1 last video

Yea for getting to ride a camel - even if it was a tourist trap on the beach!!

Watch it till the end and see him almost bite me!

Videos

Trying out posting some of the short videos I took on my camera:

Men praying in a mosque

Expatriate protestant church / French service worship

Donkey parking lot at the local village market

Mountain village market

Rug Weavers

Some Pictures

We are in the process of loading our pictures on one website where you can view them all. It isn't complete yet but visit http://northafrica08.smugmug.com.

Here are a few previews:

Courtney, Tracy & Emily drinking freshed squeezed orange juice on the square

Emily, Courtney & Jennifer model local hair wrapping styles

Emily rides a camel on the beach!

The gate into the Medina - blue on one side (the city's color) & green on the other (Islam's color)

Thank You

Sorry I didn't diction well with the second sentence of my last post. A little jet lag perhaps...... We also wanted to thank everyone who supported us financially and prayerfully during our trip. God really made an impact in each one of our lives! His heart beats for the unreached, and each of our missions is to go. If you don't reach out to those that need to see His grace, who will?

Finally Home!

We are all finally home! It was a great trip and we can't wait to tell everyone the heart happy and funny stories with you all. Some of the group from last year's trip met us at the airport after getting off the plane - thank you guys! It was comforting to see some familiar faces. BTW.... Mike Penny was there and received a severe lashing for misconstruing the hiking scenario. Ha! Sorry about that Mike :) Laundry is being done and we all have a list of everything that we want to do now that we are back in the States. Please keep checking the blog as we will be posting stories and sharing photos soon!

Out of Breath... whew!

We are on our flight to Atlanta...barely! We had to literally sprint across 3 terminals, re-checkin, and go to security again but we all made it on the flight just as they announced final boarding call.

It has been a really long day of travel after our taxi drivers in North Africa got turned around and we drove down any interstate exit ramp the wrong way and did a U-turn in the middle of the highway! Fun times. Next we went to the wrong terminal there and got on just in time for that flight too. In North Africa you have to go through 3 security areas and everyone single person gets a pat down. Guess we should feel good about that though and not complain. Another cool fact is that we were probably on the safest flight we could be because the prince of our North African country was traveling in first class with all his entourage and bodyguards.

Please continue to read this blog as we will be adding final thoughts, pictures and maybe some video in the coming days as we process all we experienced.

Thanks for your support and comments - they really meant a lot to us.

Flying Home

I'm up early to finish packing. We are meeting at 7am to get in taxis to head back to the airport which is about any hour and a half away. We fly out at 10am and arrive back in New York City 8 hours later. We will have a little layover and should be back in ATL around 7:30. I have mixed feelings about leaving and think it will be interesting to process all we've learned and the vastly differnt cultures back in America but I am ready to get back to all the freedoms and conveniences we take for granted.

Can't wait to see you all and eat some Mexican food/get a pedicure!! :)

Praying we have an uneventful trip home!

Final Day - Girl's Version

We woke up early to meet Anna for a girl's b'fast on the rooftop of a building that overlooks the beach. We had a delicious meal - I had banana and chocolate crepe that was amazing!

Next we went to our 2nd class with Professor Nordine. We learned a lot more about the Muslim religion. Did you know that 80% of Muslims are folk Muslims meaning they are very superstitious and believe a lot of traditions that arent in the Quran. Only 20% are literal/textual Muslims. This group is usually divided between religious scholars and the extremists that are against the west and the ones you see portrayed in the film I told you about earlier.

We also learned that both Sunni and Shiite Muslims are both waiting for Christ's 2nd coming. They believe that when He returns he will go to a mosque in Damascus and usher in the age of true Islam. Obviously, there is a huge disconnect in knowing the truth about Jesus but also cool to think they are awaiting His return too. It is our prayer that their eyes will be opened for the truth about who He is and why He is returning.

