Awesome Weekend

DINNER AND A MOVIE:

It was a busy, but wonderful weekend, kicked off by dinner and a movie with the English Club. After some time of worship, Scott shared a story from the Bible, followed by dinner. Now to say that they enjoyed the Sloppy Joes and potato salad would be a bit of an understatement. At first they were all to shy to dish up their plates, and then. . .well. . .I kid you not, within thirty seconds, I turned around and the salad was gone along with most of the sandwiches!

The movie we showed was Facing the Giants, and according to their response to Scott on the way home, they didn't like the movie, they LOVED it! I'd say the evening was a hit. What is even more wonderful, though, are the testimonies of lives being changed. Parents have told us that they are noticing that their kids are different and more respectful. There is thought going into their spiritual commitment, along with a lot of deep questions being asked.


A single mother who attends David's house church was also at our house and gave her testimony of how the movie changed her life by giving her courage to stand up for her faith in a difficult situation that came up the next day.

WORSHIP IN THE VILLAGE:



On Sunday, we left in the morning for Elizabeth's village (we call Elizabeth our Lydia from the book of Acts) where Scott has be teaching twice a week. We sat beneath a shady tree on reed mats singing praises and listening to the story of Cornelius. After teaching for several weeks on conversion and commitment, quite a number decided yesterday that they want to be baptized. Because there is no water anywhere near, and the group is large, we will return on Wednesday in two vehicles to drive them to the river for the baptisms.

Please pray for these beautiful people!

New Cover: Colorado Crimes!

I'm excited to share my newest cover from Barbour, Colorado Crimes! If you missed any of my Pricilla Crumb mysteries, here is the three-in-one collection with all of her adventures! Release date is January 2010, but you can pre-order early here. It will be available in bookstores, Walmart, and on-line.

Here's a blurb from the back cover: Colorado chef Pricilla Crumb cooks up trouble with a spoonful of romance! When her guests become suspects for murder, she abandons her kitchen---hot on the true culprit's trail. An unconventional busybody, Pricilla follows one lead after another, stirring laughter and suspense into this collection of three mysteries. But will she find the wrongdoers? 480 pages, softcover from Barbour.

Blessings,

Lisa

Prayer update, a free book, and scuba diving

I have several bits of news to share, so I've decided to post them all together.

PRAYER UPDATE: First I wanted to give an update on Scott's uncle and our co-worker as several of you have asked me to let you know. This is the latest from Jim, their son-in-law. We covet your ongoing prayers for them!

"Allen will be having an MRI done tomorrow (Thursday) at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He will meet with the Neurosurgeon on Friday morning. Surgery we would anticipate would be next week. For those of you who didn't know, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor last week. Prognosis at this point is unclear and range of outcomes is very wide."

FREE BOOK: On a different note, I know you all love free books, so here's another chance for Love Finds You in Revenge, Ohio. My dear friend, Beth, has just posted an interview with me on her blog along with a chance to win a copy. Be sure and stop by here and leave a comment for your chance to win. This book has been getting great reviews online, and I appreciate so much those of you who have taken the time to post your reviews, or to let me know personally how much you enjoyed the book!

Other great news on Love Finds You in Revenge, Ohio is that Walmart will be promoting this title, along with four others in the Love Finds You series this fall, beginning in September, in pretty much every one of their stores! If you see my book in one of their stores, I'd love for you to drop me a line and let me know!

And for those of you who love free giveaways, starting next month, I'm going to start running a monthly prize contest with books, cool magnetic bookmarks, jewelry, and other fun stuff from the heart of Africa, including my yearly Taste of Africa gift basket, as I gear up for the international (Yes, international!) launch of my upcoming Mission Hope series! More details to come!

SCUBA DIVING: Lastly, Gabe starts scuba lessons today! He thinks this is a pretty cool PE class and so do I. We also decided that this would be a great father/son activity for them and Gabe, who is quite a fish in the water, is so excited. Last night he watched the introduction video with Scott and later today, they head for the beach to meet with the instructor. Scott will just be taken a refresher course as he received his certification in South Africa several years ago. He's excited because while he's been trained to scuba, he's never dived outside the murky lake where he was trained. Hopefully we can remedy that soon. Mozambique is a great, inexpensive place to scuba for anyone interested!





Enjoy the photos of flowers from our yard. I sure am! :-)

Lisa

Game park miracle

For those of you who read my blog, you probably know how much I love going to the game park. For me, it's a time to unwind and enjoy the wonders of God's incredible creation. So last month, after the English camp, we headed toward South Africa with the Sugar Creek mission team so they could catch their flight back to the states. On the way, we'd arranged for them to spend one day at Kruger Game Park.

