Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We are reminded today that we serve a God who was loving and humble enough to die on a cross for us, yet powerful enough to conquer all of the sin and death in the history of the world on that first Easter morning so long ago. If that's not good news, I don't know what is!

We have really enjoyed our first Easter weekend here in South Africa. We had great services on Friday and this morning. Also, both Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays here, so we are enjoying a four day weekend of fun! We have been going around to various local activities all weekend, such as Easter egg hunts, and will need to use Monday as a way to catch up our energy. Jake has had a blast though.

Take this time to remember what Jesus has done for you on the Cross and through his resurrection, and what that really means in your life. How has it changed you? We know it has changed us and that he has saved us from what we once were. We love you all and will see you next week!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

We have finally gotten around to taking a picture of the strip mall around the block from our house. This is where we get prescriptions, rent movies and pick up odds and ends from time to time. It's about a 5 minute walk from our complex, which makes it very handy.

As you can see, it doesn't look drastically different from the strip malls you'd see in the U.S. (other than the street markings on the other side). We really are blessed to have this convenience so close to us, it has saved our lives a few times so far!

This week, we are taking a step back from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives to remember the reason why we're here. We are overwhelmed that God would choose to die to save us. And his rising from the grave is the hope which he has given us. And now it is our job to ensure that Africa hears of this hope and takes hold of it. That's an exciting thing!

A little less than two weeks after Easter, we will have our first visitor! Jeremy's friend Roy (from Kokomo) will be swinging by South Africa on the way home and spending a little over a week here. We are excited for the visit and hope that we will have more of you lined up to come visit us soon, whether it is a Work & Witness trip or a vacation. We'd love to have you!

We really don't want to focus on our prayer requests this week, but just to bask in the fact that God has already claimed the victory over anything that comes our way. Thank you for your prayers and be encouraged by this fact in your own life as well.

Have a happy Easter!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Branching Out

Betcha you've never seen one of those before! Well, I'm sure you've seen a cricket, but have you ever seen one that was 4 inches long and was red and black? We hadn't either, until we saw this guy. Kinda freaks you out at first, but they are pretty interesting to look at and watch.

Getting to know the "strange" things that we can find here has been one of our goals. We want to get the "African experience" so that we might understand where those we minister to are coming from. We view getting to know our surroundings, trying new food, reading about the history of this country (Tricia is currently reading "The Long Walk to Freedom", Nelson Mandela's autobiography), and anything else we can learn as a big help to our ministry. However, Jake got a little carried away with this concept tonight at the dinner table when he decided that watermelon and ketchup sounded like a good combination. We tried to tell him that this was not a typical South African dish, but he didn't care and kept eating it anyway! (yuck!)

We have found a nice church that we have settled into here, it's actually the church at Nazarene Theological College. It is a great mix of cultures, backgrounds, ages, and even countries of origin. We love the lively worship (it reminds us of our beloved KC First Spanish!) and have enjoyed getting to know some of the students. We are doubly excited because we know that these are the future leaders of the church in southern Africa, who we will be working with very soon in the future. We hope that they will replace us someday!

In other news, it looks like we are creeping ever closer to the day when we will have to get Jake a pet. For the past two weeks, Jake has been "hamster-sitting" for Quinn, one of the other missionary kids, and has fallen in love with the hamster. In fact, he was quite upset when it was gone this afternoon after Quinn came back. So... it may not be long until Jake has some sort of animal in our house. :) Any ideas?

This week, please pray for Tricia as she gets a little deeper into her new responsibilities that she started last week. She is trying to come up with the beginnings of a "3D" program for the Africa Region (that means Discover, Develop, Deploy), or really, for Africans that feel a call to missions. She is also going to be managing the guest flats here at our townhome complex. Please also pray for Jake as he begins his second term of nursery school (4 terms a year). And... it wouldn't hurt to pray for Jeremy as well, he usually needs it! :)

See you next week!

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake