Oh, the FAITH of a child!

The other day, while doing laundry at a laundromat, I needed to use the bathroom.

Nothing unusual.

But as I was going in, I couldn't figure out how to turn on the light.

Hmmmm....

I fiddled and pushed and pulled and did whatever else I could come up with to make the light switch turn on (it was pitch dark in that hallway and bathroom).

No success.

I ended up finding one of the employees to help me.

When we got back to the bathroom, there was another lady trying to figure out the light switch

Also no success.

All of a sudden, no idea why, the light went on and I let her go first.

When I came back later for my turn,

same thing.

I couldn't figure out how to turn on the light switch.

STRANGE!

THEN - Kylie, who was with me, came along and just RAN into the dark bathroom -

AND VOILA -

THE LIGHT WENT ON!!

BINGO!

The light-switch was a SENSOR and turned on when there was movement in the room.

Oh boy!

It took a child to just RUN IN THERE to get it to work.

No complicated - "Figuring-it-out-before-you-step-in" - kind of stuff.

And then it hit me:

THAT's what FAITH is all about!

God speaks to your heart,

You obey and "Run" -

No need to figure out the light before-hand

And AS YOU RUN

The light comes on!

God's provision flows

Be it strength

health

finances

whatever the "light" is that we need.

We've got to take the first steps into the dark sometimes

and TRUST God to take care of us!

Another lesson one of my children reminded me of.

Thank you, Kylie (who's been sick in bed today)!

"Now faith is confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;

it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

Hebrews 11:1

Kylie showing off one of her gifts my mom sent for her 8th birthday
that we celebrated with aunts/uncles and cousins a few days ago

In 4 days, I will take a plane to Germany to see my mother

 (who's in hospital at the moment with a broken femur - please pray for her!) and

5 days later

 2 more planes

to my beloved Uganda!

I will be traveling for 3 weeks

~ all by myself ~

As exciting as it is,

 not gonna lie

it's also a bit daunting.

Traveling to Uganda with Rich last year was SOOO good!!!

I wasn't supposed to go by myself on this trip, but it has just worked out that way.

And I feel I DO need to go and have peace about it!

I will be meeting up with different people all along to further plan and strategize about partnering to

"help, visit and care for the orphans and widows"

(definition of true religion according to James 1,27)

It does feel a bit like running into a dark room, though.

There are a lot of un-knowns,

lots of "stuff" could happen.

My health hasn't been the greatest.

Our USA-trip has been very taxing/tiring and I'm not exactly at the height of my energy levels.

Finances for the trip are only covered partially

I will need God's help MAJORLY in every.single.area !!! 

But here I come

RUNNING!

Extravagently LOVED by God

Who is the FATHER of the fatherless - the DEFENDER of widows!

Fully EXPECTANT for HIM to turn on every.single,light.that.I.will.need!

Youppieee!!!

AND - if you think of me - and Rich and the kids, too - please PRAY for all of us!

Rich will be driving from New York to Los Angeles with the kiddos and then fly home to NZ.

An Afternoon in New York City

First things first: the highlight of the afternoon - especially if you ask Kylie - was this - on Broadway: 

Kylie was mesmerized by the LIVE snakes that this guy was showing off to everybody - inviting people to take photos while holding one of them - for pay ('course!)  

Kylie kept sticking around, petting the snake again and again - until the guy just decided to put it on her (without pay) and telling everybody what a very brave girl she was (he didn't even ask our permission - oh well, too late - she loved it!!!)

Even Spongebob was there!!!

Here are some more photos from this afternoon - - -

WOW!

What a city!!!

It's INTENSE

INTERESTING

BUSY

CROWDED

NOISY

CRAZY

TOURISTY

MULTI-CULTURAL

GOOD TO VISIT -

 but are we ever glad we don't live here :)

No offense - we're just not city-people...

Taking the Metro - first time ever for our little ones

VERY EXCITING - especially for this lil guy!!!

Coming out of the Subway

Lots and lots of interesting things to see today - looking at the re-building of the World Trade Centre

All the cranes and work being done is fascinating to watch - in the background you can see one of the towers built more than half-way already

New York was definitely way too noisy for Shayden!! He was plugging his ears most the afternoon...

Hmmmmm...

What can I say???

Seen from a distance on a (free!!!) ferry-ride - trying to imaagine what early settlers might have felt coming into the city by boat -

Crazy sisters - enjoying the afternoon

No comment needed :)

Empire State Building in background

Musings while traveling

"Gonna see the White House!"

Those were the first words coming out of Shayden when he woke up yesterday.

Yup, we'd been to Washington, DC the day before - for the afternoon. Went to a couple of amazing Museums, saw the Capitol from a distance and as we were leaving, we hoped to see the White House.

Unfortunately there are a FEW things in the USA that can't be done by "drive-through" or "drive-by" - one of them being the White House. Oh well - we preferred to get back to Rich's brother and family to spend a little more time with them instead :)

We had such a wonderful time with them and also Rich's sister and family - camping together and celebrating Kylie's birthday!!!

