Back to School--A Humbling Experience

It was over 25 years ago when lap tops and cell phones were non-existent. Academic papers and law briefs were typed by a typewriter and not a computer.  And, it was that long ago Craig was in a formal academic setting at Florida State University College of Law. J  However, this month, humbling wanting to serve communities around the world in a more educated and responsive way, he went back to school. Craig entered a Masters Program in International Development at Eastern University.

It was a long road to get to this point. Last year in Tanzania, Craig sensed God’s calling to increase his knowledge base in the area of faith based development and transformational development principles. The search led him to a Christian school that has been training  leaders of World Vision, International Justice Mission, Samaritan’s Purse, Compassion International and many other faith based organizations. The degree is a two year program that is online but with three weeks of in-person class work each year.  Along with school, Craig will be continuing with his position as consultant for external relations and legal affairs to the director for SIL Africa area.  

Admittedly, going back to school and handling assignments have been overwhelming so far, but just watching how God raised up the tuition for the program was a reminder of his faithfulness. Please pray for discernment, wisdom, stamina and his peace as he finishes nearly 3000 pages of reading and five papers that need to be completed by early July when classes at Eastern commence. We covet your prayers and we continue to be amazed at God’s provision as we have now been faith based supported for nearly seven and a half years! Praise God! Thank all of you who have prayed for us and partnered in our ministry. You are the heroes of the faith to us.

A Fun Little History Lesson

So, one Saturday morning, the girls and I were out looking for garage sales.  We love to find bargains!  We had visited a few and had not really found anything we couldn't live without, but we drove on to the last one on our list.  We almost didn't stop.  It appeared that there really wasn't too much there, and from what we could see from the car window, there wasn't much "girl stuff".  However, we did stop, and ended up with a fun little history lesson for our effort.

Sitting on a table full of tools and other unrelated items, we found a beautiful little treasure.

 

 

At first glance, we thought we had come across some gorgeous little tea cups.

 

Then we noticed this.

 

 

What?!?  We had never seen any tea cups like this.  After talking with the seller (who explained that he helped with estate sales, hence the odd assortment of findings at his sale) he told us that these were actually moustache cups.  A tea cup--but with an extra feature.  His explanation was pretty much what wikipedia had to say, so here it is.

 

Moustaches flourished throughout the Victorian era. Oftentimes, moustache wax was applied to the moustache to keep it nice and stiff, with every hair in place. And therein lay a problem that cropped up when steaming hot cups of tea or coffee were carried up to the mouth for sipping: the steam melted the wax and sent it right into the cup. Another problem soon became apparent. Sipping hot tea or coffee, moustaches also often became stained. Finally, Harvey Adams, an innovative Englishman, in 1860 came up with an unusual invention, "the moustache cup". The latter had a ledge, called a moustache guard, across the cup. The ledge had one semicircular opening against the side of the cup. The pampered moustache then rested safe and dry on the guard while sipping a hot beverage through the opening.

(Another source also mentioned that melting moustache wax in the tea was enough to send the women present into a swoon, so evidently, this little feature was much needed!)

For school this year, we have been studying the Victorian era, so this was a timely find! Of course, my students needed to test it out...

Perfect!

Missions Weekend

 

 

This past weekend, we were invited to attend First Baptist Church of Plant City's mission conference.  The theme was about being obedient and there were wonderful speakers throughout the days.  We had never visited this church before so we were blessed to make lots of new friends not just from Plant City, but from around the globe as well.  I think that is always my favorite part-meeting new people and learning about the passions that God has placed on their hearts.  From churches in NY, San Francisco and Miami to people ministering in some of the roughest parts of the world.  Although the times often seem dark,  it is always refreshing to be reminded of the love and grace and power of God and learn how He is very much at work!

After our weekend in Plant City, we met with a group from First Baptist of Bradenton, and joined them on our tour of the Wycliffe Discovery Center in Orlando.

                            

We always love the opportunity to share about Bible Translation and the ministry to which God has called us.  It is amazing to think that in the short time we have been with Wycliffe, over 700 new language projects have been started!  Our God is an awesome God!

A Time to Reconnect with Colleagues and Culture

                                       

 

Recently our family was able to be part of a wonderful program (sponsored by Wycliffe) for missionaries reentering US culture from overseas.  Wycliffe Connection provides training in various areas, but more importantly, it is a wonderful way to connect with other missionaries from overseas.

