is the wheel. It is attached to the branch with an extremely long nail. You can sort of see the nail sticking out on the left side. Kids in all countries have a way of taking ordinary objects and creating ingenious playthings. As I was trying to show the boy how to stand so that I could get a good picture of his toy, all these other kids came running over and wanted to be in the picture. So, instead of zooming in on the toy, I captured the enthusiasm of the moment! Pray for the kids in Burundi. They are hungry both physically and spiritually. We saw a lot of UN vehicles in and around the city. Saw a huge warehouse that said "World Food Programme" on it, yet we encountered numerous people who told us they were very hungry. It was very sobering.

Team Berryman Update

I've just published a Team Berryman Update. If you're on our mailing list, you should have received it tonight. There are 9 photos. I'll be highlighting 1 per day for the next 9 days. Click on Team Berryman Update in the sidebar to view all our newsletters. They're informative. Some are longer than others. This last one is only 1 page long. Enjoy!!

Click HERE to view latest newsletter.

Go #27

My son, Steven, will be 14 yrs old on February 4. He's nearly 6' tall and loves to play football more than just about anything. He's played on Pop Warner teams and NYS teams. For the past few years, we've had a chance to watch him play a lot of games. When we arrive at the field, we usually get to see the last part of the game prior to his game. A lot of times it's a team that's just a year older than his team. Each time, I look at the huge kids and vow that my son, my baby, will NOT be playing against those big kids next season. Of course, the next season rolls around and my son, my sweet angel, has grown to be the size of those big kids. Last year, in particular, the kids in the next league up from his appeared to be man-sized - I mean, they looked like they had full beards and possibly even drove themselves to the game. I truly didn't want my youngest son being maimed or injured by one of those big brutes. And yet, here we are again, watching Steven play winter football through NYS and Steven is the man-sized giant that all the mothers of the younger players fear. Go #27 - Go Outlaws!

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Yesterday, we were tired. Drained. But in a good way. We forced ourselves to not nap during the day. Dan did laundry. I uploaded photos, cooked for the boys, ran errands. When we finally dropped into bed, we immediately fell asleep. I slept on my left side for 8 hrs straight without moving at all.

Today, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Then we went to the Superbowl Superstore. Dan and the boys are looking for Patriot jerseys. They are pretty scarce. My phone is finally charged. My Africa clothes are washed and dried and re-packed for my next trip - probably June, but possibly an E3 training trip squeezed in between now and then! Right now I'm working on a slide show, complete with video clips. Wish me luck. I'm also putting together a LetterPop newsletter. Trying to keep it to one page. Tonight I have rehearsal with the worship team. I'm looking forward to seeing them all!

Tomorrow, well, tomorrow I'll have more to say about Burundi. Remind me to tell you about Odette - I met her our last day at the last place we stopped to share.

A New Blog

One of my favorite bands EVER has a brand new blog. Click the pic to check it out!

Burundi

This trip to Burundi has been life-changing in so many ways. Over 1 million people living in Bujumbura, the capital. It is literally overflowing with people of all ages. The city itself is a juxtaposition of Biblical living conditions and big-city influence. It is surreal when you step off the paved road to a deeply rutted, muddy road, lined with kiosks which look similar to American outhouses - slats of wood nailed together into a tiny, weather-beaten building from which wares are sold or public telephones are housed. Goats and chickens, people dressed in African garb, barefoot, filthy, ragged orphans, school children in uniforms, businessmen carrying cell phones, all walk together down the roads, dodging motorbikes, carts loaded with produce, bicycle taxis and armed soldiers dressed in blue, carrying AK47's. The crowds can be overwhelming. There is a very earthy smell - you sort of get used to it - actually, you sort of start smelling the same way - so it's manageable while you're here, although it makes your toes curl up when you get off the plane and smell it!

We boarded a series of flights, beginning at 1pm on Saturday in Bujumbura, Burundi. Flew thru Nairobi, Kenya. Then on to London. We're in Chicago right now, waiting for our final flight to Phoenix. There is snow on the ground outside, but the airport is uncomfortably warm. I just sent Dan out to hunt and gather. I'm ready for an ice-cold venti iced tea lemonade from sbux.

