Consider the Calling

Summer 2010 Newsletter

Johnsons Summer 2010 newsletter

Please click on the link above to view our Summer 2010 newsletter.

Hi friends!

It’s been a long time since we’ve sent out a newsletter. We’ve been in the US on home assignment since December and have found ourselves busier than we had imagined! On the plus side, though, we’ve been able to see most of you face-to-face!

Our time in the US is drawing to a close. As I write this, we have exactly 2 weeks left. Our plane leaves from JFK on July 31st. We have lots to do before then, but aside from all the packing, cleaning, and last minute stuff, we’re feeling pretty ready to go back. Praise the Lord that we’ve been able to get enough rest despite the busyness to be able to look forward to our return to Burkina. We do miss our friends over there and we miss having a more “settled” pace of life, even if it is very busy! We can’t escape the call the Lord has placed on our hearts to be in Burkina, and our hearts aren’t fully at peace until we’re back doing what we’re supposed to be doing!

We will miss you, though! It’s always with a “torn” feeling that we have to say our goodbyes because we miss sharing in your every day lives. But this time around, we feel less grief and more thankfulness at having had this opportunity to reconnect. You have all welcomed us and loved us thoroughly while we’ve been in the US and we will take those memories with us, knowing that we have a great team behind us here in the US. What an encouragement! And we hope you will consider entering “our world” sometime…we would love to welcome you to our Burkina Faso home someday!

One last thought as we leave you…we always crave communication. It helps us stay linked to the reality of things happening back here in the US. We will work hard to send you regular updates, and hope that you will think of us from time to time and send us a note! Did you know that in addition to the quarterly newsletters like this one, we also send out monthly prayer letters? If you aren’t getting those and are interested in receiving them, please let us know! We also changed our website. Last fall we began our own blog site. So if you’ve been checking our old website and not seeing any updates for a long time, try looking up the new blog at www.johnson.ergatai.com. And if you’re not already connected to us through facebook, look us up! It’s one more tool to help us all stay in touch! With all these options, we hope there’s no excuse for anyone to forget about us!;)

Love,

Dale, Florence, Caleb and Joel

The Wild, Wild, Wild West (Part 1)

Over the last several weeks as we’ve prepared for this last road trip out west before we head back to Burkina Faso, it’s not been uncommon for us to hear the comment: “Wow, you are so courageous to try that with two little boys” or “That’s certainly an adventure!” We got many of the same comments when we visited Europe on our way back to the US in November/December, as well as when we first set off for Burkina Faso three years ago. I think it’s somewhat safe to interpret many of those comments as “You must be crazy!” Maybe we are a little crazy. I can’t help but think of the stories Dale’s parents have told us about his great-grandfather and grandfather Johnson, both of whom had the “travel bug”. I don’t know so much about my own family background, but I think it’s safe to say that this “travel bug” did not come from my mother! I always chalked it up to my experiences growing up overseas as a child, but perhaps there’s more of the “pioneer” blood in me than I realize. Regardless, as we’ve traveled the US these last few weeks, I can’t help but get lost in contemplation over how it must’ve been for the people who first came here and found this a strange land. Especially as we’ve travelled west, an area I’ve never been before, I find myself remembering various stories I’ve read about the pioneers and I have to wonder about the character and the spirit of those people to have dared such a “crazy” adventure as the one we now take so easily in a car with a couple of suitcases, a cell phone, a map, a credit card, and many friends along the way to help feed us and give us a place to sleep! What drove them on?

Our final and longest trip began May 17th as we travelled to visit Dale’s Uncle Keith and Aunt Megan who live near Lynchburg, Va. Keith and Megan were married while we were overseas, so it was our first chance to meet our “new” Aunt Megan and to get to know her better. It was also a great chance to catch up with Uncle Keith, whom we’ve missed having around! Uncle Keith knew just how to entertain two little energetic toddlers, too…he had his Lionel train set up on the dining room table and Caleb, especially, spent hours watching the train go round the track. In the meantime, Dale and I enjoyed the delicious meals they cooked up for us (and insisted we eat ‘til we were about to pop…not that we protested that much!). Though we hadn’t seen this part of our family in a long time, we felt right at home and were so glad to have this chance for family bonding!

