Birthdays, Cars and Visitors

WE GOT A CAR!!!

For the past few months we have been praying and researching the possibility of getting a car.  It is a very difficult decision here as cars are VERY EXPENSIVE and also a huge gamble as to their reliability.  As Joel has been traveling out to visit our village works, we have realized that this is a ministry that we would like to be involved in.  We want to be able to visit those remote locations and be an encouragement to those are who are working there.  However that raises so many more questions…4 wheel Drive?  Truck?  SUV?  New?  Used?  Imported?  Bought here?  and the list could go on.  The more we looked into it the more questions that were raised and the fewer answers we had.  Well then God brought us a little car and almost dropped it in our lap.  As we looked at this car, we realized that for the time being this would meet our needs and would give us time to look into all those questions we have.  It was not what we were looking for, but now that we have it we see a lot of the advantages to it at this moment.  This car will give us an opportunity to learn about having a vehicle in Africa with a little bit less of an investment.  Having a car here is nothing like having a car in the states so we have a lot to learn.

Not having a car for over a year, we now appreciate this car SO MUCH.  We are thankful that we learned the ropes of getting around without a car, but it is so nice to have one.  We can now travel out to the villages around us and not have to wait hours for the taxi to fill up, we can travel to Dakar when we want to and we aren’t having to pay a taxi to take the boys to and from school everyday.  We know that we are not done with the stress of finding a car, but for the moment we have a little bit of a reprieve.  We also trust that God will provide what we need for our ministry when we need it, just as he did with this car!

A VISITOR

 Monday we headed to Dakar (in our car) and picked up Joel’s youngest sister, Michelle, from the airport.  She is going to spend the next month with us and we are so excited to share our life with her.  The boys have been loving having a visitor and have been eating up every moment they can spend with her.  It is so great to have family here with us.  What a blessing!

Celebrating Joel

We also celebrated Joel’s Birthday this week.  I am so blessed to have an amazing husband who loves the Lord!  God has clearly gifted him for ministry here and it has been so exciting to see how God is using him in the lives of so many people here.  This past year he has grown so much and I am excited for all this next year will hold!