Today was a harrowing experience as we were being questioned by the govmt adoption agency about our practices for discipline, some inconsistancies in the kids stories about living w us, etc. Some of this extra scrutiny stemmed from the recent abuse case with another family in the US that adopted from Peru. However, it took us by surprise as one more delay and attack. The outcome of it all was that we were able to sign and be done with this step! Woohoo, God! Thank u to all who were covering us in prayers! He answered! And in a huge way! Tomorrow is the Embassy dr appmt at noon. Prayer requests: patience, the kids 4 J & I, pprwk to go quickly, continual prayer 4 Joshua to find his place with siblings.

We applied for new ID cards for the kids today with their new names. One more step complete!

We had a good Father's Day yesterday. Kids were pretty good but still adjusting to the new apartment. We took them on a walk where we could see the ocean. Lima is set up on a cliff and that is where our apartment is. We will take a taxi down to the water later in the week.

Today we will start the process of collecting documents needed for them to immigrate to the US. Please pray for favor and quickness in each department that we visit.

Pls also pray we have thick skins. The kids have said hurtful things to all of us including jj. Pray he (and we) can let it go and love them again

The aptmt in Lima is nice! Loving the washer & hot water! We are close to the ocean cliffs and took a walk there yesterday for the kids to see the ocean for the first time. They wanted to play on the beach so we have to figure out how to get down to it from the cliffs! Maybe by taxi....Supposed to meet with the DGA (adoptn gov office) sometime today to sign more papers and tomorrow with the US Embassy to get other pprwk we need for the week. Successfully completed a supermarket run yesterday tho we were the talk of the store w Peruvians following us around to see what we buy! So silly! Met some girls there from Cleveland on medical missions (we were excited 2 hear english! Ha!) Kids are grieving hard for losses, especially E. Yesterday was not good but we survived. Bittersweet to think being in Lima before and how much things have changed in 3 weeks. Please pray all of us continue to live in the present and not yearn for familiar past. Think this will b key as we transition home too.

Praise God! Our flight was great and we landed safe in Lima! Thank you all for praying for us! The kids did great! There were kids crying on the flight but they weren't ours! Thought you would enjoy a photo of all of us before our flight! Since the adoption portion is complete we can start to post some photos. The sun was really bright in our eyes.

Jeffrey here. Not sure if we have said this or not but the children are officially ours now! The final resolution was written on Wednesday! As Kristine said, we now have birth certificates for each child that list us as their parents.

Our "final" stage of the process(and I put that in quotes because there are still many steps!) is to return to Lima to get the docs we need for the kids to immigrate to the US. Our flight is tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon and we would GREATLY appreciate your prayers for the flight to depart as scheduled. Sometimes Peruvian Airlines cancels flights if there are not enough people! We really really really need to be on that flight. The other options are to stay another night in Huancayo and/or a 9 hour drive down curvy mountain roads! We appreciate your agreement in prayer with us about the flight.

Next week will be busy in Lima. We have a government meeting to sign the post adoption documents, a meeting with the US Embassy, a required visit to the doctor for the kids and we have to get new ID cards, then Peruvian passports for the kids. All those lead up to our final visa application with the US Embassy. We are hoping to return to the US around June 27, but we'll know more next week.

We made it! Exhausted. 6 people in backseat of a taxi not fun! But got the certificates! One kid got carsick on way up winding mtn. We had a 45 min delay for construction at the top then got stopped by police checking r records 4 the kids. However, we did get what we needed pprwk wise and had excellent ceviche for lunch! Thank u 4 the prayers today! Tomorrow is T's bday and our afternoon flight to Lima!! Pls pray flt not cancelled (common) and kids r good☺The flight is about 30-45 minuted which is good on everyone. This is their 1st plane trip and E might be difficult. She is still struggling w never going back to orphanage so this will be more of a final thing for her. Was a bit of a pill today in defiance.

Please pray for good Internet connections in order to get the certificates quickly (it's why we r going so early - hoping 4 better connections), for the kids to be calm waiting around (bringing toys and videos), and that we don't forget anything we need to have! Thank u!