Our next stop was in Charlotte, NC, at SIM USA’s headquarters. We always enjoy visiting SIM in Charlotte because we always feel like we’re getting together with another part of our family…a newer family that has come to mean so much to us in the last several years. There are not many other places we can go to where everyone we talk to just “gets it”…knows where we’ve been experientially and can understand and relate on so many levels. We’re so grateful for this family! We were pleasantly surprised upon arriving in Charlotte to learn that an old college school friend whom we hadn’t seen in 10 years, Amanda (Martzluff) Fielder, and her husband Jon were also staying at the SIM guest house in Charlotte at the same time we were as they had just arrived back from Malawi. It was a joy to see them and to catch up a little again. We also enjoyed visiting with fellow SIM Burkina Faso missionaries Marcus and Jen Baeder and their quickly growing little boy, Silas. And we topped the overnight stay with a quick lunch visit with college friend Erin (Calpin) Bergen and her husband, Ben the next day before getting back in the car for a beautiful drive that would take us through the Smoky Mountains to our next stop in Tennessee.

I remember visiting my Uncle Ray and Aunt Sylvia’s ranch near Knoxville, TN when I was a teenager, but had forgotten how pretty the area was. I remembered “rundown” barns and log cabins that I now think of as “rustic.” Regardless of my perception, though, Ray and Sylvia’s home is far from “run-down”, though it may still have a bit of the “rustic” air to it with its log construction and its rural setting. We enjoyed a beautiful and peaceful overnight visit with Ray and Sylvia, catching up on a lot of stories from my aunt’s childhood that I hadn’t heard before and thoroughly enjoyed. It was fun to see a few of the family heirlooms I remember from my grandparents’ home as well, giving my visit with Ray and Sylvia a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. Although Ray and Sylvia have had to get rid of the animals they’d kept in the past, the ranch is still fun to explore, and the boys thoroughly enjoyed doing just that. They climbed around the barn, played on the rope ladder and tree swing, spotted deer and even got to see Aunt Sylvia’s worm farm!

After an overnight stop in Jackson, TN to break up the long drive, our next destination was to visit Luke and Vanessa (Stine) Bates and their 3 children near Branson, MO. Faithful supporters and dear friends since college, we spent 3 nights with the Bates family, which Caleb and Joel were happy for after the constant daily driving we’d had up to this point. Our trip to the Bates home took us through the parts of the Ozarks, which made for a pretty drive, and I got my first glimpse of the Mississippi River. We enjoyed visiting Luke and Vanessa’s church, a short walk at a nearby state park, a brief “behind-the-scenes” tour of the Sight & Sound theater in Branson where Luke works, and a chance to see this well-known town and try to get a feel for what it’s all about. Caleb and Joel thoroughly enjoyed playing with the Bates children, especially Josiah, their 2nd child, who at 7 was wonderfully patient with our younger children and played well with both boys.

Our next destination was to be in Colorado Springs to visit college friends Lawrence and Nicole (Welles) Martin, but once again the trip was too long to do in one day. Nicole’s parents, who live in Wichita, KS, graciously offered to put us up for a night to help break up the trip. In exchange, the wanted to hear all about how Lawrence and Nicole met at our home.:) We’d like to take more credit for it, of course, but we simply had an open home that both of them took advantage of…and one day they both just happened to be there on the same day. The rest, as they say, is history! Now, four years later, we finally had the chance to visit them in their home in Colorado Springs, and they showered us with wonderful hospitality. Nicole had to work twelve-hour shifts two of the days we were with them, but she was a great sport in the evenings despite being tired from a long day at work. Lawrence’s schedule was more flexible, and so he played tour guide, taking us to a nearby state park one day, and to the Garden of the gods on another, not to mention playing with the boys and finding different playgrounds for them to enjoy as well. Dale and Lawrence went on a bike ride down one of the mountains near Colorado Springs, as well, though Dale did manage to get a little too eager and wipe out, leaving him with some pretty deep brush burns on his elbow and knees. Guess he’s not 16 anymore! He says it was worth it, though! On Saturday, we spent the morning at the Memorial Day arts fair in Old Colorado Springs. We had been expecting Colorado to be a bit cooler than PA, but we were roasting in our jeans that day! The fair was packed, but the boys still enjoyed some of the fair activities like the petting zoo, a pony ride, and a toy train ride. After all that sun and walking, we were tired that evening, but not too tired for a competitive round of Hand & Foot…we miss our game playing days! After church Sunday morning, it was time to say our goodbyes and move on again…this time to the heart of the Rockies: Crested Butte!

