Cars, Cars, and... Cars

Yes, the movie Cars has come out here in South Africa, and we went to see it the weekend before last. Ever since, that has been almost all Jake has talked about. He has gotten a couple of toys of the main characters from the movie in his Happy Meals, and he plays with them all day and then sleeps with them all night. He is addicted! Since movies are only 14 rand a ticket (right at $2), we will probably end up seeing it again before it leaves the theater. It's fun to see him so excited about something.

The past week has been a pretty exciting one for us at work. Tricia is really starting to get rolling and it in conversations with a lot of Nazarenes in Africa who have been called to missions but have never had an avenue to pursue that call. It's so encouraging to see how ready they are to accept that call in their lives, even though getting them through this still-developing process will take some time. At the same time, this reassures us in our call las well, to see that we can make such a difference when God has already prepared the way.

Jeremy is also still chipping away at various issues in the Finance department as well. This past week, he was working with an insurance company to figure out a way to get pension payments to retired ministers in other countries throughout Africa. There have been many complications with the way those sorts of things work in South Africa, but he was able to figure out a way to make it happen this week! Now, those who had not been receiving their pensions can finally start receiving them again. How rewarding!

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Oh, Jesus is sick in my heart! I need you to pick me up so that Jesus will feel better.”

(Jake was running around just after eating and said this as he was grabbing his stomach)

Praises & Prayer Requests

We praise God this week for the encouragement he gave us through the recent progress we have made in our jobs. It really reassures us that this is exactly where he wants us to be right now. It's a wonderful thing to have that knowledge.

We also praise God that Dr. Enoch Litswele, who was on our prayer list a while back, is continuing to make great leaps in his recovery from a stroke. He is walking, talking, and his memory is coming back nicely now!

Please remember the following in prayer this week:

-- Tricia, as she battles her allergies this winter. Her allergies were better than they have been in years during the summer, but are now worse than they have ever been during this winter.
-- Patience for the Johnsons. Our toilet and washer both broke this week, and repair people aren't exactly as reliable here as they are in the States. Tomorrow will be Day 3 that Tricia has had to sit at home all day, waiting for the repairman to show up. It's tempting for the Americans in us to come out!
-- As we experience success in our roles here, it is sometimes tempting to try to "take control" and leave God out of the equation more than we do when things are going badly. Please pray that we will constant rely on God in both our failures and successes.

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Almost Done with Winter!

Today, you can see that Jake and Jozi were having fun playing with bubbles (Jake blowing, Jozi biting). We had a very warm day today, it got into the lower 70s , which is about 10 degrees warmer than normal. Not too bad for winter! The "winter" part comes at night, when it is in the high 30s/low 40s. They say that the weather starts warming up again in August, so our winter is almost over!

Well, this past week we have been doing a lot of work on making our house "ours". Six months in, we decided to shift some furniture around, put up some more decorations, and even put a loft up in Jake's room! He calls it his "jungle bed" and is up there as much as he can be. It's a lot of fun!

Things are going well with our jobs, we just keep plugging away. Tricia made some good progress this week in her work, and Jeremy is getting ready to close out one of his many projects. We are feeling pretty good about that!

Also, we just wanted to take the time to thank everyone for all of the cards and the packages that have been sent over these past six months. They have been a real blessing to us and have definitely brought smiles to our faces every time we receive them! Thank you so much for all that you do to make us feel loved and supported.

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Ouch Daddy, you've got swords on your face!"

(Daddy hadn't shaved in a couple of days and gave Jake a kiss goodnight)

Praises and Prayer Requests

We thank God this week for a good week! We are also thankful that this week we were able to catch up with some friends that we hadn't talked to in a while. That's always nice!

Please remember the following in prayer this week:

-- The Miller family (missionaries to Ethiopia), as they are currently in Joburg attending to health problems.
-- Jake, as he copes with recently losing his two best friends to different assignments.
-- Our continued adjustment to South Africa and also working in a church setting.

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Noses to the Grindstone

Well, Jake sure looks like he's taking it easy, but this past week has been one of those weeks where we didn't really do much but work. Even our "time off" was spent doing a lot of work-related things this week. I guess we'll have weeks like that, though.

