JOY OF THE LORD!!

A BLESSING TO BE WITH ELIZABETH.  SHE'S A TREAT!!

AND MET THROUGH BLOGGING THREE YEARS AGO.

HAVE BEEN WITH HER THREE TIMES WHEN I'VE

BEEN OUT IN THE NORTHWEST AREA. AND

HER "GOD-JOB" IS THE PASTORAL STRETCH

WITH HER HUSBAND AND FAMILY AND

MISSIONARY ISSUES IN AFRICA.

ELIZABETH PICKED ME UP AT THE TRAIN IN PORTLAND

WHEN I HAD LEFT TACOMA, WA,

AND, AFTER GOING AROUND ABOUT THE 

COLUMBIA RIVER AREA AND PARKS,

SHE TOOK ME TO KATY'S HOUSE.

KATY AND I HAD NOT OFFICIALLY MET UNTIL THEN.

WE HAD EMAILED AND FB'D, BUT NOT MET.

WE BOTH LOVED BEING 

MISSIONARIES AND GOD-SERVERS,

SO IT WAS A REAL TREAT TO MEET.

IT ALSO WAS A BLESSING

WHEN I SPENT A COUPLE HOURS

WITH KATY INVOLVED WITH A SERIOUS

MINISTRY ISSUE IN PORTLAND FOR ISRAEL.  

SO THIS IS MY PICTURE WITH HER

TAKEN WHEN AT AN OLD-PEOPLE'S 

APARTMENT COMPLEX..

CONSEQUENTLY, THE BIBLE'S WORD IS TRUTHFUL!!

JOYFULNESS IS STRONG!!!  

HAVE HAD IT MANY TIMES, AND HAD IT THEN

BIG TIME!!

SPIRITUAL MAPPING/HISTORYING

This was a ministry that was dropped into my life about 15 years ago, and accepted by some and thoroughly disliked by some others.  All I can truly say is that the Lord laid it on me.  Spiritual mapping is studying the history of areas where other gods were worshiped, were sacrificed to, and even recently people continued to carry it on.  I have hundreds of files in my file cabinets.  Both locally, nationally, and internationally.  I have to trust Him for the consequences.  The wonderful consequences are becoming a teacher and sharer AND meeting some pastors and spiritual friends who have remained in my life.

When I drove up to northern Minnesota on September 8th to visit my dear friend/"sister", Susan Jones, I rested at her house for about 3 days, because I was exhausted after helping to the delivery of one of my Bhutanese babies.  Had not had enough sleep for 4 days, and then hit the road.  

On  Saturday the13th, I drove north to Baudette, MN, right on the

Canada border to see some very dear friends/pastors, Dave and Mary ("Ducky") Gens.  Dave is a wonderful guitarist and singer and music writer and sharing it around and about.  For a stretch of time a few years ago, he rode his bike, keeping his guitar and his clothes, and his sleeping bag.  He rode hundreds of miles around and about, in Minnesota, and sharing the Lord through his words and his music, sometimes just being in a park by the roads.  I met him nearly 10 years ago, and he was still doing that and he'll be 65 in December.

And, while he was gone, his wife was the speaker and teacher and

minister.  They've both done helping with and for each other and the people in their town.  I've been very impressed when there and was able to explain some of the spiritual issues and MY Dave came up and they so enjoyed him that a few years ago they asked us to move up there and they'd get us involved both in churches and helping through apartments in that area.  We wanted to be there and a number of other places in northern MN, but the Lord kept us here in Omaha, and we can do much in either place, while serving the Lord.  That's what counts.

After with them for a few hours, I drove back down to Susan's, and that was about 130 miles.  The next day, I drove to another town, Crookston, about 60 miles north from Susan's area, and one of my dear friends, Stacey,  was for me to be with her.  What a treat she was.  She drove us around and about, looking at the significant spiritual challenges, both locally and historically, many we'd talked about before and looked at a few years ago.  She also reminded me that Dave and I had given quite a number of computers to people from other nations in the '06 stretch of time.  And, when I asked about a Sudanese fellow who I met when he was on a bike and cold much of the time during that stretch of Fall, I remembered visiting with him in a fast food place with her back then.  Well, she said the blessing I was then was that I bought him bus tickets for a stretch of time and he could adjust and arrange from his new job.  Wow!  I didn't remember that.

