Last blog

We enjoyed spending the holidays with family but the time is almost here to return to Africa! We are looking forward to see what God is going to do this next term. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I will not be updating this blog any more but if you would like to keep up with what is going on in our ministry, please email me and I will add you to our prayer update list.

Blessings,

Teresa

jonmoody@yahoo.com

It feels like Christmas!!

Well, it definitely feels more like Christmas in the states than in Africa.....something about that heat and humidity! We have enjoyed the past month traveling and visiting. We started the month out with visiting some colleges with Autumn. We started out with Union University where Autumn got to spend the night with friends on campus. Well, after that Ouachita didn't have a chance! :) We will see where the Lord leads!

We went to Little Rock to spend some time with my sister and then traveled onto Houston for some training. Arriving back in Piggott the Monday before Thanksgiving, we enjoyed the week with family. We were back at it the Monday after Thanksgiving and headed to Kansas City for a week. We really enjoyed our time there seeing friends and visiting our home church. Now, we have finally arrived back in Arkansas and plan to stay put for a month! We are going to enjoy a month of rest and relaxation.

I have added some of Autumn's senior pictures that we had taken a year early! ;)

Merry Christmas,

Teresa

On the run

We have been on the run ever since we arrived in the states. We spent five days at a Global Impact Conference in Arkansas 6 days after arriving. I spoke at a women's brunch this morning and we have presentations at churches the next few Sundays. We will be traveling to Houston, Texas at the middle of the month for some urban church planting training. We hope to slow down around Thanksgiving and get some rest!

Pray for us the next couple of weeks as we visit colleges with Autumn. We are down to two: Union University in Jackson, TN and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR. Pray that God will direct Autumn (and us).

I hope to keep you updated on our travels!

Blessings,

Teresa

Stateside

Well, we are almost there.....a little over a week and we will be arriving in the states for a four month time of rest. We will be fairly busy during our stateside, but also have plently of time for family and friends.

This past weekend we took our dog, Jolie, to the Ivory Coast border to meet friends that she will stay with during our time in the states. It has been harder than I thought it would be without her around. I have really become attached to her! We got her four months after arriving on the field. She was a great joy in times of homesickness and loneliness. We have said so many goodbyes in our first three years on the field and the dog wasn't any easier. We look forward to being reunited with her on our return to the field, but now we are getting excited for our time home!

The last few weeks have been packed with working on powerpoint, the many different types of presentations and the many other things needed to be done before stateside. We have almost got our list marked off and can't wait to load that airplane!

Prayer Requests:

*That we will finish well. We have people that we need to go see before we depart. We hope to be able to say proper goodbyes. We want to continue our work here until we leave and not just sit around and wait for that day!

*Our crate is in the port and God-willing will be delivered this week. Pray that we will receive it in time to get things out that we need to take to the states with us.

*Health. I (Teresa) have been sick the past five days. I now have some medicine, pray for a speedy recovery. Pray that we will all stay healthy for our trip.

*Safe travels. As many of you know, we are not big fans of flying, but it is the fastest way to travel from Africa to America! :) We are becoming more comfortable since we have now done it a few times. We now can fly straight from Accra to Atlanta! Yay, no more 30 hour trips...it is now only 10 hours! Pray for safe travels and that we might get some rest on the flight.

Blessings,

Teresa

Packing

I never knew how time consuming it is to get ready to go stateside!  I have been making doctor, dentist & college appts....along running our dog around to get her ready to arrive in the US.  Ghana has more rules than the US to get a dog in the country!  Well, 4 1/2 weeks and yes, we are counting! :)

We would have to say that the past three years were the hardest that we have ever endured.  We are looking forward to some time with family/friends and hope to be able to return rested and looking forward to what God is going to do in Accra.  

We will be traveling to six different states during our 4 months stateside.  We will be staying in Arkansas,  but will be traveling to Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Virgina, Pennsylvania and New York.  Pray for our times at the churches.  We pray that God will call others to the mission field.  We also pray that God will have churches to partner with us in Accra to reach the many people groups.

Another prayer request would be for our visits to colleges.  We have to visit colleges for Autumn this time since this will be the last time that she is in the states before returning to college in the fall of 2013.  She is looking at attending either Union University in Jackson, TN or Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, AR.  Pray God will show her clearly which school to attend.  

We hope to see many of you during our four months!

Blessings,

Teresa

Abidjan trip

I want to thank each of you for the prayers for Jon's back. He is doing much better. We believe he can put off surgery for now and hopefully forever!

We returned on Monday from Abidjan. It was a very fast, crazy and emotional week but we was glad to see that we could still communicate in french. We arrived on Sunday, August 14th and started to box up the house on Monday morning. We did all the packing in 4 days before the truck arrived on Friday morning. We thought this was going to work out really well and we would have everything in Accra in a couple of weeks. So, we went out and bought a lot of stuff to bring home for gifts and for display when we would speak at churches....well on Friday after everything had been loaded on a truck, we found out that they were taking our items to the dock to then be loaded on a boat. All this means that we probably won't see that crate before our departure for the states. It takes longer by water since the items usually get hung up in customs for awhile. Please pray that this process will go extra quickly and it will arrive before our departure in mid-October. If not, we will just do some more shopping here in Accra. We may also be really cold when we arrive in the states, since we packed our long sleeve shirts in that crate also! :)

We also got to visit many of our friends during our visit to Abidjan. Our teammates were wonderful as usual. They allowed Autumn to hang around and invade their home....and they were gracious to have us over for dinner many times so we wouldn't have to cook. We will miss them alot. Please pray for a family to join the McAfees to reach Abidjan.