In the spirit of keeping our noses to the grindstone, we thought we'd share a little bit about the things that we are (and have been) doing at work these days:

Tricia
Tricia has a dual role for the Region, she is the 3D Program Coordinator for the Africa Region and the guest flat manager for our housing complex here in Joburg. The goal of the 3D Program is to discover, develop, and deploy African missionaries, both within Africa and throughout the rest of the world. While this program is further along in some other areas of the world, Tricia is really building it from the ground floor here in Africa. In some ways, it is good that she has just arrived on the mission field, because she remembers her training and can apply the same concepts to those called to missions in Africa.

As guest flat manager, she is responsible for renting and maintaining our guest flats here in Joburg, which serve mainly to house those who are visiting the Africa Regional Office from other countries. Whenever there is a conference, event, etc., Tricia is making sure that our guests feel as much at home as possible.

Jeremy
Jeremy's main responsibility is serving as the Special Assistant to the Finance Coordinator, but he seems to get his hands in a little bit of everything from time to time. Right now, he is working on getting the pension and medical programs sorted out for the employees of the Church of the Nazarene in Africa, assisting in the monthly allocation process (accounting of the movement of money on the region), and a variety of other projects that have been on the back burner while more pressing issues have taken people's time. His main job is to take care of those pesky "business issues" that the Finance Coordinator just can't afford to spend time on while working on improving our accounting system.

However, Jeremy has also helped around the office in a number of different areas, everything from remodeling to real estate, and from moving furniture to selling cars. The good thing is that there is always something to do, so he is never bored!

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Dear Jesus, please send us strawberries and jelly beans and gummy worms and marshmallows and some… lots and lots of candy. Amen."

(He is definitely his mother's child!)

Praises and Prayer Requests

This week, we were reminded of God's grace as we celebrated six months in South Africa. We still kind of laugh to ourselves that God would have us being missionaries. We know that it is nothing within us that allows us to be here, it is all him. We look to the future confidently, knowing that he will take just as good of care of us as he has so far.

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- The Cyr family, as they are traveling to their new assignment in Miami
-- The Mthombeni family (one of Jeremy's coworkers), who have lost four family members within the last month, including one in a car accident on the way home from one of the funerals.
-- The Miller family (missionaries to Ethiopia), as they are currently in Joburg attending to health problems.

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

6 Months Already?

It's hard to believe that on Wednesday it will have been six months since we arrived in South Africa... if the rest of the three years goes as quickly as the first six months, we will be there visiting with you in no time!

So, six months into it, we are starting to feel a little more at home. We know our way around a bit, we know enough of the local ways of saying and doing things that people actually understand what we're trying to say/do, and Jake is even starting to talk a bit like a South African!

Actually though, six months into it, we thought we would have accomplished more than we have. We're really just starting to understand how much work there really is to do. As Americans, I think we're used to rolling up our sleeves, getting right to work, and getting things taken care of. It just doesn't work like that here! Things just go at a different pace here, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it sometimes. We have learned to be a bit more patient and just to plug away, little by little, each day!

By the way, Happy 4th of July! I guess this also means that we've been posting on this blog for a little over a year now... wow. Living in another country really gives you a perspective as to how fortunate we really are to enjoy the freedoms (and luxuries) that we have as Americans. So we can sit here this year with no fireworks, but more proud to be Americans than we ever have been before.

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Mommy, when the sun goes bye-bye, he goes home to get a toy from his mommy and then when he gets his toy, he comes back tomorrow to see us."

(Move over Galileo, there's a new sheriff in town...)

Praises & Prayer Requests

We thank God for the strength that he has given us to make it through these first six months! It has been very hard at times, and we have been homesick, but he has helped those feelings to pass and to give us the comfort of knowing that we are exactly where we are supposed to be. Your prayers have been a vital part of this!

Please remember the following in prayer this week:

-- Tricia, as she is struggling with her allergies here in this new environment. Summer was good, winter not so good. Luckily, winter will be over in August!
-- The Africa Region Financial Services office, as we prepare for a major accounting system changeover in August.
-- The North family, as they get adjusted to life in the U.S. again, and the Cyr family, as they prepare to leave South Africa next week.

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

P.S. The picture this week was taken at the Lion Park we went to a few weeks ago. If you look closely, you can see that one of the lions is playing with a windshield wiper from a car that got a little too close. :)