I had connected with her in '05, and went up to teach her about spiritual mapping through the ministry/company I was involved with.  Well, when teaching, other pastors in the local area were where I pulled in.  It was a pizza place and the 10-ish of us ate and I shared.  One of the pastors, Craig and Sonja, who had been living in a town about 40 miles south, became my friends, too.  They had been in YWAM for several years, heard of this ministry there-- a special time in Jamaica, for instance-- and were very positive about this.  They encouraged Stacey to be with me then.  When I see her, we rejoice together.  She's only a little older than my daughter, so I consider her a daughter, not just a friend. 

When leaving her place, I drove south to see Craig and Sonja, and

reached there just about dinner time and shared with them too long about what I was going through.  So enjoyed that time.  They put up with my yammering and prayed over me as I was heading out.  It was about 9:15 and dark and I needed to drive back north a bit to stay on main roads instead of being on the side roads through the farms and smaller towns from their place to Susan's, because deer and skunks and lots of other danger could be on the roads  So I drove miles further, to stay on the main highways; it was so much safer.

When I reached Susan's it was about 10:30.  I was a tired cookie.  And it took a couple days to restore. It was a huge blessing of being with these people who always thought of me as a good teaching, a good preaching, a good sharing person.  Can't not rejoice.

The main wonderfulness of this trip to northern Minnesota, gone for 11 days, was to see MANY dear friends, again.  Not just these, but a significant number of others.  Love so many!!  And am loved by many.  What a blessing.

 

WHY NOT MULTNOMAH FALLS??

It was a "God" thing.  Ya see, my sister, Niki, and I were leaving her place about 60 miles west of Portland, OR, and taking I-5 towards Vancouver/Portland.  It was a sunny, warm day... much different than the previous ones ... and we were having a nice drive.

We were going to Goldendale, WA, to see Berta.  

I could drive on either side of the Columbia River.  Bridges were in several places and easy to cross.  However, for some reason, we stayed on the Washington side.  I saw Multnomah Falls, and other falls, across the river, but still felt that staying in Washington was what should be done.  The scenery was lovely and the driving --- curving and climbing -- was fun.

 
Around 2:00, Niki said it was time for lunch.  [Doncha think she was right?]  We were in the small town, Stevenson, and I didn't know where to stop.  She suddenly, glancing down side streets, pointed to the right and said, "There."  I parked and a small antique and cafe shop was by us.  When we entered, we were the only ones to be served.  Had a nice menu and nice food.

While eating, I glanced around and noticed that on both sides of the front door scriptures were artistically in place.

SO, I asked the lady who we thought was the owner... also the cooker ... why the verses were before our eyes.

We talked for a short time, and she, Robbie, casually mentioned having been with an organization called YWAM.  Niki and I started rejoicing at her.  We've both had so many friends and contacts involved in Youth With A Mission.  She shared the locations she had been when younger and told us a number of stories.


Now she was a Mom with 4 kids and owned this store as an opportunity to take care of them and provide whatever was needed.

Before we left, after talking for more than half an hour [if for no other reason than I was there yammering with and for her] we prayed together, and Niki and I prayed especially that her business would expand sufficiently for her needs.

This whole experience fit into my spiritual motto:  Right place, right time.

We know we were used to encourage her.

We loved it.

We continued east from there, through more small towns along the river, and reached Goldendale a bit later than our original plan.  Why?  We were used by God along the way.

The next day we drove over to the Oregon side of the Columbia.  And it was raining, foggy, and not reasonable re: our timing to reach her house, since we left Berta's later than planned.
  

SO, for nearly the first in years, I did not stop at my favorite falls to listen, watch, walk and rejoice ... and grab a small rock or two.  The hard-hearted portion was because I knew this would probably be my final long drive out to the Northwest.

But Niki's instinct in her spirit, that this was the shop to be in, was so truthful, so right, so blessed.

AND Robbie was worth it.


  
   

JOE AND CHINA CUP

I was cleaning my curio cabinets today, and decided to share this bit.  Now, the cup was Made in China.  Do we become annoyed with this so often?  Yep, we sure do, and we should be.  [At least that's my opinion, for what it's worth.]

This, however, is different.

Joe led the praise singing at our wedding, 27 years ago on this coming Friday, September 21st.

Later, he was heavily involved in a local Bible school. At one point, he brought a Ugandan pastor to our house for a pizza dinner.  Joe intended to go to Uganda.  Dave and I intended to go to China through an international computer company he worked for in those days.  [I had studied Chinese missions for about 25 years by then and had a real heart to go over there and serve God however it could be worked out.  Dave, obviously, was more than willing, too.]