While waiting in the airport in Kenya, Dan and I found a relatively quiet spot to sit and rest. I was so tired - physically and emotionally - I felt like crying and sleeping at the same time. But I didn't. We ate "pizza" and drank coca cola. Relived a few comical moments on the trip. Dreamed about future visits. Africa gets under your skin. It's so multi-sensory there. Back home we go back to safe and sanitary and orderly with lots of personal space. But lying awake at night, Africa calls you back. The faces and hearts of the people are unforgettable. The passion of the worship shakes you up - makes you wonder why we even bother to have "singing-time" in our church services.

Baptism in the Lake

Today is Friday. We were all invited to attend a baptism service for those who prayed to receive Christ this week who are a part of Bishop Independance's new church plant. It was an amazing, unforgettable experience. It is difficult to describe the sights and sounds and smells. Having baptism at the lake is definitely multi-sensory, let alone multi-cultural! We all lined up at the water's edge. Those being baptized put on white robes. There were several from our team who were assisting Independance with the baptizing - Auzelio, Jim, Troy, Mike. After a time of worship, a short message by Independance, and prayer, the baptizers waded out about 50 yds from shore. Then those being baptized joined them in groups of five. As each one was dunked then brought up out of the water, there was a lot of cheering and celebration from the crowd. The baptizees (?) would be greeted with hugs and cheering and big bouquets of wild flowers. All during the baptism time, the crowd was singing songs over and over again, accompanied only by a non-stop drum beat. These Burundi drummers are tireless! When the last Burundi had been baptized, much to our surprise, Joan, one of our team members from Orlando, waded out into the water and asked Auzelio to baptize her. Evidently, she was baptized as a child and had never been re-baptized to symbolize her own personal faith in Christ. And as it turns out, after sharing the Gospel daily, multiple times, she realized that she had never personally prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. So Auzelio prayed with her to receive Christ, then he baptized her - talk about a powerful moment! It was definitely an over-the-top experience. I promise I'll have video uploaded as soon as I get back to the U.S. - you'll want to see the celebration!

Happy Birthday to Michael

I imagine the Burundi power plant to resemble a clever contraption, similar to something the Professor on Gilligan's Island would rig up. The power here is unreliable, especially at night. Last night I was attempting to blog about our day. I was in the lobby. Dan was in a meeting. Most people had gone to bed. Then all of a sudden, without warning, the lobby went absolutely pitch black. It's funny how disoriented you can become in a matter of seconds when there is no light at all. I quickly started searching through the pictures on my computer and came up with one that was very bright - lots of white space and sunlight...I turned the laptop upside down and used it as a flashlight to guide me to my room. About 15 min later the generator was running and power was restored. Internet stayed off so I scrapped the blog and went to bed.

My main objective in blogging last night was to be certain to wish my son, Michael, a Happy Birthday! He was born 18 years ago on January 25. We drove 100 mph (literally) to the hospital, checked in to my room, waited for the doctor, then Michael decided it was time to be born without the presence of the doctor. He was so tiny - 6 lbs, 11 oz, 18-3/4 inches long. Now he's all grown up and is a wonderful young man, full of love for God and family and friends, a man with a missionary's heart, a servant, and a great big brother to Steven! Michael, we love you so much. We'll be home soon to celebrate - - hope you have an awesome day!!!

Pastor Hurbert

Our church site is turning out to be one of our favorites ever. Both the mother church pastor and the church plant pastor are so passionate about reaching the lost. They are both very humble and seemingly tireless. After yesterday's rain and massive amounts of mud, my white Keds were caked with thick mud. When I arrived today, Pastor Hurbert noticed my dirty shoes and was appalled. He speaks a limited amount of English but I thought he was trying to say that I needed to wash my shoes. Well, at the end of the day, back at the hotel, he insisted that I remove my shoes and give them to him so that he could wash them and bring them back tomorrow. In my mind, that's the equivalent of washing my feet. He is truly a servant. I've been watching him interact with the people that we meet. He is sincere, kind, friendly, a passionate proclaimer of truth, and very hands-on. In my limited experience, he's the best mission point pastor I've ever worked with on a mission trip. Now, hopefully he returns with my shoes in the morning - I hope he wasn't trying to tell me that he's planning to burn them, which is what I was considering doing when I got home!

Internet is Sketchy

I'm trying to post every day - however, internet isn't always available at our hotel. Two computers in the lobby and many guests trying to share the internet connection - very slow, almost impossible to upload photos.

