25 years and counting...

Celebrated 25 years of being married to my best friend and partner in crime a couple of days ago.

My heart is overflowing with GRATITUDE to God and Rich, as well as to so many friends and family-members all over the world who have walked this journey with us and enabled us to serve God the way we have been! What a privilege!!!

We figured that - had we saved up all the money we spent on travels over the years - we might well be home-owners by now :)

But as you can see from one of the slides, we get to live in a beautiful home (for 4 1/2 years now - a record!) - paying minimal rent, as we have 2 (wonderful) boarders with us!

Take a walk down memory-lane with us - see slide-show below - and give glory to GOD for what HE has done!

And then - off to the next 25 years!

This free picture slideshow made with Smilebox

She called me "Mum"!

My heart is leaping for JOY on this 1rst of the 1rst of 2013! 

What an AWESOME God we have!!! 

Exactly one year ago, I wasn't such a happy camper - see this post  

and my memories vividly come flooding back to me about that day.

My outrage turned into prayers, 

turned into a blog/facebook post, 

turned into a temporary answer  

just hours later!

Last night, I found out that these same children - plus some - 

were eagerly looking forward to their New Year's Eve last night.

Why?

Because last year at the same time, they spent the night in prayer about their situation.

And they saw GOD answer their prayers beautifully - and then some - this past year!

So - they couldn't wait to again spend New Year's Eve in prayer - and THANKSGIVING -

in anticipation of their FATHER hearing their prayers!

GOD has allowed new connections for Praise and her children this past year that are bringing lots of love, care and much needed provision to them.

And it all started with my broken tooth during my last visit to Uganda!

The director of International Voice for the Orphans is now Praise's adopted Dad!

How about that for a huge blessing?!!

I was moved to see photos on facebook recently about their Christmas party this year!

What a contrast to last year (and my visit with them in February!)

The children were wearing nice clothes, they had a good meal with meat, there were balloons, and they got to go swimming at a pool for the first time ever!

I sneaked one of the photos for you to see (hope you don't mind me doing this, Praise):

Just tooooo wonderful to see these children so happy and blessed!!!

 

But that's not all!

Friends of mine from Tauranga, who live in Uganda serving the orphans and vulnerable children, felt to move close to the community where Praise lives with the children - this month! - to come alongside what she is doing there! 

(If you watch the video on their blogpost you can see some footage from a recent celebration at Praise's house for the official inauguration of the school she started - the dancing part in the beginning of the video)

I couldn't be more thrilled!

Oh - no - wait!
 

 I could!

Praise's and my hearts have really connected in a deep way since we met, and I've been feeling like a mother to her for a while now.

Well, guess what?

She has been calling me sister this whole time (which is fine with me, too), but yesterday, she told me that I was like a Mom to her - and started calling me Mom Mum (Uganda-way)!

AWWWW - that just melted my heart and put the cherry on top of this year's 'cake'

That's exactly what I feel my calling is:

 to be a MOTHER

to my own children

as well to many others 

(in the nations).

During our wedding - almost 25 years ago - a friend had a picture of Rich and me surrounded by many children of many colours - way too many to be our own! 

YAY GOD - you're doing it!

Who says that a stay-at-home, home-schooling mom can't be used by God on a 2-week trip to Uganda to bring about connections that will have far-reaching fruit -

and are starting to transform a whole community?!!

What's that inscription on the remaining part of the Berlin Wall again?

"Many small people

Who in many small places

Do many small things

Can alter the course of the world."

 WOW!

What would we be able to witness if we ALL did SOMETHING to care for 

the fatherless, 

the broken, 

the poor, 

the lonely, 

the lost?!!

HAPPY AND FULFILLED NEW YEAR 2013 TO YOU!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

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Jehovah Jireh

As I was putting Shayden to bed tonight and praying with him, I was thanking God for healing him (he's had the flu),"... And thank you, God, that you healed Shayden." 

And I added "You are Jehovah Rapha"

To which he promptly added,"And Jehovah Jireh"! 

I couldn't believe my ears! 

We don't exactly talk about God using these names around our house. 

