The last few days Judah and I (Heath) have been playing a lot of dodge ball, a lot. Though it has brought a lot of laughs and excerise it has left my arm aching. We are using a soft foam ball so when I throw it at neck breaking speed it doesn't knock him unconscience. As a result of throwing a light ball fast my wrist has started to hurt after three straight days of playing. One night it finally got so bad I could not apply any kind of pressure to it without whining like a baby. I do have a low pain tolerance but this was over the top.
I was lying in bed with Judah and the crazy thought came to me to have him pray for it. So I did. He calmly wrapped his hands around my wrist and said very softly, "In Jesus name I command this pain to leave now!"
My wrist was instantly healed and I have not had a problem or pain from then on. I actually completely forgot until yesterday when I realized I needed to tell others.
Praise the Lord.
SIDE NOTE: If Judah's prayer raises any theological red flags, I would love to discuss them with you. Please email me your thoughts. Before you write though meditate on the Atonement of Christ (what he did) and see what Jesus' will really is concerning healing, the passage when the lame man is lowered through the roof (mk 2:1-12) and Jesus proves it is easier to heal than to forgive, and let's throw Galatians 3 in there, "does God do miracles among you because you believe or becuase you obey?"
Blessings and the more you pray for healing the more healings you will see (just a hint)!
Heath
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Prayer Meetings in Pemba (read at own risk)
So much happens in life that I rarely get a moment to reflect on all that God is doing. I guess this is why he says in the Old Testament to remember and actually they were to set up standing stones as a visual reminder to his works. We all could write about what God is doing, has done or will do (prophetic promises over our lives). There are many people we have had the opportunity to minister with and to during our time in Pemba. Here is but a few.
This is the stuff Emie and I live for. Between all the emails, airport pick-ups, town runs, broken toilets or answering all the questions, we try to have a prayer meeting with visitors. We actually trick them in coming over by serving Emie’s Famous Pemba Chocolate Cake and then we move into some prayer. After an hour of visiting, the Lord usually lays someone on our hearts and we ask if we can pray for them. Then the ball is rolling, very fast!
What has happened the last three times is that the Lord lays a man on my heart and starts speaking to me about where they are or what they are wrestling with (not sexual). As we pray I am able to teach on scriptural truths and renewing the mind. Two men have been under so many religious spirits that we were able to rip them off and see an immediate difference. As we were praying over one gentleman the Holy Spirit was giving Emie and I so much for him that he sat down in shock and said you (Emie specifically) read my mail. Everything we had shared with him was exactly what he had told a teammate the night before. He sat there with his face in his hands the rest of the evening, in awe of God.
One evening we had a High School Senior in the group. As we were praying for him the Lord began to show where he was going to go to college and how the Lord was going to use him. I could see that he would end up in a very prominent position of leadership (I believe it was student body president) and that his campus would be changed by his life.
I could see him walking around his campus and receiving high respect by his peers. So I asked him where he wanted to go. He stood there and sheepishly said, “Ssst”. He wouldn’t say it, I believe out of embarrassment. He never ended up saying where he wanted to go (in public) but with what he was about to say I could tell it was the same place the Lord laid on my heart.
Afterwards he came up to me and asked what school I had got, I said, “Stanford.” He about flipped over and said, “I have always wanted to go there. Wow, that’s where I want to go!” I can’t wait to see Stanford changed. The best part about it is they don’t even know it’s coming, but God does and a few “nobodies” who prayed one night in Africa.
“Lord when I get to Africa would you have some one tell me what you want me to do with my life? Also can you have them tell me without me saying a word to them?” These were the prayers of a young university student from Ireland who wanted to know the next step for his life. I shared with him (and the others) that I don’t believe a women should hold a pastoral position at a “church”, this is because I don’t believe a man should hold a pastoral position at a church either. Biblically speaking a pastor is not a position, it’s a gifting. So a farmer, teacher, engineer, carpenter, janitor, mother, salesman, CEO, cook, builder or anyone else could be a pastor. We have institutionalized the gifts of God and told everyone who has a pastoral gifting they must go to Bible College and find a “church” to hire them. If we would release those who are in a profession and have the pastoral gifting to pastor people, wow, the Body of Christ would be better equipped and quicker. I said, “Will you become a pastor because you got a building and put a sign on it making you an official pastor?”
