Home Sweet Home

Yep, that's our house! Actually, this picture shows our flat (the South African word for apartment or townhome) as well as our next-door neighbor's and even a little bit on the other side of them as well. It's kind of hard to tell where one starts and the other stops. The carport to the right of that little trailer and the garage are ours, for a frame of reference. The carport leads to our front door and the two windows that are furthest to the left are the front side of our upstairs. Basically, it's a three bedroom flat, which is perfect for us!

Today we got the opportunity to be a part of the Gauteng District Assembly (Gauteng is the province that Johannesburg is in). It was a great service, and Dr. Middendorf was the keynote speaker. Also, the highlight of the weekend was the ordination of African deacons and elders at the service. It was great to see so many (more than a dozen) be ordained, as it really shows progress in Africa. That really sums up why we're here, to help get the Church of the Nazarene in Africa to the point at which they don't need us to be here anymore. That so many were being ordained today was just a testament to how fast the church is growing here in Africa.

Another point of praise that was brought up in the service was that over the last month, in the country of Sudan, the Church of the Nazarene has shown the Jesus film to over 650,000 people (that's not a typo!)! Thousands have come to know Christ and two churches have been planted -- one of 600 and one of 1,200. More will surely follow soon also. Praise God!

We thank everyone for all of the e-mails and prayers that have been sent our way over the last week, you all are a great support for us, we wouldn't be here without you. Things are going great here so far and we are starting to get adjusted, but we do have a few prayer requests that we'd like for you to remember this week:

-- We have found a strong candidate for a car, we're just trying to figure out how we're going to have to alter our budget over the next three years in order to get it. Please pray that God would give us the wisdom to know what to do and the faith to know he will make it possible.
-- For the new ordinands, that God would continue to grow them and bless their ministries.
-- For the newly planted churches and thousands of new Christians in Sudan.
-- For Dr. Middendorf , as he travels back to the United States.
-- For our continued transition to life in South Africa.

We love and miss you, thanks for all that you do for us!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

More African Animals!

We thought we'd post a few more pictures from our game drive last weekend for your viewing enjoyment. We'll be writing another update within a week as well.

So, let's start off with the white rhino (that's the larger type of rhino)



A small group of zebras, hanging out with the wildebeest, oryx, and eland









A crested crane










A couple of lions getting annoyed with a car that got a little too close









A giraffe, laying down for a rest










Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

We're Not In Kansas Anymore!

Yes, we took that picture... That lion, along with about 6 others, was sitting about 10 feet away from our car as we drove through Krugersdorp Game Reserve today. It's just a small game reserve right outside of Joburg, but these Midwestern Americans were pretty impressed! Jake finally believes we are in "Souf Acrifa" now because he got to see all of those animals today! :)

We drove through the park in about 3 1/2 hours and saw lions, rhinos, giraffes, wildebeest, impalas, gazelles, ostriches, zebras, an eland, and many other animals. We probably took about 100 pictures, but unfortunately can't put them all up here. If you'd like more, just drop us an e-mail and we'd be happy to send some to you. We may also post a few more here in a few days, you'll have to check back and see!

Getting out and seeing all of the beauty in God's creation was more like an act of worship than safari today. He has just created such diversity and beauty in nature, and to think that it's just a shadow of his greatness... what a mighty God we serve! He has blessed us all with so much on this earth, and gave our family the blessing of being able to see a little more of his masterpiece today.

In other news, yesterday Jeremy completed his first week of work. There are five people in his office, two from South Africa, two from the U.S. (although Jeremy's boss has been a missionary in Africa for over 20 years), and one person from Mozambique. However, everything is going great so far and the office is operating like one big happy family. That is definitely an answer to prayer, praise God!

This coming week, our search for a car will need to start heating up. Please pray that we can find a car that meets our needs on our very tight budget. We know that you all will be praying and the Lord will work everything out somehow, so we are at peace about it. Thank you for your prayers and may God bless you, we will be updating you again soon!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

The Eagle Has Landed!

Well, after a LONG time on the airplane (almost 20 hours!), we're here in Johannesburg! We made it through the flight pretty well, but Jeremy got sick shortly after we landed and was sick for a couple of days. He's feeling much better now though, and we have spent the last several days trying to get our house in order. That means we're unpacking, buying household necessities like cleaning supplies, etc. We've been very busy, but things are going great as we are getting acclimated to our new environment.

We have all taken a few days to get used to the time change, but our bodies are now adjusted and we're getting ready to dive into our duties. We have had dinner with a different missionary family each day since we have been here and have enjoyed getting to know our coworkers, we are fortunate to have such a great group! Jeremy begins work tomorrow morning at the Regional Office, while Tricia will be spending a few weeks getting Jake adjusted and continuing to get the house in order before she starts working part-time on her assignment. We are both looking forward to getting to the work that the Lord has sent us here to do!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers as we have really been blessed to have everything go so smoothly this far. We praise God for blessing us in more ways than we can imagine. If you would like to pray for some of our current needs, they are:

- That we are able to find a car that is within our budget, yet reliable enough to last for the next three years.
- That we would learn quickly and perform well in our new roles beginning tomorrow.
- Continued good health for our family.
- That God would continue to move in mighty ways in his church in Africa.

This weekend, we are going to try to get to one of the game parks around here, so hopefully we will have some interesting pictures to share with you next time. May God bless you in a powerful way this week!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Leavin' On A Jet Plane...

Yes, the time has finally come. We are leaving for Johannesburg tomorrow at 5:45am, which means we will be leaving for the airport around 3:30am! We are very excited, and yes, a little nervous, but we know that God has ordained this path for us and that he will be with us throughout our journey. There's nowhere else in the world we'd rather be than right where he wants us.

Well, this is going to be a short one because we have a lot to do today and not much time in which to get it all done. However, we will have a lot to say and a lot of pictures to post once we get there and get our internet hooked up! We thank each one of you for the part that you've played in getting us to this point.

As we leave, we ask that you would pray for traveling mercies for our family and that God would show us exactly what he wants us to do and be while we are in South Africa. Thank you once again and we will be posting again soon from our new home!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake