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