Way too much time!
Hello everyone. First sorry for the long delay in updating our blog. We always have the best of intentions, but the thing called life happens and we lose hours, then days, then weeks. Sorry about the delay.
We wanted to share a few highlights about what has been going on with us and what we are going to be dealing with over the next few months.
The summer home was great for us. It was so nice to connect with our friends and see our families in Minnesota. It was great to know that the relationships that we "left" two years ago are still there and that we have true friendships despite living on the other side of the world. Steve spent a great deal of the summer travelling to Brazil, Mozambique, London and the US twice in 8 weeks. It was a bit much but the family is glad that we get him back for a while.
Speaking of Steve he has decided to return to school this fall. He will be attending Bethel Seminary in St.Paul and utilizing the online learning format. He is going to be studying Transformational Leadership to become more an influence and thought leader within the mission setting. Like most things in our lives we do not have exact next steps but we firmly believe that God is orchestrating our next steps. They may not always be logical to us but to Him they are. Steve will be travelling back to Minneapolis at the end of October for two weeks of intensive study so if you see him make sure that he is studying and not playing with his friends!
Sarah is enjoying Amani so much. She is enjoying creating more of a home atmosphere for him and getting his room situated and towels put on the correct shelves. With the other 3 kids all in school Sarah is getting more one on one time with Amani and for those of you that know her, she would not trade that time for anything. Also Sarah is very glad that she is not teaching Kindergarten like she did last year. Although it was what she needed to do then, it is a welcomed break.
The kids are all settling back into life here well. School has started without a hitch and the kids have all made new friends and started after school activities like gymnastics, tennis and soccer. Health wise everyone is doing well. Mia's parasites are all gone and she has more energy than she has had in two years, Kaleb's allergies are a mess right now but we hope that a steady dose of drugs will get him through this.
As for the work, I am excited to report that Re/Max is working. The office is making money and our agents are seeing income levels of about $1000 per month. My partner Rui has made almost $35,000 this year. We have had to hire a new marketing person to keep up with our listings. Pray that I will continue to engage with the office and share the love of Christ with everyone. Specifically pray for Rui and his wife Eunice and their son Igor. I have invited him to start coming to our church and he said that he would so only time will tell.
As for TechnoServe, things are really going great. We have seen significant strides within the poultry industry and have registered over 3000 jobs since I started with this project in January. I am the most pleased to report that we have almost 300 small chicken growers growing chickens for the national market. We are seeing incomes that are more than twice the national minimum wage. I am on the verge of adding another 50 small growers to a program in the south as well. I am also having the chance to engage with high level Ministry (Government Ministries) people. I get to influence policy and set course for industry related discussions. Pray that I can show Christ's love in these settings. Pray that my life and the work that I do will create interest to engage in spiritual conversations.
Also with the adoption of Amani, we feel called to assist in the work of local orphanages here in Maputo. We pray that we will have clarity as to where to plug in and what we can do to share Christ in this setting. These 100 kids are vulnerable and at risk, we must do something to avoid the reality of a life on the street for most of them.
Anyway, there is a small update. We will keep trying to give you information and keep you informed about what is going on here. Send us emails. Post responses to our posts so others can engage as well.
We love and miss you all. Keep looking to the King and Savior of the world. He wants to make our crooked and confusing paths straight. He wants to heal the broken and hurting. He wants to hold your hand and walk with you in the rain. Be abundantly blessed.
Steve, Sarah and company
We wanted to share a few highlights about what has been going on with us and what we are going to be dealing with over the next few months.
The summer home was great for us. It was so nice to connect with our friends and see our families in Minnesota. It was great to know that the relationships that we "left" two years ago are still there and that we have true friendships despite living on the other side of the world. Steve spent a great deal of the summer travelling to Brazil, Mozambique, London and the US twice in 8 weeks. It was a bit much but the family is glad that we get him back for a while.
Speaking of Steve he has decided to return to school this fall. He will be attending Bethel Seminary in St.Paul and utilizing the online learning format. He is going to be studying Transformational Leadership to become more an influence and thought leader within the mission setting. Like most things in our lives we do not have exact next steps but we firmly believe that God is orchestrating our next steps. They may not always be logical to us but to Him they are. Steve will be travelling back to Minneapolis at the end of October for two weeks of intensive study so if you see him make sure that he is studying and not playing with his friends!
Sarah is enjoying Amani so much. She is enjoying creating more of a home atmosphere for him and getting his room situated and towels put on the correct shelves. With the other 3 kids all in school Sarah is getting more one on one time with Amani and for those of you that know her, she would not trade that time for anything. Also Sarah is very glad that she is not teaching Kindergarten like she did last year. Although it was what she needed to do then, it is a welcomed break.
The kids are all settling back into life here well. School has started without a hitch and the kids have all made new friends and started after school activities like gymnastics, tennis and soccer. Health wise everyone is doing well. Mia's parasites are all gone and she has more energy than she has had in two years, Kaleb's allergies are a mess right now but we hope that a steady dose of drugs will get him through this.
As for the work, I am excited to report that Re/Max is working. The office is making money and our agents are seeing income levels of about $1000 per month. My partner Rui has made almost $35,000 this year. We have had to hire a new marketing person to keep up with our listings. Pray that I will continue to engage with the office and share the love of Christ with everyone. Specifically pray for Rui and his wife Eunice and their son Igor. I have invited him to start coming to our church and he said that he would so only time will tell.
As for TechnoServe, things are really going great. We have seen significant strides within the poultry industry and have registered over 3000 jobs since I started with this project in January. I am the most pleased to report that we have almost 300 small chicken growers growing chickens for the national market. We are seeing incomes that are more than twice the national minimum wage. I am on the verge of adding another 50 small growers to a program in the south as well. I am also having the chance to engage with high level Ministry (Government Ministries) people. I get to influence policy and set course for industry related discussions. Pray that I can show Christ's love in these settings. Pray that my life and the work that I do will create interest to engage in spiritual conversations.
Also with the adoption of Amani, we feel called to assist in the work of local orphanages here in Maputo. We pray that we will have clarity as to where to plug in and what we can do to share Christ in this setting. These 100 kids are vulnerable and at risk, we must do something to avoid the reality of a life on the street for most of them.
Anyway, there is a small update. We will keep trying to give you information and keep you informed about what is going on here. Send us emails. Post responses to our posts so others can engage as well.
We love and miss you all. Keep looking to the King and Savior of the world. He wants to make our crooked and confusing paths straight. He wants to heal the broken and hurting. He wants to hold your hand and walk with you in the rain. Be abundantly blessed.
Steve, Sarah and company
posted by Sniders in Africa at 8/25/2007 08:49:00 AM
<< Home