Hello Team Africa!
Many of you are expecting to hear how our travel back to Pemba and
readjusting back to life and ministry has been since coming home from
vacation.
Well . . . . . . we've had a few hiccups in our situaiton!
The primary reason we had to leave Mozambique was to renew our 6 month
visa (vacation and rest was bonus). We were scheduled to leave
Nelspruit, South Africa on Saturday the 8th by bus. Heath went in on
Thursday to purchase our new visas. We anticipated no problems!!! HA
HA.
Five hundred dollars, the WRONG VISAS, and a few hours later, and we
were in the middle of our next Locke adventure! The Mozambican
embassy here in Nelspruit would ONLY issue Heath a 6 month visa with
the stipulation that our entire family had to leave for a Mozambican
border every 30 days! That's ok if you live near a border!! But for
us in Pemba, that would mean about $2000 to fly our family to a border
every 30 days!!! OUTRAGEOUS!
Two months ago, Heath felt like the Lord was telling him that he
needed to be back in the States on this break and for 3 weeks. When
he shared this with me, I was not feeling that excited about lugging
our entire family back to Oregon for only 3 weeks! But I let him
pursue the options, not wanting to get in the way if Jesus had
something for us there now. But it just wasn't working. So we
pursued Nelspruit and everything fell into place almost in one day.
Still, Heath was a bit confused why he felt the Lord had said to go to
the States for 3 weeks.
Well, 6 days ago, it all came together! The Lord was preparing us for
Heath to go back to the States now and possibly for 3 weeks time.
After lots of prayer and confirmation from our prayer team and some
advice from a connection in DC who works with visas, we knew Heath
needed to be Stateside to try and resolve our visa issues. (Even so,
we both know that visas were simply a way to get Heath back. We
really believe there are some divine appointments and needed rest and
refreshment for Heath back home.)
Our next dilemma was a ticket home! Thursday we found out about the
mess. That night we prayed and worried and prayed and stressed. All
the while, the answer pulled into the guest house late that night in
transit to another location. He was only at this house for 2 nights.
The next day, Heath headed to the travel agent to see if it was
possible to get a CHEAP ticket home! Ahhh, NO! He came back and met
Steve (we still don't even know his last name!!). Steve had
connections and got Heath a FIRST CLASS standby round trip ticket for
the price of the taxes only! If Steve had come to this guest house 2
days earlier, we'd have not known about our need for a ticket. God's
timing is unbelievable!! We are still in shock!
So, Heath is currently lounging in a first class flight from
Johannesburg to Atlanta (17 hour flight) and then on to Portland for 2
or 3 weeks!! He will be needing to do lots of praying and finagling
to get the visas we need (we think it won't be as easy as it was in
Februrary to get them). It seems that policies are changing in the
Mozambican government concerning foreigners. So we will be needing
your prayers. God has to move on this one for us.
He will also be tying up some details that we needed to attend to and
then doing lots of resting and trying to hang out with as many friends
as he can find relational stamina for!!Meanwhile, the kids and I are
hanging out here at the guest house we have been at for the last 2
weeks. Kent and Shay are so unbelievably gracious and willing to
allow us to be here longer. We feel safe here (which is a big deal.
I have felt more tension and fear in the spiritual realm in South
Africa than I have the whole time I've lived in Mozambique!) and the
kids love it here. I'll be doing hospitality emails, homeschooling,
and the normal mom/life stuff and trying to rest and receive without
feeling in the way or guilty that I'm not doing more! Yep, God is
uncovering some things!
So please be praying with us. Abiel and Judah were quite sad today.
Abiel is super sad because she doesn't get to see her friends and
Judah's just sad because he isn't going to be with Papa. Pray for our
health. Asher seems to have some sinus infection, goopy right eye and
an aching right ear. I took him to a clinic today but the doctor
looked in his ear and said, "His ears are so full of wax I can't even
see his eardrum." So she didn't give him any medication but only
suggested putting oil in his ear to soften and clean out the wax.
Please pray that this is all it is.
Ok, I'm exhausted, physically, emotionally and mentally. Pray that I
will have everything I need to handle life in the next 2 or 3 weeks
without Heath, with 3 kids, and very pregnant! So glad God promises
that we really do have "everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and
goodness . . ."
Love you all,
emie for the crazy locke clan!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Safari Pics
Kruger Park here we come.
Ok so things (visa issues) have caused me to not write about our experience in the Park, but it was a large desire of mine that the Lord lavished upon His Locke family. I have wanted to go on a safari since I was a boy but of course the expense was out of question. Then when I was here two years ago I really longed to go on a safari but finances and the ache in my heart to see the family kept me away.
