A different kind of Monday

Helllllooooo everyone. Sometimes I feel sorry for all of you because you are reading my boring old entries! So, I will try and make our life seem more interesting! Last night we had about the same amount of people as usual except we had 6 visitors from other villages. This was a first for us. We have never had believers from other places come and join us, but it was awesome! The meeting lasted longer because they all wanted to talk about different things that are happening around them. The story we heard was about the demon possessed man. They started talking about different people they know who are possessed. Ha, shows you how well I know our people. This was the first time I had ever heard anything like that! The meeting went well and we all learned a lot!

We are seeing our friends really take on the role of followers of Jesus. They are all using Bible stories to encourage their friends or family when they have a problem. Last night Barbara was crying so hard. Her grandma, who I have always just called grandma, is soooo bad off. I don't think I have ever mentioned her on this site, but she can't walk, has no food or water and her son beats her. He wants her dead so he can have her house. The police here won't do anything about it. So, she doesn't know how to help her grandma. It is extremely sad and we want to help but don't know how either. SO, please pray for grandma and Barbara too. After she made the decision to get baptized many things have gone wrong. No money, illness, no medicine, and now this with her grandma. Satan just won't let up! I will try and post a picture of grandma! Thanks for all of your prayers!

Annie goes to the Dr.

Hi guys! We had a great weekend! We went to our first real Mexican fair! It was so fun! It was a lot like a fair in the U.S. but with a lot more people and a lot cheaper! We always laugh at some of the things you see that would never happen in the U.S. because of safety reasons! They had a circus that was fun, but I kept waiting for one of the people to seriously get hurt. They do all of these things like you would see on a flying trapeze, without safety nets or harnesses or anything. I couldn't enjoy it, because I was praying the whole time! I tried to take pictures but they didn't turn out too well. Anyway, we took our whole Monday night group with us and had a lot of fun with them all! It was a good way to get out of town and enjoy some family fun!

Please pray 4 Annie! We leave this Friday to got to Guadalajara to see the Drs. from Galveston. They make several trips here to Mexico since the majority of their patients live here. We have been talking about seeing the Drs. again and she seems okay with it. She starts talking about things that happened and things she remembers seeing. She is more worried about seeing all of the other patients again. She keeps talking about one boy who had his hand burned off and that really scares her. So, I guess if you could pray first that the Drs. would say she is doing very well and second that it doesn't cause old emotions to surface and cause her problems. Thanks so much! Love and hugs! Missy

Get ready to laugh!

Hi! We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you all did as well. We just heard this story about one of the pastors at a Baptist Church (yes, there are a few) nearby and I had to tell you! One day about 2 weeks ago, this pastor Jacob was eating something and got choked. The custom here is that when you are choking you are supposed to eat a banana and the banana will push the other piece of food on down. (very strange!) Anyway, so immediately Jacob's wife gives him the piece of banana and they see that it did not work. Jacob is now turning blue. They decide to put him in the back of someone's pickup truck and rush him to the nearest clinic. They really didn't know if they had time. So off they went racing down the street. When suddenly out of nowhere another truck is leaving a gas station and runs right into the side of them. This force threw Jacob flying across the back of the truck, slamming his face against the side of the truck, almost breaking his jaw. That is when out comes the banana and the other piece of food flying through the air! He had a swollen jaw, and a banged up truck, but he is fine! So we have now termed that, the Mexican Heimlich! ;o) It could have turned tragic, but God obviously knew that He had to intervene or Jacob wouldn't make it to the hospital! Okay, sorry we were laughing a ton at this story, hope you got at least a little chuckle out of it! Love you all! Missy

Happy Thanksgiving!!

When we first felt called into the mission field, I cried a lot about this decision! I was not one of those who felt called early in life and looked forward to it. It took me about 6-8 months to finally come around and answer God's calling. However, once I did answer that call, that is when I started to think about all of the things I would be giving up. One of which was holidays with family.

Just like everything else, God had a plan. He wanted to help me through the holidays, and He has done so by providing me with a lot of American friends here in Mexico. Now generally when you see a stranger in the store you don't just walk up to them and start a conversation. However, when you are out of the country, if you see an American it is very hard not to start up a conversation. So, each year God has brought someone new into our path and our American friend bank has increased! Today we will celebrate Thanksgiving with 3 other American families and we will eat an enormous amount of food. If I told you just how much food, you would probably all laugh out loud. Okay, I can't resist. Here is the menu. ( It really is funny!)

