Rachel Swanson (Liberia, Africa)
Family and Friends-
I know I said that I would try and write sooner, but I'm sure none of you thought this soon. I try not to be too predictable...:) Christie and I had some letters that needed to be typed out before our meeting at the Embassy. My parents keep asking me how travel in rainy season is going, and up until today it had been going fine. I guess these past couple months the rains been just teasing us, but it's getting serious about it's work as of these past couple days. Our usual walk to the Market where we catch a bus was completely flooded. (Water up to our waist on our usual bridge crossing. Christie and i didn't feel like wading through it since rumor has it a Boa snake and Croc often are seen fighting there...i can just see it...one month to go and i get eaten by a croc!...) We had to turn back, thinking our trip to town was over, but thankfully we caught a motor bike that took us to the bus junction. That ride consisted of getting off a couple times and wading through muddy water for a while. We knew we lived out in the bush, but now with transportation getting harder with the weather we are really feeling it. I guess all that is to say please pray that the rain won't detour the big steps we have these next couple weeks. In the States it would be no problem, but here it's a different matter. Monday and Tuesday it's very important for us to be able to reach town...but God is all knowing and everything will work out in His perfect plan. We are trying to get everything ready for the meetings and so far it's going smoothly. Pray that the man who's supposed to work on the birth certificates is doing his job. I will keep you all informed on our next steps.
thanks for the prayers,
Rachel
Rachel Swanson (Liberia)
Family and Friends-
I'm at a loss on how to catch you all up on the last events of the past couple months. The Lord has been faithful in so many ways and I know that is through the prayers of all of you. This e-mail is going to have to be brief, but I do want to be able to write soon and tell you all that is and has been on my heart.
Christie and I both have been on a journey these past serveral months...almost six as of now. We have experienced things that both of us hadn't planned on..but thankfully God had. I know I was vague in my last e-mail on everthing that was going on at Dixville, and this e-mail probably won't be any clearer, but I'm writing for a specific purpose and that is prayer. Christie and I wouldn't be where we are right now if it weren't for God and for all of your prayers. Pastor Mike (PM) is not acting as Director of the orphanage now. Praise God. ACFI wasn't able to take legal action because there wasn't any proof. We went to the Doctor 11 days after it had happened and by that time it was too late to get any proof, and all that the Doctor was able to say was that there was evidence that she had been raped. ACFI has been through a trying last few months, but I think God has placed some people that will be good staff. Alot of changes are taking place and I know God is doing a work.
Along with this e-mail, I am going to forward one that Christie sent out a few weeks ago. As you will read, God has put a special love in Christie's heart for a particualar girl at the home, Redeemed. Christie was really trying to hear God's voice in it and felt that God was speaking to her to have more of an impact in her life than just an acquointance for a few months. She is bordering the line of being too old to adopt, and so these past few months we've been trying to seek out different options. We are trying to get her a Visitor's Visa and it's amazing how God opened the door to pursue this avenue. The thing is we are against a time dead line. We are trying to get birth certificates done this week. (Also for another girl, Naomi) We have to have them done by Monday in order to get a passport. Our Visa appointment with both girls is this coming Tuesday. We are supposed to have both the birth certificate as well as the passport by then! With God all things are possible. We do have a secondary appointment at the Embassy just in case we don't get the passports on time. The lady, Marcey, who want to help us with the Visa's, is leaving at the end of this month. Please pray that we will be able to get everything worked out with her on this end before she leaves. It will be nothing short of a miracle if Redeemed is on the flight home with us. Pray for God's favor in this. Continual favor from God, the Embassy, ACFI...etc..
God has done a work already in this trip and I know that He can do anything. The Visa interview dates will either be on the 19th of the 23rd of this month.
There is so much to say and I wish I could explain the whole situation to all of you in person instead of over e-mail. I will be able to soon!
Again, I just stress the need of prayer. I hope to keep you better updated in the future. Thank you for all your love and support.
Rachel
P.S.
A HUGE thanks to all of you who participated and helped send that package over to me....it was such a treat and i got it exactly on my b-
day. All the letters were such an encouragement...i was craving hand written letters and you should have seen my eyes when i pulled out a whole stack! Carlos, your puppet was a hit with the kids. Thank you. I don't think i'll be able to say thanks enough times. Your controbution was like a gift of love and came at a much needed time. (ya know..it had been like four months since I had had Hot Tamales....Africa is rough on me.) :):)
Silent Auction This Sunday
Dear SBC Family,
As you already know this Sunday morning is a Celebration Service out on the south lawn at 9:00. However, it is also the final day for bids on our SILENT AUCTION. The bidding will open at 8:30 am and the items will be outdoors. When the Celebration Service is concluded around 10:00, you can view the items and if you desire, make your final bid as you make your way toward the brunch. The monies will be collected and winners announced sometime during the eating time. A note of clarification; all of the monies raised for these items will go towards the ministry of The Pines, the orphanage in South Africa that our ministry team will be going to this fall. They will not be used for individual expenses. Thank you for your involvement in this worthy ministry.
