Summertime Giveaway

We're getting ready to take the team who's been with us the past week to South Africa to catch their flight back to the States. To see all the videos and photos of our week, be sure and visit the team's facebook page.

While our family is in South Africa, we'll be spending two days as a family at Kruger for some much needed rest, as well as visiting the doctor and dentist for check ups and cleanings. So while I'll be off line for a while, I thought it might be fun to do a Beach Bag & Book giveaway as many of you head into summer.

The bag I'm giving away, was made by Dela Afakule, a wonderful Christian woman from Ghana living in Togo, West Africa. Along with her husband and their three children, they share their hearts and home to 8 other orphans and extended family in need. Dela hand-dyes fabric and sells these market bags, along with other products, to help support their family and ministry.

To learn more about Dela's ministry in Togo, please visit her facebook page.

The winner of this giveaway will receive one basket similar to the ones in this photo, and a copy of Blood Ransom.

To enter the contest, leave a comment sharing what you plan to do this summer to relax (or winter, depending on where you live :-)) along with a way to get ahold of you! I'll draw a winner on or around May 8th.

Be blessed today!

Lisa

Giveaway is limited to U.S. Addresses Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

Katy Team

First off, congratulations to Dawn Michelle Michals who won a copy of Harry Kraus' The Six-Liter Club!

It's been a hectic but wonderful week so far with the mission team from Katy, Texas. They have been working hard and sharing dramas along with their lives in several of the villages we work in and have been wonderfully received. I have several more videos posted on our AOM FaceBook page if you want to take a look.

This is a short video of the baptisms yesterday. For those of you who were a part of the English club last summer, these young people were from the camp!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Be blessed today!

Lisa

Katy Team arrives!

I've been offline the past few days as we've been ministering at a village about 45 minutes from our house with the team from Katy, Texas. It's been such an encouragement for us to have them here!

I have posted several videos on the team's Facebook page you might enjoy, so please visit there if you are interested in seeing some of the incredible things that God is doing! I will continue to post videos and photos throughout the week on that page. I've also posted a few photos here.

Last night after spending part of the day in the village teaching, visiting families, and praying for people, about 500 people showed up to watch the Jesus film!

We returned to day and there was about 100 people ready to here more about the Good News of Jesus.

Please pray that God will continue to do amazing things and for wisdom as we follow up in the coming weeks and months with those interested in learning more. We have had numerous issues in the past few days, so just irritations like lack of electricity, car troubles, washing machine troubles. Other things have been more serious. For those of you who know our David Nkuna, (he's one of our evangelists and our main translator) his sister died today. His family left this morning to go be with his family.

On a brighter note, the kids have loved having the team here and all the goodies like starbursts, jelly beans, and macaroni and cheese. For me, it's been a blessing to see friends from last year and to make some new ones. I was also excited to see a copy of Blood Ransom for the first time!

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Lisa

Visit with doctor/author Harry Kraus (Book giveaway!)

I met Harry Kraus last year at a writer's conference after listening to him give the morning devotional. I was especially interested in what he had to say because not only is Harry a writer, but a missionary surgeon to Africa as well.

Today, he'll be sharing with us about his latest release, and if you jump on over to my blog with Lynne Gentry at Inspire. Be Inspired, you can hear more from Harry in a short, inspiring post on what motivates him to use his talents in Africa.

LISA: Welcome to my blog, Harry! Tell us a bit about yourself.

HARRY: I'm a missionary surgeon, having practiced for four years in Kenya and have a special interest in outreach to the Somali people. I am currently on furlough in Virginia. I've written a dozen novels and three non-fiction titles. I am married to a wonderful woman who has "bucked up" and followed me on many adventures including uprooting our family to Africa and back twice (and looking at going back again!). I have three sons: the oldest two graduated from high school in Kenya and are attending universities in the US and my third son lives with us and is attending high school.

LISA: Give us a blub about your latest release, The Six Liter Club.

HARRY: The Six-Liter Club tells the story of the first African-American female to become a trauma surgery attending at the Medical College of Virginia. She has to overcome gender bias and fight to be recognized for her surgical skill rather than her physical attributes. She is haunted by terror from her past: she is the orphan daughter of parents killed in Congo during the Simba Rebellion. The novel is part thriller, part romance and as always, has a Kraus signature of medical realism.

LISA: I can't wait to read it! What is some of the background behind the idea of your latest release?

HARRY: I was sitting in church one Sunday listening to my pastor tell a story of some missionaries that were killed during the Simba rebellion. Soon, I was daydreaming. What if....