Turkey
stuffing
a different recipe of stuffing
gravy
cranberry salad
carnberry sauce out of a can
rolls/butter
sweet potato casserole
mased potatoes and gravy
green bean casserole
regular green salad
corn
broccoli salad
broccoli/ rice casserole
pumpkin pie
pecan pie
chocolate pie
cherry pie
apple pie ( yes that means more than one pie per family)
Coke
Diet Coke
Sweet tea

for a few hours later
white bread
chips
tostitos
Mexican layered dip
cookies

We all have to have one or two different things and that adds up.;o) That is just for 8 adults 2 teenagers and 4 children. ( one is still on a bottle)
I really don't think we will go hungry, do you? It is funny, though right? So, when I say God takes care of even the little details, He really does! If you live out of the country, it is sometimes impossible to find certain ingredients to make certain things. For example there are no ready made pie crusts, french fried onions, sweet potatoes,etc... We just substitute for other things and it all seems to taste the same. That is a miracle in itself! I have seen cranberry sauce in a can one time since living here and I still had one can for this Thanksgiving. I knew that would not be enough, so I prayed. I said, "Lord, you know how much we love cranberry sauce, and I know this is a stupid request when there are more important things to deal with. If you think about it, could you bless us with cranberry sauce?" I went to the store and couldn't find any. The next week I went back and in a store that never has cranberry sauce, there were about 50 cans! YAY!! God really does care about even the little details in our lives! For that......I am thankful!

I am also thankful for all of you! Without your sweet comments and prayers, living out here in a village could seem kinda lonely. However, I know all of you are out there and that really blesses my/our soul. I am praying today that God will bless each one of you and all of your family and you will really have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving Day!!! Love to you all! Missy

God is Goooood!

Here is the email answer to prayer I received today!


Dearest Prayer Warriors,
]
I Just talked to Vance and Susan. Thank You Lord..God is so good. All nine trunks arrived safely today. They went through five of them but did not remove anything. Vance has already opened all luggage and all the 21,500 dollars was still there. They have already purchased seed corn to distribute to pastors of bush churches so they can give it to the church members to plant. They have also found a source to purchase bags of mealee to buy and give to the pastor and members. Mealee is what they make sodsa with. This is what they eat for every meal if they have the mealee to make it. Many do not. Vance and Susan said to thank you all for your faithfulness in lifting them up to our Father. Please continue to pray for them as the conditions there are desperate. Please pray that they will be able to accomplish all that God wants them to do in the five weeks they will be there. I will keep you updated if and when I hear from them again. With Love Because of Jesus, Cindy (Susan's Mom)

So, now you can pray for those precious souls in Africa as well as our precious ones here! Love you! Missy

Annie loves Polly Pockets!

Yay, finally a photo uploaded! I will try more later!

A story from our friends

Hi everyone,
Our friends, the Pirkles were missionaries in Africa for 3 years. Vance was my Dr. and delivered Annie. They have been back in the States for a year and have felt called back to their hospital in Zimbabwe for a little more than a month. They sent out this message right before they left on Sunday.


November 23, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,
Just wanted to share an amazing story and a specific request before we head to the airport in about an hour.

The Story:
The food at Sanyati Baptist Hospital has run out and people are literally beginning to starve. Dr. Mark Byler orders 12 tons of corn at a cost of $6,000 plus transportation with no money on hand and no idea of where the money will come from. 10,000 miles away, God burdens the hearts of the people at Bethel Baptist Church to not only meet this need, but give so that seed corn could be purchased for local farmers who currently have no corn to plant. Also, we will be able to start a large garden and buy some cattle to sustain the hospital into the future. The final total was $21,500! Vance’s brother and his family delivered this to us yesterday. We truly serve an amazing God!

The Request:
We have packed fourteen pieces of luggage with this money as well as medicines and medical supplies hidden throughout. We will be landing in Harare, Zimbabwe between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. (your time) on Monday afternoon. Any or all of these things could be confiscated by customs agents if discovered. Please pray that we will be able to move through customs without any problems and get these things to the people who desperately need them.

Thanks for partnering with us through prayer!Vance, Susan, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Sarah, Caleb, and Phillip Pirkle

I received this update today.

Dear Friends and Family;

Just recieved email from Susan. They arrived safely in Harare but nine pieces of their luggage did not make it. Another plane is due in tomorrow. (which was early this morning, I think) Please pray that the rest of the luggage will arrive safely then, with all the contents. Most importantly the money and medical supplies. Thank you for your prayers, love and care for our family.. With Love because of Jesus Susan's Mom(Cindy)

Please pray that the other 9 suitcases arrive with all of their money and medical supplies! Thank you!

Just a quick update on last night! Annie had a great birthday, although she is a little under the weather and didn't have much energy. Our meeting went great and we had 33 people. We had one new visitor and our first offering collected just about $10.00! We felt very good about that considering that is how much one of our friends makes in a week! PTL!! Plus, against our wishes, Annie received a gift from almost every family. (They were all around a dollar each, but that is huge for them!) I will try and upload pictures, but I have tried many times a day for the past week and have had no luck! I will try again! Love, Missy