Great news - after our first full day of ministry (Monday) we had 1289 first time professions of faith - 2600 gospel presentations were made in neighborhoods surrounding the new church sites!! Here's a pic of our church planting team. Pastor Hurbert is on the far right. To his left is the mother church pastor. Dan is the muzungu in the middle. John Apostle to Dan's left. Simon is final left. Last guy on left got switched to a different team.

The pastor at our new church is wonderful. He is a great speaker and is great with the people. His name is Hurbert. I am working with a translator named Simon. Super nice guy. Just finished his bachelor's degree at a seminary in Kenya. Will be moving to Uganda soon to do some missions work then he hopes to get his master's degree in the U.S. Dan's first translator's name was John Apostle. As you might guess, Dan could absolutely not remember his name. He spent the whole first day calling him John Baptist.

I attended the President's Prayer meeting at his home on Sunday evening. He led worship on 3 songs. A gospel choir sang off and on for 3 hours. We had dinner. I sat next to a Burundi Parliament member. Too bad he spoke zero English and I speak less than zero French.

It rained really hard this morning. So hard that we couldn't leave the hotel until it let up a little. Since we're working in the suburbs of Bujumbura, we have paved roads to drive on, but the roads we walk on during the day are unpaved. Today they were slippery and muddy. Lots of fun puddles to jump in. I had a death-defying experience - we were following someone to their home to share the gospel with her whole family. We came to an elevated area - there was a solid wall on my left...there was a shoe-width path running parallel with the wall...to my immediate right was a huge pit - about half a swimming pool - filled with water and uh, corncobs, and, well, trash, and other things not to ever be spoken of again. Anyways, I literally had to hug the wall to my left and put one foot directly in front of the other so I wouldn't fall to my right. My translator later said he wished he had taken my picture. I guess I was a pretty comical sight.

I'll try to post a lot more photos tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Sunday worship services

Today each team met for worship at the Mother churches - the churches that will be planting or "birthing" a new church this week. We went with Bishop Bosco to a Church of God. The service lasted nearly 3 hours. It was amazing. We sang songs with the worship team. We DANCED our way through a 10 minute song - definitely an aerobic workout. The choir led worship on several songs. People were called forward if they wanted prayer for salvation. People were called forward if they needed prayer for healing. They took up two offerings - one for tithes, one for the brand new church being planted. Bosco preached his heart out - since he's a Bishop, he's more of an overseer of many churches so to have him preach there today was a treat for the congregation and for us!!

We are still waiting for some luggage to arrive. Dan's missing his clothes and all our food for lunches. Ray & Mary were missing all their luggage but two of their bags arrived this morning on the 1 daily flight from Nairobi - (Bujumbura isn't a hot destination yet) - a guy named Dee is missing all his luggage. He's surviving on borrowed clothes and snacks. I don't even want to speculate about socks and underwear...

Tonight, Dan and I and Ray and Mary and Mike Talley will attend the Presidential prayer and worship service at the President's home. I'm really looking forward to it. The last time Dan was in Burundi, he attended the service and said it was really great. Later this week, Herve's parents have invited us to dinner at their home. And possibly Tuesday evening Dan and I will visit Independence's church. He still wants me to come speak at a women's conference at his church. We'll see about that!

1st Day In Burundi

Burundi is impossibly green and beautiful. It is literally on the shores of Lake Tangyanika (sp?) which is a massive lake that actually has a huge crocodile population in it. I'm pretty sure the fish we had for dinner was caught there pretty recently. Dinner was great. Fresh avocados, rice, fresh fish with a gourmet, lemony, creamy sauce. Fresh, tiny, lemony bananas made the perfect dessert. It rained really hard this afternoon - maybe a 20 minute rain - the raindrops were each like little buckets, soaking the foliage and cooling us down. Our room overlooks a beautiful grassy area with a small glimpse of the lake. We sat on our little balcony and soaked in the fresh breeze and felt almost like we were on vacation!

We spent quite a bit of time this afternoon with the pastors and church leaders involved in the church-planting process this week. We've re-connected with our Burundi friends whom we worked with in Rwanda in September '07 - Bishop Bosco, Bishop Independence, Herve. Then, as an added, fabulous surprise, my translator, Emmanuel (from Rwanda - the one who gave me a cow), showed up to join the translator team! He rode on a bus for 8 hours to get here from Rwanda.