LISA: Ahhh.. the constant question of a writer. :-) What kind of research did you have to do for this story?

HARRY: I read true accounts of Christian martyrs killed during the Simba rebellion. I also had to refresh my mind on the topic of the controversy of breast cancer treatment during the 1980's (when it was first discovered that you could treat breast cancer with something less than removal of the whole breast).

LISA: What motivates you to keep writing?

HARRY: I love the creative process and I totally believe in the power of story to illustrate Biblical truth.

Thanks so much for joining us today! Harry has offered to do a book giveaway, so if you'd like a chance to win a copy of The Six-Liter Club please leave a comment below and a way for me to contact you if your names is drawn. Contest will end midnight EST on April 21 and is limited to US mailing addresses.

And before you leave, please visit our Inspired. Be Inspired blog to hear more from Harry.

Be blessed today!

Lisa

Contest is limited to addresses in the USA Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

Audio book

I'm not sure how many of you enjoy listening to audio books, but because our road trips often take twelve hours or more, we have found them a great way to pass the time with the kids on the road. For the most part, we have listened to what Focus on the Family has to offer. Through them, we've been able to listen to Bible stories and history come to life. One of our favorites from them was a nine CD series called Novacom Saga and it lasted all the way from Nelspruit, South Africa to home.

Last month, Zondervan released the audio version of Blood Ransom. This week I realized that there are samples, so I listened to it online. I have to say, it was quite exiting to hear her read my story. She did a fantastic job making the story come to life. I really was impressed.

If you'd like to listen to a sample yourself, you can visit here. I know what I'll be listening to on my next long trip!

Do you have any favorite audio books you recommend?

Lisa

Looking Ahead...

I pulled out my calender for the next few months to make sure I have my schedule updated. This time of year and going into our "winter" time is always busy, especially with ministry.

TEAMS COMING

Two teams are preparing to come from Houston. One, the end of this month, and a second in July to run our English Camp that went over so well last year. We are really looking forward to having some "old friends" return and meeting some new ones. And it's always a big encouragement for us to have these groups come and really be a part of the work here!


Some of the team that is returning from last year. David, in the middle, will be traveling with Scott this week for leadership training in Zimbabwe.

SCHOOL

The kids are working hard so they can switch to the American school year schedule instead of the January-December schedule in South Africa. This is so Gabriel can have the option of going to a Christian Missionary boarding school for high school and then later for college. This puts our mid-term tests next week. It's hard to believe that the school year is almost half over!

And yes, we've had a few visitors in our class lately.





IT TAKES A VILLAGE

One of the things I enjoy watching in the village is how the women love on their babies. They pass around them around during church to quiet them and love on them. Every young woman has a baby and it doesn't matter whose it is. This is a sweet photo of a grandmother who was watching some of her grandbabies while the younger women stood and sang. (this is why it took me awhile to figure out which baby belongs to which mother.)

Several people from the teams getting ready to come visited this village almost a year ago when we first started going out there. We are excited to show them how God has been working!



WRITING

With my July 1st deadline rapidly approaching, I'm working extra hard these next two weeks to get a big chuck of my writing done. By the end of the week, I'll be halfway done with my latest deadline, a romantic suspense set in Northern Rhodesia and New York in the early 1920's. The research is intense, but I'm enjoying some research books from Allen's library.

ALLEN

Several of you have asked lately for an update on Allen, so if you don't get the regular prayer requests for him, here is a part of the last update.

"In all, Allen continues to make progress. We are asking you to pray for the following:

1. Praise God that he is now able to sit up by himself!! This brings us great joy.
2. Ask God for wisdom for each of the physicians as they work with him in their area.
3. Pray for Allen's discipline to do the exercises that take so much work.
4. And pray for that strength to come, in his chest and in his pelvic girdle.
5. Also pray that we will look into the eyes of our God and trust him. I can get tired and discouraged (and Allen as well) as the time passes and he progresses slowly."

What about you? What do you have planned for "summer" or "winter" depending on where you live?

Be blessed today!

Lisa

Land of the Free

"Awareness is only the first step...involvement is what changes things."


I find it extremely encouraging to hear about young people who have been motivated to get out and make a difference in the world. Brandon Marx is a senior film student who decided to do just that.

Lynne and I just posted his thoughts on what motivated him to get involved in abolishing human trafficking and the modern-day sex trade. You can read his moving interview on our Inspired Blog.

Land of the Free Promotional Video from Evangeline Lee on Vimeo.