We visited many of our Ivorian friends, with these visits came many sad stories. I will share of few of the stories with you:

-Our guard was stopped one day by some youth. He had just cashed his paycheck and he gave them all the money he had so they would spare his life. This was very difficult for many, since food had become very expensive and you had the chance of being robbed when you left the house.

-There were some people groups that were in more danger than others. Certain people went into neighborhoods looking for these people from certain ethnic groups and they would kill them if they found them. In these people groups, the women usually left the house to go looking for food since it was more dangerous for the men. They would do unspeakable things to the women, but they usually wouldn't kill them like they did the men. We had one friend from one of these ethnic groups that almost lost his life. He was stopped and they made him strip and was going to shoot him. While he was standing there the officers got into an argument and he escaped. Thankfully, this saved his life.

-As the McAfees guard set inside the gate one night, a bullet went by his head and landed in a post in the house. There was bullets found in all our yards. After the crisis they had to reroof our house because our guard said bullets went through the roof and started leaks. There was a lady in our neighborhood who was in her apartment and a bullet came through the wall and killed her.

-One of our friends and language helpers went out with his cousins one day during the worst of the crisis to search for food. They got stopped and was told to say their last prayers because they were going to die. They made one man get on his knees and shot beside his head, missing on purpose to scare them. Then they told them to each pick up a tire and carry it up the hill. Our friend told his cousins, "They are going to burn us!" This was a common occurance called "ringing". This was when they would put a tire around a person's neck, fill it with gasoline and light it. They burned many people alive this way. We are thankful that they spared our friend, Olivier, and his cousins.

This is a small part of the many tragic things that happened in the Ivory Coast. Please continue to pray for these people. On our visit we saw that they are starting to get Abidjan back to "normal" but the people still have many nightmares of all that happened. We saw one of our friends Saturday before our departure. He just didn't seem like himself. Jon and I both decided that he was mentally tired and depressed. Jon spoke to him and he said this is true. He sent his wife and children out of the country when the troubles started and they are still gone. He doesn't have any work and there is not telling how many horrible things he witnessed. Many people spoke of all the bodies that was laying around on the roads around the city. Pray for the emotional healing of the people of Ivory Coast.

Our only prayer request this month is for our friends in Ivory Coast. They are very special to us.

Blessings,

Teresa

School

Well, we have officially started Autumn's junior year. I can't believe that she only has two more years at home with us! We started school on August 1st since we will be coming stateside and have alot of traveling to do during that time....she has many breaks while we are in the states! We will be visiting a couple of colleges during our stateside since this will be our last time in the states before she goes off to college. Autumn is looking at either attending Union University in Tennessee or Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas. Pray that God will make it clear which college she should attend.

On my last post, I said that we would be leaving to go to Abidjan....well, that didn't happen. Jon started having back pain and went to see the doctor. After a MRI, it was clear that he had a slipped disk in his back. After three weeks of physical therapy, his back seems to be doing better. Hopefully this does the job and another back surgery won't be necessary! We plan on going to Abidjan this Saturday and will be gone around 9 days. Pray for safe travels.

Our schedule is already becoming busy for stateside! We look forward to seeing many of you during our time in the states.

Blessings,

Teresa

Abidjan bound

Hey everyone! Hope you all have enjoyed your summer (and hot temps! :) Your summer time is actually our cooler season, so we have been enjoying the cooler temps! But I must admit that I don't have much sympathy for those of you that complain about your hot and humid temps....we deal with that 9 months of the year! But I do understand how miserable it can be.

The last month has been busy for us, and we love it! We are meeting many new pastors and church members. We are beginning to get a vision of some areas that we can minister in. I can say this is the best that we have felt in a long time. We miss our friends in Abidjan but now see what God is going to do in Accra.

We will be traveling into Ivory Coast to pack up our home this weekend. I would ask that you keep this in your prayers. There is some areas that it is still dangerous on the roads. We believe the route that we are taking is rather safe, but you never know. I think the unknown is what is making me a little nervous. We will travel to the border on Saturday and stay overnight. We will get up on Sunday morning and travel the 2 1/2 hours to Abidjan....it is usually better to travel on Sundays.

We appreciate each of you and the prayers that you lift up for us! Send us an email and let us know what is happening in your life/ministry.

Blessings,

Teresa

Settled

I feels SO good to be finally semi-settled! :) We moved into a house this past Monday. We don't have our household stuff from our home in Abidjan yet, but a good friend is letting us use his stuff. We plan on returning to Abidjan the end of July to pack up our house and see our friends. It is going to be a bittersweet time.....excited to see what God does in Accra but sad to leave our freinds in Abidjan.

We have been doing alot of driving around Accra to learn the city. My stick shift driving abilities have improved and I even ventured out alone this past weekend. We are really enjoying Accra and are so thankful that Autumn has friends here. She has been to a friends house every weekend since arriving in Ghana, and she is going to a sleepover tonight. This is an answered prayer! She will be traveling this upcoming week, so remember to keep her in your prayers. She will be flying alone for the first time. It is a short flight, only 1 hour. (this is short compared to our Africa-US flights!). Please pray for peace for her (and me!) and safety. Also, pray for her time with the other missionary kids at a retreat.

Other prayer requests:

*God will lead us to the churches that want partner to reach the city

*schooling options for Autumn

*wisdom

Blessings,

Teresa

Made it to Ghana

We made it to Ghana after a two day trip. The trip went really well, even the dogs traveled well. We are learning how to get around Accra...and learning when not to leave the house because you will be stuck in a traffic jam for hours! I have been driving some...a big accomplishment for such a big city. I can drive, but I am getting more comfortable with the stick shift.

Pray for us as we seek God for wisdom for ministry.

Teresa

Pray for Burkina

Me again....I would like to ask you to pray for Burkina Faso. There has been alot of problems the last couple of weeks. We are safe but are becoming tired of staying stuck in the house. We are beginning to wonder if trouble follows us....

Thanks for the prayers!

Moving On....

It is heating up in Burkina! The temps are over 100 and some humidity has arrived, but it is nothing like the humidity of Abidjan! Our time as refugees in Burkina has been made so much better because of our wonderful mission family here. They have taken us in and loved on us and imparted lots of wisdom. We are going to miss them dearly but it is time to move on (again!). Through much prayer we have made the decision to transfer to Accra, Ghana. On Monday, May 2nd we will head back to Accra. We will spend the next 5 1/2 months researching the city and making contacts until our stateside in October. We do hope to return to Abidjan in a couple of months to retrieve our household items and most importantly to say proper goodbyes to our friends there. We are very sad to leave our friends but feel this is where the Lord is leading us right now. After our 4 month stateside assignment, we will return to Accra to get deeper in ministry. We are excited and sad all at the same time. They told us in our missionary training that we would be living a life of goodbyes, but I really didn't know how much that would really happen! We have made great friends from all the countries of our first term: Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, and Burkina. But with goodbyes comes hellos...and we will soon make more friends in Ghana.

Autumn is sad to leave all her friends here in Burkina but is looking forward to Accra. She has made many life-long friends here that she will always have a bond with. She took her spring break and spent a week with them just hanging out. I think there was little sleeping and lots of fun and practical jokes! We have prayed for these times for her since coming on the field and thank the Lord for providing. Autumn turned 16 last week! It doesn't seem possible, we are getting so close to the college years....but I don't like to think about that too much! :) We are looking in to putting her into an American School in Accra. That is a prayer request for you....normally they don't allow students in the upper grades to come in so late in their schooling but they do make exceptions. Also, you can pray that she will find a youth group like the one here in Burkina to get involved in.

Hope to have some new updates for you soon to let you know how we are getting settled. We will just be living out of the guesthouse until stateside but we will be searching for the best neighborhood to live in compared to our ministry. Pray for a smooth transition and for our travels next week. It will be a 2 day drive and one of the two dogs get car sick. Pray that she has a good trip!

In Christ,

Teresa

Prayer for Ivory Coast

Nothing exciting happening with the Moodys. We are still living in Burkina. Autumn is getting alot of time with the youth here and she is really enjoying it. Pray that we can get settled quickly and can get out of some of this uncertainity.

Please continue to pray for Ivory Coast. We have spoken to friends there and things are very difficult. Many innocent people are dying everyday. All banks are closed and the Western Unions have shut down, so there is no way for the people to get money. Food is also becoming scarce. It is hard to hear how our friends are suffering. We pray that God will bring peace to that country very soon.

Blessings,

Teresa

More pics from Burkina

Autumn and I with our friend, Cortimi....she is loads of fun! Wow,

must have been a bad hair day! ;)
Don't pick me!!!....no one wanted to do karoke at

the Christmas party.
look....Cindy's skirt is on fire! Bonfire on Christmas Eve.
Africa Christmas decoration

Pics

my dear friend, Louise and her son

Jon & the guys, Olivier & Guy Roger
another friend, Eugenie

This was from our Thanksgiving celebration. We had lots of fun with our friends in Cote d'Ivoire. We left the next day to wait out the elections in Ghana; thinking we could return quickly. It didn't work out that way, and we are sad to hear about all the trouble in Cote d'Ivoire. Please continue to pray for our friends.

Heating up in Burkina...

I have wanted to do a blog for the past few days, but the electricity has been horrible. Because of Ivory Coast the electricity in Burkina has been cut. So they are running the entire town on two generators. We have electricity in 6 hours shifts. On for 6 hours then off for 6 hours. It is really hard to sleep without electricity. Besides being warm it is dusty because we have to open all the windows!

I had hoped to upload pictures of some of our friends in Abidjan. I wanted to put pictures with names so you can see who you can pray for. If the electricity stays on for awhile, I will get these on soon.

The situation is continuing to get worse in Ivory Coast. They are not calling it a civil war yet, but in reality that is what it is. The military of the North and the military of the South are fighting. Many innocent people are losing their life because of who they support. We have had many of our friends call and tell us how difficult it currently is. Many have lost their jobs and they don't have money to buy food, etc. We can not get any money into them because all the Western Unions have been closed. We trust the Lord is hearing all the prayers, and will supply all their needs.

We sometime think about if we will ever get our things out of our house.....but realize that is all just stuff. The people there are suffering so much.

Also, pray for wisdom for us as we have decisions to make.

Blessings,

Teresa

Update

Nothing new with the Moodys! We are still in Burkina, waiting the situation in the Ivory Coast. Please continue to pray for our friends in Abidjan as life is very difficult right now. Pray that God will touch hearts and will bring many into His kingdom.