“You’re a pastor, you have the gifting of God on your life to be a pastor. You need to Shepard people. Do it, go for it and you don’t need a “church” to be a pastor,” this is what I told the young Irishman. “But what do you want to do? You are a pastor but what do you want to do,” I kept asking him over and over and over but he would not tell me. Finally I said, “I see you as a Pediatrician! Do what your heart’s desire for the Lord is. You can be a Pediatrician and pastor people! They don’t conflict, they fit together beautifully!”
Later that night he filled in all the details. He thought he should be a pastor (because he knew he had a gifting in it but thought the “right” way to be a pastor is the traditional way). But really he wanted to be a Doctor who could pastor people. The religious conflict he was feeling left him desperate to have the Lord tell him through a stranger. Only the Holy Spirit and the use of prophetic gifts and words of knowledge could answer his prayer from Ireland by a guy in Africa. What a great God.
In the middle of a prayer meeting we had a beautiful time when a gentleman fell to his knees and confessed his stuff. It was awesome to see the body gather around him and speak truth, life and love. It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 14: 24, “But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and they will be condemned by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be laid bare, and they will fall down on their knees and worship God, declaring, ‘God is really here among you.’” What a sad place we are in when we discredit or throw out the supernatural gifts because they have been abused. When this is done we quickly become weak and have to try harder to do “ministry.”
We had a former missionary come visit that longed to be on the mission field again. I loved watching the Holy Spirit pour into her and out of her for that matter. The Lord asked me to share this story with her.
I was in a conversation with an older gentleman one day, who wanted to be in ministry as a young man and even went to Bible College. He never went “into ministry as an occupation” and I asked him why. He said, “Because it doesn’t pay very much.” “Well, that all depends on when you want to get paid” I replied.
Diane was rich, very rich! She has an investment package that is bursting at the seams. It was very clear she would not run out of resources when she finally retired to Eternity. This is why it is so important to store treasures up in Heaven, because we will be there for a very long time and we want to have enough to last.
The Lord keeps giving us stuff for those who come to visit in Pemba and it is always a delight ministering with them. After every night of prayer Emie and I lie in bed laugh with crazy excitement at how much fun it is. We are in awe of how easy it is and we are never tired. The comment that we always come back to is, “Why would/did we ever do it differently?”
There are so many amazing, wonderful God stories. Like the time I told a girl she had a weight in her stomach and it made her want to throw up. I pulled it out in Jesus’ name and it left. Or the time I told a guy he had a weight on his shoulder and prayed it off. He later came and shared what the weight was and how the Holy Spirit was dead on.
The most fun we had was when I was praying for this guy and I noticed a young girl (college) sitting on the ground with her face in her hands. “She has the gift of prophecy, but she is trying too hard,” is what the Holy Spirit told me. I asked her to stand up and told her exactly what the Holy Spirit told me. All she needed was to be released and then it happened, the Holy Spirit was so strong on her we could barely stand up. The room was spinning so fast and we had to go with it or it was going to be a mess. So we went with it and boy was it awesome. As we were spinning, I kept telling her it was her fault!
Nights like these give Emie and I the courage to keep going when it gets really hard (and it does, just like anywhere). The best compliment we have ever received was from two different groups, “this trip was worth it even if it was only for you and Emie to pray for us. Thanks!”
No, thank you Lord, we all had a great time!
Until the next prayer meeting!
Blessings
Heath
This is the stuff Emie and I live for. Between all the emails, airport pick-ups, town runs, broken toilets or answering all the questions, we try to have a prayer meeting with visitors. We actually trick them in coming over by serving Emie’s Famous Pemba Chocolate Cake and then we move into some prayer. After an hour of visiting, the Lord usually lays someone on our hearts and we ask if we can pray for them. Then the ball is rolling, very fast!
What has happened the last three times is that the Lord lays a man on my heart and starts speaking to me about where they are or what they are wrestling with (not sexual). As we pray I am able to teach on scriptural truths and renewing the mind. Two men have been under so many religious spirits that we were able to rip them off and see an immediate difference. As we were praying over one gentleman the Holy Spirit was giving Emie and I so much for him that he sat down in shock and said you (Emie specifically) read my mail. Everything we had shared with him was exactly what he had told a teammate the night before. He sat there with his face in his hands the rest of the evening, in awe of God.
One evening we had a High School Senior in the group. As we were praying for him the Lord began to show where he was going to go to college and how the Lord was going to use him. I could see that he would end up in a very prominent position of leadership (I believe it was student body president) and that his campus would be changed by his life.