Today was more grief and acting out. Kids were up several times last night and so much was stirred up in spirit realm. Packs of dogs growling and barking outside, another band/festival thing, kids crying. Crazy! Had a good few moments w E just holding her and typing my thoughts out on Google Translate telling her we want her & love her and affirming her grief. It was good and for the last few hrs, has been back to her sweet self. She's been quite the devious terror today! Ha! Tomorrow is a crazy day starting at 530am with us leaving to get birth certificates with all 7 of us plus r lawyer & social wkr.

Then said Jesus, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34a KJV I think one of the hard things of parenting is the letting things go when your feelings are hurt. I feel sometimes that "hey, I have rights too! I have feelings too and this process is hard for me too!" It's that Self cropping up, the orphan in me that wants my own way, wants it easy ! Ha! A dear friend last night shared how even Jesus had to walk through the garden and crucifixion. That it's about Him being WITH us, not taking away the hard times. I slip into Him being a genie and want the perfection that we think is promised to us with Jesus but looking at his life in the Bible, it was messy, dirty, primitive, hard, bloody, hurtful. REAL. And so we are living Real! Ha! If I had a glass of Sweet Red, I'd toast all of u who are currently living your Real and encourage u that it's ok to live there, it's not permanent, and Jesus IS extra close if u continually look 4 Him. Sometimes it's just a flash like a laugh or a smile, a quick moment. Other times it's the sweetness of His lingering presence but He's faithful😍

Hello all! I don't even know how to write this post. It has been a day...the kids had a rough day of constant disobedience and ultimately deep grieving for the loss of the orphanage and the familiar. We battled, prayed, declared who they are, worshipped, and loved on them when they let us. It has been exhausting but praying that the plans of the enemy are defeated in the name of the Lord! Sweet moments came from the children we least expected: M.E. asking her brother to obey, T dancing and trying to sing praises & lift her hands with me, T wanting me at bedtime instead of E and keeping a death grip on my hand, speaking over a screaming M.E. at nap and telling her she is wanted. Jj has the pink eye like stuff today and has been a bit miserable. Don't think it's as bad as j had which I am grateful for. Continuing to declare joy over us and know that He who promised is faithful and will complete us in the end. Counting the days until Lima...

Jeffrey here again. We've turned a corner! Our trip is halfway complete! Our health is improving and we are making great strides with the kids. We've had moments of praying over several today very intensely and they have responded well. Please continue to pray for complete healing and no new issues.

Our "empathy" period is complete! We had a good visit this morning with the social worker and she is happy with their progress. She will file her report tomorrow. On the 14th we will get the Final Adoption Resolution, but we still have the "day of waiting" on the 15th. It was explained to us as the "speak now or forever hold your peace" idea at a wedding. You know, because 5 years isn't quite long enough to wait, so they need to add one more day!! ;) Anyway, I think our children will legally be ours on the 16th! That day, we will also race around Huancayo and get new birth certificates for everyone with our names as parents.

Please join us in praying that everything goes smoothly this week and especially the birth certificates. We are booking flights to return to Lima on June 17. Praise God! And I mean that very seriously!

We'll update you on the rest of the process in Lima later. Thanks again to each of you for your incredible prayer support and comments of encouragement on the blog. We truly could not have reached this point without you!

Loved j's post on kids so much wanted to add to it: E-LOVES to help me cook and keeps sneaking the food, is girly (wants hair done, nails done, loves to color & do dot to dot), mischievous, aggravates her brother on purpose! Jh-tough, determined to conquer something whether puzzle or monkeybars, but cries when doesn't get his way. ME-wants to b tough but is needy too, is the protector and organizer of all toys, eats everything in sight, likes to b squeezed and kissed and have her tummy rubbed! T-is a flirt☺,loves to snuggle, won't give in if she wants something, loves to greet others on the street when in my backpack, is obsessed w animals, likes to wear a stuffed animal on her back w material a la Peru. Love all of u!