We appreciate each of you and the prayers that your lift up for us and our ministry.

Teresa

2011

Wow, can you believe that it is already 2011?? I remember when we came to the field in 2008 that the year 2011 seemed so far away. The reason we was even thinking about the year 2011 back then is because this is when we will be able to take our stateside assignment! In October we will be heading back over that big ocean to spend some time with family and friends....and hopefully to get some MUCH needed rest!!

Things are still the same....we are still out of our home. We have now been away from our home for two months and issues in Cote d'Ivoire doesn't seem to be getting any better. We have been in contact with many friends in Abidjan and it is a very hard time for them. They have fear of a possible war, many of them are not able to work, and food prices are very expensive. We hurt for them during this time and pray God will send peace to that country. The Christians are seeking God for peace in their country and we ask you to pray with them. Things are hard in Africa when there isn't political unstability, but now many people are losing their life.

Continue to lift us up in prayer also. Our problems is nothing compared to the Ivorians, but we do need your prayers. We have alot of uncertainity in our lifes right now, and it is hard not to be discouraged during this time.

Thank you for your prayer support.

Blessings,

Teresa

Dusty in Burkina

our last day with the Pope's
Autumn with her guitar
Autumn with some of the youth

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Despite being out of country and home, the Lord blessed us with a great Christmas. Our dear friends, the Pope's, let us invade their house for 2 1/2 weeks. As they were packing to return to the states, they went out of their way to make it a nice Christmas for us. They got the tree out and we decorated it and Autumn made some yummy Christmas cookies. Also, they gave Autumn a Christmas gift that she will never forget....a guitar! Autumn had been talking about saving her money for a guitar, well was she ever surprised on Christmas morning when David and Cindy gave her one! I don't think there was a dry eye in the house....I know it made this momma's heart happy to see the joy in Autumn's eyes.

Our friends have returned home to family and we have found a furnished house to stay in while we wait out the issues in Ivory Coast. Please continue to pray for peace for Ivory Coast and that the peoples hearts will be turned to the true God. We have spoken to many friends and they are doing fine but admit that it is a hard time with increased prices and dangers.

We have met many new missionaries here and Autumn had found a youth group to be involved in. She is loving it and I have to admit that it makes us feel great to! It has been a long time since we have seen our daughter hang out with a group of teenagers. We had a campout for 3 days over New Years and it was a great time. The youth had a time of devotions and worship each evening and had fun sleeping outside under the stars at night.

Prayer requests:

*Peace in Ivory Coast

*for us patience in this time of waiting

*wisdom

*pray for our health as the dust has come in from the desert and we are fighting allergies

Blessings,

Teresa

Crazy life!! :)

I am sorry that it has been so long since I last blogged. Life has been a little crazy lately to say the least. We are currently in Burkina Faso, where the temps are in the 50-60's during the night and morning.....LOVE IT! Some of you might not realize that we had to leave our home in Cote d'Ivoire due to political unrest. We are not sure how long we will be away from our home because the issues are not improving. We are thankful to be safe but it does kinda mess up our "traditional" Christmas. All of Autumn's presents are in a suitcase coming from the states when our missionary friends can return. I don't believe they will make by Christmas. I am so proud of Autumn.....in midst of uncertainty, she is being great. We are very thankful for our dear friends, the Popes, who have let us come in and take over their house (with 2 dogs!). :)

Well, how many people can say they drove through three countries in Africa in a weeks time?! It was a hard 4 days of travel with 2 dogs, with one that gets very car sick! We saw many accidents along the way....car accidents, motorcycle accidents and a child that had been hit by a car. We are thankful that the Lord blessed us with a safe trip! And now Daisy seems to enjoy traveling and doesn't get sick anymore!

Please pray for the people in Cote d'Ivoire. These people don't have the money to leave the country....they are just trying to survive. We have heard that they have ran out of cooking gas and food is beginning to get scarce, which means prices have sky-rocketed. The people barely make it month to month, and that is without any problems. During this time, many people have not been able to work.

How do you pack when you are leaving your home for who knows how long?? That was our dilema....you can't pack your entire house and we have already realized that we left some stuff that we could use. Also, pray that our house will stay safe from looters, etc. We have no idea when we will return but trust the Lord knows all and pray that His will be done.

Remember the Lottie Moon Christmas offering this year. It is because of the Lottie Moon offering that we can stay on the field. We have a house, vehicle and many other things because of your giving. We want to thank you ahead of time for your sacrifice so others may hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Enjoy your holiday season with family and friends! Remember Jesus is the reason for the season!

Blessings,

Teresa

Ghana

the trucks alone could evangelise Ghana! :)
over 500 years old slave castle
Autumn standing at the "door of no return" of the slave castle. The slaves walked through that small door to get on an awaiting boat. (yes, it was raining that day!) Jon enjoyed the tire swing at the beach also! ;) I'm just glad that he didn't hurt himself!
Who wouldn't want to vacation here??

Wow, sorry that it has been so long since my last post! We have been busy this past month but there hasn't been anything really exciting happening! But, we did make a trip to Accra, Ghana (with an overnight stop at the beach!) for a spiritual retreat. It was great to visit with other missionaries and to be able to be refreshed! We are very thankful to our wonderful friend, who serves in another part of Africa, for coming to be there for Autumn!

