www.PrayEurope.com

What does prayer mean to you?  Is it a ritual performed before a untouchable being or an intimate conversation between you and your Best Friend (who also happens to be the all powerful and holy God)?  Over this past year, prayer has evolved in my life from presenting a list of wants and needs before God to a conversation about the things that matter most in my life where He has listened and told me what’s important and revealed even more things.

Beginning Ash Wednesday, February 17th, I will be joining with people from around the globe to pray for Europe for the 40 days leading up to Easter. We want to use this opportunity to engage our own prayer partners and your networks to pray with us and for our work here.

Think of how you have experienced God’s response in your life as a result of answered prayer. We are anxious to see God move in Europe, North Africa and Eurasia – areas where we have seen great need for people to experience living examples of Christ’s love.

This focused time of prayer for Europe is being called 40-40-40.  It highlights over 40 countries of Europe for prayer for the 40 days of Lent (starting Ash Wednesday, Feb 17) for at least 40 seconds of prayer each day.

Want to participate?  Go to www.prayeurope.com and

• sign up for the E-Newsletter (link in upper right corner)
• Follow PrayEurope on Twitter
• Become a PrayEurope Fan on Facebook
• Tell your friends and family (you can use this PrayEurope Flyer (pdf) if you like)

Would also be so kind as to let us know you’ll be participating by filling out this quick form?

For those of you that have kept track, you’ll know that we’ve been working on our “new” offices for about 3 years now.  We took a 100 year old, 3-story barn in the middle of town and converted it into an office complex and apartments.  The bottom floor has 4 apartments (2 of which we house short term to mid term people in) and the top two floors house various ministries (8 ministries that work throughout Europe & North Africa) that are based here in Kandern, Germany.  It’s been a long, tiring process as we did most of the work ourselves from demolition to tiling to installing network cabling to roofing to insulating to water proofing the foundation to everything.

There just the parking lot left to be done (scheduled for this May/June – want to come help?) and some odds and ends but for the most part – its done!!  We’ve already seen some things come out of having the building from various groups in the area using our conference room (it’s the largest in town outside of classrooms) to the German classes that are being held here (which brings in immigrants from parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East).  While its only a building, it has been built with the intention of being a tool for God’s work here.

Please celebrate with us and check out more photos at http://www.euro-team.org/SMGconstBarn45.htm

3 Years. That’s how long we’ve been living in Germany now.  It’s a very surreal kind of thing to think about.  While we feel like we’re still newbies living here, living in the US seems so distant and kind of long ago. Even Alex, who has the memory of an elephant, is forgetting things about life in the US.  We are truly beginning to call and think about Germany as our home.

While in Kenya, I was wearing a “North Carolina” t-shirt,  that a short-term mission team had brought me, and a family walked by and yelled, “North Carolina!  We’re from North Carolina too!”  Weirdly, I answered in German out of habit and they gave some really strange looks as they continued on past me.  The German man who I was talking with at the time (which is why I probably responded in German) just laughed and asked me, “When was the last time you were there?” (referring to North Carolina).  It’s been a year and a half – the only time we’ve been stateside in the last 3 years.

Things have really changed in so many ways.  We know that the town we used to live in is very different with new shopping centers, restaurants and stuff since we left.  Our home church has doubled or more in size since we left. Alex’s friends are 3 years older (which is a huge difference at their ages).  Our friend’s kids are 3 years older.  People have changed jobs, graduated from schools, gotten married, moved away, etc.  Friends have new friends who we don’t know.  People have changed.  We have changed.  Alex is 3 years older (now 9 years old).  He’s reading and has an awesome sense of humor.  Krista and I have grown in our relationship, in our spiritual lives, and in our perspectives of how to look at this world we live in.

Even my computer skills have expanded greatly with the different challenges before us.  Even technology is in a very different place than 3 years ago.  One shocker for me is to see my mom sending me emails and to hear that she has a Kindle (electronic book reader) now.  As technology expands and changes, people are trying to keep up.  Churches and ministries are trying to keep up with the people and that’s where we come in.  We keep up with the technology so that we can help churches and ministries keep up with the people they are trying to serve and reach. It’s all about using technology to connect people to people for the sake of making God known.

Ok, let me tell you about the guy in the picture to the right.  This picture was not taken with a zoom lens. He literally was that close.  As we drove up to him he didn’t pay any attention to us and we were admiring how long his horn is.  Then I realized that that horn was long enough to go through the door of the car we were in and at that point, he turned his head (that’s when I got the picture) and moved his back feet.  That’s when my father-in-law (thinking the same thing about the horn as I was) said “Time to go!”

Kenya was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that I’m so glad I got to do and take Alex with me.  The people there are great and the scenery is spectacular.  The pictures I’ve uploaded are my favorites from my personal collection.  When I get a few moments to go through my brother-in-law’s and father-in-law’s pictures, I may upload some of those as well.

Check out the photos of Kenya in my two photo sets in the Photo Album!