Well, life went opposite.  In 1991, we ended up in Uganda to make our first short-term checking-things-out-stretch.  The main reason: Because the Ugandan pastor, when visiting in '89, was used by the Lord to plant that into our hearts.  About the same time, after Joe had joined YWAM, thinking Uganda was his direction, he ended up in Hong Kong.  He and another worker created YWAM - FEET.  [Far East Evangelism Teams.]  

Even though Joe comes to town once every couple years or so, because of various schedule issues on our plates we rarely see each other. We miss him a lot.  If nothing else, we have much of the same spiritual warfare on our hearts.

After he had been there for about three years, he came home with gifts for his friends and family.  He came to our house and gave us this cup. 

We have had it ever since.  I used it for tea for a while, but then I set it aside, because I don't want to crack or break it.  

It was Made in China, and brought personally from Hong Kong...

And it always makes me smile.  Because of Joe.

PELICANS? IN UGANDA??

OK.  Here's the story.  Never told it before, not even mentioned it to my husband, which I did just as I was beginning this post.

Soroti, Uganda, is not near huge Lake Victoria.  Duh!  That's well known by anyone who is geographically oriented.  It's not near the Indian Ocean. ["Duh" continues.]  It IS near a lake-ish portion of Uganda, but not a consistent area -- I was told that the lakes sometimes had water reduced significantly at certain times of the year when the heat is much higher and the rain has backed off.  So, I never anticipated seeing a pelican in that part of Uganda, period.

When I was in Soroti to help some of those who were struggling after Joseph Kony's LRA rebels had invaded areas near the town, I never saw the lakes.  I knew they were nearby, but the pastors and other "protectors" wouldn't take me on any side rides, because they didn't know if we would be attacked.

I still was always surprised when I saw pelicans floating over the town, hanging out in trees.

About the time I was getting ready to leave Soroti,  I was invited to go out eating with a couple from UK.  Allan and Anne were YWAM leaders in Uganda and had been living at the Soroti YWAM compound for many years.  I had been staying there for some weeks.  They weren't young, probably in their 60s, but were very helpful and supportive of both public and missions-oriented Ugandans and for international missions folks who showed up, which would have been me at that moment.

They had bikes to ride to the eating area, and gave me one.  We made it to a main street on our edge of town, riding on a bumpy path across a big field.  Within a few minutes we reached the Taj Mahal cafe.  [YEP!  That was the name of this very non-fancy extremely casual place.]  We had a good time, eating cheap Ugandan food -- potatoes and fish and vegs -- and yammering and talking and sharing so many things we'd had in our hearts together while helping however we could in Soroti.  [They were leaving Uganda for UK soon and retiring from their ministry.  Wonderful couple!]

Then, just as it was turning dark outside, we left.  We grabbed our bikes and went across the street.  We started heading back to YWAM, and I was last in line, moving slowly.  That's when it was discovered that Anne's bike's rear tire was flat.  The two of us stopped.  Allan was a bit ahead of us.

Then a less-than-wonderful event occurred.  While we knelt next to her bike, suddenly white, sticky stuff began landing on our heads and clothes and legs.  She wore a hat; I didn't.

Immediately, we realized we had stopped under a long lane of scruffy trees.  And what spent long stretches of time up there were dozens... if not hundreds ... of pelicans.  Believe me, the result was awful.

Allan and Anne moved her bike out of that area to work on it.  The Ugandans across the street in front of the eating and hanging-out shops were pointing at us and laughing.  Always thought it was funny when Muzungus [white folks] had done something so dumb.

I rode back to the compound, not able to see clearly, because of the dark, and not having anyone I could follow, since A. and A. weren't leading me. I tried to keep my nose higher and higher so I couldn't smell myself.

When I reached my room, I tore off my clothes.  I went to a wash room and scrubbed myself the best I could, but it sure wasn't anything I could have done here.  In Omaha, at my house, I would have lived in a hot shower for hours!!!  And spread "Moonlight Path" all over my body, layers deep.

But now, remembering this event I LAUGH! ... Because the Ugandans laughed.  We made people happy during a disastrous stretch of time.  It was worth it.

It wasn't bullets or grenades hitting us in a war zone.  It was only bird poop -- so could have been much worse. 

================

The Godly part:  we were missionaries and doing good jobs, but other bits of reality sometimes blended into our lives, bringing seriosity --- and humor. 
 ===============
The photos were taken by freebe sections online, so, even though not mine, they are not stolen.  [Even if I'd had a camera in my hand when this event took place, I can't imagine that I would have risked taking pictures and getting dirtier.  That would definitely be a "not me" activity.]