We are going to be lonely the next 9 months since our teammates are going stateside....so, you should make a trip over the big ocean to visit us and we will tell others about the hope they can have in Jesus while you are here!

Prayer request:

1. Jula language learning (Jon made his level 1 and I will take my exam in a couple of weeks!)

2. Refreshment (physically, mentally and spiritually)

3. peace in the country

Blessings,

Teresa

Quick update

Nothing new in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. The team returned to the states and we are back to our routine. We are still learning Jula. It is getting a little easier, but Jon has called me his daughter many times!

We had a very good small group meeting yesterday. They brought some people in to lead music and they really had everyone moving! I would tell you that Jon has some rhythm now, but.....I would be lying! ;) He can clap his hands and turn around in a circle. He trys the other stuff but it is just funny!

Our team mates will be leaving us in a month. It is their time for stateside assignment. We will really miss them but will look forward to their return next July! After they return we will have around 3 months and then we will take our stateside.

We are always looking for someone to come to Abidjan to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Find a couple other people to join you and jump on a plane!

Thank you for all the prayers! Keep them up!

Blessings,

Teresa

more pics

can you imagine Jon & Eric talking?? :)
Autumn got a new little friend
part of the team in front of the guesthouse
what's up with the bandana, Eric?
Jon & Eric with some young guys that helped minister one day

Great time with the team....

we always had plenty children following us
one team with their translator, Armael
Chris & Laura Beth and some people they shared with
they was always so excited for their African lunch ;)
the team after lunch with one of our African friends family

The team had some obstacles making it to Abidjan, but after a couple of days in Washington they finally made it! We believe Satan tried all he could to keep God's word being shared, but God is bigger! We saw many exciting things last week and we are going to be meeting with the people that made professions to follow Christ. We had 5 professions and the word of God was sowed to thousands of people through tracts and then telling the Bible stories. Continue to pray for the people of Ancumabo and that God will continue to bring back to them (especially during this time of Ramadan) the word of God that has been shared with them.

This was our first time to host a team from the states, and it was a wonderful experience! Each team member was great and was willing to get out of their "comfort zone" to reach the people of Abidjan. We appreciate each of them and look forward to seeing them again on a trip to Abidjan! :)

Continue to keep us in your prayers for our Jula language learning. I know we say this each time, but we really are having trouble getting motivated to learn this language. Good news, our french has improved and we was able to translate for the team! Yay! :) Autumn even got to do some translating for her team, it was a great experience!

Blessings,

Teresa

Team will arrive in 6 days!!

Excitement is mounting in the Moody household! Our first team from the states will arrive next Friday! We are looking forward to meeting each person and sharing what the Lord is doing in Abidjan. We have a week of hard work for them, but we will have some times of fun also! :)

We have had a good summer. After our trip to the states in April, we returned and started our second language. It is going well, but I can say we are ready for it to be over!! We are ready to be in full-time ministry. We now look at french being easy (or maybe I should say easier!), since we are at the beginning of this other language. Since we will be doing our ministry in french, it is hard to get ourselves motivated to learn the second language. We had a friend come visit us last week. She went to school with us in KC and now lives in another part of Africa. She is like a big sister to Autumn and they had a great time! I had a great time also...I miss the times with my friends! We thank the Lord for this time with old (and new) friends!

Autumn is doing well. She is ready to help out with the team that will be arriving. The week they leave, she will be starting school. She will be a sophmore this year....where has the time gone?? I don't even like to think about college and leaving her in the states while I am in Africa! But I know the Lord is faithful! The guard down the street keeps asking me if he can marry her. Today I told him that he must talk to her grandfather, who lives in the US. He replied back, "Ok, I will swim over and ask him!" I'm taking that as a joke (I hope!). :)

Enoy your weekend! If anyone decides they want to come to Africa...send us a message! :)

Teresa

Happy 4th of July!!

Karis putting the nose on Arthur (notice Jon's drawing abilities:)
Autumn, Karis & Caleb with the American flag sugar cookie they made
enjoying the pool
they gave Benjamin a mohawk
time to eat!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!! Even in Abidjan, we celebrated Independence Day with our team mates (minus Mike, sorry Mike!). We had games for the kids, swimming and some good grilled food!! We bought us one of those pools that is suppose to be easy to put up. The one that you put the water in it and it just comes up!! Believe us...it is not that easy!! You must be sure that your ground is totally level!! I will post pictures soon of the pool process!

We are learning how to entertain ourselves in this huge city that doesn't have much to offer in form of entertainment. If we would have only had time to find some fireworks, then the day would been just like home. Well, minus the rides, cotton candy, and funnel cakes (yum!).

We are still learning Jula, but the last week has been a better week! This language has been a struggle for me but it is starting to come little by little.

Prayer requests:

1. language learning

2. Sunday small group

3. my Jula helper...she is the one who asked if I can help her learn more about the Bible...we have had some discussions and this past week I gave her a Bible. She has never had a Bible before. As Americans that is hard for us to grasp because we have many Bibles sitting around in our house.

4. team coming in 4 short weeks!! :)

Blessings,

Teresa

Soccer fans

There is nothing new in Abidjan. As you can see, our road is still flooded so Autumn decided to go floating! As I said before, I don't know why they think it is necessary to get in that nasty water to take pictures. We are always looking for something to amuse ourselves!

