We have made it through our first full day.. Yay! Today we got the chance to sit in classes and begin to really get to know students.The first class that I sat in on today was an RMPS, which is some what like a religious studies class, where they are learning and discussing who Jesus is/was and what it means to lead by example. This teacher did a great job of stressing the Jesus wasn’t just a man, myth, or a has been. He allowed the students to answer a series of questions but pulled them back to truth while they dissected scripture such as the story of the Feeding of the 5000 found in Matthew and the story of Jesus bringing Jairus’ daughter back to life in Mark. I found this class very interesting as did the students. They were very interested into what their teacher was going to say next. Please be praying for the team as we will cover who Jesus really is to these classes next week. Relationships are already beginning to be built as kids are inviting us to go to the Town Center and come to their Musical Concerts. What a praise that we are accepted and welcomed like we are and a praise that Christ has given us this opportunity. Please just continue to be in prayer for this team and those who in which we come in contact with.
I would also like to share that Karen yesterday told us that before she started this job where she is building relationships and sharing class with students that she had a dream. A dream of just an empty harvest field. She then quoted Mathhew 9:37, “Then he said to His disciples, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” She told us that she believes that we are an anwsered prayer to help plant and help grow this beautiful harvest. Man, God is good!!! 🙂
Untill next time….

Rosie:
Like Alex Jane, I spent my day at the high school. The first class I sat in on was Higher Politics, which is a class for six years (the highest grade at the school), and discusses political structure, theory, and examines scottish, british, and americans politics. Being a political science minor, I really enjoyed this class. My next class was an RMPS class, but it was for fourth years, so their theme is crime and punishment instead of religion. Lunch was a great opportunity to get to talk to the students and find out about them, what they enjoy, and to invite them to the biblestudies and church events we are involved in. I also got to talk to a couple of the girls more indepth this afternoon during the interhouse games. Please pray that we will continue to forge relationships and connect with the youth, and that God would give us wisdom and the words we need to answer questions and lead some of the studies that are going on.

Taylor:

I, too, spent the day in the school, where I sat in on a number of classes. I began the day with the RMPS class for the second-year students. In this class, we discussed bits from last week’s lesson looking at some of the miracles performed by Jesus–in particular the feeding of the five-thousand, the expulsion of demons into the pigs, and the healing of the blind man. From there, we got into looking at the people that Jesus angered. We read Matthew 21:12 and 13 and then watched a video clip from the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Discussion came next where we talked about the meaning of the passage and the similarities/dissimilarities between those two verses in Matthew and the video clip.

From there, I had a break–where I used that time to familiarize myself with the high school. I ended that break in the Social Studies base (teacher’s lounge) where I enjoyed some tea and carrot cake (both were really quite splendid!). I next went to the RMPS class for fourth-year students where we discussed crime and punishments for those crimes. I stayed in that room for the next period which was geography for the ‘freshly-moved to’ second year students. The students were working on reports for an upcoming field trip to the local park. I finished the day in the gym helping with the inter-house games–basketball in particular.

In every case, I was able to meet students and faculty, and begin to build relationships with the students. That said, I would like to ask for prayer that relationships with these students and faculty can continue, and that the hearts and minds of the students and faculty be opened and willing to hear what the three of us are here to offer. Thank you for the continuing prayers! God bless!!

We are here!! 🙂 We have finally made it to the lovely Scotland and it just wouldn’t be the right if we were not greeted with the typical Scottish weather. (In which we have already experienced three out of the four seasons with a little bit of hail, some sweet sunshine with a slight breeze, and then of course the chilly drizzly of a spring rain.) Our flights went very well and we even got sometime, while we waited in Newark, to get too know each other a little more before we started this amazing adventure as a team together. As we arrived in Glasgow this morning at around 7:35 am we wasted no time. We got to the Mackinnon’s with about an hour and a half of down time and then went straight to the local high school (Calderglen High School). I always love walking into that school because I see so many familiar faces. Faces of ones that have accepted Christ just this past October and then even some from the years before. Karen gave us a quick run around the school and showed us the classes that we would be teaching/helping in for the next two and a half to three weeks. We met many new faces, and of course, all were very welcoming and helpful. So tomorrow we will dive right in to many different ministry opportunities and start to build relationships with not only the students but also the teachers. Karen also shared with me some very good news this afternoon… Out of the 60 that stood up and made a profession of Faith this past October, she believes that 12 of them have taken then next step of obedience by being baptized and another six or seven are becoming more and more involved with in the church of Calderwood. What a Praise!! Walter had even said to me that even though they may not be over flowing in numbers… the youth that they have are growing spiritually and that alone is a praise. So please continue to pray for the hearts of all of those that we are going to be coming in contact with over the duration of this trip as well as those who have already accepted Christ. Please be in prayer that the Holy Spirit will open their hearts to what we have been sent to say, and in the same that we will dive in eagerly with obedience to share the Good News every opportunity that presents itself. We want to have no regrets and no “what ifs” because lets be honest… we do not have time for it. God is going to do amazing things and what a blessing it is to be apart of it 🙂
Until next time…

We have officially spent our first 3 days in the African bush! It’s been an interesting adjustment, to say the least. In the matter of a week, we have moved in with an African family, taken lots of bucket baths, blown lots of bubbles with precious kids, slept under the stars at night, and eaten lots of peanut butter sandwiches. We are thrilled to finally be out in the village, meeting sweet African women & children and attempting to show them a bit of the face of Jesus and His love!