But since Shayden learned about them one Sunday morning at the Sunday School of an African church in Germany (where they REALLY teach the kids!) - he's been mentioning them every so often - especially Jehovah Rapha (can you tell that we've had a lot of sickness here lately?). 

Sure enough - Shayden WAS right to mention Jehovah Jireh - our Provider! 

I was blown away by the timing of his comment!

Today we got some awesome news - a HUGE answer to prayer! 

If you've followed my blog for some time, you will have met Praise, my Ugandan friend and hero, caring for many orphans in the crudest of conditions. 

at a pool last September with some of the kids that Praise used to care for until they got adopted by one of the "Orphans Know More" families

Well, to make a long story short, Praise has been dreaming for some time of doing a Discipleship Training School with YWAM. 

She was going to do it a year ago but that didn't work out. 

On February 4th, 2013, the ministry we are with here in Tauranga, New Zealand is offering a "Tuition Free  DTS", which means that the students only have to pay their housing and food - and of course their transport to New Zealand as well as outreach costs. 

Rich and I felt to invite Praise to do this DTS - out of Africa - removed from all of her responsibilities (she's found people to care for her kids), get some quality input (instead of always output) - and besides that get a qualification that is accepted by the Ugandan government for caring for so many children.  

Getting Praise here and covering her costs was a huge faith project for us, as we didn't have any money at all towards her expenses, just barely keeping our own heads over water.

And we couldn't expect her to participate at all, since she's scraping by just to feed and care for her kids.

in front of her house - some of the children are hers, others just go to the school that she started

We need to pay her ticket in less than a month but up to today only had NZ$420. 

Not quite enough - hehe! 

(the first NZ$100 were donated by a young man from Iran who we met in AKL, believe it or not!)

SO - today was the DAY OF PROVISION! Jehovah JIREH did it again!

He used an elderly couple from Germany - not Christians - with a generous heart!

If I didn't know God so well, I would say UNBELIEVABLE! 

But - not so!

God's ways go WAY beyond our wildest imaginations!

There are still needs, but we can now get her plane ticket and pay for her housing and food during the lecture phase!

I am just OVER THE MOON - THRILLED TO BITS!!!!

I believe that God has a very special time in store for Praise and couldn't be more excited!!!

Now we "just" need to believe God to provide for this Discipleship Training School that Leilani has just gotten accepted to today! 

It's the same exact base where I did my DTS exactly 30 years ago next January! How about that?!!! 

Leilani felt in prayer that God wanted her to do her DTS there at that specific time!

She's been working hard to save up for it - besides finishing High School (home school) - 

but it won't be enough.

AND - our son Richard in Uganda will also be doing a DTS - starting February - right here.

Thankfully, this one is very cheap :) - we've definitely got faith for that!

JEHOVAH JIREH - YOU ARE AWESOME - A GOD OF MIRACLES!

So that they may KNOW YOU AND MAKE YOU KNOWN!

Once upon a time...

There was a young woman - ok, not soooo young - 28 to be exact -

who - together with her husband and little girl

lived in a beautiful tropical island

Far - far away from her home and family.

Her "castle" was a small 1-room-house without glass in the window-openings.

Their bedroom was a small garage with a bamboo curtain.

When it rained and stormed, they would get kind-of wet in there.

But her joy was immense, as she was eagerly anticipating the arrival of her baby boy.

He was considerate not to arrive on (nor soon after) his due-date, as the young woman had a bad cold and was feeling yuck.

So - on a Sunday morning, October the 27th, 1991 - 

just as she felt that she was FINALLY feeling well enough to give birth,

labor was induced, as the baby was showing signs of distress.

In the early afternoon, HE was finally there!

JOY!!!

But wait!

He was not doing very well - was blue all over.

The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, his stomach and his arm.

It was a MIRACLE that the little boy was alive!

And the woman was OVERJOYED!!!

GOD had GIFTED her with his precious LIFE!!!

Today

21 years later

this miracle boy

Jeremie Temanu (meaning bird)

is officially grown up - a man!

WOHOOOOO!!!!!!

Now living on another beautiful tropical island

far from his home and family

yet close to his gorgeous girl-friend

this young man is CELEBRATING TODAY!