We have became soccer fans the last couple of weeks. The World Cup started mid-June and it is being held in South Africa. Cote d'Ivoire was in the top 32 teams along with USA. They never played each other so we were able to root for both of our teams! Sadly, now both teams are out. So, we have picked the only African team left to support. Go Ghana!!

In less than 6 weeks our first team from the states will be in Abidjan!! We are excited! We have also seen how much work it entails, but it is worth it! The team of 10 will be working in one of the quartiers (neighborhood) called Ancumabo. Pray now for the team and the people that they will come in touch with during their time here. Pray for their travels and health. Pray also for us as we have many things to get done before they arrive. Most importantly, pray for hearts to be open to the good news of Jesus Christ!

Enjoy your Independence Day this upcoming weekend! I'm not sure what we have planned but I need to check to see if the Embassy is sponsoring anything this year.

Blessings,

Teresa

Drowning in Abidjan!!

While you are enjoying the heat of June, we are enjoying the cooler weather that comes along with rainy season! As you can see our road is flooded again. Almost every road was flooded today! We attempted to go to the small group today but we had to cancel because of the rain. As we were driving home, we passed through almost 3 feet deep water. It was a little nerve racking, but at least our car is a diesel so we didn't stall out. This is not water that you would want to get stuck and have to wade in!! When we have to walk in it..we try not think about what is in it! So, I really don't know why my family decided they needed to get in it just to take pictures!!

We are chugging along in Jula. It is coming slowly for me, but Jon is doing well! But I am encouraged because my French is improving. My language teacher is teaching me from French to Jula where Jon is learning from English to Jula. Our main ministry is going to be French...we will be using Jula as door openers.

Autumn has completed her freshmen year and is now officially a sophmore!! Wow, it is going by so fast!! Before I know it she will be leaving for college. I try not to think about that to much or I will be sad all the time! ;)

We are looking forward to our first team that is coming to labor with us in August! Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare. Also, pray for the people of Ancumabo as this will be the area that we will be working in that week.

Jon has already had malaria since we returned from the states. The mosquitos are really bad in the rainy season. Continue to keep us in your prayers for good health!

In Christ,

Teresa

Jula, Jula and more Jula!!

We have now been learning Jula for 4 weeks! I can't say that we have learned a whole lot! We can greet and purchase a few items, but that is the extent of our speaking in Jula for the moment! I wish I could say that this language isn't stressful, but that would not be true. But I do believe it is going to be much more enjoyable than French! It has been wonderful to see the peoples faces when we come out with some Jula words! They are so excited that we are trying to learn their heart language! We are trying to spend our time in Jula but also live our everyday life in French (which we aren't no means fluent in!). We have found that our French has improved some since returning from our time in the states. I think our brains actually got some rest!

This past month has flown by fast and I am still trying to get use to how long it takes to do ANYTHING in Africa! I think we got spoiled to the fast food (fast everything) in the states! But we are back to the real world now! ;) We was talking the other day that we now feel more settled here. We needed that trip home but now feel that we can continue on with the work that needs to be done in Abidjan!

Pray for our friends here and pray for me as I try to start storying to a muslim lady nearby. I am going to practice my Jula on her, but also tell her about the reason that we have hope.

Also, continue to pray for our health. This seems to be an area where Satan likes to attack us. I have been fighting daily headaches for the past week and half. Jon still has that impending thought of when the kidney stones will decide to pass. Praise, Autumn has been feeling great!

Love,

Teresa

Returned to Abidjan

We really enjoyed our time in the states! We got to spend time with family and friends. We spent a lot of time in doctors offices, but hopefully have got all things taken care of. Continue to pray for Jon....he still has 3 kidney stones. They are small now, so hopefully he can pass them before they grow big! We ate all the good food that we was missing, and done a lot of shopping! We packed us some goodies to bring back with us! We are thankful for our family that let us invade their house for the month and are looking forward to the next time. We will probably be coming stateside for a few months the fall of 2011.

We are back in the swing of language learning! We started meeting with our Jula helpers on Tuesday. I think this African language is going to be more enjoyable than the French was. Where we had to be at a level 3 in French; we only have to be at a level 2 in Jula. Not that it will be easy; but less stressful! You can pray for my language helper, Eugenie. She told me that she doesn't know much about the Bible and asked if I could teach her. Wow! Of course I will!

Prayer requests:

1) our health

2) Jula learning :)

3) small group

4) our muslim friends

Rainy season has began, so our road is flooded again! Thats ok because the temps are a little cooler this time of the year!

Blessings,

Teresa

WHAT NOW??

The last few days have been rather......stressful! We started out early Saturday morning with Jon waking up with back pain. No biggie.....I mean he always has back pain. But this time it was different......it didn't go away and just got worst. It was the hardest thing to watch him be in so much pain. I was crying myself because I couldn't do anything to ease the pain! About 10:30 I was calling our team mates to take him to the hospital. Of course, that in itself is a hard decision here.....to go to the doctor or tough it out at home. This time Jon was begging to go see a doctor. Going to the doctor here means staying for hours (or in Jon's cause...a few days); the stress of being sure you understand the doctor and he understands your French; knowing the doctors won't tell you ANYTHING; and wondering why they don't ask you what you are allergic to, medications you are on, etc. But God has always been good to us and brought us through each situation! We now know that Jon has 9 kidney stones. Not fun! He has passed one. Please join us in prayer that he will pass all of them before we load our flight to the states this week!