 

 

We enjoyed our time in Orlando and we able to participate with several colleagues we worked with in Tanzania. Anissa and Ariana were in the kids programs that were led by a couple who are experienced in youth ministry (and who we had met during our time in Virginia!)

 

 

Another  highlight was seeing the beautiful art work in the Wycliffe headquarters—we discovered  that much of it was painted by our friend, Michael Harrar, who we worked with in Tanzania. :)

 It was great to remember we are all part of a team seeking to help communities bring transformation to their lives and communities. Now that is worth living for!

Celebrate

 

Last October, a significant milestone in language translation was reached.  We are now able to celebrate that the number of languages that need translation work started has dropped below 2000!  What a joy it is that we are that much closer to having God’s word in every heart language of the world!

We also celebrate the beginning of our family’s next project—in January, Craig began working in an exciting new role to help reach the last remaining languages of Eastern and Southern Africa.   As of 2013, Craig joined the leadership team of the new director for SIL Africa Area Eastern and Southern Region as consultant to the director of external relations and legal affairs.

This is quite a responsibility.  Believe it or not, there are still 300 languages in Eastern and Southern Africa that do not have any of God’s word in their own language.  Through several comprehensive plans and in partnership with others, we are trusting God for the impossible--that the remaining languages in Eastern and Southern Africa will have every language started by the year 2025!

 

In March, our family traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Alemayehu, the new director for SIL Africa Area.  He and Craig were able to visit the embassies of several strategic countries in Eastern and Southern Africa as well as several Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). It was an encouraging time--seeing where God has taken us as an organization as well as looking ahead to where He is leading us. 

  

On the same trip, Carolyn and the girls were able to catch up with many of our Manassas friends (although it doesn’t seem like we ever get enough while we are there to see everyone we want!).  God was so gracious to give us so many wonderful friends while we lived in Virginia.    We miss you!!

Catching Up

Well, our somewhat normal pattern of blogging slowed down once we returned to the states--due to many factors including house-hunting, re-aclimating to the US, catching up with family and friends, and honestly, some pretty severe fatigue!  So, we are hoping to catch you up with a little of what has been going on since our return.  :)

As some of you know, we have moved into a new home just north of Tampa. We are grateful to God for his provision of this lovely home and the wonderful people who lived in the home before us.

In December, we enjoyed going to Christmastown in Bush Gardens and enjoying a concert by Jars of Clay.   We were also able to attend a Christmas concert featuring some dear friends of ours.  And the best part was being able to spend Christmas with our families this year!

In January Craig began his new assignment as consultant to the Director for Africa Area Eastern and Southern Region of SIL.  Craig has already been working with several countries in the area on some technical and legal issues. He will also continue to work with the Tanzania leadership on issues of advocacy and government relations. The work will be remote with some trips to DC and Africa as the need arises.

Some other big news is that Craig is hoping to go back to school in May.  He has been accepted to Eastern University for a Masters in International Development program (most of the classes will be on line with only three weeks each year at the campus).  This education will allow Craig to gain more practical skills in how SIL and the Wycliffe Global Alliance can create and implement programs that bring spiritual transformation to communities. Craig will be joining others which include staff from organizations like IJM, World Vision and Samaritans Purse in learning how implement and measure the transformational nature of our work.   We are praying for God’s will in this, as it would mean an increase in our financial support, but we believe that this study would be very beneficial to Craig’s position.

Time to Travel

It was time to hit the road the again!  We had the opportunity to travel and visit a few of our friends in Georgia and North Carolina.  It was so wonderful to spend time with many loved ones  that we hadn’t  seen in over a year as well as see some friends we made while in Tanzania.

 

Our first stop was to visit Susan and Marty Larsen in Georgia.  We had the privilege of meeting them while we were in Tanzania and we just love them!

 

Next stop was Waxhaw, North Carolina where we caught up with some more friends from Tanzania, Brian and Karen Anders. It was great to see them and hear about their time being back in the states.

 We visited the JAARS center...

 

 

Spent some time enjoying the fall leaves with our friends from Virginia, the Dillinghams, who are now with Wycliffe...

 

Met up with our friends, the Cravens, who we first met during our initial training with Wycliffe.  We have stayed in touch with them through the years as both our families have served both overseas and stateside...

 

And got to shop at the very-much-missed Trader Joes for the first time since returning to the states!

 

Then, after arriving in Bakersville, NC, with our friends the Leavells, we carved pumpkins...

 

Collected candy at the town's fall festival....

 

And played in a surprise snow shower!