I also want to remind you that this is a Friend Day this Sunday as we encourage you to invite your unsaved friends and family.
See you Sunday-LW
Pastor Pat
Tonight and Sunday
Dear Church Family,
Pastor wants to remind you that our missionaries to Portugal, Cal & Joyce Voelker, will be with us tonight during the prayer meeting. Please plan on coming to hear how the Lord has blessed them this year in their missionary field at their school.
We hope you are planning on coming this Sunday morning for the OUTDOOR CELEBRATION SERVICE AT 9:00. It will be followed with a brunch. We would like each family to bring a "brunch item" - whatever you like to eat at a brunch in the middle of the morning! Stu will have scrambled eggs, drinks, plates and silverware. Bring your food into the fellowship hall when you first come and then join the church family on the south lawn. If you have lawn chairs, please bring them or blankets on which you can sit and eat. Pray for wonderful weather and a great worship time together. There will not be any children's church for the 1st through 3rd grade, but the other two younger groups will meet in the church.
There are no Sunday school or Community Groups or service Sunday night.
See you in the yard, Lord willing,
Judy
Ava Johnson
Happy 15 month birthday Ava (one hour early)!
Ava and I have officially been home for an entire year! Besides one night in the hospital and few other nights here and there, we have been HOME! How GREAT is our God!
We are also going on vacation next week for the first time since Ava's been born. At least this is the first vacation where doctors, hospitals, and sickness are not involved (God willing!). We are so excited!
Ava is loving summer and we are loving it too! Ava is changing so much lately. She now weighs over 16 pounds (yes, you read correctly) and is getting tall and looking more and more like a toddler. She's learning the 'Itsy Bitsy spider' and can now get down from sitting all by herself (without falling backwards). I don't think she will ever crawl (even though she could if she wanted to), keeping her hands free is just too important to her. Honestly, it's just fine with me that she's not walking or crawling. She gets around just fine and I get to have a 'baby' for that much longer. She's still content sitting and playing on my lap (most of the time) and I love that. She has about 10 teeth and we are looking forward to her eye-teeth coming in all the way. Poor thing has been teething for about 3 months straight.
She's taking little baby steps in her eating. She took a couple tastes of chocolate pudding the other day voluntarily and when I say tastes, that means she got a little on the inside of her lips and swallowed it without gagging or throwing up. Yep, it's a slow process and the steps are small, but we get excited over EVERY one!
Thank you for your continued prayer and encouragement!
Rejoicing day by day!
Nate and Maam Beckman - June 2007
Dear Praying Friends,
Greetings from Ohio. We arrived home on May 5, and the last month has gone by very quickly. Sorry that we have not communicated earlier, but we have been without a computer up until just two days ago. We have wanted to keep you all updated on everything that is going on, but without a computer it is sort of impossible to tell you all we do not have a computer, if you know what I mean.
We praise the Lord for all that He has done and is doing in our lives, especially for the opportunity to serve both Nate’s mom and dad during this time. Mom is fading gradually day by day. Maam and I are helping to take care of Mom, so that my dad can do his best at keeping up with his own job requirements. It has been our honor to be able to serve in this way.
As far as her condition goes, Mom is very weak and can no longer stand or walk on her own, so we help her get around, help in feeding her meals as
well as whatever else she needs to do. The intense treatments that she had and the heavy medications that she currently takes have affected her ability to speak and her memory. She does very little talking now, but there are many times that we can tell she would like to say something. She cannot really get it out anymore.
We do appreciate your prayers on Mom’s behalf, and ask you to keep it up. Please pray that God will continue to mold Maam and me, so that we can
be the encouragement to my parents that they need. Please continue to pray for Dad also. We have been here for a month, while he has been taking care of her at this level for close to a year now. Dad is extremely tired in every way. Pray that God will watch over and protect him. It is amazing how God gives His Amazing Grace just at the time we need it most. It has definitely been God’s grace that has sustained Dad during this time.
Originally we planned to leave Thailand at the end of July; so when the call came to hurry home to be with Mom and Dad, we had to really get into gear packing up our house, tying up loose ends, paying bills ahead for a year, and turning the ministry back over to our coworkers, Ed and Darlene
Weber. It was one of those situations where when we sat down in our seats on the plane we said to one another, “Hope we didn’t forget anything.”
It was a blast filling in for the Webers in Kabinburi while they were on furlough. God did a lot of great things during that time, and it was not easy saying goodbye to people we love. Please continue to earnestly pray for the new believers in Kabinburi. Pray for their growth and that God will continue to do His work in that needy area.
Please also pray for the Webers. They are dealing with some overload. After we left, our short termer, Amanda Simmers, also went home. Also another Thai girl who worked with us in the ministry decided to leave. The ministry went from having four teachers to having two teachers, Ed and Darlene. Darlene is also pregnant with their third child, due in September/October. I know they would appreciate your prayers.
Thank you for all you do for us. Please continue to pray for Maam and me. We need it. Pray for strength . . . physical, emotional and spiritual. We will continue to do our best to keep you informed on what is going on.
Yours In Christ,
Nate and Maam Beckman
Baptist Mid-Missions, Thailand