I spent a lot of the day at the hospital with Jon but came home later in the afternoon to start supper for Autumn and I. About 10 minutes into cooking our supper the gas bottle was empty. Well, that isn't something I have learned how to change yet.....so I got out the electric skillet and cooked the meat on it. So, we had meat and bread, minus the mashed potatoes!

About 9:00 I decided it was time to head to bed for some rest, but I heard this horrible noise outside. I went out to see if I could find where it was coming from and I heard water gushing. I looked over at the pump house and saw water going everywhere! I called our team mates again (thanks Mike!) and he came over and turned the water off. Well, he got a free bath out of it! Water was shooting everywhere because the water line had busted! So, now we are out of water until I can contact the office in the morning to send someone over to fix it.

Life isn't always easy in Africa...but as always, God is still in control! Please pray for Jon and our travels this week. We want our travels to be uneventful...nothing like the chaos of the last couple of days!

Guess I better get off here and try to get some rest.....you never know the electricity might be off in a few minutes! :)

Love,

Teresa

The reason we are here........

As we are getting more comfortable in our surroundings and can understand more, we are beginning to see why we are here. It is really encouraging to be able to go out and carry on a conversation and share the good news of Jesus Christ! We had a friend that we haven't seen in awhile come to our house for a visit last night. The last time we saw him, our french wasn't great and we sometimes had problems understanding all that he was saying. Last night we was able to carry on a hour long conversation with the chance of sharing the gospel. He has always been open to listen to the stories of the Bible, as many missionaries from the past and we have shared with him. But as most muslims here, it is hard for him to see the difference between them and us. They believe in Jesus, but just not as God. That is a big difference! I think last night as he was reading some scriptures that some truth was being revealed. He didn't say anything but you could see a look on his face. Pray that God will reveal the truth to S. and to our many other muslim friends in Abidjan.

We are counting down the weeks until a much needed vacation in the states! As we are only a little over two weeks away, it is sometimes hard to keep focused on what we need to be doing now. We are so excited to be able to celebrate the Resurrection day with our church family in the states! Just being able to understand the entire sermon (no preaching in French, Bro. Kevin ;) will be a great blessing! We are beginning to be able to sing the praise songs a little at church, but I am looking forward to being able to worship in English! Start now praying for our travels. You would think that being missionaries that we wouldn't mind flying, but none of us are very fond of it! Autumn actually likes it better than Jon or I! I am good as long as we can have a smooth flight....no storms are necessary!

Hope you have a wonderful Lord's day!

Blessings,

Teresa

Have I ever told you how hot it is in West Africa??

We are roasting here in Abidjan!! We are in the hottest months and to top it off they are shutting off the electricity alot! They have some repairs to be done and they said it will take 3 -4 months. This past week we had two days without electricity for 9 1/2 hours each and another day for 6 hours. Of course, it could always be worse and we are trying (sometimes it is hard:) to have a good attitude about it! We decided that we chose our vacation at a good time....at least we will miss one month of the hot weather without electricity.

As many of you know, we had to cancel our friends trip to Abidjan this past week. That was a very hard decision for us, but because of all that was going on we thought it would be best. Currently, everything is looking up here and we can get out of the house! I think we all was starting to go stir-crazy in this house! Jon apparently thought it was his job to entertain us.....boy, was I ready to get out! ;)

Now, we are counting down to our visit to the states.....it will be here before long! We are going to be ready to rest our bodies and brains! No one can speak any french to us while we are there! ;) And after we return in May, we should be refreshed and ready to start our second language.

Continue to pray for the relationships that we have here. We still believe that God is going to move in the hearts of the people here.

Teresa

Preparing for visit from friends

It has been a rather unusual weekend in Abidjan. We have been confined to the house....and I am going stir-crazy!! But, we have made the best out of the situation and spent time sitting around as a family remembering all the good times with friends and how faithful the Lord has been to us.

We are looking forward to seeing a friend from home next weekend! Next week will be filled with prayerfully looking over the city and seeking where we could use a team of 10 that will be coming in August. We might even fit in a trip to the beach! We want to thank our home church, Emmanuel, for all the goodies that will be coming! I hear there is alot of Slim Jims, you must think Jon is starving over here! ;)

We are looking forward to vacation in the states in April! We can't wait to see each of you! I have realized that I will need to do some shopping as soon as we arrive. If I walk around in my African clothes, I might get some looks!

Prayer requests:

*Pray for Jon and our friends as they prayfully look over the city.

*Continue to pray for my friend, M. I haven't been able to story the past month because she has been working. I hope to start back this week, even if I have to go at night, so pray for an open heart.

*Pray for peace in the country.

In Christ,

Teresa

Exciting year ahead

Sorry it has been so long since my last blog.....the last few weeks have gone by as a blur. We are staying busy in the community and still have a french tutor two times a week. In May, we will be starting to learn an African language. I can't say that I am overly excited about this, I realize that it is a good opening when you are able to greet them in their heart language but this is starting again at ground zero. But the good news is that the African language that we have picked won't be as hard as french. Pray that our french will continue to get better even while we are learning the second language. French will be the language that we minister in most of the time.

The dry season has returned and with that comes heat and humidity. But I can say that it doesn't seem as bad this year, I think our bodies are adjusting a little. When we come to the states for a visit, we will probably freeze!