The Great Frozen North

We got home from our trip to Quebec after supper Saturday evening, May 8th. We were tired, but we’d planned ourselves a fairly busy weekend! Sunday was Mother’s Day and also baby dedication Sunday at our home church. Our youngest son, Joel, is already two years old, but since he was born during our first term in Burkina Faso, we’d not yet had a chance to dedicate him to the Lord (they don’t practice this tradition in our local African church). We were reminded of the baby dedication service we’d taken part in 4 years earlier when we had our older son, Caleb, dedicated at our home church. He was only 3 months old at the time, and made quite a scene screaming his lungs out the whole time we were up front. Fortunately, our experience with Joel went much more smoothly and uneventfully. We enjoyed having our immediate family on both sides over for lunch and some visiting after church, and Caleb & Joel enjoyed hanging out with their cousins later in the afternoon. Monday we finally got a full day to rest (unless you count doing laundry as non-restful) and Tuesday morning we were ready to go at it again, this time headed for Ontario!

First stop on our trip to Ontario was in Fonda, NY, not too far from Albany. Dale’s cousin David Patterson and his wife, Karen and sons Daniel and Andrew live there and they welcomed us warmly. As children, Dale never really got the chance to get to know his Patterson cousins quite as well as his Johnsons cousins, so we really enjoyed this opportunity to get to know David and his family a little better. Dale commented later that it was fun to see that he and his cousin likely have a similar sense of humor and disposition.:) And we are so grateful for these faithful prayer partners! Caleb & Joel loved playing with Daniel and Andrew’s toys…plenty of cars and other boy toys here! And then Caleb discovered the battery-powered Gator and 4-wheeler and he was in heaven, blissfully driving round and round in circles in their front driveway, while Joel dug holes in the sandbox in their backyard.

Our next stop was in Ithaca, NY to visit college friends Phil and Angela Sorensen. What a beautiful area! If I would have realized what a pretty area it was, I think we might have planned a longer stop! Instead, we enjoyed some great fellowship with Phil and Angela, a walk around the Cornell University Arboretum, a scrumptious breakfast made by Angela, and a beautiful drive through some of the nearby state parks as we headed to our next destination the next morning.

Thursday’s final destination was Burlington, Ontario, but we planned a short stop at Niagara Falls so that Caleb & Joel could see them. The weather wasn’t really cooperating. It was a bit cool and rainy, so we weren’t sure that we’d get to do much at the falls. When we arrived in the Niagara Falls area, we tried to find a McDonald’s with a PlayPlace for the boys to unwind a little. We were running late, though, so rather than wander around looking for said place, we opted to just eat at the first place we found. Thinking we knew where we were, we picked our own way towards the falls after our meal, but after 15-20 minutes of driving around, realized we’d been driving in the wrong direction and were almost in Buffalo. Oops! ‘Til we got ourselves turned around and headed in the correct direction, we’d lost a lot of time and ended up arriving at the falls around 4 in the afternoon. It was easy to feel frustrated, but we chose to look on the bright side: Joel got an afternoon nap in (which he needed) while we were driving around, and by the time we actually parked, the rain had finally stopped. So we enjoyed a short 1.5 hour “tour” of the falls, which gave us just enough time to ride the Maid of the Mist. So we didn’t get the family outing we had been hoping for, but the boys really enjoyed their quick visit of Niagara Falls nonetheless.

Our late tour of the waterfalls meant we were also late arriving in Burlington, Ontario to visit friends Danny Dartnell, Christine Braun and Kristin (DeBoer) Miedema – all friends we made while serving together in Burkina Faso. We were given an extra special treat when Danny’s mother, Leanne, was also able to join us as she happened to be spending that week in Canada visiting her ailing father. It was like being with family again. There’s nothing in the world like getting together with fellow missionaries who have served alongside you. As much as we love our friends and family here in the US and are grateful for their encouragement and support, nothing can substitute for “having been there”. It is why we always encourage you to come for a visit…we want so much to share this part of our lives with you! So we had a wonderful time catching up and swapping stories with our extended missionary family. The evening was too short and we had to part way too soon, but it was SO worth the drive to Canada to spend those few hours of fellowship.

Friday was our last day on the road for this trip. It was an ambitious day of travel. We left Ontario later than we’d meant to, as usual, and got hung up at the border crossing, so our original plan of being in Warren, Pa by lunchtime was not feasible. But we couldn’t miss out on the chance to see our friend Linn Murray and to meet her husband, John. The boys enjoyed the chance to run around the park where we had a picnic lunch. Caleb managed to fall into the creek at the park, and then thought it was funny to run around the park streaking. Oh, well. I guess we left our impression on that part of the world.

A two-hour stop is way too short, but we’d made plans to visit Tara Alberth, who lived about an hour away, and we couldn’t miss out on that visit! Tara graciously adjusted her plans as we were running two hours behind schedule. We were glad to have the chance to meet her husband David, and then just spend some time catching up after 10 years! We were appalled that it had been so long and ashamed that we’d allow that to happen! Just before we left, Tara took us down the road to a look farm that had llamas, billy goats, and a donkey. Caleb and Joel LOVED seeing the animals. What a peaceful, gorgeous area…

We got home late Friday night, but we felt good about the people we were able to reconnect with. I have to echo my sentiment from the last post: the Lord has really blessed us with some great friendships in our lifetime. We’ve all had different paths, struggles, joys, blessings, etc, but He is faithful! We care about you all and pray for you!

Where in the World are the Johnsons?

So, I think we must be some of the world’s worst bloggers, considering we only update this place every couple of weeks. I always have better intentions than that, but lately life just seems to be spinning by in a blur and it’s all I can do to keep my two feet on the ground! Anyway, I do apologize for the lack of communication of late. I think we’re about two months behind sending out a prayer letter and also a bit late with our usual quarterly newsletter. We will catch you up soon, we promise!

On the plus side, we have been enjoying catching you up by visiting many of you over the last several months. The months of March and April were some of our busiest for visiting our partner churches and meeting with many of our prayer partners, supporters and friends. This month, May, is our most travel-intensive month during our 8-month home assignment. We spent the first two weeks taking two one-week trips to Canada: one up through New England to Quebec, and one up through New York to Ontario. Now we are in the beginning stages of a 4-week roundabout trip to Colorado and back. If you’re shaking your head and muttering to yourself that we must be crazy doing all this travelling with two little boys, well, all I can say is: you should’ve already know that! If we were crazy enough to get on an airplane and move to Africa in the first place…:)

We had fun updating you with pictures and stories about the different places we visited when we were in Europe, so I think I will try and do the same now as we travel around the US. We are making many more stops, though, so our opportunities to hop online are a little more limited and our schedule a little more intense. I should have really started writing about the travels two weeks ago when they started, but I didn’t think of it then. So, I’ll take this occasion to bring you up to speed.

After a very intense, but encouraging week-long missions festival at Church of the Open Door in York, Pa, we had a week off to gear ourselves up for all of our travels. We spent a lot of time cleaning house that week (because that’s what you do before you travel, right?) and then stayed up late packing Saturday night, May 1st (because you always wait ’til the last minute to pack, right?), and finally, Sunday morning, May 2nd started our big adventure. We drove to the Evangelical Free Church of Hershey (about 30 minutes from our house) to participate in a Missions Sunday, enjoyed a nice luncheon after church, and then hit the highway, headed for Brooklyn, New York where Dale’s cousin, Ryan, his wife Andrea, and their son Caden live. It was so fun to catch up with them again after all these years and to meet their little guy…the last time we visited them in Brooklyn, Caleb was still in the womb!

Our visit in Brooklyn was way too short, but, alas, our itinerary was set and so we had to move on. Too many good people to see, too little time! We ended up driving through the city on our way up to Peabody, Ma to visit college friends Matt & Becky Brown. Not the easiest route to take, but Caleb LOVED seeing all the bridges (and wanted us to go over every single one of them, of course!). I was a bit awed to realize again exactly how large this city is. After being in Paris last winter and seeing that grand city, it gave me a new perspective looking at this city that I’ve often taken for granted, having lived close enough to it, visited it several times before, and realizing it’s rank as one of the larger and most famous cities in the world. Many places we go now, we can’t help but think, “what would our Burkinabe friends think of this?”

Our trek through the Big Apple left us running quite late to see the Browns and so our stop to see them was quite short. We only ended up being able to spend a little over an hour with them. But how fun to see them healthy, smiling, and with two beautiful children. The visit may have been short, but meeting up with friends we’ve lost touch with over the years and seeing them with their families and in their normal home lives reminds us again of how we are alike: we may live in two different continents, but we, too, have two young, energetic children…we laugh at similar things and worry about making dinner…we find meaning in service and are committed to the church…and we love and serve the same God!

