Paris...oh la la!

I'll plan to post more photos from France later, but (as requested) here are a few from the Eiffel Tower yesterday. I had a poster of the tower hanging on my wall as a teenager and always dreamed of traveling and visiting Paris in particular. And while my kids probably won't really appreciate this trip until they are older, I'm loving sharing the city with them. I think their favorite part was taking the stairs (down) the tower.

We were planning to return to where we are staying by dinnertime as the kids were tired, but decided at the last minute to take the boat through the city. I'm so glad we did, because I'd wanted to see the city, and especially the Eiffel Tower lit up. It was so beautiful and worth staying out late. On the hour, thousands of little white lights come on and twinkle as well. Fantastic!

Holland from Mariah's point of view

From Mariah's travel journal.

Today after breakfast, we went to dress up as people back in the 17th century. It was so fun. We got the pictures after we looked around the rest of the market.

After the market we went in the car and ate our lunch. Oh, and by the way, Uncle René, Aunty Rardy, Sonder, and Joran came with us. As I was saying, after lunch, we left from the market and went to see windmills, a cheese factory, and where they make wooden shoes.

At the windmill place we went into the windmill. It was so very high. And the stairs are steep for security. When I got down, I bought Aunty Faith a present.

We went to taste cheese after the windmills. They had awesome cheese at the factory and I don't even like cheese that much, but I liked that cheese.

A few minutes later we visited the shoe factory. there were more than 900 hundred shoes. Maybe a thousand pairs!

Mariah

Holland from Lisa Harris on Vimeo.

A taste of Kenya

Two days ago we were walking through the African bush, looking for zebra and giraffe. Today, we're a continent away, spending time outside Amsterdam with some long-time family friends. Our time in Kenya went very well. We ended up spending up most of our time at the school and we were so impressed with everything we saw. (The photos are on a different camera, so I'll post some later.) Gabe was able to take a placement test, we had dinner with a sister of a friend of mine, ate in the cafeteria, toured the school, and overall had a fantastic time.

Time on the internet is short, but here are a few photos from our one day we were able to spend north of the school at one of the country's game parks.

For the weekend, we will be spending our time here near Amsterdam, then leave Monday for France where we will see some other close friends later in the week.

More soon!

Lisa

The Wild Side

We've spent a lot of time saying good-bye the past few days and even shed some tears. What excites me, though, is how our disciples are beginning to own the call and see the need to rise up as leaders and engage in their communities. So while being away for a few months is always a challenge, we believe that we will see real growth take place while we are gone.

As we head off on our latest adventure in the morning, I thought I'd go ahead and share a short video of some of my favorite animal photos we've taken over the past couple years. And while we're back in the States, I'm planning a few fun contests with some fun prizes I think you'll enjoy so check back soon!

Be blessed today!

African Wildlife from Lisa Harris on Vimeo.

Furlough time

I feel as if I have gotten further and further behind on my blog postings! The main reason for this, for those of you who don't know, is that our family is leaving to go on furlough in the next few days. And while some equate furloughs with a long vacation, well... that isn't exactly true.

I've spent the past two months working feverishly to put together videos of our ministry to share, updating our website, putting together a proposal for a non-profit project that will help us minister to people's physical needs, and on top of that finish up the kid's school year before we leave. (One final exam left on Monday and we'll be done!!) All of that and we haven't even left yet.

Plus, since this is our first family furlough in five years where we've been able to connect with all our churches and many of our supporters, we have many people to see. During our time back, we will be hosting "Night in Africa" dinners several nights a week where we will sit down in small groups to share about the work, renew old friendships, and get to know new people interested in becoming involved in our ministry. We'll also be visiting churches, speaking, I'll be doing some book signings, and working hard to make sure the kids keep up with their schoolwork.

One highlight, I'll mention now, is that on our way back to the States, we will be visiting a missionary boarding school in Kenya that we are looking at as an option for high school for the kids. We are also excited for the chance to visit some friends in Europe. (The airline will let you have a layover for the same price, so this is a great chance for us to see a bit of this part of the world) The kids are excited for the opportunity to see things they've been studying in school and will be keeping a journal on their experiences.

I would like to ask for your prayers as we begin our travels. I will try to post from time to time, but it will depend on our internet connection at least until we arrive in the States. Please pray as well for our heath as we are all still battling to get well and need to be better before we leave on Wednesday. And lastly, please pray for our teammates, Luiz and Fernanda who will be carrying on the work along side the disciples while we are gone. The photo above is our new Mozambique team photo! If you click on it, you can see it better.

Be blessed today!

Lisa

Incredible Sunday!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I'll be putting together a longer video of this past weekend, but thought I'd share a few photos until then. On Sunday, all of our churches met together for worship and encouragement. Each church brought songs, dramas, and words of edification. Some gave money while others gave manioc and coconuts for their offering. It was exciting to see how God is moving!

Blessings,

Lisa

God is powerful, loving, and faithful

We're getting ready to pick up a wonderful couple from the airport that is arriving from one of our partner churches for a mini-marriage retreat (Yes, they're watching the kids!) and to visit our different house churches. Tomorrow we'll be a part of a combined worship service with all our churches! In addition to this, we have about ten days left until we leave for the States, which means we're on a count down to finish school and check everything off my long "to do" list.

If you're as tired as I am today, read this reminder from the devotional my mom wrote for today and be blessed with the reminder of God's faithfulness!

Matthew 6: 25a, 33-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Fear of the unknown.

Concern for the fate of the children.

Hunger.

Exhaustion.

Do any of these sound familiar? If not, ask most any single parent about them. Does God care? These problems are common in today’s world wherever one lives. Does He care? Let’s look at the first chapters of the book of Exodus.

God’s people were unsure of what would happen to them next. They were exhausted from the work of slavery. Hungry? Oh, yes. Concern for their children? The Pharaoh had ordered their newborn boys killed. Skip a few chapters and see the rescue of their God. It was God who brought them out of Egypt and a life of slavery. It was God who drove back the waters of the Red Sea. It was God who fed them in the wilderness even after their unfaithfulness. It was God who protected them from their enemies. They could look back and see the faithfulness of a loving God.

Does He care?

Yes, He absolutely does. And it isn’t just the people way back then. He cares now too. How can I be so sure? Because I was afraid of the unknown. I was concerned for the fate of my children. I was exhausted. And I worried about if we would go hungry. I was a single parent struggling to keep life together. And the powerful, faithful, loving God of heaven and earth ALWAYS provided. Looking back I can see how everything we needed was given to us from His Hand at just the time we needed it. I never needed to have worried, because He was in charge.

Prayer: “Our loving Father, our all powerful God, We bow humbly before You to thank You for Your Faithfulness in caring for us. Help us to not doubt or worry about our lives here on earth, but keep our eyes on You and heaven.”

Ermalee