This all sounds good and wonderful, and it certainly is. Living in obedience is definitely fulfilling, and it makes me love Jesus more. However, I can say with assurance that the life of a cross-cultural missionary is often less than glamorous. Maybe it goes without saying, but Erin and I have gotten a quick lesson in obediently serving Christ no matter what it may cost- and it has been a difficult lesson to swallow!

Sleeping under a mosquito net, power outages, attempting to speak a completely foreign language, and constantly getting stared at (constantly) become immediately frustrating when you add temperatures of over 100 degrees to the mix. Our patience, love, and grace have been tested in many ways in just the past 3 days. Even children have verbally opposed the Gospel to us. I have learned a lot about how selfish I am, and I have learned how great of a task it is to love people enough to come to them and share Christ right where they are. 2 mornings ago I woke up looking at a donkey 3 feet from my mat. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

My absolute favorite verse, Acts 20:24, became real to me in a whole new way this week:

“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

In this life, I’ve only been given one task from God- to tell others of the beautiful grace He has provided me with. We’re commanded to share it with others- but what will it take? I consider my life and comforts worth nothing to me, as long as it means testifying to what Christ has done for me. In a race, the runner is not always feeling absolutely superb, but the finish line is certainly worth the run. I’ve decided that, no matter how many times a rooster wakes me up in the middle of the night, getting the Good News to the Songhai people is 100000% worth it.

That being said, please pray for us. Pray that we’ll be able to adjust to the heat, miraculously learn a ton of language quickly, and that God’s sheep would hear His voice and be drawn to our compound. Pray that our bodies would adjust so that we can focus on our ministry rather than just trying to “beat the heat.” Praise Him that we have had such a welcoming host family here in the village, whom we share a compound with and interact with daily! We are so so so so thankful for your prayers!

Pray for Pastor Jason today as he preaches.  He has been off for two Sundays and has had a great vacation.  It will be exciting to hear him again.  Pray for clarity as he communicates what the Lord has laid upon his heart.

Please be in prayer for Pastor Jason today as he finishes up preparing for his message.  I am sure he had a great week of vacation.  You know when you come back from vacation there are lots of things to catch up on.  Pray that the Spirit guides him and energizes him as he prepares himself for tomorrows sermon.

Wow…what a powerful video that will lead you to pray in many ways.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/23007915]

Where do you fit in?

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/24581193]

Here are the names of some students that our college team is meeting with and sharing the Gospel with in East Asia this week.
Words from the field:
Our friend Simon has now heard the fully story in his language and still rejects it. We will get a chance to see him again this week. Pray that the story will be shared completely and clearly again and the Holy Spirit will soften his heart to the story.

Here is a list of people we already have appointments with:
Young, Bubble, Seven, Anly, Ivy, Vera,D d fly, Katrina
(girls above)
Jason, Week line, Xin xing, Jack
(guys above)

*Often East Asian students have odd English names.  They get to pick there own and many times the names they choose are not English names at all – i.e. DD fly and Week Line.

Today three of our college students have left to work as summer interns with Calderwood Baptist Church in East Kilbride, Scotland.  Alex Jane, Rosie, and Taylor will be co-laboring with our church partner focusing on youth.

For the month of June, they will be in the schools about every day sharing Christ in open assembly, classes and in conversations in the hallway.  Praise the Lord for the United Kingdoms that allow faith based activities in public schools.

Please pray for traveling mercies and a quick turn-over to get used to the time zone in Scotland.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will open up doors for spiritual conversations.

You know that time last summer when I took a 3-week French 101 class, and I almost drowned in notecards, and I was soon speaking basic French in my sleep? Try cramming that amount of information into your brain in one week. Erin & I have spent the last 4 days with our cawundiko (teacher), B, learning Zarma- and it has been sooooo much information! We are so so so thankful, however, that we have this opportunity. Because I have a notebook full of Zarma words, it will make the transition to Boubon so much easier. For instance, when someone asks where my bellybutton is, I’ll be able to show them because I know the words for “where” and “bellybutton.” Or, if someone tells me there is an unhappy hippo in the village, I’ll be able to run to safety rather than being trampled before I have time to pull out my handy-dandy Zarma-English dictionary and figure out what’s going on! So you see, we are very thankful for this week of language training.

B has been so sweet and incredibly patient. We have asked her question after question for 6 hours a day, and she still has patience even when I mix up the phrases “I’m hungry” (Ay harey) and “my ears” (Ay hangaey) at least 12 times a day (because I get hungry often). I’m so thankful for B!

So far, my favorite phrase to say in Zarma is “atinni atalata.” It actually just means Monday Tuesday, but it’s fun to say with an African accent. So, when I come back to the States, if I say some fun phrase but you don’t know what it means, don’t be impressed- I’m probably just saying a bunch of nonsense! My most-used phrase so far is definitely “bong londi,” which is brain, because my bong londi has often felt a bit heavy from all the new words inside of it!

Throughout the week, I have often found myself asking why on earth I am sitting in an un-air-conditioned room studying the days of the week in an African language. There are certainly times of frustration (especially when I can’t distinguish between ears and food). But when those moments come, I am reminded of the ultimate reason we are even on this continent, and I am encouraged to keep a grateful and enthusiastic heart. The call of Christ to share the Gospel with all nations is worth the work. It’s worth slaving hours over foreign languages and driving 14 hours in a hot car. It’s worth saving my money to even go on this trip. It’s worth missing family and friends back in the States. Although I do love to travel, I would not be in this country if the Songhai people did not need Christ. Why are we here? We are here to share the Gospel with an unreached people group, and it is certainly worth the work. And amidst the notecards and sweat, there is no place I would rather be than in the will of my Master bringing glory to His worthy Name.