We have been in Africa for a year....

On the 18th of October we hit the one year mark in Africa. It has been a year with lots of changes, lots of goodbyes and many tears....but it has also been a year with many blessings! We have been blessed with an extended family on the field......Autumn has more aunts and uncles than she can count! Our team mates are great and we are so happy to have them back with us in Abidjan after the birth of little Benjamin. Our relationships with the Africans are growing and we are finding ourselves busy with company, etc. The most important thing is that we can now share the gospel with these friends in their language. What a major blessing!

God is moving in the small group and it is really growing! Jon spends a lot of time with these guys and is pouring the truth into them. They are eager to go out and share the good news with their friends and with strangers they met. God is really going to use these guys! One of them has asked Jon about starting another group with 5 friends that he has lead to the Lord. Wow! Jon will continue to disciple him and show him how to lead a group.

Please continue to pray for my muslim friend, M. She has begun to ask a lot of questions. She told me the other day that she knows that you must have faith in Jesus and that she does. I told her that she must trust in Jesus alone, and she didn't know what to do with that. Today when I was visiting her and telling her the story of Nicodemus, she asked me why there was so many ways. She now realizes that Christians and muslims are not the same. I told her that only one of them can be the right way. She agreed. She said that she was going to pray that God would show her the truth and when he does that she will follow that truth. We know that God will show her so please continue to lift her up!

Bottle some of that cool weather up and send it our way! :) It sure is hot here....I think I am finally remembering to put the sunblock on. It took a couple of days of becoming sunburned before I realized the sun is back!

Love,

Teresa

It's been a long time........

Sorry that it has been so long since the last post!! It has been the usual around here, we sometimes feel like we are never going to get out of french learning! Of course, that is probably right....even when we reach our level; we will still keep learning. As most people learning another language, we have days that we think, "Wow, I'm starting to get this," and then there are the other days (which we seem to have more of :) when we say, "I have almost been here for a year and this is all I can say!!" But we have to go back and look where we was when we arrived on the field.....we couldn't even say hi! But now we can carry on a conversation (sometimes it might sound like a 3 year old:), we are sharing the gospel, and can actually have a small conversation on the telephone (wow, that one is hard!). It may take us FOREVER to make our level, but God has been faithful to us and has allowed us to minister while we are learning!

Autumn has returned from the states. She had a really great time with family! I don't think she forgot the name of one restaurant that she ate at while she was there.....she rubbed everyone of them in! But we did send an empty suitcase with her, and she brought it back filled with goodies that we can not find in Abidjan. It was like an early Christmas present! I was told that I would be more homesick while she was gone, and they was right! I was a little jealous that I didn't get to see family and friends, eat all that good food, and go to Walmart! God willing, we will all be on a plane next summer and will enjoy the states for a short time!

We did have some excitement in West Africa this week! Our team mates, Mike and Heather, welcomed a baby boy, Benjamin! We haven't got to meet him yet because they had to travel to another country for the birth, but we hope they will arrive back in Abidjan within the next month. It will be exciting to have a little one around!

Enjoy your fall like weather! Wow, I miss this time of the year....it's my favorite! It is beginning to heat up around here, no chance of a white Christmas! :)

Love,

Teresa