And so is the woman - not so young anymore at all - and her husband

as well as the boy's 3 sisters and brother.

CELEBRATING an AMAZING young man!

Jeremie,

You are the most incredible young man. 

A leader -  mature beyond your years. 

Such a treasure to our hearts. 

Watching you become a man has given us more pleasure than we could have ever imagined. 

You have learned to lean on Jesus and you constantly glean from the wisdom of those around you.

You love well, you give well, you serve well.

Your future - with God on your side - is BRIGHT!!!

We couldn't be prouder of you and who you have become!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU - SO MUCH!!!

We had a special birthday breakfast today (waffles) and I made a yummy cake (all raw and healthy) which we'll eat tomorrow - your birthday in Hawaii-time.

Here are some photos from your last 21 years.

If you have 13 minutes, have a look - and ENJOY!

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USUALLY

USUALLY

When God provides for people it's not through stuff that falls from heaven

Admitted - it HAS happened!

But it's not the norm.

USUALLY

God provides through people with flesh and blood.

Through YOU and ME sharing what we have.

Remember Praise's accident and the Update I wrote last week?

Well,  shortly after the accident, a wonderful Kiwi family from Tauranga, who moved their family to Uganda last year to do exactly that:

SHARING the blessings they have received with those less fortunate,

loaded up their 6 kids, bought some food - and - 3 hours later arrived at Praise's house in the village to deliver it.

At lunchtime.

Guess what?

There was no food cooking for lunch.

Remember?

The ones who were supposed to do the fund-raising concert to get food were badly injured in hospital.

No concert - no food.

YET

Through Team Gordon going WAY out of their way

 - from New Zealand -

to Kampala -

to Praise's village,

 there was PROVISION of food that day (and for a few more days, I think) -
 and I'm sure there was GREAT JOY!

THANK YOU, TEAM GORDON! YOU ROCK!!!

Friends, this kind of sharing does not come without cost.

Much more than money!

But isn't this the life we're called to live?

Jesus gave the example - we are his followers.

Praise lives like this.

As a matter of fact, she had JUST arrived back at the village after resting for a week at her aunts in town (the hospital sent her home as there was no room for her), when she was very disturbed by the news she received that the girl she had brought to the hospital the morning of the accident, was actually not doing well at all.

She was very unwell and on oxygen in the hospital.

The hospital staff hadn't wanted to tell Praise as she'd just had the accident.

Immediately, Praise went back to town to be with Monica in the hospital.

Please pray for this precious 11-year-old - one of Praise's students:

photo taken off Praise's facebook page

USUALLY

God moves when HIS PEOPLE

PRAY

REACH OUT IN LOVE

GIVE

That's the way he's got it going.

Let's JUST.DO.IT!

Lord, HELP US to LOVE like YOU do!

Happy Balancing Act

I can't explain it.

It's definitely not perfect circumstances 

(although I do have to admit that I am very happy to be back home!).

I have this incredible JOY bubbling out of me - so much of the day.

I feel like I could explode with happiness!

First thing in the morning

When I go to bed at night

And many times in between (with definite exceptions!)

My heart is smiling.

I KNOW this is GOD!

He just tickles my heart

and does me good!

My Daddy!

Oh, how I love him!!!

He's the BEST!!! 

My LIFE, my JOY, the reason I can sing!

(S)he who has a glad heart has a continual feast 

[regardless of circumstances].

Proverbs 15,15

I've been mostly playing a catch-up game since coming back a month ago.

Getting the house back in order (kind of).

Preparing for home-schooling Shayden next year.

While home-schooling Kylie  - and trying to figure out if I should continue with her next year or send her back to school...

Filling up the kids' love cups after very busy months.

And - oh yea - catching up with Rich, too.

Can't forget the wife part - oopsies!

 I love being a Mom and find it hard sometimes to be so torn between my kids here and my kids in Africa. Part of me would love to JUST be a wife and Mom and do the very best possible job, nurturing my kids, pouring everything I've got into them, giving them THE BEST.

And then I'd love to be a devoted grandmother,  too - of course!

But then - there are my other kids - and pouring myself into the ministry definitely takes away from my kids here. It's quite a balancing act and I'm not always successful.

                                             

Up to you to choose which one I am - hehe!

I guess for me it comes down to a justice issue:

Why should my kids have EVERYTHING

and other kids - whose faces I have before me continually - 

BARELY SURVIVE?

How are my kids any more special than the thousands and millions that are silently suffering?

Truth is - they're not.

 

I love them to pieces - but how about those who have NOBODY?

ALL CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE THEIR BASIC NEEDS MET!

And the one who has 2 coats needs to share with the one who has none.

And this is not just materially and financially,

but also TIME.

 

'Nuf said for tonight.

Update on Praise

I just got off the phone with Praise, who has been released from hospital and staying with an aunt while trying to recover, still in a lot of pain - going back to the hospital now for a check-up.

She told me a bit more about the circumstances surrounding the accident:

Sunday morning, she was asked to take an 11-year-old girl from the community to the hospital, as she was very sick with HIV and dying and the mother (also HIV+ and very sick) wasn't able to take her. 

Praise dropped her off at the hospital and told the hospital staff that she would be back in the evening to take care of her. 

Believe me, when you are in the hospital in Uganda, you NEED somebody besides the hospital staff to care for you!

In the afternoon, she left with some friends to do a musical performance at a church meeting.

They were doing it as a fundraiser for her children, since they were in need of food for them.

Since it is the rainy season, there are a lot of mosquitoes around and many of the children have come down with malaria.

And in these circumstances, on the way to church, this terrible accident happened. 

It was raining and muddy.

They were driving and trying to avoid a boda-boda (motorcycle) and ended up in a ditch.

When people saw the car they didn't think that anybody would be alive in there.

Some onlookers - instead of helping - started taking car parts away for themselves...

So sad (yet typical)!

Praise herself doesn't remember any of this and only came back to consciousness in the hospital.

It really pains me to know how extremely challenging and traumatizing this whole situation is.

It just doesn't seem right!

All of Praise's friends who were going to help her with the concert/fundraising are still in bad condition in the hospital.

And - by the way - the 11-year-old girl ended up getting taken care of by the hospital staff and doing much better. So that's good!

But - PLEASE - continue to pray for Praise.

She needs healing in her body

Healing in her soul

Good sleep

Healing for her friends

Provision of food for her kids

Healing for all of her sick kids

(who are getting cared for by the people working with her)

ENCOURAGEMENT and STRENGTH

She is ALWAYS giving out

serving

rescuing

loving

And she really needs a GOOD DOSE OF LOVE POURED INTO HER right now!!!

Heavenly Father - would YOU do that please?

Prayers needed!

Asking for prayers for Praise!

I just found out that she was involved in a violent car accident on Sunday, on her way to minister through music, along with a car-load of friends.

She was unconscious for 2 hours - and is still in a lot of pain and shock. 

Thank God she wasn't as seriously injured as her friends who lost limbs etc. - as she had a seat-belt. (The seat-belt cut her)

But she does need our prayers!

Thank you!!

"I love you so much, Mom!"

Those were the words that Kylie had quickly scribbled down and handed to me as we were just sitting down for dinner last night.

While we were eating, she told me that:

"Just having a Mom makes you feel 

so safe 

and good 

and comforted."

How true!

My thoughts immediately went to little darling Joseph in Uganda, who is in the hospital right now with malaria.

He has no Mom.

He has no Dad.

Josef during my visit at his school in February

But he has found somebody who's taken on the Mommy-role.

Or rather - she found him!

She's 26, single and looking after 24 treasures.

Oh - how comforting to know that she is with Joseph right now in the hospital!

And I'm sure her presence comforts and reassures him in this difficult time.

So glad he doesn't have to suffer somewhere on the streets

 - all alone - 

 

 like so many thousands of children worldwide!

Thank you, Praise, for being Mommy to Joseph today!

Yup, after a 3-month blogging-brake, due to extremely busy life-circumstances

 - including an 8-week trip to Europe - 

this is my jumping-back-on-board post.

Motivated by God's Father- and Mother-love for the orphans, 

I will keep pouring out my life, 

doing my part, 

so that many more Josephs can experience the love of God tangibly - 

through Praise and others like her!

Welcome back :) !