Delay is not denial!

Dear Friends,

Delay is not denial! The music was blaring from our neighbor’s house…. “One day at a time, sweet Jesus” (with a good Southern drawl that made it sound like “Jaysus”J) and I paused to think about that old song…. Easier said than done, I must admit! Adopting has been quite a journey of faith and self discovery. Praise the Lord who orders our steps one step at a time. We had hoped that we would be finished with Zachary’s adoption in 4-5 months, but it took seven. Though humanly speaking we were stretched with Moses traveling between Chad and Kenya, airfare bills adding up, and the stress of our family being separated for three 3-4 week periods this year … we kept remembering that “delay is not denial,” and that God is in control, even over government bureaucracy which seems to move at a snail’s pace. J All said and done, we are delighted to have Zachary as our son, which happened in our hearts long before the judge said “I order this adoption granted.” (That was April 12^th, by the way. Moses then traveled back to Chad and Jo and the boys came on May 18^th, since they had to wait for Zachary’s passport to be ready.) It is wonderful to be back in Sarh and together as a family again.

In our absence our team here in Sarh has been ‘plunged’ into the deep-end and forced to swim. They have grown as a result and we can see the Lord at work. This year our DTS has 3 students and 7 staff members. The Lord reminded us that He didn’t need a huge army with Gideon so that Israel would not think it was their strength and not the Almighty’s. We are excited about what the Lord will accomplish with this small army.

“Preach the gospel in season and out of season” (2Tim. 4:2) This is the encouragement our DTS outreach goes out with; already they have brought many souls to the Lord in their first week. They have engaged in door to door, street evangelism and youth ministry in partnership with a local church here in Sarh. This outreach will take them to N’djamena, Moundou, Central Africa (Bangui), Koumra and back to Sarh, working with local churches, evangelizing and teaching the Word. Please pray for them as they “make God known” for a period of 8 weeks. They leave with very limited finances; if you want to give towards this evangelism endeavor please e-mail / write and we will give you further details.

Recently, we attended a service at a church where the outreach team had ministered that week. At the end of the service the church took an offering for a young woman from their church who is in the DTS. It’s wonderful to see churches stepping up to the challenge to send out and support missionaries, especially to see them supporting a young woman, in a culture that traditionally marginalizes youth and women, even in the church. As the offering was being taken, another team member was invited to lead the church in a song. She is from Cameroon, the neighboring country, and delighted everyone by leading the congregation in a ‘Sara’ song, the local tribal language. What a celebration of what God is doing! While we cannot take credit for these young women, it is a privilege and a joy to be a part of what the Lord is working in their lives.

Up next is our 2^nd SBSCC, (School of Biblical Studies Core Course,) beginning in July. Chad, France, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo and of course US and Kenya ;-) will be represented. Pray that this immersion in the Word will produce transformational leaders that the church needs urgently in every sphere of society. Please also pray that the staff we expect will make it on time for good preparation and service.

The Tissinghs made it! A highlight this year has been having Garry and Anke Tissingh with us for a week. They are our North Africa Regional leaders under which YWAM Chad operates. Our location is both difficult and expensive to get to, which means not many people come - the Tissinghs were the second international guest speakers we’ve had since we moved here. We are thankful to God and appreciative for the encouragement and refreshment having them brought to us. They were able to speak to both our students and staff besides spending hours praying and counseling with individuals. Pray that God will open the doors for us to get more input from other international and YWAM leaders & speakers.

Our family is doing well and we are all feeling at home back in Chad. (you can see the boys enjoying their “wheels” in our yard in Sarh!) Josh is still asking about his Kenyan friends and family, but has made new friends very quickly here and continues to be the extrovert of the family. Zachary is taking a few steps at a time, but seems in no hurry to walk much on his own – it’s easier and just as fast when he crawls! J I’m sure he’ll take off any day now and we will wish for the days when he was easier to keep track of! His first word was “AIRPLANE!” which astounded us all as we were at the airport in Nairobi on the way to his adoption hearing in another city. He hasn’t really stopped since, while adding lots of vocabulary, airplane is still his favorite. The rains have begun here, which means Jo and the boys were spared the worst of the heat and dust of the dry season. We plan to try a small garden, if only we can keep our neighbor’s chickens out of it! Jo is (still!) unpacking and getting the house in order and Moses is busy getting ready for the SBSCC, and will also spend some time with the outreach team while they are in N’Djamena.

Please pray with us!

• A big THANK YOU JESUS! that Zachary’s adoption went through and we are all together again as a family.
• Safe travel for Moses as he goes to N’Djamena and back (June 11-23), as well as for the outreach team in all their travels, and effective ministry.
• For the SBSCC to be a life-changing time in the students lives and walk with God.
• We are thankful that we were finally able to get a gravestone put up at our daughter Gloria’s grave in Kenya, something which we had meant to do before but hadn’t been in Kenya for long enough to get it done.

Love,

Moses, Jo, Joshua & Zachary