One of the teens, though, had been sick for most of the trip, and we felt that it was important for her to see a doctor who could to recognize any exotic parasite she might have picked up. And while I had really been looking forward to Kruger, I agreed take her while the rest of the group headed out to the park.

At the doctor, they were able to take a blood test and verify that she didn't have anything serious. And thankfully, by this time, Jenna was also feeling a lot better. On our way back from the doctor, she asked me if there was a possibilty that we could go to the park for the afternoon. I told her that I could take her, but that we would be going at the worst time for sightings. Typically, the best time is early morning, or in the evening, not in the heat of the afternoon.

While we headed to the park, I was hoping that we'd see something for her to photograph, but with only a couple hours of viewing time ahead of us, I wasn't very optimistic.

After an hour in the park, we'd seen a couple zebra, some birds, and a squirrel. Time was running out, and so I decided to start praying. By this time, I would have been happy with a couple giraffe and a warthog--anything. But instead we just kept driving. . .and seeing nothing. Finally, back on the main road, we came across a herd of elephant and sat to watch them off the side of the road. Jenna snapped photos, and I let out a sigh of relief--and kept praying.

A few minutes later, the road was teaming with impala, kudo, and giraffe, and there were buffalo across the river bed. Jenna was smiling and I was sending up prayers of thanks.


Then I saw something stirred in the bushes. Another impala, no doubt. But then my breath caught.

A leopard.


Now, I've never seen a leopard in the park, so with both of us trying not to scream with excitement, Jenna started snapping photos while I spun the car around to follow it. It slipped into the bush, then turned to cross the road in front of us. I spun the car around again, and with my heart pounding, we followed it back the other direction. We continued following it for a few more minutes until it finally disappeared into the bush.

Now, I probably shouldn't mention that we actually thought it was a cheetah at first--until we calmed down and looked at the photos--but by now, even though it was time to head home, we were both thrilled. We'd seen three of the big five. Elephant, buffalo, AND leopard!

It always amazes me at how God cares about the small things. With only a couple hours in the park, we headed toward the gate, thrilled with what we'd seen. But God had even more planned. Not only did we see a rhino on the way out, but a pride of lions devouring a kill.



Which meant that we'd seen the big five!

Be blessed today! God's able to do more than you can ever ask for or imagine!

Lisa

Top ten things. . .

. . .I love about my new house.

1. A kitchen with proper drawers instead of cement holes
2. A yard with grass and a swing
3. A balcony with a view of the bay
4. An office for Scott
5. The boy's cool wall mural.
6. Wood floors and tile I love
7. No rooster crowing under my window.
8. High ceilings
9. Nicely tiled bathrooms (with no holes in the walls)
10. Rose bushes and birds in the yard

Scott's office which is connected to a single garage.

View of the back yard

Mariah's bedroom

Dining room (and school room)

Living room (connected to the dinning room)

Mural in the boy's room (they're sharing now)

Kitchen

Kid's bathroom

View of the bay from the roof

Serious Prayer Request

We talked to Allen this afternoon, Scott's uncle and our co-worker for the past six years here in Africa. Allen has been experiencing a small amount of dizziness and some short term memory loss the last few months. He thought it was the stress of ministry, but he went to the doctor. They have diagnosed him with a Glioma type tumor in the interior of his brain. Consequently, they have cancelled all of their upcoming plans to Zambia and Zimbabwe, secured a flight, and will be in Houston on Wednesday to get the best care available. He was in good spirits, but said it was such a shock.

This is not the Monday morning news that any of us wanted, but we do serve an awesome God. Please pray for this godly couple who have spent forty years serving God in Africa.

Blessings,

Lisa

Lost and found

I feel a bit as though I've been lost. Not having internet means not able to communicate with the rest of the world, something I tend to take for granted. Our internet provider was quick to disconnect at our old house, but didn't see reconnecting at our new house a priority. But I'm back on line again and will now start the process of catching up with everyone. I do love technology!

And one thing I love about our new place is that we actually have a yard with trees and flowers! We recently spotted several Lilac Breasted Rollers in our yard and I'm hoping that our yard becomes a favorite stopping place for many birds.

As soon as we organize a bit more, I'll post some photos of our house. While I'm not enjoying all the unpacking, in the end, we know we are really going to enjoy our new place.

In the meantime, be sure and stop by my friend Debbie's great blog, for a chance to win Love FInds You in Revenge, Ohio. Drawing will be on Saturday!

Blessings,

Lisa

On the move. . .