We stopped at a McDonalds near Hartford, Ct on our way to see the Browns in Ma. Too many McDonalds lunches of late!!!

We left Peabody in haste, knowing we were keeping our hosts in Derry, NH waiting. Matt and Amy Morrison had put together a barbecue, where we were surprised to find friends Ryan & Katie Keith (Forgotten Voices International) and Laurel Cacace! A reminder again of the Lord’s goodness to us in bringing such great people into our lives…they’d driven 45 minutes – 1.5 hours to come join us. How sweet! Our boys really enjoyed hanging out at the Morrison household…their boys are nearly the same age as ours and they’ve got a lot of great boy toys and a nice playground. It was hard to pull the boys away from all the fun the next morning as we took our last leg north for this particular trip: Quebec City, Canada.

Josh & Jake Morrisson and Joel & Caleb Johnson

You may remember that we spent our first 6 months as missionaries living in the province of Quebec, learning the French language before we headed to Burkina Faso for our first overseas term. During our time at language school, we were taken on a field trip to Quebec City to learn a little bit about the history and culture of the region. I’m sure it would have been a very interesting visit, but all we could remember was that it was COLD! It was early February and the temperatures the day of our trip were somewhere near -30 degrees Farenheit! A few pictures we managed to snap with the camera told us that the city was probably worth seeing again someday, but we vowed we’d not do it again until we had a chance to do so in warmer weather! Well, we had our chance now, and the weather cooperated so that we could truly enjoying seeing Quebec City again, one of the oldest cities in the new World. Located on the St Laurence River, the old city still has many buildings that have been restored from the original 1600 structures. The highlight for the boys was the ferry boat ride we took to cross the river and back. We even got to see a big freighter boat, newly arrived from Europe (Greece, possibly?) being pushed up the river by a tugboat.

Of course, sightseeing and history were not the only or even first reason we chose to visit Quebec City. My cousin, Cindy Heiner and her husband Jonathan are living there, with their baby son Daniel. What a treat to spend two days with this, the closest of my cousins throughout my childhood, and to meet her little guy. What a health (read “chubby”) and happy little guy. Even Caleb couldn’t help but be charmed by him, talking often of his “baby cousin” even after we had to leave them.

Our return trip saw us stopping in Sherbrooke, Quebec for a night. This was the town where we did language school three years ago at a Word of Life school that also runs a language school specifically for missionaries. It was fun to see the school again and to catch up with the Normandin family, members of the church we attended while in language school who were very welcoming and helpful during those 6 months. I also had a wonderful tete-a-tete with my Bible reading partner, Izabelle Perrier. What potential this young woman has and I’m so grateful that she still calls me friend after all these years! I do hope that we get to see her in Burkina some day, even if it’s only for a visit! Before leaving Sherbrooke we couldn’t help but stop at our two favorite bookstores to stock up on more Christian and children’s books in French and a few CDs, too! It’ll be really fun to have these materials when we get back to Burkina in a few months.

Our final stop on our way home was in Connecticut. We spent a night with college friends Brad and Sarah Field and enjoyed meeting and getting to know their two adorable daughters. Caleb and Joel didn’t even mind playing with all the girl toys, jumping right in to the princess dress-up play, “glass slippers”, princess skirts, aprons and all! We also enjoyed lunch with Kelly Keiper the following day, getting a chance to catch up on the last few years of her life and meet her beau.

We finally returned home physically tired, but emotionally charged up after so many fun encounters with people who have meant so much to us over the years. The Lord be praised for His goodness to us. It is hard to say goodbye, but we can’t complain to much…we are rich to know and have known so many quality people! And to have this opportunity to go back and make contact with some of them again, even if it’s just a short “hello” is a real treasure. Thank you all for the important roles you play in our lives! We love you all!

It’s late and this is long. I’ll try and write up a summary of our trip to Ontario tomorrow.:)

What are we doing?

Well, we’re about half-way through our home assignment (furlough). It’s hard to believe!

Here’s what we’ve been up to since January:

• Meals or 1-on-1 meetings:  64
• Presentations or Missions Events:  31

No wonder the time is passing so quickly!!!