Our professor also told us his story about growing up Muslim and how he became a believer through a friendship with a Syrian Christian man living in North Africa. It was so moving to hear how God was pursuing him and drawing him closer. And of course also troubling to hear about all the struggles he goes through from being a believer in a closed country. Literally any day his wife or kids could turn him in and he would go to prison! Yet he was so joyful, fearless, and inspired by Paul's letters about suffering for your faith. Truly Amazing!

Next we ate lunch with the staff and students one last time before dividing up for some free time. The boys joined some locals on the beach for any intense game of futbol (soccer). The girls walked down to the beach where I got to ride a camel and get my picture with him. I fufilled my goal of sitting on one even if it was a tourist trap on the beach and not hard core through the Sahara! :)
Then the girls went shopping for some last minute souveniers and spices. We also stopped to have tea with a local shop owner named Muhammed.

The group re-convened for dinner at a local restaurant where we all had chicken schwarma. All 11 of us ate for about $4 each. After dinner Kristin and I joined up with thje 2 girl students (Emily and Sara) and their 2 friends (Fatima & Soued) to walk down the "Look at Me Street." This was Hilarious and a great cultural experience. Basically all the young people in the town go to this one street and just stroll. It is great people watching. There were probably 1000 teenages/young adults there but here is the kicker...you just walk and paraade around! You cant talk to anyone for fear that your parents will find out. Both of the girls have secret boyfriends that their family doesn't know about. We got to meet 1 of them but it was literally hi and goodbye. No mingling with the opposite sex. It definitely reminded me on crusing the strip at Panama City Beach or "The T" in Gulf Shores when I was in middle/early high school!

One For The Team

Really, don't try to understand the quotes listed below.....

"There's a rake in there!"
"I can't pour this any higher!"
"After scoring a touchdown, please don't leave your cleats on the field."
"Not only did I score a touchdown, I recovered the onside kick."
"Not only did I score a touchdown, I got the 2 point conversion."
Jessi's laugh (those of you that know her will understand this one)
"What does that even mean?!"
"Ahhhem!"
"Where are the horses?"
"There's going to be light hiking in North Africa. You've got nothing to worry about."
"That's so zween!"
"God Bless America!"
"I smell fantastic!"
"Harney!"
"You diction well...."
"Seriously, I'm going to wear these pants at my wedding!"
"Another wise word from the sage."
"We just got served running down the mountain by girls in flip-flops!"

Coming Home!

It's our last night in North Africa and we are all just absolutely tired and really sad about leaving in the morning. The great times we had and all the things we learned will always stay with us. Here are some more pics of the funny and special craziness that is our team. We look forward to coming home, but are sad to leave. See all of you soon!

No, we are not doing what you think we are doing........

Yay! My name is Harney! The little burrito is next to our fearless leader who is watching over the squinty blonde. And in the right corner....... C. Little!

The soon to be famous and worldwide "zween" look - A.K.A. "The Zween"

An actually not funny picture of the group who slept out on the terrace while in the mountains

The cistern in an ancient Portuguese city

Pics Finally

So..... we were finally getting to look through some pictures of our recent travels and have the opportunity to post a couple. Enjoy!

Good Morning

We are up this morning but unfortunately no hot water in our apt. So we are back to roughing it! Today is our last full here and we've got lots to squeeze in. The girls are going to a nice b'fast together. The boys went yesterday. Then we have our 2nd history class. I'll be sure to follow up with what we discuss about the Fitna film. After that free time to go shopping, go to the beach or go to the public hammum. Im hoping to do all 3!

Recap from last night: we all met at Anna's apt and made our own version of American pizzas using North African ingredients. We loaded them on huge trays and took them to the public bakery where there is a community wood burning brick oven. We waited a few minutes while our pizzas cooked and then took them home on the same trays for a pizza party with 3 of Anna's North African friends. They were Karim (26 year old guy who is one of 11 children), Fatima (25 year old girl getting her MBA) and Soued (26 year old girl also getting her MBA). They were all very sweet and spoke excellent English. John had a good conversation about Christianity and Islam with Karim and everyone else had fun hanging out and laughing.

