Hello from the Southern Hemisphere where it's winter and so cold!
We have had a busy couple of months and are settling into a rhythm of life here. Below are some highlights from June and July:
Ministry Highlights
Reconnecting with Denver & Nimo
Denver and Nimo were two South Africans in which we heavily invested in our first years in SA, and we recently got to reconnect with them.
Nimo participated in our two-year Residency program in 2015-2016. She and Denver, another EM Residency graduate, have launched an East Mountain initiative in Port Elizabeth, a city 8 hours away. They are working with 5 different churches, focused on leadership training and resiliency skills for at-risk youth ages 15-25.
Nimo & Denver returned to the Cape Town community to receive training and to do some strategic planning for the Port Elizabeth initiative. It was inspiring to hear all the ways the Lord is working through Nimo and Denver. We felt like immensely proud and thankful parents, as we saw the ways the vision and mission of East Mountain has sunk deep into the way they do discipleship, interface with partner pastors, and live in community with others. What joy and blessing to see the fruits of our labor!
Strategic Planning For Southern Africa
Jack and the leadership team spent a week with consultant Dale Phillips (who is a man of God with deep roots and is very skilled at facilitating teams). They spent lots of time in prayer together, made short and long-term goals for EM, discussed roles within the team, reflected back on how God has moved through EM in the past and where he is calling us to invest in the days to come. We are excited to see the fruit this team-building and planning will yield in the months to come.
Family Highlights
We are finally starting to feel settled in our house!
This is a HUGE blessing and answer to prayer. We prayed for a place that would feel like home. We asked for financial support to help make this happen.
We envisioned a place where ministry would holistically flow out of our lives, where we could invite people into our everyday. We pictured a place of rest and refreshment. We cannot believe we have already seen these prayers answered(less than six weeks after our arrival!) as we host people multiple nights a week for meals and for overnight stays.
It fills us with joy and awe to see the way the Lord is using the funds faithfully given and answering the prayers earnestly prayed to accomplish what we hoped for.
The kids are both doing well!
Theo wants to crawl, but it’s just too hard when your head is that big. Micah’s social skills are growing every day, and she’s intently listening to every conversation, asking lots of questions and starting to pick up on things like tone, mood, and subtleties of language. It’s fascinating and intimidating!
She just started a “playschool” (like a mother’s day out program) 3 mornings a week. She LOVES “school days,” and I am so thankful to have some time freed up to do more ministry and to get some “headspace.”
Please pray Theo will sleep well “on the go” and continue be a flexible little guy, so that he will nap while I have EM meetings.
Micah exploring a local farm with our dear friends, the Halberts. She and Emma Kate (the blondie on the right) were both born in South Africa just three weeks apart!