I could see him walking around his campus and receiving high respect by his peers. So I asked him where he wanted to go. He stood there and sheepishly said, “Ssst”. He wouldn’t say it, I believe out of embarrassment. He never ended up saying where he wanted to go (in public) but with what he was about to say I could tell it was the same place the Lord laid on my heart.
Afterwards he came up to me and asked what school I had got, I said, “Stanford.” He about flipped over and said, “I have always wanted to go there. Wow, that’s where I want to go!” I can’t wait to see Stanford changed. The best part about it is they don’t even know it’s coming, but God does and a few “nobodies” who prayed one night in Africa.
“Lord when I get to Africa would you have some one tell me what you want me to do with my life? Also can you have them tell me without me saying a word to them?” These were the prayers of a young university student from Ireland who wanted to know the next step for his life. I shared with him (and the others) that I don’t believe a women should hold a pastoral position at a “church”, this is because I don’t believe a man should hold a pastoral position at a church either. Biblically speaking a pastor is not a position, it’s a gifting. So a farmer, teacher, engineer, carpenter, janitor, mother, salesman, CEO, cook, builder or anyone else could be a pastor. We have institutionalized the gifts of God and told everyone who has a pastoral gifting they must go to Bible College and find a “church” to hire them. If we would release those who are in a profession and have the pastoral gifting to pastor people, wow, the Body of Christ would be better equipped and quicker. I said, “Will you become a pastor because you got a building and put a sign on it making you an official pastor?”
“You’re a pastor, you have the gifting of God on your life to be a pastor. You need to Shepard people. Do it, go for it and you don’t need a “church” to be a pastor,” this is what I told the young Irishman. “But what do you want to do? You are a pastor but what do you want to do,” I kept asking him over and over and over but he would not tell me. Finally I said, “I see you as a Pediatrician! Do what your heart’s desire for the Lord is. You can be a Pediatrician and pastor people! They don’t conflict, they fit together beautifully!”
Later that night he filled in all the details. He thought he should be a pastor (because he knew he had a gifting in it but thought the “right” way to be a pastor is the traditional way). But really he wanted to be a Doctor who could pastor people. The religious conflict he was feeling left him desperate to have the Lord tell him through a stranger. Only the Holy Spirit and the use of prophetic gifts and words of knowledge could answer his prayer from Ireland by a guy in Africa. What a great God.
In the middle of a prayer meeting we had a beautiful time when a gentleman fell to his knees and confessed his stuff. It was awesome to see the body gather around him and speak truth, life and love. It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 14: 24, “But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and they will be condemned by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be laid bare, and they will fall down on their knees and worship God, declaring, ‘God is really here among you.’” What a sad place we are in when we discredit or throw out the supernatural gifts because they have been abused. When this is done we quickly become weak and have to try harder to do “ministry.”
We had a former missionary come visit that longed to be on the mission field again. I loved watching the Holy Spirit pour into her and out of her for that matter. The Lord asked me to share this story with her.
I was in a conversation with an older gentleman one day, who wanted to be in ministry as a young man and even went to Bible College. He never went “into ministry as an occupation” and I asked him why. He said, “Because it doesn’t pay very much.” “Well, that all depends on when you want to get paid” I replied.
Diane was rich, very rich! She has an investment package that is bursting at the seams. It was very clear she would not run out of resources when she finally retired to Eternity. This is why it is so important to store treasures up in Heaven, because we will be there for a very long time and we want to have enough to last.
The Lord keeps giving us stuff for those who come to visit in Pemba and it is always a delight ministering with them. After every night of prayer Emie and I lie in bed laugh with crazy excitement at how much fun it is. We are in awe of how easy it is and we are never tired. The comment that we always come back to is, “Why would/did we ever do it differently?”
There are so many amazing, wonderful God stories. Like the time I told a girl she had a weight in her stomach and it made her want to throw up. I pulled it out in Jesus’ name and it left. Or the time I told a guy he had a weight on his shoulder and prayed it off. He later came and shared what the weight was and how the Holy Spirit was dead on.
The most fun we had was when I was praying for this guy and I noticed a young girl (college) sitting on the ground with her face in her hands. “She has the gift of prophecy, but she is trying too hard,” is what the Holy Spirit told me. I asked her to stand up and told her exactly what the Holy Spirit told me. All she needed was to be released and then it happened, the Holy Spirit was so strong on her we could barely stand up. The room was spinning so fast and we had to go with it or it was going to be a mess. So we went with it and boy was it awesome. As we were spinning, I kept telling her it was her fault!
Nights like these give Emie and I the courage to keep going when it gets really hard (and it does, just like anywhere). The best compliment we have ever received was from two different groups, “this trip was worth it even if it was only for you and Emie to pray for us. Thanks!”
No, thank you Lord, we all had a great time!
Until the next prayer meeting!
Blessings
Heath
Where are they now?
Do all of you know the "Where's Waldo?" children's books? If you
don't, you should! It will provide hours of entertainment or
frustration. The famous Waldo is hiding in tricky places through the
whole book on his travels around the world. It actually causes me
great frustration but my kids love the anticipation of where they will
find him!
I don't exactly know how this will connect with where in the world
the Locke family is, aside from the fact that these last few weeks
have caused me great tension/frustration in wondering where we are and
where we are going to end up! And I guess if you've been searching
for us in the last 7 weeks, we have been a bit in hiding!!
THE LAST YOU HEARD:
Heath was headed to the States to try and resolve our visa problems.
That was September 11th.
WHAT TRANSPIRED:
Heath RETURNED to South Africa on October 4th about 3 weeks later:
. . .with lots of trying and yet we were still stuck with the same
visas: ones that required our entire family to fly out of the country
every 30 days. We just couldn't do that due to a baby coming in a
little over a month and the great expense it would be for a family of
5 to fly out of Mozambique that frequently!
HOW TO RESPOND??!!
Do we FIGHT to get back to Pemba NO MATTER WHAT because that's what
we said we were going to do? Or do we look at other options and see
if there are doors opening that we would've never been able to walk
through in any other circumstance?
At first we thought maybe it was the enemy hindering our return to
Pemba. We were in FIGHT TO GET BACK MODE. But after several
unconnected confirmations, Jesus began to show us that He was
orchestrating a NEW LOCKE ADVENTURE . . . AGAIN!!
WAS THIS AN EASY DECISION TO EMBRACE?
NOT AT ALL (at least not for me!). About 3 months ago, Heath began
to sense that maybe we wouldn't be in Pemba for 2 years. At that
point, I was adamant that we were going to stay, because that's what
we said we were going to do! But 2 weeks before we left for VACATION,
I was praying about our time in Pemba and began sensing the same
thing: maybe this wasn't for 2 years.
Though the Lord did BEGIN to prepare us, I could've never been
prepared for what has transpired in the last 7 weeks. I have wrestled
through pride (I want to fulfill the thing I set out to do), fear of
man (wondering how our teammates at Iris would perceive this drastic
change and not wanting to let people down even though we feel that we
are obeying God), and fear of failure/people pleasing (not wanting to
look like we've failed and struggling with people's opinions of our
situation.)
I don't know if I would've truly been able to embrace our change of
direction had the visas not been such a decisive issue in the matter.
SO WHAT'S THE DECISION?
After release and blessing from our leadership at Iris and our
teammate in hospitality, I felt we were able to walk through the other
door that opened up to us while Heath was in the States. The house we
lived at for our 2 week "vacation" and then for my 3 week South
African stranding, is a ministry of hospitality, though much smaller
scale than what we were doing in Pemba. It is a guest house for
missionaries and 3 months out of the year it is used for a small
school of ministry. Kent and Shay, the directors of the house, had
planned to leave for 3 months to rest, renew visas and be with family
in the States. People were lined up to care for the property and run
the ministry. . . . until the week we had to decide what direction to
go with our time in Pemba!! That same week, both of their people fell
through! So, they approached me with the idea of Heath and I staying
to care for the ministry and property until they return in January or
February!
Remember, I'm 8 months pregnant and desperate to figure out where we
are going to have this baby! When the option to stay in South Africa
opened, at the very home we were already used to, doing the very
ministry we were just doing, with housing, a car, and utilities
provided for, I was ready to jump for anything as long as I could
start nesting!! But I knew Heath had to be on the same page or he'd
go way too stir crazy being on this property for three or four months.
But he had peace about it too.
Sooooo, that's the decision, not made in a vacuum or without loads of
prayer and counsel, tears and stress. We are living in Nelspruit,
South Africa for the next few months, having a baby, being a family,
TRANSITIONING AGAIN, and caring for tired and transient missionaries!