The craziest part about following Jesus is that he is so smart and rich. What it would have cost our family to go on vacation to South Africa for a safari would have been thousands of dollars and probably millions of Rands (SA currency). I have nothing against people planning and spending money on vacations but wow is it a whole lot better to have the Lord just take you there. Emie and I laugh at the places we have stood knowing we have no job, savings, or 401 (k) to ever allow us to experience what we have. It has given us great comic relief talking with millionaries who assume we also have money. I am going to begin telling people I am an invester.
So back to Kruger Park.
We have lost our sense of awe with large HDTV's but unless we are numb there is no way to explain seeing an elephant or a Rhino or a giraffe or even a lion standing less than 20 feet away. The wildness of it all was that every animal was standing on the edge of the road. You could reach out and touch them. Judah was a little to close to the lion, we had to tell him to put his head back in the window.
Driving in a car and coming upon a huge elephant does something to you, at least it did to Emie she seriously was hyperventilating. Or watching a rhino who is twice the size of your vehicle stroll towards you and then slowly meander around the back. I love Rhino for many reasons, their beauty, gracefulness, strength and other prophetic things the Lord used about them. God loves to use many things to speak to us.
Kruger Park gives more credibility to God's Word (if it needs it) when it says, "from the time the world was created, people have seen . . . all that God made, so they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God" (Romans 1:20).
I'm not sure what to say becuase it was so overwhelming and supernatural from the Lord. We kept telling the kids, "that many people come through here and never see anything. Look at how the Lord is blessing us." I wonder how people can look at the creativity of God and not stand in amazement.
The whole experience convinced me that if this missions stuff doesn't work out (which no one is a missionary rather a child of God who takes their calling and moves to another country. This also helps take the idiolizing out.) then I was going to become a safari guide. Actually I might do it anyways if I ever get the opportunity to live next to the Park. You know safari guide by day and preacher by night. I can see it now.
Emie gave a lot of the details of when we saw the animals and who wanted to see what. I had equally amount of fun photographing the wild beasts as I did seeing them. I took 582 pics (not very much for a professional, which I am not) and I really didn't have to do much because they stood there and posed the whole time. Emie mentioned the wonderful opportunity I had to use Kent and Shays camera (thanks guys) and it saved her a huge headache because I would have complained the whole time if didn't have it. I love cameras, I get it from my dad, who is a professional photographer. Now that my camera (which was awesome, thanks to my students) has officially been broken, this Kruger thing has whetted my appetite more. I have desired for a certain type of camera for some time, now I can't control myself. Some day soon it will come to pass, Lord willing.
We had a wonderful time knowing all we needed to do was drive slowly around and wait for the Lord to lead his pets across our path. Every time we would get a little tired or hot there would be another amazing animal on the side of the road.
So if you're ever in S. Africa you must take a day and drive through the park, it will knock your HDTV off its circuit.
Blessings and never stop being in AWE!
Heath
Ok so things (visa issues) have caused me to not write about our experience in the Park, but it was a large desire of mine that the Lord lavished upon His Locke family. I have wanted to go on a safari since I was a boy but of course the expense was out of question. Then when I was here two years ago I really longed to go on a safari but finances and the ache in my heart to see the family kept me away.
The craziest part about following Jesus is that he is so smart and rich. What it would have cost our family to go on vacation to South Africa for a safari would have been thousands of dollars and probably millions of Rands (SA currency). I have nothing against people planning and spending money on vacations but wow is it a whole lot better to have the Lord just take you there. Emie and I laugh at the places we have stood knowing we have no job, savings, or 401 (k) to ever allow us to experience what we have. It has given us great comic relief talking with millionaries who assume we also have money. I am going to begin telling people I am an invester.
So back to Kruger Park.
We have lost our sense of awe with large HDTV's but unless we are numb there is no way to explain seeing an elephant or a Rhino or a giraffe or even a lion standing less than 20 feet away. The wildness of it all was that every animal was standing on the edge of the road. You could reach out and touch them. Judah was a little to close to the lion, we had to tell him to put his head back in the window.
Driving in a car and coming upon a huge elephant does something to you, at least it did to Emie she seriously was hyperventilating. Or watching a rhino who is twice the size of your vehicle stroll towards you and then slowly meander around the back. I love Rhino for many reasons, their beauty, gracefulness, strength and other prophetic things the Lord used about them. God loves to use many things to speak to us.
Kruger Park gives more credibility to God's Word (if it needs it) when it says, "from the time the world was created, people have seen . . . all that God made, so they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God" (Romans 1:20).
I'm not sure what to say becuase it was so overwhelming and supernatural from the Lord. We kept telling the kids, "that many people come through here and never see anything. Look at how the Lord is blessing us." I wonder how people can look at the creativity of God and not stand in amazement.