I thought I'd send a quick update on our move. While technically, we're only moving about a mile and a half away, there still is, of course, a lot to do. We're about halfway through, and are looking forward to sleeping in our new house tonight.

Along with the move, Scott has stayed busy with ministry and had a study with fifteen of the students from the English camp. They are all very excited and wanting to meet twice a week, so we are thrilled with how God is moving and changing lives.

Just like Scott, I've had other commitments beside the move like school and writing. I just emailed off a detailed synopsis to my editor at Zondervan for book two, and I'm excited to see what she thinks. This book is the second in my Mission Hope suspense series set in Africa that will come out the beginning of 2011.

I've heard from a lot of people who have seen both Cranberry Hearts and Love Finds You in Revenge, Ohio in Walmart, Sams, and bookstores. This is exciting for me, since there are no bookstores anywhere near us for me to check them out. If you see a copy, I'd love to hear from you and where you saw it!

This photo is one I took recently in Kruger of a female lion who walked right alongside our car for several minutes. Two of her cubs were shy and hung back in the bush.

Blessings!

Lisa

It's been a hectic, but good winter for us as we just said good-bye to the second mission team to bless us and the work here. I will share more about the English camp in another post, but God truly did some amazing things. And while I wasn't able to participate with all the activities in the last group, I was blessed and encouraged with times of prayer with the women, and new friendships that were started. What an amazing gift! Thanks to each one of the team members who came and shared their hearts and lives with us!

We are now back home, and planning to move into our new house this week.(Yeah!) We are so excited, but are thankful that we have a couple of weeks as there is plenty of other work that has to get done at the same time--school, writing, and discipleship followup to name a few. I'll post photos of our new home once we are settled in.

This photo is one Scott took on Monday with the group. The cheetah walked right by his car! God also provided a special miracle for me and one of the girls on the team that day, so stay tuned for more posts and photos in the next few days once my body is less tired and my brain less blurry!

Blessings!

Lisa

A new look!

Yesterday, I went with my kids to spend the day at the English camp. As you can imagine, my kids loved being a part of the singing, drama, volleyball, and even the service project. As a team of about forty-five, we headed into town to clean up the city. With the okay from some of the government leaders, we spent a couple hours picking up the trash along many of the streets. I guess I'm feeling my age, because my back is sore today, but we had a great time hanging out with everyone. Below are some of the photos from the trip.

We'll be leaving to take the team back to South Africa and to spend some time with our co-workers, Scott's aunt and uncle that we haven't seen for a number of months. We are looking forward to a couple days of downtime and fellowship after our very hectic summer.

Blessings!

Lisa

Video from Sunday

Enjoy!

Lisa

English Camp!

PHOTO: Sunday worship at David's house church

It's been a busy weekend for us, as the team from Houston arrived Friday night after a long drive from the capital. After a good night sleep with the sound of the Indian Ocean in the background, we spend Saturday getting to know the team, resting, surfing, and planning for the English camp. There were a few hiccups, like the rented van getting stuck in the sand, a dead battery, and a lost pair of car keys that miraculously appeared the moment we started praying as a group.


PHOTO: Ricardo leading worship

We left the beach early Sunday morning and spent the day in worship at two places. The first was at David's house church. Ricardo (one of our future teammates) led worship and the team did a short drama on Abraham and Isaac that was well received.


PHOTO: Drama on Abraham and Isaac.

In the afternoon, we went to a village where Scott has been teaching in for the past six weeks ago. They were joined by another group we've been working with in the area as well. In the village, Elizabeth (our original contact who first invited Scott and David to come) and her family have faithfully coming every Wednesday to hear about God's word. Yesterday about fifty came for the worship and drama. This was my first time to the village, and I loved sitting with the women, holding the babies, and getting to know them. One lady asked me when I was coming back, and I was so happy to be able to tell her that I would be back soon. I can't wait to get to know them better.


PHOTO: Time in Elizabeth's village

After our time in Elizabeth's village, the team stopped at a local restaurant to eat before settling in at the camp. It took about two hours for them to get their food and Scott even had to end up taking his in a take away box because it wasn't ready until everyone else had eaten! I drove home last night (I'll be staying at home with the kids this week) while the team continued working out details for the trip then went to bed at the camp where they will be staying this week.

