June Pictures

Of Rockslides and Snowfall

Travels are so much fun - most days. We just had an incredibly long trip to a brand new area. Pavement? In these areas it's an option not often used. Soking? Windows do open, but we have to do the opening (not the smoking) The trip down took two and a half days on a bus. It was a time when we saw new sights and met people of peace.
Our return trip was delayed on a mountain pass. After waiting about 10 minutes, Kenan and I decided to take a look to see what the problem might be. It was a rockslide. Impassable and remote. So, we pitched in. Several of the rocks needed many hands and crowbars to move, but we eventually cleared enough to continue our journey.
From there, we went through seveal hours of snow flurries. Very beautiful but never thought of snowfall at the end of June.
Travels are so much fun! And never the same twice.

Travel Time

Summer is here and that means lots of opportunitys to travel. Traveling actually started in May. A family from Nebraska came out and Mike took them to see some recent family members in a village. And it seems as if this has been the year for us to get to know Mississippi. It started last fall as we had a group of shepherds in. At Christmas, we had a group of college students from Southern Miss. June hit and we had a couple of guys show up to do some trekking. As they were out, one of the shepherds returned with a group and we headed out. Now another group of trekkers (3) has arrived and they're getting ready to head out. We thank you Mississippi.

We also had a visit from a Cleveland, TN group - big blessing.

We head out this morning to an area that takes 3 days on a bus to get to. We've never been there, so a lot of research will be done and relationships built. This is our big summer trip.

Trish helpd lead a training for some local family members. It lasted over the weekend and was a very positive and uplifting time.

We do head to America at the end of July. It's time to get Anna in college. We are all very excited - and a little nervous.

Anna the graduate!

Well, our little girl is officially a high school graduate and heading to college. She had a great ceremony and closing week. Right now, she and mom are out traveling to some villages. Sort of a farewell tour. We have several more trips planned. We just finished some time with a group from Cleveland, TN, have a group of students from MS in for the summer and two more teams heading over here - we also have other trips planned as a family, so it looks busy for the next several weeks. Some of the trips are to strengthen presence in the community, others to train and others to make 'first contact'. Then Anna heads to school. Her target is North Greenville U in SC. We're trying to go as a family and see her off, but no specifics have been ironed down yet.
Both kids had a great year, Kenan's had a few more bumps than Annas, but we have all been blessed by their school. Trish has finished teaching for the semester and Mike only has 2 more weeks. And Mike has done well on his language test. He has passed the hardest parts and now only has 2 more sections to check off to be complete. (Is everyone out there reading this in amazement?)
We have settled into our new place and have made some great relationships in the area. Kenan is glad for the start of summer - he's ready to explore. The Father has been continually blessing us and we want to give him complete praise!