I’m still working on putting up our pictures (coming real soon) but I just wanted to share with you an update about the incident that happened in Sudan right before we left Kenya.  This is an excerpt from an email from my father-in-law:

“What is keeping us occupied now is three families – two from Ethiopia and one from Nigeria who serve with SIM in Sudan.  They were evacuated to Nairobi on Friday.   Their station in Sudan (Atar),  was attacked at 4:00 am on Dec. 30th.  Shilluk Sudanese from a nearby tribe came secretly in the night and lit the house of the Nigerian on fire – shooters standing outside to shoot the family as they tried to escape.  Their grass dwelling had a plastic cover under the grass to keep the bugs and rain out.  When that caught fire, it rained drops of hot melting plastic on them as they rushed to flee.  The husband was badly burned.  Drops of melted plastic also go the mother and one of the children.  The bad guys went on to the homes of the two Ethiopian teachers and their families.  Again they piled dry grass outside the house and lit fire.  Then they shot bullets into the house. Amazingly none if the bullets found their mark and everyone escaped.  The Nigerian ran for the Nile river and dived into the water to put out the burning plastic on his back – he is quite seriously burned but it does not seem life threatening.  Anyway, all three families lost everything down to their clothes, cell phones, cameras, pots and pans – suits, everything they owned.  They came out in blankets, someone lent one of them a pair of flip-flops for shoes – one came out without even a shirt.

So we are trying to care for them at the moment.  The Sudan team is doing everything they can to provide immediate and long term care.  There will be some serious trama care here.  We had the Nigerian (XXXXXX XXXXXX) for dinner last night and had to help him to his room.  On the way down he told me he cannot sleep – and has terrible dreams when he does.

These people need our prayers.

And by the way for those connected with SIM – you can made a contribution to their restoration by sending any gift to our SIM office and mark it Sudan Relief and Contingency Project # KE 82490.”

Please keep these people in your prayers as it will take a long time for their recovery and the ministry that they have so worked so hard on for the past 4 1/2 years is now burned down.  Pray for those that did this that they will understand a peace in life that only comes from knowing Christ personally.

If you are interested in financially helping these families and the ministry there, you can find the information about how to donate at SIM’s Website – http://sim.org/index.php/content/donate.

Today has been a day of doing all those last minute “want to dos”. Krista got a pedicure, I fixed my in-laws wireless router and Alex played with his cousins. Its been a wonderful last day except for one major exception. My mother-in-law got a phone call this morning which forced her to be gone much of the day. She is part of the administration team for those in Sudan for their mission and this morning, people attacked their missionaries there burning the church, the school, and their homes. Some of the children and one of the parents suffered burns and others had some minor injuries. My mother-in-law worked on arrangements to get them flown out and all the missionaries from that team will arrive in Kenya tomorrow. They’ll be staying in the places we are vacating so we’re getting them all ready to go for them. (In an earlier post, I told you that the son of the lady who cleans these places died so we’re trying to help in what way we can). Would you take a few moments to pray for those injured, for those that lost everything they owned in these fires, and especially for those that started the fires that they would come to know the one true God? Thanks.

I remember as a child thinking about Africa and ‘the BIG game hunters’ going out to face the lions and rhinos. That was the image originally imprinted on my brain until I started learning more about Africa (my ideas of Africa have changed considerable especially once I married someone from this continent) Well today I got to be that great hunter except with a camera instead of a gun.

I thought that the “safari” ride at Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World was spectacular and probably very similar to what its like to be on safari (they really do do a great job at Walt Disney World) however I have to say that it does pale to some of the excitement of really going 4X4′ing through the bush. There were some times today that my heart got racing. Like when we came up on a group of white rhinos getting about 20 feet away from a momma rhino with her child. Exhilerating!

We also had a fun time when we were stopped and a monkey slipped in through the window to steal some grilled corn it some how knew we had in the car. Or when another monkey ran right up to my niece’s window making her jump into her father’s lap. We also played ‘chicken’ with some zebras and some water buffalo.

When I get back to Germany, I’ll work on getting my photos loaded up here. Until then, just know that my dream of a safari adventure has come true.

I love traveling in countries where people aren’t always worried about being sued.  With a little common sense, you get to do some unique things relatively safely.  Today we relaxed most of the day (I’m really into a book right now – I know, you didn’t know I could read) but then before sundown we went to the Nairobi Wilderness Walk where we got to experience a miniature safari.  As we were standing there looking that the cheetah, one of the workers there said, “Do you want to pet him?”  Of course we said “Yes!”  So to the right is a picture of us inside the fences petting the cheetah who just purred like a cat.

Continuing our walk through this place we got to see “white” zebras, pygmy hippos, rhinos, crocodiles, ostriches, hyenas, and many other animals.  This was our “appetizer” for tomorrow when we’re going on a real safari with the guys and the older kids. I’m going to make sure my camera memory sticks are empty as I’m going to fill them up.

On a sadder note, we received word today that the lady who cleans the guest house that we are staying in lost her son last night.  Her teenage son was having some medical issues (like diaherrea, cramping, stomach pains, etc) and she took him to the hospital.  When she couldn’t show that she had money to pay for the hospital, she was turned away.  This happened several times until he died in the car on the way to another medical clinic.  Once he had died, she was even turned away from the hosptials morgue as she didn’t have any money to pay for that.  This is the reality that people face in many parts of the 2nd & 3rd world.  We’ll never know what the boy died of but most likely, it was extremely treatable. Pray with us that this single monther of two (now one) will have a peace that can only come from God.

Today is my birthday. Having a birthday soon after Christmas can be a challenge but my family makes efforts to make it special. So when they asked me what I wanted for dinner, I asked that we go to an Ethiopian resturant. Krista’s Dad moved to Ethiopia when he was two and Krista and all her siblings were born there so when I married into the family, I learned about how good the food is. Now I crave it however we have no Ethiopian resturants near us in Germany. Tonight was excellent. As we say in German, “Ich bin satt!” (I am full)

Another treat was that a German man who is staying here went with us so additionally I got to work on my German here in Kenya. It really feels weird to learn new German vocabulary in the tropics.

Bis Morgan! (Until tomorrow)