Heath flew to Pemba on the 9th of October to say goodbye, bring a bit
of closure to the Pemba chapter of our lives, kiss his dog goodbye (he
really does love me!!!), and pack as much of our things in 3 big bags
that he could! It feels so strange to me that I will not have the
opportunity to physically say goodbye to our home and people in our
lives for the past 6 months! I never dreamed, when I was packing for
a 2 week vacation that we would not be returning.
Heath was back in South Africa on Sunday, the 14th. Kent and Shay
left on Monday, the 15th, and our family moved into the main house on
the property that day.
I have found a midwife/doctor team that will come to our house to do a
homebirth. That is the plan as of now and it feels good to finally
have something set for Elianna Charis' birth. Her name means, "My God
has answered me" with "Grace." We are certainly in need of His
ANSWERS and His GRACE.
I have so many emotions and thoughts about the whole thing but I am
not going to overload you all now. Heath has different emotions and
a very different experience in coming to this place so I'm sure he
will write His perspective at some point. We will also be updating
what life in South Africa is like for us and our kids.
There are many details I could not include. Please feel free to ask
questions! You know I'm never short on words!! We love you all and
look forward to hearing from you now that you know where in the world
we are and what in the world we are doing!!
Blessings to you,
Emie
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Where's Heath?
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!
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!
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
Monday, August 27, 2007
Nelspruit
We have made the 3 hour flight, over night in Maputo (Moz. Capital), up at 5:30am, a taxi ride to the bus station, a four ride into Nelspruit and the phone call that our house we had rented was doubled booked so we have to stay with strangers. Some guy named Kent was going to pick us up and house us for only four days. Then we mentioned that we were planning to stay here for 2 weeks. The blessing is that he and his wife Shay are also in Hospitality. We all realized that we have been here before and knew what to do.
So we arrived at their beautiful house that actually is a retreat center and mininstry school. It is located on an acre, has a pool and set up very lovely and feels like home. Unlike the Missionary Guest house we stated at in Maputo. I told Emie I felt like I was in a prison. If any of you every start a guest house make sure it is peaceful and feels like a home instead of bare neccesities.
Ok so back to the house. WE love it and have our own flat that is more than large enough for us. Kent and Shay are truly wonderful. They are meant to be here and we believe we are as well.
Nelspruit feels like America and the thought of being a missionary here seems plush. The kids are excited to explore everything, mall, book stores, cafe', more stores, and the Kruger park. We have just spent one night and here we go. We will keep you updated as time goes on.
Blessings
Heath
So we arrived at their beautiful house that actually is a retreat center and mininstry school. It is located on an acre, has a pool and set up very lovely and feels like home. Unlike the Missionary Guest house we stated at in Maputo. I told Emie I felt like I was in a prison. If any of you every start a guest house make sure it is peaceful and feels like a home instead of bare neccesities.
Ok so back to the house. WE love it and have our own flat that is more than large enough for us. Kent and Shay are truly wonderful. They are meant to be here and we believe we are as well.
Nelspruit feels like America and the thought of being a missionary here seems plush. The kids are excited to explore everything, mall, book stores, cafe', more stores, and the Kruger park. We have just spent one night and here we go. We will keep you updated as time goes on.
Blessings
Heath
Nelspruit
We have made the 3 hour flight, over night in Maputo (Moz. Capital), up at 5:30am, a taxi ride to the bus station, a four ride into Nelspruit and the phone call that our house we had rented was doubled booked so we have to stay with strangers. Some guy named Kent was going to pick us up and house us for only four days. Then we mentioned that we were planning to stay here for 2 weeks. The blessing is that he and his wife Shay are also in Hospitality. We all realized that we have been here before and knew what to do.
So we arrived at their beautiful house that actually is a retreat center and mininstry school. It is located on an acre, has a pool and set up very lovely and feels like home. Unlike the Missionary Guest house we stated at in Maputo. I told Emie I felt like I was in a prison. If any of you every start a guest house make sure it is peaceful and feels like a home instead of bare neccesities.
Ok so back to the house. WE love it and have our own flat that is more than large enough for us. Kent and Shay are truly wonderful. They are meant to be here and we believe we are as well.
Nelspruit feels like America and the thought of being a missionary here seems plush. The kids are excited to explore everything, mall, book stores, cafe', more stores, and the Kruger park. We have just spent one night and here we go. We will keep you updated as time goes on.
Blessings
Heath
So we arrived at their beautiful house that actually is a retreat center and mininstry school. It is located on an acre, has a pool and set up very lovely and feels like home. Unlike the Missionary Guest house we stated at in Maputo. I told Emie I felt like I was in a prison. If any of you every start a guest house make sure it is peaceful and feels like a home instead of bare neccesities.
