Pizza Party!

This week was capped off by us teaching children's church at our church this morning. We had 32 kids and were able to treat them to a pizza party due to the generosity of a few donors that sent the funds for this to take place. The kids were able to sing and dance along to one of Jake's worship DVDs (which they loved), and also watched a Veggie Tales movie. A good time was had by all!

This coming week, Jeremy will be taking part in an audit of Financial Services by an outside accounting firm. The results of this audit will be used by Jeremy and the rest of the department to rewrite procedures, form a policy manual, and then make sure that they pass the "real" audit later this year. Exciting, huh?! :)

Next Sunday, Tricia's best friend Amber and her husband Luke will be coming to visit us for two weeks. We are all really looking forward to that! Hopefully we'll be able to write again next Sunday, but we can't guarantee anything, as it will be a busy day. We'll write soon though!

Jake's Quote of the Week

Mommy: “You’ll always be mommy’s baby.”
Jake: “Mommy, how about I always be your cool dude now?”

(We think he skipped straight from two to his teenage years)

Praises and Prayer Requests

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Our church becomes and actual church (right now, it is considered a "preaching point") on Feb. 4th. Please pray that the move to an actual church allows us to minister the community to a greater degree.
-- Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Back to School

Jake and his friend Benolo from the children's home at which we volunteer. Benolo is three, just like Jake, even though she looks a lot smaller.










Jake and some of his friends from our complex, Jordan and Sky. They are 6 and 7, but Jake follows them around everywhere.

Jake is back to school now, and unlike the beginning of last year, he really looks forward to going every day. He is in the "Doves" class this year, which is two years prior to "Grade Naught" (what they call kindergarten here). This year, they begin teaching the kids more intensely, doing more letters, numbers, etc., and having actual classroom time for a little bit each day. He loves it, and it's great, since there's a shortage of kids his age around our complex, it's a good place for him to make friends as well.

Well, other than that, it has been pretty normal around here. Jeremy is working on a lot of different projects in the Finance department, and Tricia is trying to figure out what her "new direction" means in a practical sense. Just another day at the office!

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Dear God, thank you for your hand. I would like to play in your hand and have lots of fun in your hand. I would even like to slide in your hand, just like Jesus. Amen."

Praises and Prayer Requests

It's hard to go through a day not feeling blessed for everything that has worked together to bring us to where we are. We have also recently been astounded by the love that has been shown to us throughout this holiday season in the form of cards, packages, e-mails, etc. We never knew that so many people were praying and caring for us! Thank you, everyone!

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Tricia's second cousin, Eric Carlson, is battling a heart condition and is trying to recover from his latest surgery.

-- Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

More Friends Visit...

Well, so far, so good for 2007! The year started off with a bang here in South Africa, with the Third Wave conference for youth leaders. Leaders from 55 different countries and 2 general superintendents were here at the Good News Conference Center for a week of seminars, networking, etc. From what we hear (we only stopped by a couple of times), it was a very good experience and everyone learned a lot. Our highlight of the conference (since we weren't really participants) was getting to see friends that we hadn't seen in a while. We saw a lot of friends that we hadn't seen in a while, including our missionary friend, David Webb!

We went through our missionary intern training with the Webb family in the fall of 2005, and now they are serving in Costa Rica, where David and Shelley are in charge of evangelism and youth for the MAC South (southern part of the Mexico and Central America Region). We, of course, got to know the Webbs very well during our internship and were glad to get the chance to see our dear friend David while he was here (that's him in the picture)!

In work news, Tricia had an exciting week, as she met with Marty Hoskins, the Director of World Mission Mobilization, who was here for the Third Wave Conference. Part of Marty's responsbilities includes overseeing the various 3D programs around the world. So during his visit here, Marty gave Tricia a new direction for her assignment. Now, she is essentially going to be trying to raise awareness of missions on the Africa Region by promoting what Africans are doing in missions. Programs that are "handed down" usually prove to be short-lived and do not make much impact. On other regions, this new approach has worked to create more of a sense of ownership within the region, and the results have been better.

Jake's Quote of the Week

“Dear Jesus, I love you very much and I need you to do everything that I want you to do. Amen.”

Praises and Prayer Requests

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

--The Webb family, as they adjust to their new envrionment in Costa Rica

--Tricia, as she learns her "new" assignment

--Jake, as he gets back to preschool

--Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Happy New Year!

Well, 2006 was quite a year! It was one year ago on the 5th that we arrived here in South Africa, and even though it seems like a long time ago, at the same time we still feel like newbies in some ways. We would say that now we are comfortable living in our new environment, that things feel more like "home" than they ever have, but in a lot of ways, still foreign as well. Yeah, that doesn't make much sense, but I guess it's kind of hard to describe in a lot of ways.

Of course, the one year mark also means that we are one third of the way through our internship. In a little under two years, we will be headed back to the US for our first "home assignment", which will be comprised of seeing family and friends, traveling to and speaking at churches all around the country, and also interviewing with the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene for consideration to be Global Missionaries (right now we are considered missionary interns). That will be an exciting and hectic time, but one we are looking forward to as well. After one year, we definitely can't wait to see our family and friends again. Just a side note, we are already trying to schedule deputation services for Jan 2009 - April 2009. If you would like to have us speak at your church during that time, please contact us and we will let you know when we will be in your neck of the woods.

The holidays have provided a nice time of rest for all of us. We didn't realize how tired we all were until we stopped to take a rest. Tricia and Jake ended up getting sick once they stopped moving for a while, but it was just the flu and only lasted for a few days. Jeremy is already back to work at the Regional Office, and Jake starts back to school this next week, which will allow Tricia to get back to work as well. We look forward to moving forward in our ministries in 2007!

By the way, the picture above is Jake at Gold Reef City, an amusement park here in Johannesburg. He and Tricia went with a missionary family from Zambia that came to stay in South Africa for the holidays. He had a blast! More pictures from Christmas, etc. later this week.

Jake's Quote of the Week

"Dear Jesus, thank you for my chicken and my yogurt. And thank you for my fork that picks up my chicken and my spoon that can scoop up my yogurt and thank you for this mouth that can open and eat my food. Amen."

Praises and Prayer Requests

We praise for giving us the strength to make it through our first year on the mission field. It hasn't been easy, but he has provided for our needs and carried us through. We are nothing without him! We also praise God for all of the support that you all lprovide to us in so many ways. We wouldn't be here without you either!

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Tricia and Jake's continued recovery from their flu bugs

-- A safe and productive year for us here in South Africa

-- The Third Wave (NYI) Conference currently taking place in South Africa

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake