Happy New Year!

We just finished shooting fireworks from our roof while watching a fantastic display in the neighborhood, but I wanted to stop and wish all of you a very happy and blessed 2012!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is wonderful time of this year
Being with friends and family that's been far not near
Christmas is being with the ones you love most and about JESUS CHRIST above
A kid ounce thought Christmas was all about presents and fun
But when his parents told him that Christmas is about God's son
He felt ashamed of what he said in the past
So he confessed to the Lord and finally at last
He prayed to the father on Christmas that way
And had a wonderful, joyous CHRISTmas day

byMariah L. Harris

Why power outages make me thankful...

It's hot today. We're in the middle of summer and if I'm not sitting in front of my fan--or even better in front of an air-con--I'm sweating. And I hate sweating.

The power has been off a lot lately. The last outage lasted from about five this morning until eleven. Even in opening all the windows I couldn't escape the heat and my frozen stuff in my freezer started to sweat as much as I was.

On top of that, our water has started shutting off about five each evening which means you have to plan to wash dishes early and take afternoon showers.

But power outages always get me thinking:

About all the women and children who walk a mile each way to get water to cook and bath.

About the women who cook all their meals over a fire every day.

About the women and kids who work in the hot sun in the fields to provide food for their families.

About the kids who walk several miles to school every day in the hot sun.

About the smiles of those we built houses for--small, one room, no electricity or running water.

About how much I have to be thankful for.

The needs that we see everyday around us are the reasons we started The ECHO Project. If you haven't checked out what The ECHO Project has done this year, please do. Through many generous donations, we have been able to help with education needs, housing needs, micro loans for business, medical needs, and much more.

DECEMBER:

This month, we were able to buy school supplies--a big thanks to all the kids at The Fellowship in Katy, Texas--that will be distributed next month to kids in need. We are also in the process of setting up a store for David, our main evangelist, to enable him to be self-supporting.

THE SAFARI SHOP:

One of the new ways we are raising money for The ECHO Project is through a brand new on-line shop. We are selling stunning photographs of African Wildlife and from other places around the world that include wall art, bags, clothes, iPod covers, mouse pads, photo cards, and much much more. We'll have lots of new items available weekly. You can also make requests for specific items not yet available. The best part is that 100% of all profits will go directly to The ECHO Project.

You can check out some of the products below or visit the site here.

make custom gifts at Zazzle

May we all be truly thankful for the blessings in our lives this Christmas season.

In Him,

Lisa

Safari Highlights

While it feels about a hundred degrees in our house, we've just put up the Christmas trees and lights so it's beginning to feel like Christmas (of course, a bit of snow would really help!)

We spent the past two weeks together as a family in South Africa, enjoying having Gabe, our oldest, home again from boarding school. We did some shopping, resting, reading, enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner (a few days late) and spent a day at Kruger. You can watch a short video below with some of the animal highlights from the park.

After some family time, we headed up to Tzaneen for an African Outreach Ministries board meeting and enjoyed spending time with some of our dear friends there. We also spent some time with our new team members, Jaco and Inge who will be joining our ministry in Mozambique in February along with their three boys. We are so excited for their arrival and will be sharing more about their family and the wonderful talents they will bring to the work here.

WRITING NEWS!

I'm also thrilled to share that I recently signed a contract with Revell Books for a three book romantic suspense series! The first book will be out in 2013, and I will be sharing more about the series as the time gets closer. I am so excited about these stories, and can't wait to share them with you! In the meantime, I've got some new things coming to this blog for 2012 that I think you will really enjoy, so stay tuned!

Lastly, if you haven't got your ebook copy of Undercover Cowboy, it's on sale through Christmas for only 99 cents. You can find it at Amazon and other online sellers.

And now for our Kruger Highlights...



Be blessed!

Lisa