Ok so back to the house. WE love it and have our own flat that is more than large enough for us. Kent and Shay are truly wonderful. They are meant to be here and we believe we are as well.
Nelspruit feels like America and the thought of being a missionary here seems plush. The kids are excited to explore everything, mall, book stores, cafe', more stores, and the Kruger park. We have just spent one night and here we go. We will keep you updated as time goes on.
Blessings
Heath
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
PLANES, PACHYDERMS, and PRAYERS
PLANES, PACHYDERMS, and PRAYERS
I’m not even going to suggest this will be a short update! They never are! And for those who consistently endure reading them know what’s going on and how to pray . . . THANK YOU!
PLANES: In 5 sleeps our whole family has to get on a little plane and head to a Mozambican border to renew our 6 month visas. At one point, Heath was really hoping and praying that we might be able to come to the States for 3 weeks but that wasn’t feasible. So instead, we are taking a plane to Maputo, the very southern city (the capital) of Mozambique. We’ll spend the night there and then take a bus across the border into a nice little city in South Africa called Nelspruit. There we have reserved a guesthouse for a reasonable price. We are going to take 2 weeks to regroup and be a family without any of the Pemba pressures we’ve been under for the last 6 months. There are a hundred things you could pray about for our 2 weeks away.
PACHYDERMS: Is that how you spell it? It’s elephants. While we’re in Nelspruit we are going to be close to a wild life reserve. In fact, our guesthouse is supposed to be on the edge of a large game reserve called KRUGER PARK. If all works out with transportation and things, we hope to be able to drive through some of it for a couple days. But I’ve heard it’s all kind of hit and miss whether or not you actually see animals! If Jesus can put a lone hippo on a beach out in the middle of nowhere Mozambique for Heath, will you please pray that we see at least a couple pachyderms and a few giraffes? A lion would be nice too but I don’t want to be so greedy!
PRAYERS: We would really appreciate knowing you are really praying for us during this week of preparation to go, while we are away and then the week we return.
** There are many things to get in place and people to find to cover our position for 2 weeks.
** Pray that all of our different desires of a “break” will somehow be met while having 3 very different ages of kids.
** Pray that it will be restful and refreshing for all of us. (I think I’m a bit more pessimistic about this one than Heath is!! Though maybe mom’s always feel that way when you vacation with their kids!)
** Pray that travel, bus, finding our house, and transportation for 2 weeks will be peaceful.
** Pray that we will be ready to come back to a VERY BUSY October.
Thank you all for your love, prayers and financial support over the last 6 months. Though we keep our givers anonymous for many reasons, it does not mean that we appreciate you any less than if you were getting handwritten thank you’s every time you sacrificially give to the Kingdom work we are doing. And I hope you know by now we value those who give of their time to pray, write, send packages, etc just as much as anyone who has given finances.
Here is an update on what our expenses have proven to be in the last 6 months. If you have other questions or want more specifics, we are happy to give them.
Our primary expenses are:
1. A monthly donation to Iris for electricity and guard fees, etc.
2. FOOD and DIAPERS: To be able to eat semi-normal, it has proven to be our biggest expense. We have many people over for dinner and find this to be a large part of our ministry.
3. Occasional dates and outings: Before I began cooking, we would try to go out to eat once a week with our family. We don’t need to do that very often anymore, though occasionally we go out with the kids or with visitors.
4. Odds and Ends around the house.
5. Ministry to the Mozambicans. The Lord has led us to give in various ways and to various people. You have blessed Mozambicans as you have blessed us. I love the giving heart of my husband and I love even more that I am not the one running the finances here!! If you want more details on the things we have given towards, let us know.
6. THE BIGGEST EXPENSE: Travel every 6 months to renew our visas as a family. Then when the baby is born in November we will have to fly again to Maputo (the capital) and get the baby a passport as soon as possible. We desire to come back to the States in February for 2 or 3 months to introduce the baby to everyone and to regroup for another year. The vast majority of money given is going towards these enormous expenses. Once again, we are in awe of how God has provided for us. As we budget out this trip, we have exactly what we need to get there, live for 2 weeks and get back.
THANK YOU ALL. We love you dearly and appreciate you all.
Loving Jesus in the Living of Life,
Emie for the family
I’m not even going to suggest this will be a short update! They never are! And for those who consistently endure reading them know what’s going on and how to pray . . . THANK YOU!