A miracle tonight. En serio (seruously). The kids all went to bed WITH NO CRYING AT ALL! I can't believe it!!!! Never has happened before! Still can't believe it! Freaking out! Feel we made big leaps today with both young girls. Both spent lots of time in our laps, kissing & hugging and even wanted us & not E when hurt. HUGE! So excited! 😄 Answers to YOUR prayers rt here!! To those covering us today--thank u for all the encouragement! Wasn't able to get the tetanus shot 4 Jh. May try tomorrow tho the time is past to get it. J's eyes are beginning to clear up!
We are about halfway now!! (Woohoo and a happy dance!) Prayer requests: social worker comes tomorrow 930 hopefully 4 last time. Finding a good aptmt for Lima beginning next wkend. Continuing health. For flight to Lima to not b cancelled. Continued bonding.

Can it get crazier? YES! While on the same playground we have been at all week, Jh stepped on a rusty nail that went thru his shoe, sock, and foot. Unbelievable! J and Jh spent 3 hours waiting for a tetanus shot and still have to return tomorrow morning early for it because the person never showed up! J is also struggling with coughing and possibly pink eye symptoms, jj feeling low with slight fever, and me with a cold and trying to run the show! Ha! Friends, pls keep praying! The attack physically has been insane! Kept telling my guys that u r praying and it's seriously getting us thru! I'm forcing myself to record good moments here as my therapy session : pushing the girls on the swings, cooking a peruvian tuna dish for lunch with E, getting a tiny bit of wash done, snuggling w T for awhile this morning, having our kids say hi by video to my amazing and beautiful niece who graduated today (woohoo!), watching r kids try mac and cheese for the first time, coloring princess pages with the girls at the apt while j at hospital, giving them all a good night kiss. And so I give all of U a goodnight kiss and say to YOU that I love you! Te amo!

Celina was pleased w the progress we have made, the rules we've set, and the bonding but still wants to have another session on Monday morning. Thank u for praying. Trusting Jesus was honored in how we acted. Trying to separate the kids into different beds tonight. Celina doesn't want them together. It's going not too well! Ha! What a crazy life! Seems we have prayed more today than ever before and leaning on His strong arms. So so glad we have Him! So so amazed at His wisdom, strength, and purity! Found out there is alot of fear at night, sometimes perpetuated by the kids themselves saying there are things under bed, zombies, etc. Anointed them and broke off fear, replaced w peace and Presence of Jesus. Still planning to leave for Lima on 17th (also T's bday) so far. I will be ecstatic!! Hot showers! Electric stove! Washer!! Maybe even dishwasher! The ocean boardwalk! Chili's! Haha! Just kidding, but yes, there is one overlooking the ocean! ☺pls continue to pray for bonding! And for the upcoming flight around 17th (not cancelled & smooth for kids meaning no screaming)! Love u all! Hope u r sleeping well! Heehee!

Today has been hard. Do I start every post like this?! Ha! Kids wetting bed made everyone up all night. Constantly testing boundaries and if we r going to b consistent. A dear friend gave us a word about worshipping this morning and things coming into alignment and fresh anointing. We spent time watching a Hillsong video. Very much needed 4 our hearts and spirits. Feel we r making progress with Jh. Reminded him that God made him a good and obedient son & that's who he is. This has been a victory as its helped to remind him all day.☺yay! Asking jesus to correct any mistakes we are making with the kids. To help us to die to our emotions and be our front guard. To help us to react out of our spirit and do exactly what jesus would/did. J & i got a few minutes 2 pray these things in the kids room. J and I r still sick but better than yesterday! Thx for all the prayers! Claiming 100%! Social worker next after naps. Praying all will b well. Filling house w declaratns of peace and joy. Continuing 2 break off spirits of past trauma in kids and orphan mentality.

Jeffrey here. Tomorrow is the end of our 2nd week in Peru! We are actually getting reasonable close to half way though! We have so many things to be thankful for: safe flights and no lost luggage. Safe travel around the city. An apartment with a kitchen here in Huancayo. Good bonding with our kids.