Friday Summary

This morning we woke up and got real American showers in the student apartments we are staying at in the coastal city. We met the student team of 5 that are over here for 3 months. They are ages 19-24 and have done a similar trip as ours just deeper and spread out. We took a tour of the coastal city with our fabulous host for the week, Anna. She has been essential for the success of our trip. It has gone so smoothly and we would have been lost without her. She knows the country well from living here for 3 years and loves the people. It was fun for her to show us her hometown today. We toured the ancient walled in Portuguese City and any amazing cistern that was a well for the city at one point. Today it has really cool reflectuons from the way light shines inside and we got some great photos. We also learned it was used in the movie Sahara.

We ate lunch at the base hosue with all the staff and students and then we went to our 2 houe history class which you can read about below.

Arab/Muslim Culture and History Class

Today we had our 1st class with a local university professor on Arab/Muslim culture and history. It was amazing and I learned sooooo much. Between the Sharing The Hope seminar and today I've definitely learned more than Ive ever heard before. For example: Did you know that not all Arabs are Muslims? There were actually 3 Christian tribes in Arabia: The Ghassandids, The Lakhmids and The Banu Judham. Also Muslims believe that Arabic is a sacred language. They believe it is what Adam spoke in the Garden of Eden and what God speaks in Heaven?!

We spent some time processing everything we learned today and are sorting through what our responsibility is now that we have this knowledge and have experienced the culture first hand. What is God calling us to do next?!

Our professor also encouraged us to watch the short film called Fitna. It is 15 mins and can be found easily on the web. It was made by a Dutch film maker about the violence in Islam. If you have the time to watch it we would love to know what you thought. Leave us a comment!

Hammum

Forgot to tell you the best part! Last night we finally got to take a bath after 5 days without one! We were not a pleasant smelling group as Im sure you can imagine. Here in N. Africa they only take baths 1 time a week. They go to a public bath house and scrub down with olive soap and any exfoliating mitt. Out hosts in the mnts. Had a private hammum (bath) for us to use. You sit in a sauna like room that is heated from a fire under the floor. You get buckets of cold and hot water to mix and literally pour buckets on yourself! Really neat experience but definitely no room for modesty here! Its truly interesting how people cover up so much in public but then go bathe together! HaHa! We are going to try a public hammum on Saturday!

Limited Access

So it turns out the only real way we have to access the blog is through my blackberry so we apologize for leaving yall hanging the past few days. I think David's post below sums up alot though!

We just arrived tonight in the beach town where we will spend the rest of our trip before we fly back. We are staying in apts. With the students who are over here for a full semester so its been fun chatting with them and talking about our shared experiences. I looked at their website before coming over so its neat to meet them in person.

We took a 3 hour taxi ride here after we spent the day in the touristy town. We mainly shopped and bought too many things to bring back... Our bags are bursting at the seams and probably over the flight weight limit but there are just so many cool things to buy over here! You could almost furnish a whole house and probably get it cheaper by flying over and shipping things back. Our deal of the day were cool handmade glass lanterns for $4!! We also saw snake charmers, performing monkeys and tutrles that are used in black magic spells. The city is definitely dark spiritually. Another highlight of the day was drinking frsh orange juice in the square! AMAZING!!! Yum yum!

Sorry for the lack of pictures - cant do that from my blackberry! When we get back you will see plenty Im sure! I think David has taken almost 1000 already!!

Sorry We've Been Gone So Long

Wow... So much has happened over the past few days--- so I am going to try and send a few emails while we are traveling today... I have three days to write about so here goes...