The whole experience convinced me that if this missions stuff doesn't work out (which no one is a missionary rather a child of God who takes their calling and moves to another country. This also helps take the idiolizing out.) then I was going to become a safari guide. Actually I might do it anyways if I ever get the opportunity to live next to the Park. You know safari guide by day and preacher by night. I can see it now.
Emie gave a lot of the details of when we saw the animals and who wanted to see what. I had equally amount of fun photographing the wild beasts as I did seeing them. I took 582 pics (not very much for a professional, which I am not) and I really didn't have to do much because they stood there and posed the whole time. Emie mentioned the wonderful opportunity I had to use Kent and Shays camera (thanks guys) and it saved her a huge headache because I would have complained the whole time if didn't have it. I love cameras, I get it from my dad, who is a professional photographer. Now that my camera (which was awesome, thanks to my students) has officially been broken, this Kruger thing has whetted my appetite more. I have desired for a certain type of camera for some time, now I can't control myself. Some day soon it will come to pass, Lord willing.
We had a wonderful time knowing all we needed to do was drive slowly around and wait for the Lord to lead his pets across our path. Every time we would get a little tired or hot there would be another amazing animal on the side of the road.
So if you're ever in S. Africa you must take a day and drive through the park, it will knock your HDTV off its circuit.
Blessings and never stop being in AWE!
Heath
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Amazing Day(s)
OH MY GOODNESS!! I'm going to let Heath update our time at the wild
animal game park because he'll do a better job. BUT I just have to
let you all know that the day has moved to the list of TOP 5 FAVORITE
EXPERIENCES OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!! Thank you for praying for us! The
only thing we DIDN'T see that was on the list of "want to see" was a
leopard/cheetah. The day felt really miraculous as we saw crocodiles
before we even got into the park (Judah wanted to see crocs first), a
giraffe right inside the gate (I wanted to see giraffes first and I
about hyperventilated), a LION sitting on the side of the road (a male
lion just resting there waiting for us!), Elephants with a baby (Abiel
wanted to see one push over a tree and it did!!), and then the random
guy who told us which road to go down to find 5 rhino (Heath's biggest
desire). IT WAS AN UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE!! And all those were
within just a few feet of our car window! And that's not all we saw:
hippo, zebra, deer, kudu, springbok, monkeys, baboons, wart hogs,
beautiful birds, and babies of almost all of them!! And the kids did
FABULOUS in the car from 6 AM to 7 PM! That in itself was a miracle!
I'm sure Heath will write a better description but I didn't want to
keep all of you waiting for a good update when I know so many of you
are to thank for praying those animals into our pathway yesterday!!
Pictures to come later! We were unbelievably blessed by our hosts as
they let us use their car for FREE instead of renting a car for the
day, AND they lent Heath their REALLY NICE BIG camera to take GREAT
pictures. He was like a kid in a candy store shooting hundreds of
pictures. The whole experience was from the hand of Jesus to our
family. Thanks so very much for being part of that day of fun for us!
We love you all,
emie
animal game park because he'll do a better job. BUT I just have to
let you all know that the day has moved to the list of TOP 5 FAVORITE
EXPERIENCES OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!! Thank you for praying for us! The
only thing we DIDN'T see that was on the list of "want to see" was a
leopard/cheetah. The day felt really miraculous as we saw crocodiles
before we even got into the park (Judah wanted to see crocs first), a
giraffe right inside the gate (I wanted to see giraffes first and I
about hyperventilated), a LION sitting on the side of the road (a male
lion just resting there waiting for us!), Elephants with a baby (Abiel
wanted to see one push over a tree and it did!!), and then the random
guy who told us which road to go down to find 5 rhino (Heath's biggest
desire). IT WAS AN UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE!! And all those were
within just a few feet of our car window! And that's not all we saw:
hippo, zebra, deer, kudu, springbok, monkeys, baboons, wart hogs,
beautiful birds, and babies of almost all of them!! And the kids did
FABULOUS in the car from 6 AM to 7 PM! That in itself was a miracle!
I'm sure Heath will write a better description but I didn't want to
keep all of you waiting for a good update when I know so many of you
are to thank for praying those animals into our pathway yesterday!!
Pictures to come later! We were unbelievably blessed by our hosts as
they let us use their car for FREE instead of renting a car for the
day, AND they lent Heath their REALLY NICE BIG camera to take GREAT
pictures. He was like a kid in a candy store shooting hundreds of
pictures. The whole experience was from the hand of Jesus to our
family. Thanks so very much for being part of that day of fun for us!
We love you all,
emie
Monday, September 3, 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
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