There have been many challenges of course but we know they are making us look more like Jesus. Kristine has had some beautiful posts on the difficulties that we have faced. If you haven't read them all I encourage you to go back and do so.

Tonight I want to give a little insight into each of our new children .
E is a girl after my own heart: she loves spicy foods and mayonese on her hamburger! Actually, mayonese on everything but I digress. She is very smart.
Jt is all boy! He enjoys going full blast most of the time and loves to win all the time.
M likes to add some drama to the group and enjoys hanging out with T most of the time. She likes to keep things in order (doors closed that should be closed, etc.)
T has the most beautiful smile and captivating eyes. She likes to carry her stuffed animal on her back like is common in traditional Peruvian culture. She climbs on everything and doesn't seem to have any fear of heights.

Hope you enjoyed these short thoughts! Be blessed and please continue to pray for us. We are really looking forward to getting back to Lima in a week and to an apartment with more modern conveniences!

Update: social worker now at 3:00pm. We'll see how that works...😕

Today went pretty well despite j and I being sick! Pls pray healing in our throats, heads, and strength in our bodies. Went to grocery store today to try and shop for the rest of our time here (still around 9 days or so, so not that close). Littles actually napped (woohoo!) Then wrestling alligators...I mean showers for the kids! Ha! Praying they sleep all night. Social worker coming tomorrow at 10. Just honestly, giving it to jesus. We have bent over backward 4 her and still can't please. It's up 2 jesus now. Thank u 4 continued prayer. Love u all!❤

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18 NIV).

Raw & real...It's funny that when u think u have your life under control, it's when u dont. I thought my quick anger when defied or my flare of frustration in the face of acute disappmt was gone. But have been tested like never b4 & there it is. It must b because we don't feel like we need Jesus. It's all us. But I am pushed to my knees in exhaustion, in anger as I weep behind closed doors, on my knees as I hurt for Jj, for the continued grieving of the kids, for my lack of ability at times to be what I feel like I should be. We are being broken down into tiny pieces, shattered to be rewet and molded into something beautiful if we can just hold on. My mom reminded me that this time will be the hardest and that each day would be better. Pls pray we would love and yes, even cherish this hard time knowing Jesus knows that this was the best for each of us. Pray we will be the most amazing trainees He's ever seen and learn every single lesson He wants, that we would b called Faithful and Lovers of His Kids in the end. Thank u, friends & family, for being His Lifeline to us.

Kids up at 5am. One wet the bed so all were wet. Did wash too and kids helped me hang on line. At park playground this am to wear out. Tried nap with only the 2 littles and worked well. They r tired from playing. Jj is struggling today. We were both crying in the kitchen w the changes. So hard. I miss my time w him & he w me just being together. Promised him we'd made it happen. Crying again telling u. Already he is growing up just these 5 days. Pls pray peace and acceptance with joy over him. J is feeling sick too as well as a few of the kids. We need lots of stamina, health, and sleep tonight. Love u.😍

For those praying about the social worker visit, it went ok I think. She comes back Friday morning to talk w kids (pls pray it is final visit). Today was tough. If we were in a honeymoon period before, it ended. No nap did not help! Really testing us with constant disobedience to see if we will do anything or not. Trying to prioritize whats important & stay strong. Pls pray strength, wisdom to parent, patience, connecting w each kid & meeting their individual needs, continued breaking of unhealthy ties of little ones to E. Thank u 4 continued prayers!