Monday afternoon--

Our train finally arrived in to our destination at around 5pm. The city is a big tourist destination in the country, and it lies basically in a desert area. At the train station we met one of the family members from the mountian village that would host us for the next few nights. All the guys were pretty excited about going into a secluded area with no running water and roughing it a little bit... the girls were a lot more hesitant. After about an hour and a half taxi ride... We arrived at the first mouintain village. The native people in this village have been here for over five centuries! The sun set when we arrived, so we couldn't see as much... But the landscape is absolutely breathtaking! The home sits on the side of a mountain covered in beautiful flowers and fig trees... As well as cacti. The cacti have these beautiful flowers on them that are beginning to bloom. Below the home in the valley there is a beautiful river that winds around the mountains in the distance.. After a long day of traveling, we had tea and coffee with the family and then had a fabulous dinner in their house. They treated us like they had known us for years. Everything is about family here. Even eating is about family... a certain level of trust is gained when you break bread together here. You share food out of a large community dish in the center of the table. It was getting late, so we shared our favorite moments of the day with each other night, then we went to bed. We were very excited about getting up on Tuesday, because we got to hike deep into the mountains to another secluded village.

Tuesday morning and afternoon---

Happy Birthday Garin! We were all really excited to wake up to the beautiful mountain views this morning. When we got in last night, the sun was going down and we couldn't see as much. We explored around the area for a while before breakfast... I got some georgeous landscape shots with Dad's camera. After having breakfast outside overlooking the river, we packed for our hike to the secluded village high in the mountains. On the way, we went to a nearby town to go to the market... this day was the one day of the month where all of the local villages come to buy foods, spices, livestock, clothes... etc. Goatheads were all over the place. You also would get your haircut this day, so there were a bunch of tents with just barbers. I got some great shots of a donkey parking lot where everyone parked while shopping. After the market, we left to go straight to the second mountain village. We were all laughing on this awesome hike because Mike Penny told us we would do some "light hiking"... Yeah right Penny. The first day hike took five hours and we were at a pretty high altitude!!! One of the girls wasn't feeling well and got to ride on the donkey that was hauling all our stuff. Pretty cool!!!! This trip was such an awesome time for me because it truly required a significant fitness level! We went through many villages along the way crossing rivers and going over other mountain peaks. When we finally made it to the village, it was absolutely beautiful! They have terraced gardens all up the side of the mountain with carrots, figs, oranges, lemons, potatoes, prunes, peas, and my personal favorite... Fava beans. The family took us through the gardens all the way down to the river. We also got water from the community well and carried it back to the house. A couple of our team members helped bake bread and prepare vegetables for the evening's tagine. Of course we don't eat until 9, so our leader took Garin out to do some "chores" while the rest of the team set up a suprise Bday party - with cake! Needless to say he was very suprised when he walked back into the room. Its never wrong to eat dessert first! After indulging in cake, dinner was brought out and again everyone ate together. One notable event was the guys' first experience scoring a touchdown in a squattie. For those of you that know what we mean know how awesome it is.... For those of you who don't, we will explain when we get home. The highlight of the day (although hard to pick just one) had to be sleeping out on the veranda looking up at a perfectly clear African sky. There were millions of stars and quite a few recognizeable constellations - we even saw a couple shooting stars!

I will write about Wednesday and today(Thursday) in a little bit. Thanks for following along!

David and the team

David's 2nd email summary

Friends-

We are still on the long train ride from the ancient city-- we stopped suddenly in between stations because we hit 3 cows on the track. I had to get out and investigate with some of the soldiers who jumped off the trian to see. There was not much left, needless to say. But I made some friends with some of the soldiers who were hanging out while we waited. They were a few years younger than me. They spoke Arabic and a little English. I found out that they were paratroopers... We talked about where they are stationed... And that they have done 6 jumps so far. They smiled a lot and asked me many questions... So I have made a few new friends today! The train whistle blew and we had to go back to our train cars, but I am hoping to run in to them again when we get off.

Let me jump back to yesterday since I haven't told about it yet...

Sunday (yesterday)--
Rick and I got up early for breakfast with the family. We had some more coffee(gasp), and some bread with the most amazing apricot jelly I have ever had. The mom in our family reminds me of my mom... She loved to see us eat well and enjoy the food she prepared. We met up with the group and went to a building designated for an international fellowship service. This building is a gift to to the foreigners here. Locals are forbidden to enter. We went to the first sevice in English and then hung around for the second service in French. The music was beautiful! We all went for some American food after the service. Yep-- McDonalds.

