3 weeks & Counting..

Our team is gearing up to leave by going through different training sessions. Last night we were honored to have Pastor Carla Ives from Heart Cry International (www.heartcyinternational.org) join us on our Skype call to train us on Child Evangelism. What a GREAT teacher and her passion for children was so inspirational!
Next week we will be joined by Cissy Eldridge of Mercy Ministries who will train us further on prayer ministry and spiritual warfare. She has prayed over many women who have come through Mercy and seen great deliverances.
The last week we will be joined by Elmira Burke, a nurse and Ethiopian Adoptive mom who will train us on Blood Born Pathogens as this is mandatory for us to be able to work in the HIV orphanages we will be visiting.

Beth, Simon and I held an extremely successful Yard Sale this month in order to raise money for our trip. It was like a flea market at my house! I went up for prayer for this yard sale at my church and while praying for me, I saw an image of God turning over a bowl and shaking out the body of Christ (people) to come help and boy did they turn out! Hannah, Cheryl, Jessica (who flew in from CO!), Sarah, Jenny, Jake, Mike, Simon, Chris H., Evelyn, Chris F., David, and Tarah (who was 9 months pregnant!). We had so many donations that both my front, back yard and shed were covered with items and people who came to shop. We raised $2400! It was such hard work, but so much fun! I loved meeting all my neighbors who came out and getting involved in the community. Chris, Simon and I prayed over an older woman who had had cancer on her voice box and it had been removed. She was believing for God to restore her voice. She sobbed as we prayed for her and it impacted those that waited for us to help them as we prayed for her. (I tried to help someone before praying for her and she grabbed me and told them they could wait!!! That's how desperately she wanted prayer.) We also met a family who was fostering 2 teenage boys. Simon played some football with them and gave one of them a set of roller blades we had as well as the football they were playing with. The foster mom said that they had gone to visit one of the boy's mom and when they showed up his mom and all his siblings had moved away without even telling him. So, they were out yard sale shopping in hopes of getting his spirits back up. He was so blessed by the gifts he received spontaneously from a total stranger. To me this was a small scene of what can happen with the young orphan boys in Africa who have nothing at all. What stories people have when we take the time to get to know them! It really encouraged me to open up my home to this community more..and it is a testimony as to why I decided to live in a transitional neighborhood like this.

Thanks to all of you who donated items, came out to shop or have given money for this trip! In the next few days our team will be working on a puppet show and sign language for songs to share with the kids. They LOVE music, especially music with hand motions and other ways of communicating.

The pictures above are of our successful yard sale! Everyone has their passports ready to go on this trip, so that's a PRAISE for sure! We are reading the following books to prepare our hearts and minds, "Red Letters" by Tom Davis, "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere, "Always Enough" by Heidi Baker, "Intercessory Prayer" by Dutch Sheets and others.

Thanks for your continued prayers!