PLANES: In 5 sleeps our whole family has to get on a little plane and head to a Mozambican border to renew our 6 month visas. At one point, Heath was really hoping and praying that we might be able to come to the States for 3 weeks but that wasn’t feasible. So instead, we are taking a plane to Maputo, the very southern city (the capital) of Mozambique. We’ll spend the night there and then take a bus across the border into a nice little city in South Africa called Nelspruit. There we have reserved a guesthouse for a reasonable price. We are going to take 2 weeks to regroup and be a family without any of the Pemba pressures we’ve been under for the last 6 months. There are a hundred things you could pray about for our 2 weeks away.
PACHYDERMS: Is that how you spell it? It’s elephants. While we’re in Nelspruit we are going to be close to a wild life reserve. In fact, our guesthouse is supposed to be on the edge of a large game reserve called KRUGER PARK. If all works out with transportation and things, we hope to be able to drive through some of it for a couple days. But I’ve heard it’s all kind of hit and miss whether or not you actually see animals! If Jesus can put a lone hippo on a beach out in the middle of nowhere Mozambique for Heath, will you please pray that we see at least a couple pachyderms and a few giraffes? A lion would be nice too but I don’t want to be so greedy!
PRAYERS: We would really appreciate knowing you are really praying for us during this week of preparation to go, while we are away and then the week we return.
** There are many things to get in place and people to find to cover our position for 2 weeks.
** Pray that all of our different desires of a “break” will somehow be met while having 3 very different ages of kids.
** Pray that it will be restful and refreshing for all of us. (I think I’m a bit more pessimistic about this one than Heath is!! Though maybe mom’s always feel that way when you vacation with their kids!)
** Pray that travel, bus, finding our house, and transportation for 2 weeks will be peaceful.
** Pray that we will be ready to come back to a VERY BUSY October.
Thank you all for your love, prayers and financial support over the last 6 months. Though we keep our givers anonymous for many reasons, it does not mean that we appreciate you any less than if you were getting handwritten thank you’s every time you sacrificially give to the Kingdom work we are doing. And I hope you know by now we value those who give of their time to pray, write, send packages, etc just as much as anyone who has given finances.
Here is an update on what our expenses have proven to be in the last 6 months. If you have other questions or want more specifics, we are happy to give them.
Our primary expenses are:
1. A monthly donation to Iris for electricity and guard fees, etc.
2. FOOD and DIAPERS: To be able to eat semi-normal, it has proven to be our biggest expense. We have many people over for dinner and find this to be a large part of our ministry.
3. Occasional dates and outings: Before I began cooking, we would try to go out to eat once a week with our family. We don’t need to do that very often anymore, though occasionally we go out with the kids or with visitors.
4. Odds and Ends around the house.
5. Ministry to the Mozambicans. The Lord has led us to give in various ways and to various people. You have blessed Mozambicans as you have blessed us. I love the giving heart of my husband and I love even more that I am not the one running the finances here!! If you want more details on the things we have given towards, let us know.
6. THE BIGGEST EXPENSE: Travel every 6 months to renew our visas as a family. Then when the baby is born in November we will have to fly again to Maputo (the capital) and get the baby a passport as soon as possible. We desire to come back to the States in February for 2 or 3 months to introduce the baby to everyone and to regroup for another year. The vast majority of money given is going towards these enormous expenses. Once again, we are in awe of how God has provided for us. As we budget out this trip, we have exactly what we need to get there, live for 2 weeks and get back.
THANK YOU ALL. We love you dearly and appreciate you all.
Loving Jesus in the Living of Life,
Emie for the family
Friday, August 3, 2007
Living in Paradise while paradise is living in you!
Emie and I cannot believe we have been married for nine years now. It is amazing how time has flown by. We have commented so many times about what the Lord has allowed us to experience, and it is a fulfillment of dreams. The last two years alone make our heads spin. We are dreamers, ark builders, vagabonds, lion slayers, army destroyers, miracle workers, producers of signs and wonders and most of all in awe of our majestic Jesus. He has been faithful when we were not; he has defied the odds yet again with our skeptics. He has and is the one the Word of God reveals to us. But he doesn’t stop there. He bursts into our lives to take us higher, father, wider and deeper into experiencing his love. It is so great one cannot and must not only intellectually know it but experientially embrace him. He is tangible and loves to get into every nook and cranny of our being.