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PHOTO: Elizabeth's village

This morning, the group of students from Mozambique that will be at the camp met at the boat docks to cross the bay. I have to admit that I was pretty emotional as I watched them board the boat. I'm so excited to see what God has planned in the lives of both the team from the States and the group from here. Many hours have been put into the planning and I know that everyone is going to enjoy their time together. Please pray for all those involved in this English Camp.

~~~~~
On a side note, thanks to all of you for your congrats on our new house. We are so looking forward to making the move in the next couple weeks. I'll post more photos then! We've been studying the story of Abraham and Isaac the past couple weeks in our home churches, and I was struck again by God's provision to Abraham with the ram He provided for the sacrifice. This drama was acted out this week by the Sugarcreek Team (see the photo above) and every one loved it!

Also, Angel asked where you can find my books. Most of my books can be ordered on Amazon or Christianbook.com. I found out that Love Finds You in Revenge, Ohio doesn't officially release until August 1, but it was printed early for a Sam's Club special promotion and will be available in Walmart stores soon. Cranberry Hearts is also available now in many Walmarts, your local Christian bookstore, and has been seen in Target as well. And if for some reason you can't find what you are looking for, please contact me directly as I have copies I can sell as well.

Blessings!

Lisa

We're moving!

Now, normally, such a statement would make me want to run and hide, but this move won't be to another country. Just down the road a couple miles. While we've enjoyed our last year in the house we're currently in, including the friends my kids have made, there have been a few drawbacks that we won't miss leaving behind.

The house above us, for instance, was supposed to be finished about a year ago, but the construction, it seems, is never ending. This also means little privacy and lots of noise with all the workers in out at all hours of the day (even peaking through our windows if we're watching a video. ) Add to that a smelly chicken coup right behind us and very little yard and, well, we've been ready to move for quite sometime.

The problem, though, is that it isn't easy to find housing here. We started spreading the word that we are looking for housing for our teammates later this year, and in the process hoped we might find something for ourselves as well. I spoke to a friend last weekend to let her know that we were looking. The next day, a lady stopped by looking for someone to rent her house. We looked, just to see. . .And loved it.

The new house
After that, the details, just seemed to fall into place. It's a bit smaller and doesn't have any closets, but other than that it's perfect for us. Scott will finally have an office outside in the garage, and we have a large yard. The other fun thing is that the roof has been made into a balcony that overlooks the bay. The view is stunning, and I'm so looking forward to being able to step outside my house and not step into a construction site. Many of our electrical issues should also be fixed as the house is grounded (no more getting shocked) and the power should be steadier.

Another exciting thing is that the house comes partially furnished with things like a fridge, washing machine, microwave, beds, and dressers. Now while we don't need the furniture, our new teammates do. And the owner, who lives overseas, is happy with them using whatever they need!

God is so good!

Blessings,

Lisa

Summer Book Suggestions!

Thanks for all the great book suggestions many of you left last week in the comment section. I've compiled them in case you are looking for a recommended summer read. I'm always looking for new authors (and more from my favorite authors, of course) so here is a great list sent in by all of you! The last one is what I just finished and really enjoyed.

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn
Summertime J. M. Coetzee
A Gift of Grace by Amy Clipston
A Time To Surrender by Sally John and Gary Smalley
Adam by Ted Dekker
The Passion trilogy by Julie Lessman
Ransome’s Honor by Kaye Dacus
Never the Bride by Rene Gutteridge and Cheryl McKay
The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn by Liz Johnson
Sunset Beach by Trish Perry
The Stand-In Groom by Kaye Dacus
The Returning by Ann Tatlock
Faking Grace by Tamara Leigh
Austenland by Shannon Hale
The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meisner

Enjoy!

Lisa

Book Winners!

One of the Big 5!

Congratulations to Mez, Donna, Amy, Marjorie, and Karen who all won copies of Cranberry Hearts! I'll be contacting you shortly for your snail mail addresses.

If you missed your chance to win a copy of Love Finds You in Revenge, Ohio last month, visit Edwina Cowgill's blog here for another chance to win a copy! You can also read her review of the book.

And thanks for all the great summer reading suggestions many of you offered! I'll be compiling a list of your suggestions to post later this week.

Blessings!

Lisa

Winter outreaches

We're beginning the next phase of our "winter" outreach schedule with some of the team arriving this weekend from Texas and Brazil. The rest will arrive next Friday. Scott's been busy getting students for our English camp that will start on the 20th. We're excited to see how God will use this to reach out to more people in our community.

