Why we're taking our family to Africa.

Last summer, we said goodbye to my brother and his wife and their four amazing kids as they boarded a plane to head back to Kapsowar, Kenya for another two years. My brother serves as a missionary doctor at Kapsowar Hospital. We promised to try and come visit, at least some of us. In the weeks that followed Tom and I began discussing this. How do we go? Who gets to go? We're a family of seven and it didn't seem reasonable or financially possible for all of us to go. What if just Tom and I went? Would my brother's kids melt on the floor in tears upon our arrival without any of their young cousins they dearly love? Probably! Do we just take our youngest two children who are close in age to two of my brother's kids? What about Anna and Abigail our oldest two who were just dying to go?

It didn't seems possible. I mean, we figured with the money it would take for just the tickets alone, we could buy a nice car for Anna when she turns 16! Or get a semester or maybe a year of college paid for if we put it in savings now! How can we justify it?

I still felt this longing for us all to go. I had this sense that taking just a few of us would be an error. It would make sense to maybe go when the kids are older and working as teenagers so they could help pay their own way. But there were more important things at stake here than just finances, and that's what it came down to. Just a day or two after having a conversation with Tom about the prohibitive cost of the trip, I was sitting in chapel at New Life Ranch. Tom was speaking. His entire message was on dreaming big dreams that only God can fulfill. Following the call of God on your life even when it might seem like a crazy path, and you don't know how it is all going to work out. I went home from chapel, e-mailed my brother right then and told him, "We are coming...All of us!" I forwarded the sent e-mail to Tom and though a bit surprised, he jumped right on board with it.

When our family was just beginning to grow, a seed of desire was planting in our hearts to expose our children to the needs of the world and to missions through a family missions trip overseas. Not knowing when or where or how this would happen, it was just something we talked about. I grew up in a very missions minded home. My mother read us missionary letters from her sister in Peru, and brother in Africa. We talked about missionaries and supported missionaries financially. We had incredible missionary speakers in our home and at our church missions conferences. I even told the Lord as a teenager that I would go and serve him wherever he wanted if he so called me. It was an incredible blessing to be given such a heart for evangelism and the gospel and the world passed down by my parents. But, when the time actually came for me as an adult to actually pursue the mission field as an option, I shrunk back. Tom was excited and wanting to go. We talked with mission agencies. I told them I was willing, but a little scared and I certainly didn't feel the "calling" to go like my husband. The recommendation by all the agencies: take a short term missions trip to get exposure. Though I knew a lot about missions from what I'd been taught, I'd never experienced it first hand in a cross cultural overseas setting, and I was scared. In the end, the Lord called us to an incredible ministry here in the United States that is impacting lives for eternity, presenting the gospel, preparing believers for ministry, and I am so incredibly thankful to be here. But, part of the reason we want to take our family to Africa, is to give our kids the first hand exposure to overseas missions, so that wall or barrier in their hearts can be lifted. That in the future, should the Lord ever call them overseas, fear will not be the response to overseas travel, like it was for me.

The Lord has provided tremendously for this trip. We started out by looking at our miles credit card. We had accumulated enough points for one of our seven tickets, and a little more for travel. Last year, I had begun working part-time just a few hours a week. Being the saver that I am, most of my paycheck money from last year, was sitting in an envelope stuck in my underwear drawer! Ha! Another ticket paid for. We cut a few little expenses out of our budget that over a year's time really add up. Some family gave us funds for our trip. It has been a great exercise this last year, in teaching our children about finances. We opened them each a savings account, birthday money, Christmas money, Anna's babysitting earnings, Lemonade stands, Cookie sales, all has gone into their account. They gladly do it because they know it is going towards our Africa trip. They are saving and paying for their own passports with these savings.  Five children, and I had yet to really get rid of any of their baby/toddler clothing. It was all in tubs in our garage. So, we took them to a consignment sale and took more current clothing to resale shops. We eat out less, and buy less. We've said to the kids when they ask about going out, "Do you want to go to Sonic or do you want to go to Africa?" Their response is always Africa! They've learned a lot about money and saving and delayed gratification this year.

Since this is a missions exposure trip for us and also a trip to visit family, we decided not to raise extra support just for our trip, but we had some unexpected gifts come in from friends and family to our project account at NLR that have gone towards our trip. We are so thankful for the opportunity to be on support at New Life Ranch and see how the Lord prompts people to give when we have needs they don't even know about! Though we didn't raise support, we really would appreciate prayers for our trip. For safety, and travel, and health, and general favor with the Lord and the people. That our family would grow through this, and it would truly be life changing! Thanks for the prayers friends!