March prayer letter

Click on the link to view our March prayer letter: March 2010 prayer letter

Last month when we sent out our prayer letter, we were talking about the unusually cold, snowy weather. This month we can talk about the unusually warm, spring weather! Though the boys enjoyed playing in the snow and we even had an “adventure weekend” without heat (leave it to the missionaries from Africa to forget to check on something as vital as that!), they’ve been getting stir crazy as well. It’s nice to be able to let them outside a little more often to run off some of that extra energy!

One of the more unique experiences we had this month was to present about our mission work to Caleb’s preschool. Caleb really enjoyed “helping” talk about Burkina, showing how babies ride on their mommy’s back and singing a song in English, French, and the Gourma language. He seems to remember Burkina well and has fond memories of his “home”. Joel has finally adjusted to a lot of the transition and is doing really well going to church nurseries or even staying with babysitters. We thank you so much for your prayers on that account. It has given mommy and daddy much peace of mind and a chance to get a break! Dale had the chance to attend our church’s mens retreat at the beginning of the month, which he enjoyed immensely (though he was reminded that it’s been a long time since he’s played much sports…ouch!).

The end of this month will mark the halfway point of our time home. It has flown by quickly and we are becoming more and more aware of how quickly the rest of the time here will also go by! If we haven’t been able to catch up with you yet, please send us a note soon so we can be sure to get you on our calendar! We’d hate to go back overseas regretting the fact that we missed a chance to see you! Of course, you are always welcome to come see us in Burkina! We would love to see as many of you as can make it! Start putting it on your calendars now so that we can help you plan the process and make it happen! We try to share as much of our ministry with you as we can through pictures and stories, but nothing can compare to seeing it first-hand for yourself. It means a lot to us to know that you take a special interest in what we are doing!

We hope you all are enjoying the spring weather as much as we are. When I think of the way my spirits lift at the coming of spring and how much new life there is to see, I am reminded of the hope and new life we celebrate during Easter. May you experience much hope and new life as you consider the great gift given us! May we never take it lightly!

Love,

Dale, Florence, Caleb & Joel

Not-so-Subtle Reminders

Why does it always feel like this missionary has more to learn at church than everyone else?

When I went to church yesterday (finally back at West Shore), I was feeling a little bitter and hurt. Our extended family is going through a really tough time right now…things are not good. Our situation is uncertain, even scary, and the future is unclear as things seem to continue to worsen.

Then as worship started, the songs were all about God’s faithfulness. I must admit, at that moment, I was in no mood to sing about God’s faithfulness. I was struggling, and my thoughts were more like “God, I’m just having a tough time singing about your faithfulness right now.”

And then I looked up into the choir, singing beautifully before God and the congregation…really into it. And I started realizing something. There was a guy who had lost his job…and God had provided. There was someone who had been through a devastating divorce. There was Jan, the daughter of someone in our SIM family, in her wheelchair and wearing a surgical mask, struggling daily with cancer. And I looked around me in the auditorium. There aren’t many of us here who have had it easy, are there? Sometimes it seems our enemy saves his toughest attacks for the believers, doesn’t he?

I was convicted. If they could sing about God’s faithfulness, well dang-nabbit, so could I. Feel it or not, I would sing along with them, and I would wait longer to see His faithfulness, knowing we might have to wait a while.

Thanks for singing with me, friends.

Doin’ Time

The most unique experience we have had in PA so far has been in Frackville. Yup, we got sent up to state prison. No, we didn’t break out any Johnny Cash songs. Florence’s dad, who’s a chaplain there, got us on the inside to share with the Sunday night worship services with the inmates. So we went in through all the checks and high security, and then had a great experience in church!

As we were told by experienced folk, the crowd will be made up of two parts: genuine believers who have “found Jesus”, and those who come to chapel just to have something to do.

We were amused by the prison twist on a familiar way to start a church service. “Anyone new here this week?” Which meant, is anyone here just starting their prison term? And then, “is anyone going home this week?” To which one guy shouted “I am home!” And everyone laughed.

We were amazed at the reception we got from the believers there. They were truly into the worship experience, which was some good old-timey gospel hymns accompanied by a guitar. And then they were so responsive to our stories from Africa.

For a group of men who are really down in life, they really cared about what was going on in Africa. They broke out into spontaneous applause in the middle of stories from the handicap center. They shouted encouragement as we explained what we do. It was a really good time for us to see some believers who were not in a good situation in life, and yet they loved Jesus and his church in Africa all the same.
They even let us out when we were done.

February 2010 Prayer Letter

February 2010 prayer letter

Please click on the link above to download the prayer letter.

It’s been a couple of months since we sent out a prayer letter. We took some time off for the holidays and as we settled into our house for “home assignment”. But we are still alive and well (no, we did not fall off the face of the earth). We’re looking forward to catching up with those of you we haven’t been able to see yet.

Everywhere we go, people have been exclaiming about the unusual weather we’ve had in Pennsylvania lately. All we can figure is that we must have brought it back with us from Burkina. It has been a bit of an adjustment to deal with all of this snow and cold. But the boys have been enjoying it immensely.

Caleb just turned 4 years old on the 4th of February. He’s going to preschool three mornings per week and seems to be adjusting well. Joel was quick to bond with his grandparents and aunts and uncles…but a little slower adjusting to all the new people that we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks. Since we are often giving presentations on Sunday mornings, it has been a challenge trying to help him feel comfortable going in the nursery. Florence just started attending a weekly women’s Bible study and a MOPS group at our home church. The boys go with her and we are hoping that this added exposure will help Joel feel more comfortable more quickly.

We are fortunate that the majority of our support comes from friends and family in the central PA area where we live; so we have not had to do much traveling so far. But we do plan to do some traveling in May/June once the weather warms up. We had to take our web-site’s calendar down temporarily due to some technical issues. In the meantime, for those of you who live in central PA, we’re around and we’re available, so look us up!

Love,
Dale, Florence, Caleb and Joel

No news is good news!

Sorry to keep you all “in the dark” for so long! We took a “break” from the blogsite over the Christmas holidays and then were busy settling in to the place we will call home until we pack to return to Burkina.

Things are very well for us here in Grantham, PA (near Harrisburg, and right next to Messiah College). So far, in our first week-and-a-half, we’ve had 8 doctor’s appointments, 5 meetings, 6 dinners with friends, and 2 presentations. In addition, Florence and I went out on our first date (without the boys) in almost a year. We visited with both Florence’s parents and my parents again, and saw my brother and sister-in-law in Harrisburg.

We often get some of the same questions over and over again. So for your convenience (and curiosity), here are some “frequently asked questions”:

Q: What are you guys doing now?
A: Our 8-month “home assignment” is meant for 3 things: find more support (prayer and financial, for both us and our ministry in Mahadaga), report about what we’re doing to our friends and churches, and REST & renewal! We’ll spend a lot of time visiting with people and preparing presentations for churches and Sunday School groups. We’ll also do some traveling in May and June. And rest? Yes…I don’t think we knew just how exhausted and nearly burnt-out we were until we got back and gave ourselves some space. Rest is also important if we’re going to be able to minister in Mahadaga for a long time. We’re also meant to find renewal…now that we’re not always the ones being the ministers, we can find ways to be “ministered to”…like a marriage retreat in February, church Bible studies, moms’ groups, etc.

Q: What are Caleb and Joel going to do for school when you go back?
A: We’re really happy about Caleb going to “pre-school” three times per week right now. After three days, he seems to really enjoy it, and the teacher has been giving positive feedback. As for long-term schooling…that’s another task that we have before us while we’re home. We’ll need to find a good home-schooling program for the boys. While we’re on our second term in Burkina, Caleb will complete kindergarten and 1st grade, and Joel will be ready to start kindergarten near the end of our term. If anyone knows of someone who could come to Burkina to teach the boys, we’d be delighted to talk to them!

Q: Has it been hard to come back to the States? Has the weather been too cold?
A: In some ways, it’s been shocking to come home. Going from one of the simplest, poorest areas in the world, to the US during the Christmas season is shocking. All the stuff, all the lights, all the sales, all the cars…etc etc. We kept asking, “why do we need all this stuff??!” But in other ways, we know that we have to do a “brain transplant”. In order to survive, we have to take out our “Burkina brains” and put in our “American brains”. It’s not a perfect coping mechanism, but the two worlds are just too different. And yes, the cold has been a tough adjustment. Fortunately, we were able to “ease into it” by traveling in Europe before coming home. And hey, EVERYONE here has been complaining about the cold! :0)

So I hope that helps some. We really hope to be able to see all of you in the coming months. This is an exciting time for us. That’s one more benefit to living overseas…we enjoy life in the US in a new, fresh way!

That’s all for now. Keep praying for Haiti and the missionaries there. Help however you can!