One of r taxi drivers today was an amazing man who spoke a good bit of English (woohoo!) And was so sweet! Was excited about the kids (we don't often get a super positive reception as we cram 7 of us in) and worked in Craig, Colorado! Such a small world! Got to tell him about God when he asked about the kids. It was cool. Got his # and will try to use him more while we r here☺

Wow. Today was one of those wild days! Totally worn out...so much going on with each one. Dr appmt went ok. Kids were really wild there too. Whiney and orphan issues. Brought pb crackers but 2 threw them down and screamed cuz couldn't have whole package. A bit crazy! Haha! Did get meds for M.E. She is on an inhaler thing cuz lungs bad. She did so good for the 1st time! Yay! E has cold and feeling down and others r headed that way. Giving them vitamins, etc to head it off. Please pray for good health!! Also, social worker visits at 9 am tomorrow. Very important that kids r good. Jh had terrible day today so a bit nervous. Good parts: kisses from the little ones, being able to calm little ones when dr saw them, heart to google translate talk w E & J, singing praise songs to kids during naptime & really connecting w M.E. continue to pray for bonding as they are calling us what they did the orphanage workers more often (aunt & uncle). Thank u all! I crave yr advice, prayers, words of encouragement --I jump on every time and devour all your amazing words thank u for yr time to read this and love on us!❤

Grocery store went better than expected! My kids eat like crazy & were so excited to pick out fruit, etc. I did pass by the cookie aisle VERY quickly! We even did showers for most of us! Now, if only I had time to eat or wasn't too tired☺my admiration has skyrocketed 4 those of u who have been doing this!! I do miss speaking in English tho! Yay for Google translate when it works!! Pls pray for wisdom in discipline. Thank u!

Having girls nap in my rm while j with jh. Gonna try to goto grocery store after nap. Wish us luck! Explored our area on foot but ended up carrying most kids. 50+ extra pounds up 4 flights of stairs is no joke! At 11,000 ft! Ha! I will b in the best shape ever if it doesn't kill me 1st!☺

Hello everyone! Missing worship in church! Kids mostly slept better last night- thank u 4 praying!!!!! Only one screamer & shorter time! So thankful 4 travel dvd players! Ha! Going to try a playground again today and maybe grocery shopping. Tomorrow a dr makes a quick visit & signs papers. Tuesday is our first official visit from the social worker. We have to do 2. These r the important ones. Need lots of favor.

Not gonna lie...this is hard & we r exhausted! Pls pray the kids will sleep tonight. Last night hard. Lots of grief not being in orphanage beds. Screaming from being overtired & wanting the familiar. Not napping. We r holding 2 jesus like never before. Declaring, loving, trying to live in patience, praying, singing praise songs to get thru. Pls keep praying! For sleep, for grieving, for strength, health. Joshua is amazing: praying over kids, loving, teasing, calming them even when we cant. Pray for him too! Thank u.😍

Today!

Today is the day that we accepted custody of our new children! It was a bit stressful in the morning with meeting at the orphanage and very little time to ask lots of questions about our future kids!

The parting was bittersweet as there were many tears from the dear workers that have cared for our children as their own for more than 3 years. We found out that most of the workers are actually unpaid volunteers. To think they would extend such high level of care is amazing, especially in such conditions. We also found out that this is possibly the first adoption placement that this orphanage has ever participated in. Hard to see so many other kids who need a forever home and may not get one. Anybody else up for the challenge? 

The going-away party yesterday was beautiful!  Lots of fun, food and dancing. Joshua even led some of the dances! Our kids have many friends that they leave behind to join our family.

Today, we have spent time with the kids playing, going for a walk, eating, and trying to get them to sleep. With a big emphasis on "trying"!  Each day now we build relationship with the kids and consistency in their schedule. We will have 2 visits from the social worker and a doctor next week. 

Thank you all for your notes of encouragement and comments on our blog. We read each one and value them greatly in addition to your prayers!

It was too late for coffee but Joshua talked us into a Frappuccino this evening. Yes there IS a Starbucks in Huancayo!

A specific prayer request for tonight is sleeping all the way thru. This is our last night without extra kids and we have not been sleeping well. Thank u all!

Update

Yesterday was another good day with our new children! Took them to a park and then to lunch(chicken...lots and lots of chicken here!). We continue to build relationship with them and share fun moments together. At lunch, E tapped Kristine on the shoulder with a twinkle in her eye, pointed behind me and told me to "look". Then stole a french fry from my plate! Some jokes work in any language! 

 We grow in our spanish each day and we are teaching the kids some English as well. We are working hard to connect with each child individually as we spend time with all. We appreciate your prayers for that.