This past week I surprised Emie with a three-day get away to Londo Lodge for our anniversary. It was breath taking and more than we could have imagined.
We both remembered who we are, without kids (we had Abiel 2 weeks before our first anniversary) and enjoyed simplicity again. It was an affair to remember. The food was amazing and the showers where awesome. Emie and I enjoyed a soothing massage without being interrupted by our wonderful children. They upgraded us to their honeymoon villa and we felt the favor of God.
We snorkeled (hated it), swam, walked, connected, and worshipped in God's beauty. Of course this is not to say the enemy didn't show up and desired to rob what the Lord wanted to tell us. We exerted our authority over him and he left. After that the Lord began to download many things to me concerning our future and how all these crazy ideas in my head will actually connect some day.
Unfortunately our camera broke on the trip so there are not many pictures of us. So we really had to store it in our minds. But the memories and the ability to come back with a fuller perspective has brought peace and more excitement about what is next.
It was wonderful and we thank Josh and Jess for watching the kids for us. Thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged our marriage into the fullness of Christ.
Living in paradise (Pemba) has been amazing but I am realizing that having Paradise living in me is far better.
Blessings
Heath
This past week I surprised Emie with a three-day get away to Londo Lodge for our anniversary. It was breath taking and more than we could have imagined.
We both remembered who we are, without kids (we had Abiel 2 weeks before our first anniversary) and enjoyed simplicity again. It was an affair to remember. The food was amazing and the showers where awesome. Emie and I enjoyed a soothing massage without being interrupted by our wonderful children. They upgraded us to their honeymoon villa and we felt the favor of God.
We snorkeled (hated it), swam, walked, connected, and worshipped in God's beauty. Of course this is not to say the enemy didn't show up and desired to rob what the Lord wanted to tell us. We exerted our authority over him and he left. After that the Lord began to download many things to me concerning our future and how all these crazy ideas in my head will actually connect some day.
Unfortunately our camera broke on the trip so there are not many pictures of us. So we really had to store it in our minds. But the memories and the ability to come back with a fuller perspective has brought peace and more excitement about what is next.
It was wonderful and we thank Josh and Jess for watching the kids for us. Thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged our marriage into the fullness of Christ.
Living in paradise (Pemba) has been amazing but I am realizing that having Paradise living in me is far better.
Blessings
Heath
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Never enough time to see it all.
I would love to share all that is happening all the time but it seems that there is never time. So here is a snap shot of one of the benefits of living in Africa, a self-lead safari into the bush looking for Hippos! Me and 5 guys headed out to find hippos and we succeed after 5 hours of playing around in the Land Rover (which I have been temporarily upgraded the last month). It was drive on dirt road for hours, then ask around, higher two guys who say they know where to go. Then we drove down a bike path (yes in the Rover) to a river where they said the Hippos used to be, but they were all shot years ago. We explained we wanted to see live hippos. They said we had to go to the beach, but we didn't want to back track, so they said, "turn right." Now there is no road, no path, and grass 5 feet high. So we went 3.5 kg of mud, grass, small trees, BIG trees and a whole lot of fun! Some of the guys seemed to be more nervous than I was ( I was driving) b/c we didn't have a jack or a spare tire, which I thought would give us better stories and they thought would get us eaten alive. I did come prepared in every other area that we would need. The tire was another members responsibility.
After coming over the sand dun, we walk over to see a lone hippo drinking about 400 yards away from us. It was worth it all! We where like little boys all over again. We ducked down and walk to where we would come right up on it. And then the camera's where snapping away. IT eventually walked into the ocean and we never saw it again.
But we knew we would have a great drive home as we navigated again through the bush. Then we run into about 30 Baboons. This was icing on the cake as the Lord was delighting our hearts even more. One Baboon was huge and his scream made the hair on our necks stand up. We quickly jumped in the Rover and drove away.
Just another day in Africa right?
Blessings
Heath
Greetings
After coming over the sand dun, we walk over to see a lone hippo drinking about 400 yards away from us. It was worth it all! We where like little boys all over again. We ducked down and walk to where we would come right up on it. And then the camera's where snapping away. IT eventually walked into the ocean and we never saw it again.
But we knew we would have a great drive home as we navigated again through the bush. Then we run into about 30 Baboons. This was icing on the cake as the Lord was delighting our hearts even more. One Baboon was huge and his scream made the hair on our necks stand up. We quickly jumped in the Rover and drove away.
Just another day in Africa right?
Blessings
Heath
Greetings
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