After that we took a tour of the city with the whole team. We learned a lot about the history and culture. We saw many of the mosques, and went on in depth tours of a tannery, a handmade rug and scarf shop. The tour lasted 6 hours! We were not worth much at the end of it to say the least.

At the end of the night, Rick and I had a feast with our family. We had meatballs, avocadoes, tomatoes, as well as strawberries, pineapples and bread. Rick and I gave the family gifts... We gave the dad a braves and a falcons hat. I bought some spices at the market for the mother-- saffron and a mixture of other spices. She was very happy to get them.

The highlight of the day was when the dad took me and Rick to the public bath after dinner. Men here typically go twice a week to clean and experience community. It reminded me of the sulfur caves in Glenwood Springs that Pop took us to growing up. Basically you grab a bucket... There is a superheated water basin that you dip it in to, then you add cold water till the temperature of the water won't burn your skin off... It was pretty interesting. What a great couple of days with our family! They said we are always welcome with them. I did buy a handmade knife that is inscribed with the symbol of the village peoples from the area. It is pretty cool. No Dad, I am not going to carry it on to the plane. Well, I am tired of typing one letter at a time... Later.

David

Correction

We actually hit 3 bulls.

We Hit A Bull

Breaking News from our train...
WE HIT A BULL

We were just riding along and we saw stuff flying by our window and then our train stopped. We asked around and found out our train hit a bull on the tracks! We obliterated it!

Train Post From David

Hello all-

Right now we are riding a train from the ancient city to the mountain village... The trip will take 7 hours. I am not sure when any of us will be in front of a computer again, so I thought I would try and just send another email update with my blackberry. Please forward this to any friends that I might be forgetting, because I don't have a lot of emails programmed in yet.

Saturday afternoon/night--
After meeting up with the dad in our family, Rick, John, Garin and I took off and explored the maze of streets of the ancient city. I met many different people and shopkeepers. A very nice man showed us his leather making business... Shoes, purses and cushions. He taught us some new Arabic phrases. The people here a truly very friendly and genuinely interested in getting to know you. My friends in Spain will be excited to hear that I watched Barcelona play another Spanish soccer club on TV with all the shopkeepers on Saturday night. Everyone here is big fans of the Barcelona Soccer Team! It was fun to high five all the shopkeepers when Barcelona saved a huge penalty kick near the end of the game(they ended up losing though). The next morning some of the shopkeepers called my name out as I walked by and said BARSA! When we went home saturday night the mother of the family had prepared a nice meal for us. They had three daughters, one is 13, one is 5, and then a baby, 10 months. They are all very sweet girls... By the way-- I have never really had much coffee in my life because I don't like it, and all of a sudden I am drinking it twice a day here- the stuff here is like rocket fuel with like a pound of sugar in it-- my heart is constantly about to pound out of my chest.
I was worried initially about whether or not I would like the food-- everyone who knows me knows that I love to eat and I will pretty much eat anything... But the food here has been awesome!!! The mom and dad that we stayed with were very happy to see how much we enjoyed what the women had prepared.

Sunday will be in the next email....

David

Train to Mountain Village

Using my blackberry to type this so excuse any typos! We are on a 7 hr train to the Mountain Village. After the first city we went to the old city. We all stayed with families in the medina which has over 10k streets! All very narrow! We visited a tannery, rug factory, and silk weaver. We picked up some great gifts for ourselves and you too! We ate some authentic North African food with the families and used squattie toilets instead of our typical American toilets.

We also attended the International Fellowship protestant church where we had a service and took communion. It was in English and then another service afterwards in French!

Until the next adventure... Hopefully we will be able to add pictures soon too!

More news

Well, sleep came quickly last night and we all slept soundly until the call to prayer this morning at 3am. We quickly went back to sleep and woke up refreshed. Showers were taken and snacks were gotten for our long train ride today. BTW.... It's the last shower we will get until Wednesday! Pretty difficult for us Americans, but the norm for our host country. The pic above is the view from the window of the hostel we stayed in last night. On the top of the prayer tower are loudspeakers that broadcast the Call to Prayer five times a day.