Today we are having a going away party at the orphanage so all the kids can celebrate with our 4. Tomorrow we need to sign some paperwork to receive custody of the kids and then we will spend time seeing the orphanage and learning about the kids daily schedules. Then we will take them to the small apartment we have rented and they will be with us from then on!

We will still be in Huancayo for 2 weeks to complete the adoption process. We expect to fly to Lima on June 17 to finish the immigration part of the process. There have been no delays yet, so we are still targeting a return to Denver in late June.

The first day!

May 30th will be an historic day in the life of the Moore family! The day we met our new children! There were many many successes today and we praise God for each one. We had time with the kids at their orphanage, at our hotel, and at the mall with lunch at KFC! We felt the bonding went really well. We are quite tired from the emotional and physical requirements of today so I'm sure we will sleep good! We will spend tomorrow with the kids as well.

Please pray for wisdom as we rent an apartment here in Huancayo for the next 2 weeks to complete the adoption process. We need just the right place in terms of location, sleeping arrangements, and a kitchen. Thank you!

Wish we could post photos but we can't yet.

First meeting went amazing! Older 3 kids were all smiles and ran to us immediately. It took T a few minutes to warm up to us. We are at the hotel with the kids by ourselves right now!

Arrived in Huancayo. Not what w e expected! Skinny roads, traffic, bustling people, horns blaring. We could easily be in India, it's so similar! Andes clothes instead of saris! Here it is the end of May when 10 years ago, Jesus said to Come out on the water. Here we are...trembling over tomorrow, trying to keep our eyes on His eyes and not the waves of our own doubts. "O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" Claiming that as my answer that tomorrow will go smoothly and connections made in our spirits. That He has it all under control.

Waiting on our flight to Huancayo. Had a good meeting with the Government adoption department in Lima this morning.

Please begin praying that we get all 4 birth certificates easily and quickly. We found out today that 3 of them are in a different area of the city which may cause problems. Other requests: we won't have to pay much extra for bags on flight tomorrow and will get all bags to Huancayo. Also meeting with kids Tuesday morning! Thank u!!

Spent the day walking the cliff overlooking the ocean. Just met with Lourdes and she is wonderful! Got the timeline and our first meeting with the adoption agency is tomorrow (Monday) at 8:30am. The kids' updated pictures are their passport photos. Heehee! They've grown a bunch and look really different but still super cute! Fly to Huancayo tomorrow afternoon at 3:30! Getting closer!!

Arrived safe in Lima late last night with all our bags! Enjoying the ocean view today!

Arrived in lima!! Hotel near ocean! Greeted by the lit cross down the coast and reminded about the eternal-ness of why we are here...

Waiting in line for plane to Lima!

Here we go!

Two more days!!!

We have our first week in Peru booked including hotels, flights and meetings. Should meet our children on May 30!

Test before Peru

Welcome to our blog for our adoption trip to Peru! We will post updates from time to time here.

Photos from our trip

To view photos from our October 2007, trip to Burkina Faso, please visit our website, www.setsailministries.com and click on "Gallery" or click here.

The Dust of Africa (Random thoughts from our trip)

Dear Prayer Partners,

        The longer you stay in West Africa, the more you realize that the dust permeates everything there.  Your hair, your clothes, your feet, your house, your bed, everything.  In the United States, most of us live in a concrete and manicured grass world, and dust is something we wipe off of our book shelves, not something that we get on our feet and clothes while walking to church. 

 

        As we returned home after our trip (almost 2 weeks ago now!) and began to unpack, we found that the red-dirt dust of Burkina Faso was coating our bags, our shoes and even our feet!  Yet even as we wash it off, we are reminded that just like the dust coats the "physical" things, our spirits and minds are coated with the thoughts and memories of our time in Africa.  Every experience in life makes a lasting impact no matter how small, but big experiences sometimes make a more noticeable impact.  Our time in Africa has without a doubt changed us.  The experience is still too new for us to quantify exactly how so, but we know that changes have happened.  We would appreciate your continued prayers as we listen closely to our Father to help us understand everything that we need to know from this trip.

