Josh again

I talked with Shileen earlier today, at about 1:00 am in Johannesburg. She said Rusty was feeling better since they found some medicine for him in Amsterdam and he wasn't coughing for the entire flight. The team was very tired having been awake for about 34 hours and eager to get to bed.

Please keep praying for Rusty's health and also for the rest of the team. They will be flying to Swaziland in the morning (before sunrise in the USA).

-josh

This is Josh ...

Just filling in blogging for Shileen until she can get mobile blogging working.

The crew has left for Swaziland by way of Detroit, Amsterdam, Johannesburg and Mozambique. I talked to Shileen earlier today while they were laying over in Detroit and she asked me to post a prayer request for Pastor Rusty. He is very sick and is in leading the team so he needs to be well!

I hope to hear from Shileen when she reaches Amsterdam sometime in the middle of the night and report back. Please keep this team in your prayers!!

-josh

LEAVING FINALLY!!

Thanks for all your love and support! Pray for us! I should be able to make blog entries by cell phone so keep checking back for on the ground updates :)

arggg

We just found out that we're only allowed ONE suitcase on South African Air. I had an entire extra suitcase full of school supplies, and the other team members had stuff to take as well. Now we have to find a way to cram as much of that as we can in our personal suitcase without going over 44 pounds...

Isaiah

³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint

prayer

Pastor Joe prayed for our Africa team last night. It was awesome. When we got off the stage though, we were ready to go! 3 more days...

Isaiah

ISA 55:4,5
"See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor"
with a reference to ISA 49:6 "... that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth..."

bright side

So my husbands Miata blew a belt and knocked a hole in the radiator. Now we're a 1 car family for a while. Luckily, I'll be in Africa!!

flight time

Yikes, just added it up, 47 hours of flight time on our trip!!

reading

Took a break from leadership books this morning to read the book of JOB. I am not even close to blameless, yet I try to think I know anything? How humbling.

1 week

Less than one week until I'll be flying away to Africa !!!!!!!!!!!

it's Josh's bday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!

learning

So I am trying to train myself to be a leader. I am reading every leadership book I can get my hands on right now. I'm on my 3rd John Maxwell one currently. I desire for someone to come along beside me and teach me, kinda like my own personal Yoda. But it seems people are too busy or just not interested in mentoring anymore. I have a glimpse of the vision that God has for me, but not by any means a complete picture. One thing I know now is that I'm supposed to be learning as much as I can over the next few months. I think I'm going to need this wisdom next year.
One thing I have been reminded of in recent weeks is to not rely on people to fulfill your needs. God is teaching me reliance on Him and strength from within myself. Certain people have disappointed me and hurt me deeply recently, but I can't let that shake me or keep me from where I'm supposed to go.
Anyone else been where I am ??

thankful

I am thankful for an amazing God who can get me through anything. And I am thankful for the wonderful, wise, cool husband that God chose to give me.

remembering

One day while we were in Monterrey at the conference we were asked to come up and pray for all the attendees. They were pastors and church leaders from all over Mexico and we were just supposed to walk among them and pray over them. Well I remember thinking to myself as I wandered through the crowd, "who am I, that I should even be used to bless such amazing men and women", but the thing is, they didn't know who I was, nor did it matter. And that led me to thinking that they could have thought that I was a pastor myself or a president of a large corporation. They didn't have the crutch of knowing my history, so they wouldn't even doubt if I told them such things. I could have been anybody, without the weight of my past 34 years. It's almost like at home people label you early on as such and such, and changing who you are can be difficult, unless you go somewhere where no one knows you.
(Not that it matters who you are when praying for people, it just occurred to me then, is all.)