Wow did I sleep well last night! I nearly slept through the call to prayer this morning over the loudspeaker (outside our window, there is a mosque). This morning, I got up early before breakfast to take a run along the walled city where we are staying. It was pretty cool to see the locals walking in to work or breakfast. I ran along the water towards another smaller walled city where kids were playing soccer outside. I am really enjoying seeing how similar our cultures really are! Today, we are leaving this town and are traveling to an ancient city. Here is another picture... a holy site built over ancient ruins.

We Made It!

After a very long flight, we finally made it to North Africa! We immediately met up with our liaison, and took a series of train rides to our first city. Attached are a few photos of the team on the first day as we traversed the city. We visited several important holy sites and tried our share of the local cuisine. Overall, we had a safe trip and a great day, and wanted to let our friends and family back home follow our journey. Enjoy the pics!

And We're Off...

Today's the day!! Our flight leaves ATL for NYC and then on to North Africa this afternoon...we arrive tomorrow morning. Here's hoping our luggage makes it!! :)

Easter Week

I've been thinking what great timing out trip has. All week long we have been preparing for today (Good Friday) when Christ was crucified and Sunday when we celebrate him overcoming death. I know that my eyes have been turned toward him more this week than normal. How incredible that we have this week before we leave to prepare our hearts and minds for our trip.

I'm so excited I can hardly wait!!

Thanks for following our journey so far... it's only just beginning.

Fasting

Last weekend, Jeff Henderson posted a comment on the Buckhead Church blog which challenged and encouraged each of us to fast for one 24-hour period prior to Good Friday, sundown to sundown. And then come ready to praise God for his unspeakable gift of mercy as we worship and celebrate communion together Friday night.

Fasting gives us the opportunity to turn our attention and focus from ourselves to the grace of God. It reminds us that God meets our needs. We can focus that time on our spiritual needs instead of physical needs and depend on God.

At our lake retreat a few weeks ago, we also discussed fasting before our North Africa trip. We decided to take up the challenge and fast all day yesterday and then get together in the evening at Garin's house for a feast and movie night. It was an amazing experience relying on God and praying to him for strength. When my tummy was growling all day long and so loud that my coworkers could hear it, I was thinking God is saying "PRAY HARD!"

Relax....

Yesterday, our entire team took part in Sharing the Hope seminar with speaker Fouad Masri. It was absolutely incredible! We learned about the history of Muhammed and the Muslim religion as well as ways to bridge the gap relationally and religiously with Muslims. There was soooo much information, the week and a half we have left before we leave will not be enough to absorb it all. The main thing we learned was to Relax!.... God is on the throne. It is our job to share and be an ambassador, not a converter. Sharing your faith is as easy as having a friendly conversation.

Fouad is a part of the Crescent Project and I encourage all who read this to check out their website at http://www.crescentproject.org/ There are books available from their online bookstore as well as the incredible Bridges program for small groups.

The whole team is getting psyched about going and we are ready to see what incredible situations we will find ourselves in!

Still not the whole group...

But getting closer!
We got together for dinner tonight with the team from last year to ask questions / get advice. Pictured below is our group with Rod who lead last year's group.

(L to R) John, Emily, Kristin, Jessi, Tracy, Rick, David, Courtney, Rod
Not pictured: Jennifer & Garin

Muslim View of Jesus

Interesting story from CNN about an Iranian movie about Jesus through Islamic views.
Check it out: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2008/03/06/raman.iran.jesus.movie.cnn

We Shine

On Sunday at church Steve Fee sang a song off his newest album called "We Shine." This is a rockin song and it definitely makes you stand up and sing/shout. Part of the song says, "We're going into all the world. We're carrying the light of Jesus. We shine. We shine. In the darkest place we shine." As we were singing that song I kept thinking about our group. We are carrying the light of Jesus to this Muslim country. We are going to a place that is over 98% Muslim, where the call to prayer is announced over a loud speaker 5 times a day (including 3am). And in other areas where black magic and snake charming are common practices. We truly are the light of Jesus to them. Many if not most have no idea the truth of Jesus.

Help us Lord to shine! Even in the darkest places. Help us to show them your love.

Check out Steve Fee singing this song last week here: http://www.buckheadproduction.org/
-Emily

Clothing & Cuisine

Hey everyone, Emily here, trying this thing out and getting the ball rolling for other posts!
Thanks to David for setting this up for our team and we hope you will check in with us while we are in Africa.

Last night we had another team meeting where we went over things to pack and appropriate dress. For us girls, it is elbows and knees covered! So today I ventured out to Old Navy & Target to see what fashionable modest clothes I could find and to my surprise I actually found a lot! In case you hadn't heard tunics are big this season - which was perfect. I also got all my travel size toiletries and a few snacks.

Which brings me to the next topic...FOOD! I'm a little concerned about my food choices over there. I am really picky and I'm worried about how that will all play out. This is one of my biggest prayer requests for the trip. At our meeting last night Mike (who lived in North Africa for 2 years) taught us a new little prayer: "Where you send me I will follow, What you feed me I will swallow" or something to that effect. HAHA! I'm definitely going to praying that a lot!

Leaving in less than 3 weeks!

"...I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
-Isaiah 49:6

Many of the people groups that are still unreached by the Gospel live in places that stretch across the continents of northern Africa, central and southeast Asia. Many refer to this vast area as the 10/40 window, because it lies inbetween 10 degrees and 40 degrees latitude north of the equator. Current statistics place fully two-thirds of the earth's total population in this window, and an estimated 95 percent of the people living there have never heard the Gospel... not even once. Missionaries in this area of the world are indeed in short supply.

At the end of the month, our team will travel inside the 10/40 window into North Africa. Although we will only be there for 11 days, we are very excited to serve the Lord in whatever capacity he sees fit as we are exposed to Muslim culture in the mission field.

Our team first came together in early January at our first meeting with our team leader, John Hoover. Although we were strangers to each other then, we have become good friends since! We have met nearly every week, and a couple of weekends ago we all came together for a retreat at the Hoover's home on Lake Nottley. We shared testimonies, played many games of Ping Pong, Cornhole (the tailgating-beanbag game) and Catch Phrase. We all pitched in preparing dinner under the tutelage of Kristin and the ladies, and I (David) peeled and diced a cucumber for the salad (don't act like you're not impressed). We also shot some 5 year old dried out fireworks off the dock (the girls' idea). In a short length of time, we are have learned a lot about our team, and we are looking forward to our trip in a few weeks. Our fundraising is still a work in progress, but our goal is to hit 100% by the time we step on the plane at the end of the month. This weekend's meeting we will have some guest speakers who have lived in North Africa so that they can tell us a little more about what to expect in our travels such as food, what kind of clothing we should be expected to wear, etc..

We would like to ask you to pray for us as the Lord prepares our hearts for this trip. Also-- please pray for fellow team member Rick Tuley with his father's passing after a courageous battle with cancer. Rick has truly been an inspiration for the team, and we are so happy to have him continue to come with to North Africa with us even during this incredibly difficult time in his life. It is our hope that all of our supporters will follow our blog and continue to pray for us and the people of North Africa-- even though we are not sure how often we will even have the chance to update this due to the nature of our trip. I think at the very least, though, we will be able to post pictures and comments from our mobile phones, so we encourage friends and supporters to follow along with us, and post your own comments to our posts! As you add comments, keep this in mind... we hope all of our supporters and friends who follow this understand that for the safety of future mission trips to the area as well as for the general safety of all of our team members, our team has decided to refrain from divulging the town locations of the places we will be visiting, even the name of the country. Sorry for the mystery, we are not trying to pull a James Bond or anything... we will just refer to them as the base city, or mountain town or something like that.

Till the next posting, please continue to keep us and the people of North Africa in your prayers! We are very excited! Oh and for the record, Hoov and I are the Catch Phrase Champs. - David