Tomorrow we will break into our assigned teams and join worship services at the mother churches. Then we will travel to our brand new church sites and meet with the nationals we will work with this week during our door-to-door evangelism campaign. Should be a great day!

Oh yeah, one last thing, we discovered a frog in our room earlier today. It hopped around quite happily then disappeared behind the dresser. So, if you think you're imagining faint screaming sounds in your sleep, yes, it's probably me!

Internet service is slow - software instructions are all in French, i.e., Word, etc. I went to edit a paragraph and had to guess which words meant cut & paste!

Testing, Testing, 123

Blogging live from London's Heathrow Airport. Testing out our technology capabilities. Cell phone is working. Camera is working. Internet is working. I do believe I'll be able to blog regularly while in Burundi. My goal is daily. I'll really try!

Sitting here chatting with Mike Talley, Steve, Liz, and Carol, just part of our North American team going to Burundi. We had a lot of delays getting here. We were supposed to leave Phx at 3pm. We left after 4. Landed in Chicago. Rushed over to our London flight. It was pushed back 2 hours. Our plane would have been 1/2 full, however, 2 other London flights were cancelled earlier in the day so we ended up taking on all those passengers and we had to wait for the catering company to stock the plane with more food. We then sat on the runway waiting to leave along with all the other delayed planes (due to weather). Then there was a medical emergency and EMT's were called in to assist a passenger. We left after 2 hours on the runway. So, now we're in London, waiting to board Kenya Airways, heading to Nairobi. We'll then transfer to one final plane to fly into Bujumbura. We are all very excited about what God will do this week in Burundi. We can't wait to work together, worship together, share stories together, laugh together, and celebrate God's incredible outpouring of grace together!!

BTW, Starbucks in London doesn't have Iced Tea Lemonade. They don't even have any fruit flavored syrups. In fact, I don't even think they have iced tea. Only hot tea. And hot chocolate. I went with the latter. Made me thirstier. Oh well. I'll go buy an $8 bottle of water now!

Happy 2nd Anniversary to AJ

"AJ" is Dan's nickname for Alyssa & Joshua. We celebrated their 2nd Wedding Anniversary tonight with a delectable dinner at Carraba's! Dinner was really delicious - the salads were fresh and crisp and cold with giant homemade croutons and crunchy veggies and wonderful dressing. Dan & Joshua ordered wood-fired pizzas. Both were really good. Alyssa ordered the trout - Joshua couldn't keep his fork away from Alyssa's plate! Steven had chicken parmesan with garlic mashed potatoes. I had chicken with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and goat cheese along with cavatelli matriciana - super good! We splurged and ordered three desserts - mine was the prettiest!

I kept trying to get a picture of AJ with real smiles, looking at the camera. No such luck.

Free Rice

My good friend, Audra, has this posted on her Krellfish blog. I took the challenge, thought I'd play for a couple of minutes, but found myself playing for almost an hour. This is a great way to test/stretch your vocabulary and help feed the hungry around the world!

You can read all the details at www.FreeRice.com. Basically, you play a simple game which tests your vocabulary prowess, one word at a time. For each word that you correctly define (it's multiple choice), FR donates 20 grains of rice through the United Nations to end world hunger.

Click on the banner to start playing...

Check Out Team Berryman Website

I've been busy designing our Team Berryman Website this week. I've got to tell you - all the action is in the sidebars! I hope that you'll take some time to check out each section - if you click enough times, you will have joined our team, read a devotional, connected with some of my favorite sites, watched a video, read our newsletters, applied for a passport, and shared the Gospel at least once!

Seriously, check it all out - then give me constructive feedback - I want this site to be informative, encouraging, equipping, and focused on the role we all can play as missionaries, sharing the Gospel with the world!!

You can go directly to our website by clicking HERE or via the link in the sidebar under the Team Berryman heading.

Reading

I love to read. Growing up I loved to read. I would spend hours each day being lost in the world of Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Joy Sparton, Rosamund Du Jardin...the list is really endless. I still have a lot of books from childhood and I've saved just about every book from my own children's childhood. I also have a nice-sized collection of Reader's Digest condensed books - I've read most of them - some I've read and re-read several times. But, lately, it seems like it is more and more difficult to carve out time for reading. Simply sitting down to read seems lazy, non-urgent, almost sinful. I tend to read for a short while right when I get in bed. But I find my mind wandering, not settling down, not focusing on the words on the pages. I read a phrase then spend 10 minutes daydreaming myself into a totally different world and topic and when I reluctantly pull back into the present, I've got to find my place in the book, backtrack a little to get some context, then go forward 'til the next daydreaming episode. Eventually, I wake up with my head on the book, glasses still on, and I put the book on the nightstand, vowing to try again the next night.

I'm hoping to re-capture this enjoyable pastime from my childhood in the coming months. It's a part of my creative self that has been dormant for far too long.

10 Questions for the New Year

I found this on Nancy Leigh DeMoss's website. I heard Nancy speak at a conference a couple of years ago. She was dynamic and very real and extremely humble. Click HERE to go to her website for resources, devotionals, radio broadcasts, etc.

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. “Consider your ways!” (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It’s so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we're going and where we should be going.

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God...

Rock Band

We have stumbled onto this fantastic secret - Rock Band. Everyone has heard of Guitar Hero by now, but we decided to go one step further this Christmas and branch out to RB. It is very similar to Guitar Hero, but instead of just playing songs on lead guitar for points, they've added drums, bass guitar, and vocals. My sons have it hooked up to the XBox 360. Here's the best part - and don't tell them I told you this - Michael and Steven actually play this TOGETHER. Dan and I realized a couple of days ago that our house has been so PEACEFUL for the past few weeks. I'll be cooking dinner, Dan will be working on the laundry, and the boys will be holed up in Michael's room working on songs together. Once in a while, I'll hear classic rock songs being SUNG by my sons, whereas they previously wouldn't be caught dead even humming a tune along with the car radio.

Chocolate Decadence

Mary Berryman sent me a recipe called "Chocolate Decadence" - she highly recommends it so you know it's gotta be divine! I decided to whip this up for the boys tonight. It was super easy.

I baked it in my brand new 9" x 2" professional baking pan which I purchased at Sur La Table at a remarkably good price.

Here it is, cooled, and inverted onto a glass plate.

I couldn't resist sprinkling it with powdered sugar - doesn't it look pretty?

We were fresh out of vanilla ice cream, so I was forced to substitute giant clouds of whipped cream instead. Dan and Mike each had 2 pieces. Steve, my non-dessert-eating child, took one bite and said he didn't hate it - I'll translate his jr hi dialect for you - that means it was really good! Tomorrow, Joshua and Alyssa will try it - hopefully we'll have some Breyer's vanilla ice cream in the freezer by then. Click this picture for the Chocolate Decadence recipe!

cre:ate

cre:ate - Annual Thinktank For Arts & Worship Leaders From Around The World

I attended this conference in 2007 for the first time. Of course, I already love Franklin, TN. So, the fact that I was at an incredible gathering of worship leaders from around the world - IN FRANKLIN - just made it absolutely perfect. It was at cre:ate that I was finally truly inspired to blog.

For more information go HERE.

Listen

I just posted this article at the Fellowship North website.

We all have friends and family members whose voices we instantly recognize when they call, even without verifying with caller ID. Their voices might not be particularly loud or raspy or have a fancy accent, they just have a familiar cadence and tone and a certain way of saying "hello." Is it possible to instantly recognize and know God's voice when He speaks directly to us? Is His voice loud like thunder? Or is it quiet like a gentle rainstorm? Is it raucous and rowdy like a sports announcer, or is it loving and tender like a mom singing a lullaby? When we gather for worship on Sundays, I believe an important part of our time together is the time we spend listening for God's voice...

Click HERE to read the rest of the article!

Packing for Burundi

We put the tree away last week. In its place, we've put 4 large suitcases. It's time to start packing for Burundi! Dan and I leave on January 17. My clothes are already packed. I've got a comprehensive packing list sent to me by a seasoned E3 campaigner named Ky whom I met on our last Rwanda campaign. Ky is my hero. If he went on Survivor, he would win.

You can see that Dan has already been working hard on packing the essentials for his trip. M & M's. Tins of butter cookies. Spare pair of underwear.

Click HERE for our Prayer Calendar for this trip. The trip leader is Mike Talley. This trip is Dan's final training trip with E3. After this, assuming he is able to complete the tasks competently, he will be an official full-time E3 Church Planter! No word yet on when my E3 training trips will begin. I anticipate an extremely busy year of music ministry at FNC, combined with at least 2 trips to Africa along with 2 training trips!

Michael and the Test

Michael took a 4 hour driving course today. It was all classroom stuff. They went through the Arizona Driver's Handbook line by line. Took several practice tests. Completed several worksheets. Reviewed everything together as a class. Then, the teacher administered the official AZ Driver's Permit test. Michael took this test about a year ago and missed 11 questions. As you might guess, that's not a passing score. However, today, he was really ready to learn the information and re-take the test.

As I was driving over to pick him up at the end of the class, my phone rang - it was Michael calling to tell me HE PASSED THE TEST!! We are all super-proud of him. He was really nervous. But HE DID IT! They gave him a waiver which he will present to the MVD on Monday and in return he will receive his Driver's Permit. Now it's time to clear the roads - you've been warned - and let him actually learn how to operate a vehicle. The state requires 25 hours of behind the wheel time. We're requiring 50 hours. Plus driving lessons. Plus a 'B' average at school.  Plus a driving contract. Plus...

The Best Orange

Dan spent his high school summers working in the family orange groves. His dad bought groves that needed cleaning up/fixing up. Dan spent every day from dawn to dusk cutting down orange trees, pruning orange trees, running miles of irrigation pipe, and spraying the groves with weed-killer, among other duties. He also learned how to drive at age 14 in the orange groves. His family also raised carnivorous snails in their garage which they then set free in the orange groves - these snails would eat the common brown snails (their cousins - eeww!) which loved to eat their oranges. The carnivorous snails didn't eat oranges, just snails. Ever since those days, Dan has had an unrequited love for farming/ranching. Unfortunately, we've never owned a home that was set on more than 1/4 acre. Even now, our home is on a city-sized lot. But now Dan is determined to grow some mighty citrus trees in the backyard for our enjoyment. He planted an orange tree last February. I didn't really notice it. I thought that it would take years for it to grow and bear fruit. I looked out the office window about 3 weeks ago and saw 4 huge oranges hanging from the tree. That same night, there was a freeze warning. So Dan rigged up a "greenhouse" for the tree. A blanket, a tarp (it's green) and a lamp. It seems to be working so far. Then a couple of days ago, Dan picked an orange for me to try. It was absolutely wonderful. The best orange ever. Meaty and juicy and sweet and tart. Perfect!

Apple Pie

Saturday afternoon I decided to bake an apple pie.
I wanted to try out a new recipe.
I bought the pie crust (good old Pillsbury) but everything else was completely from scratch. I followed the recipe exactly. Piled up the apples in the crust. Lots and lots of apples. Added the crumbly topping. Put it in the oven at 375. As it baked, it smelled absolutely divine. When I checked on it after 30 minutes, I noticed a slight puddle of overflowing liquid - combination of butter, sugar, apple juice, etc. forming on the bottom of the oven. So, I pulled the pie out, put it on a jelly roll pan and put it back in the oven. A few minutes later, I noticed that smoke was starting to fill the house then the smoke alarm sounding screeching. I opened all the doors and windows. Kept baking the pie. The alarm eventually stopped. The smoke cleared out. And I took a luscious, golden brown pie out of the oven. I sliced one perfect slice, then went to scoop it onto a plate...the bottom crust was still totally raw. So, I put the slice back in the pie. Turned the oven back on, and stuck the pie back in the oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes. 5 minutes into the baking, the house again filled up with black smoke. 3 different fire alarms started screeching. I pulled the pie out of the oven. Turned it off. Turned on the toaster oven. Put the pie in there to finish baking. 10 minutes later, the smoke alarms again started screeching. I pulled the pie out. The beautiful crunchy topping was now slightly blackened. The bottom crust was still raw. I scraped off most of the topping, added a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream, and served it to Dan. He ate it. Didn't ask for more. I tasted it. It tasted like charcoal-scented, soggy apple mush. I threw the whole thing away. Used the Oven Cleaning feature on the oven for the first time.

Today, I started over. Started modifying the recipe.
Divided the huge amount of yummy apples into two separate crusts.
Used a jelly roll pan from the beginning to catch spills. Of course, there were no spills.

We ate apple pie for dinner. With whipped cream. Then we had apple pie for dessert. It was really, really good. Click the pic for the recipe!