We have had an answered prayer this past month....we found a friend (friends) for Autumn. We met another missionary family at a gathering for all missionaries in Abidjan. They have a 18, 14 and 12 year old daughters. The 14 and 12 year olds speak French and English, the 18 year old only speaks French. Autumn can communicate with them well! This will also improve Autumn's french skills! ;) They are just as excited as us....and we plan on getting the girls together every other weekend. Autumn has also began taking tennis lessons. She really enjoys this and it also keeps her busy. She also really likes her online school, Northstar Academy, she has made many friends through it and they chat often online.

The African Cup (soccer) is going on now. Even Jon and Autumn has got into it! As I write they are sitting in front of the tv and yelling at it! ;) We have to root for our country! Go Elephants!

We are very excited for this year......dynamics are changing. In February, our friends from South Africa are coming for a visit and Eric Fuller and his father in law are coming for a visit. You will be seeing us in the states this spring and Eric will be bringing another team back in August. Also, a couple friends from Midwestern are suppose to come this summer. It is going to be great to see friends from home....if any of you can't decide where to vacation this year, come and see us in Abidjan!

Better head to bed....Jon has decided to get healthy on me and we have to get up at 7 to walk! ;)

Love,

Teresa

2010

Jolie liked her present too!


YUM!!

Wow, can you believe it is 2010? Time seems to be going by so fast! We had a great holiday season here in Abidjan. We celebrated Christmas and brought in the New Year with our team mates. We tried to come up with some new family traditions this year for Christmas. As you can see from above, we cooked our own Christmas meal. We had ham, dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, green beans, deviled eggs, and lots of candy! It all tasted wonderful!

I have to admit that I am glad we are back to normal life now. The homesickness seemed worse during the holiday season, but now it is like every other day and we are staying busy.

Here are some prayer requests for the upcoming year:

*that we will continue to improve in our french and that our brains will be ready to tackle an African language in May

*that we will stay healthly

*continue to build and grow relationships

*salvation for our muslim friends

*the small group will grow in the Lord and someone will step up to lead

We would like to thank each and every one of you for praying for us in 2009. Continue to lift us up! We thank the Lord for the many ways that he has blessed us. In the first 3 days of 2010 we can already see the Lord's hand moving in many situations!

Blessings,

Teresa

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

You noticed I said that it is beginning to look (not FEEL) like Christmas! We went out yesterday to finish our Christmas shopping. The mall and stores are all decorated for the holidays. I even noticed the decorations that the city hangs on the light poles. Their decorations might not be what you would use......I even saw a purple Christmas tree the other day! Also, the stores are playing Christmas music (mostly in English). But, it is definitely not feeling anything like Christmas. The temp has been in the high 80s with it feeling like 100 with the humidity. Jon and Autumn went swimming Friday, that just seems crazy for it being a week before Christmas

This week will be really busy for us. Starting yesterday after shopping, Autumn and I spent the entire afternoon making cookies for our small group today. We are having a fellowship for Christmas. Of course, I said that I would bring some cookies like we eat in America and they thought that was the greatest thing. So, I wanted to be sure that I had plenty because there will not be any left! We are having a Christmas party for all the Africans that help us on Wednesday afternoon. So, I need about 200 more cookies for that! We will celebrate Christmas with the McAfees on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day we will have family time and make us a Christmas dinner. It will be the first time that I make dressing! We will see how that works!

Enjoy your family and friends this holiday season! Remember the reason of Christmas is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Continue to lift us up in prayer especially during the holidays, it is much harder this time of the year. We appreciate and love each of you!

Teresa

Thanksgiving with our African friends

our language helpers
my friend with her baby girl
the guys table!!
Jolie tried to help decorate the tree!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! We spent the day with our team mates and some of our African friends. It was a great day of fellowship (all in french!) I don't know if all our friends was greatly impressed with the traditional Thanksgiving food, but they braved it anyway! ;) We feel blessed to have some great friends here! Continue to pray for our muslim friends to come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

The day after Thanksgiving we started some of our new family traditions. We woke up and made us a yummy breakfast with bacon (sent from the good-ole USA!), played Christmas music as we decorated, and drank some apple cider. It was a great day together as a family! We do miss our family and friends more during this time, so we are trying to make it as much like home as possible.

Ministry is still going well here in Abidjan. The small group is doing great. They are going out sharing their faith with the muslims in their community. We have been having women come the last few weeks, so that is an praise! Continue to pray that these men (and women) will grow in their faith and will continue to tell others about what God has done for them.

We had our language evaluation this past Friday and it went really well. I was really nervous, but gave it to the Lord and he answered the prayers of many people. We are at the level that we should be at this time. We will continue in french for about 3 more months and then will begin an African language.

Enjoy your holiday season, and remember the reason for the season: Jesus!

Love,

Teresa

So many things to be thankful for....

Wow, it is already almost Thanksgiving! This year has flown by! We are gearing up in Abidjan for the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Well, that is if we can find a turkey! Everyone has been leaving us here in Abidjan....so it will only be us and the McAfees for the holidays.

Nothing new with us.....except the usual french. We should be having an evaluation soon, so please keep that in your prayers.

We have so many things to be thankful for this holiday season........our family, our health, great friends, and the language that we have learned! God has greatly blessed us! Thank you to all of you who continue to lift us up in prayer, we wouldn't be here without you. Also, don't forget the Lottie Moon Christmas offering because this is what helps to keep all the missionaries on the field. All giving is greatly appreciated!

I know this is short, but I just wanted to let you know that we are doing well. Enjoy your turkey dinner and fellowship!

Teresa

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