Yesterday, while visiting friends in Pennsylvania, Shayden commented on the spread of raw veggies on the table with a sing-songy voice:

"We're having VEGGIE TALES! - Broccoli, Celery..."

Writing in the car - coming close to New York City now - can see the sky-line in the distance... gonna park at a campground and then planning on going in for a few hours to see the "Statue Liverty" - as Shayden calls it, after we taught him that it's NOT Superman - and a few other sites! 

Hysterical laughter and doughnuts

Sorry, but somehow my blog won't keep all the spaces/paragraphs I am writing when I publish. Trying to fix the problem... In the meantime, here's a lil update:

As we're nearing the end of our trip throughout the USA (just family from here), and I finally have some quiet moments in the car while Rich is driving - with a new laptop (yup, the other one gave up) and a fixed internet stick (was defective), let me share about the amazing few hours we've just had:

Last night, while visiting a friend and his family in Virginia (from a YWAM school 27 ago!!! - thanks so much, Tim and Lisa for a fabulous evening!!) , sharing about Orphans Know More, Shayden had an uncontrollable, hysterical laughing fit for about 10+minutes nonstop - not kidding!

It was the most refreshing thing that has happened in a while!

We were all cracking up with him, as he was obviously a bit on the tired side - and re-playing a "Goofy"-DVD in his mind, having pushed the "repeat" button of one particularly funny scene.

This little guy has humour like no-one in our family and laughs like no-one! What a gift he is!!!

This photo was taken this morning at the doughnut place - read on...

Later, shortly after arriving at the church parking lot, where we were parked for the night, a fuse blew and that meant no airconditioning for the hot night... Oh well, what's new?

Yesterday morning, we had detected a water leak in the campervan/travel trailer which led us to a leaky pipe - that we need to get fixed today - on our way to Washington DC.

So, no water, no toilet-use, no shower, and a hot, sticky night after a hot sticky day - (although most the day was spent in the airconditioned car, I've got to admit :)

This morning, as we were out of food/water for breakfast and couldn't possibly go to a supermarket the way we'd climbed out of our "beds" - sticky, icky, smelly - we decided that a stop at a near-by doughnut restaurant was in place - of course ONLY to use the bathroom and get a bit cleaned up... hehe

With less than $10 to our name (yup, we are in need of some BIG provision!), Rich made an order for doughnuts and drinks for the family ('xcept me, I can't handle the sugar and fat in those critters).

When it was time to pay, this gentleman who'd been sitting in the doughnut place when we walked in, intervened and insisted to pay the bill! WOW!!!!

Rich started telling him what we were doing and before this generous, kind-hearted man left the place, he gifted us with another whole tray of freshly baked, still hot - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - doughnuts, you guessed it!

Not only breakfast, but lunch today - YAY!!! Not the healthiest, I know, but at least Rich and the kids are happy!

We were all having to hold ourselves together not to start laughing out (too) loud!

How bad must we have looked - walking into that place????

Or was it just God's smile on us and a lil encouragement and treat - just at the right time?!!

Off now to get the trailer fixed and Kylie to the doctor (not the first doctor visit for our family) - - - before heading to the campground -

WHATA TRIP!

Kylie's blog

Kylie, with Leilani's help, is writing a blog during our USA trip. Here's the link.

We've been very busy - since arriving almost 3 weeks ago, we've only had 2 evenings that we've not been with people. It's full-on, intense, but we feel blessed by so many wonderful friends!

God is good!

We were in Redding yesterday, are in Eugene, Oregon, today and off to Portland tomorrow until Monday, when we continue on to Washington.

What a special treat today to drive through beautiful scenery!

What would YOU do???

IF

• You were the 7th child to your 22-year-old mother

• Your father was killed when you were in your mother's womb

• You had to be taken to be raised by your grandmother, because your mother just couldn't take care of you/feed you

• You were raised in the slums by your grandmother, along with about 24 siblings/cousins most of whom had lost their parents to HIV/AIDS - in a tiny "house"

• You spent most of your childhood fending for yourselves, trying to find food at the garbage dump where the "rich people" dump their trash.

• You came to know JESUS at the age of 13 and became part of a good church.

• Your grandmother died when you were 14

• You were 16 and started seeing little children all around you that had NOBODY to care for them, feed them, love them???

What would YOU do???

Praise did what she felt Jesus would do:

Take them and love them and trust God to provide for all of them.

Needless to say, 10 needy children later,

left on the streets and struggling to survive,

she PRAYED - PRAYED HARD!

After a long time of prayer, these words came to her mind:

youth having mission

Going to an internet cafe, she typed in the words "youth mission" and guess who she ended up finding???

The Youth With A Mission leader for Uganda,

Who is the man who started

Orphans kNOw More

Need I say more???

This precious 24-year-old single girl with her 10 children have been living with his family (with already 21 children - 16 adopted) since January of this year.