 

        Our time there was difficult in many ways, but primarily because of our "cushy" lives in the U.S.!  With no AC for much of the trip, we were at the mercy of the ceiling fan in our room and a few extra ice cubes in our water bottle to bring coolness.  The food was very healthy (heavy on vegetables and simply prepared) but different than what we usually eat at home.  Starbucks and On The Border were nowhere to be found!  Yet, these delicacies are not essential for life, and we knew that we would return home soon enough and be able to enjoy them again.  And yes, it was impossible to walk around outside without getting dust on your feet, shoes or clothes, but we only noticed it because we don't experience that at home.

 

        The Jewish people in Jesus' day had a saying which translated, meant:  "May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi."  The implication of this phrase is that a person would follow so closely behind their spiritual teacher that the dust kicked up by the feet of the teacher would begin to cover the person following them.  It's a great reminder that it should be our joy to follow that closely to Jesus.  On our last Sunday night in Burkina, as we walked to church in the dark, Joshua walked behind us carrying a flashlight.  I could literally see the above saying being acted out: that the dust raised from our steps was covering him.  It is a joy to know that Joshua is following in our footsteps as we follow closely behind Jesus.  Soon enough, he will be following Jesus on his own, just as he already is in many ways.

 

        The words of this blog may be long gone by the time Joshua is old enough to read them, but regardless we want everyone to know how pleased we are with our son.  He was simply fantastic on this trip, taking everything in stride.  In fact, many situations he handled even better than Kristine or I did!  The heat didn't seem to bother him as much, he was able to curl up in his seat to sleep on the planes, and he never complained about the food that we ate, even if it was unfamiliar to him.  When we asked him what he most enjoyed about the trip, his first response was "Praying for people."  The second was, "Playing with the other kids."  He did both of those things remarkably well.  He loved shaking hands and saying "Bonjour, ca-va. ("Hello, how are you" in French) to everyone.  Wednesday morning, he woke up sad and crying because he missed his African friends; so we took time to pray for many of them.

 

        We have much to process from our time in Africa.  The people that we met were wonderful, spirit-filled followers of Jesus and we believe that the connections we made were not just for this one trip, but that God will connect us again with many of those same people in the future.  We saw God do many amazing things through us, and yet there are other prayers that we have not seen answers to yet.  We stand firm in faith concerning the things that God has spoken to us.  Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?"  We know that He is working beneath the surface in our hearts to make us the people that He wants us to be, so that He can use us in the ways that He desires.  We remember this is true even in times that we don’t see Him as fully as we would like to.

 

            In keeping with the “sailing” theme of our ministry, I would like to offer the following summary of our trip:  This was our “maiden voyage” so to speak, and the first chance to really test out our “boat”!  We realize that we are not expert sailors yet, and we have the blisters and bruises to prove it!  Sometimes we were unprepared for how quickly the Holy Spirit filled our sails and we got “burns” on our hands as the “rope” pulled through too fast.  Other times, we slipped and fell on the “deck” until we adjusted to the size of the waves.  Yet, the thrill of “sailing” in the open ocean, riding the waves up and down, and feeling the wind in our hair was exhilarating.  Now that we are back in our home “port”, we feel that we are to rest from our journey and begin to “re-provision” for our next journey.  Whether that will be across the street, somewhere in the United States or around the world, we don’t know yet.  We await direction from our Captain.

 

            We will be finishing our official trip summary soon and sending out a printed copy in the mail to everyone.  In the meantime, we have posted a bunch of photos on our website.  There are no captions, but you can at least get a sense of what our trip was like.  Please go to  www.setsailministries.com and click on “Gallery” to see the photos.  If they do not show up on the page, you may have to select “Refresh” in Internet Explorer.  You can also click on each of the small photos to see a larger one.  Once again, thank you for your continued prayers for us.  You are a great blessing to us.  May God richly bless you as you follow hard after Him.

 

-Jeffrey