This time will be filled with dramas, games, music, and fellowship. Ricardo, one of our future teammates moving here in January, will be leading worship at the camp, and we're so excited for him to be able to join us. Tonight, Scott will be going back to the village where the water well is being dug to show the Jesus film again, then he, along with several of the Christians will do follow up tomorrow.

Please pray for the people involved in these outreaches, both those here in Mozambique and the Americans arriving from Texas.

In the meantime, I'm busy with mid-terms for the kids. This year (4th grade) is the first year of testing for Mariah, so this is a new experience for her. I've come to appreciate teachers much more after my past year of home schooling and have decided that the teachers work even harder than the students!

I thought you might enjoy the fact that we are now trillianaires. Okay, well it does depend on what currency you are talking about, and the fact that you can't even buy a loaf of bread with a trillion Zim dollars. Zimbabwe is actually no longer even using their own currencies, so this bill isn't worth the paper that it's printed on. The ten cent bill used to be able to buy a GRAIN of salt, but you can see from the bill, that it's expired. Please pray for the people of Zimbabwe and especially our sweet orphans.



Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to leave a comment on my last post for a chance to win a copy of Cranberry Hearts. I'm loving the book recommendations, so keep them coming!

Lisa

Win a copy of Cranberry Hearts

A little over two years ago, I was privileged to work on a series of contemporary romance novels for Heartsong Presents with Lena Nelson Dooley and Elizabeth Goddard. Their stories, along with mine, A Matter of Trust, are all included in this three-in-one collection as part of Barbour's Romancing America series.

What will happen when three Massachusetts women's journeys home lead them down dangerous paths? Heart and health are on the line when Gerome Mays suspects Leiann Hambrick of stealing from her grandfather, when Ty Lawrence's past shadows his future with Kayla Marceilo, and when Zane Baldwyn discovers that Riley O'Hare's brother's death was no accident. Will faith and love pull the women through the dangers.


If you'd like a chance to win one of FIVE copies of Cranberry Hearts, leave a comment below and let me know your reading recommendation for this summer! (I'm making up my list of must read books!) And for an extra chance to win, leave a comment AND sign up for my newsletter here. Be sure and leave a way for me to contact you in your comment. I'll draw the winners next Monday!

Blessings!

Lisa

Winner of Snow Melts in Spring!

Congratulations to Tabitha! You've won a copy of Debbie's Snow Melts in Spring. For those of you who didn't win, you can find Debbie's new book at your local bookstore or on line.

I'm going to be running another contest starting on Wednesday for my July release, Cranberry Hearts, so be sure and stop by then for a chance to win one of five copies!

Blessings!

Lisa

Encouragement for the day. . .

"As the deer pants for steams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." Psalm 42:1

I’ve never been a particularly patient person. Maybe it’s because I always seem to be waiting on something. I was reminded today of Abraham and Sarah. There must have been great rejoicing for Abraham and Sarah at the birth of Isaac, a child who had been prayed for and desired for many, many years. What joy there was when all the neighbors came to celebrate the birth of this first born. Some years later, the Bible says God decided to test Abraham.

Hmm. . .these moments that test my faith are usually even harder than patience! And can you even begin to imagine the thoughts that flew threw Abraham’s mind?

"God, he is my only son. The seed that you promised."

"God, I waited years to have this son, I love him."

"God, why are you doing this to me? It is not fair."

"God, I’ll give you anything, just not my son."

I can think of a few of my own questions I would have liked to ask God, but God didn’t ask for Abraham to decide what he would rather give up. He asked for his only son. And even though he must have had many feelings of doubt, fear and anger, the Bible says early the next morning Abraham got up and left to do what God had told him.

Wow.

Later, Abraham stood with the knife in his hand. When he raised it to kill his only son, he was stopped by an angel of God. What relief he must of felt, what joy. What faith Abraham had in God. Abraham called the place, "the Lord will provide."

What an amazing testimony of faith.

I’ve been reminded lately of God’s faithfulness and how I need to long only for Him. The road we’re on isn’t always easy, but He’s always there, giving us hope, strength and direction.

How has the Lord provided for you recently?

Blessings,

Lisa

Trip to Kruger

We enjoyed a day in the park with the groups from Texas before they headed out the next day for the States. As many of you know, I never turn down a chance to visit Kruger, and we ended up having a great day. Hope you enjoy these photos. I also posted some different ones in my facebook album.

Love to win free books? If you haven't yet, don't forget to leave a comment on my interview with Debbie Vogt from Tuesday for a chance to win a copy of Snow Melts in Spring, her debut contemporary novel from Zondervan. Also, my good friend Lena recently interviewed me on her blog. You can leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win my July release, Cranberry Hearts from Barbour Publishing. I'll also be giving a way several copies of the book next week as well, so be sure and check back soon!

Blessings,

Lisa


Long-tailed shrike

Morning Mist over the water





Lilac-breasted roller

Hyena