This is what she says:

"At the moment, I am praying for my own land so that we may build a home there and have sufficient space to grow food to feed all the children, and even help more children. I have a vision of building a school for abandoned, orphaned and disadvantaged children and spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We may not be able to do what Praise is doing.

But we can do something

That's why we're doing what we're doing at the moment.

Fundraising is neither fun nor easy,
but we will continue to travel and share

and PRAY

for GOD to open hearts

so that Praise can continue loving and caring for her children

and many more people like her, too!

They do what they can do,

let US do what WE can do!!!

Every dollar given (go to the website above, marked "Praise") goes straight to Uganda to help this beautiful ministry.

Sorry, got no photo of her family at the moment.

Volcanic ash - just for us??!

What a MIGHTY GOD we love and serve!

On the 2 1/2 hour drive to Auckland airport, both Rich and I felt shattered. Besides both being exhausted from a very intense 2 months without hardly a day off, and a huge push to get out of the house, I was feeling sick and the thought of flying for 13 hours made me feel even weaker.

We both honestly didn't know how we were going to make it ~ ~ ~

I told Rich that all I was longing for was lying in my bed (with fresh sheets) in my clean home.

On arrival at the airport, when I saw the sign on the departure display that our Qantas flight was cancelled ~ due to volcanic ash coming over from Chile ~ I felt relieved ~ probably the only one at the airport ~ hehe!

It was early Monday morning and as we were amongst the first travelers with cancelled flights, we were able to re-book a flight that same night with Air New Zealand. The VERY friendly staff also immediately booked us into one of the finest hotels in Auckland, paid our taxi there and back and 2 meals - or better: FEASTS!

Just those extra few hours of rest - in a nice, clean, luxurious bed - were gonna make all the difference, I knew - to both Kylie's ears and mine, as well as to Rich!

By the way, when Kylie woke up that morning, the first thing she said, very excitedly was: "I know my ears are gonna be ok".

The buffet at the hotel made our family almost think we'd made it to heaven for the wedding-feast! AMAZING!!!!! Never seen/tasted anything like it!!!

While lying on the bed, we watched the news and heard about the earthquakes in Christchurch. It was surreal. Here we were in complete luxury (for a few hours), and there were the traumatized people of Christchurch - once again - including our son Jeremie with his DTS-team. We were able to call him within minutes of the big 6.0 shake - and they all seemed quite shaken - not just literally - but safe (they left Christchurch, as planned, on Tuesday).

We also watched the news about thousands of travelers stranded at airports in Aussie and NZ, and here we were - SO SPOILED by our FATHER!!!!

The plane trip was very easy, as the kids got to have their own entertainment - oh, what a difference to days go past, when we would travel with little ones and had to entertain them ourselves...! SPOILED again!!

Kylie's ears had absolutely NO problems!!!

I had quite strong pain on our way down, in spite of medicine, but as I was engrossed in a most encouraging talk with the lady next to me about Uganda, I was distracted enough to handle it... ;)

There's so much more to say, but just wanted to GIVE GLORY TO GOD for HIS KINDNESS, GOODNESS and MERCY on me and us, for miraculously healing Kylie's ears and giving our family an unexpected blessing when we most needed it.

We KNOW that this was also the result of YOUR PRAYERS!

So - THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We would appreciate your ongoing prayers, as I'm still not 100% and there have been a few unexpected "hick-ups" with our fundraising materials. Never a dull moment!

Please pray for us

Took Kylie to the doctor this morning as she's had a bad night - with an earache.

We are flying out in less than 2 days.

Doctor said she's "unfit to travel", but he will allow her to travel - "at our risk".
She's on antibiotics but that's no guarantee that it'll get better.

Hmmm, I think we need some prayers here for quick healing in Kylie's ears.

I have also have blocked ears for over a week now (no pain, though).
According to doctor, there's a secondary infection...

Our mighty, mountain-moving, awe-inspiring God is ABLE to bring HEALING to both of us!

Thanks for praying! Appreciate it!!

I like it!

"Many small people

who in small places

do many small things

can alter the face of the world."

Inscription on the last remaining section of the Berlin Wall

What an encouragement

and how TRUE!!!

None of the small things we do every day gets wasted!


5 more days until our trip...

RescueNet training finished!!!

Rich is on the way to Auckland to take a van-load of people to the airport.

The ResuceNet training - first ever in New Zealand - is FINISHED!!!

YEEEHAAAA!!!

It went REALLY well - and I am so proud of Rich and the high caliber staff who pulled it off!

The staff came all the way from South Africa, China, Australia and the UK!

From what I heard it was VERY WELL DONE - professionally - and hopefully the 8 first level students and 3 2nd level students were well equipped for bringing God's love in practical ways to people hurting as a result of tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes and the like...

Here are some photos:



Since they needed a whole bunch of 'actors' for the different scenarios,

Leilani volunteered - amazing drama-queen that she is!

She apparently did incredibly well ~ and enjoyed it lots!


Here she was pulled from the rubble of a pretend earthquake during the final scenario which lastet 3+ hours.