~Comargo Camp 2009~

Karen, que alegría recibir sus mensajes en mi blog. ¡¡¡Me hizo llorar que usted se puso una falda!!! :) ¡¡¡¡¡¡Estoy MUUUUUYYYYY FELIZ con esta noticia!!!!!! ¡¡No puedo esperar a compartir esta noticia con Kelly...ella va a estar MUY FELIZ también!! ¡Les extrañamos MUCHO a todo ustedes y estamos orando para toda la iglesia cada día! ¡Muchos besos! ¡¡Les Queremos Muchísimo!! =)
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What a BLESSING to get to attend our camp again this year. The workers were second to none. God really used Bro. Plank, Bro. Randy Nevel, the Mills as they sang, and the Donald Shirks as they did the children's meetings.
~The first night of camp a big tree fell. Thank the Lord no one was hurt. The next day the guys and kids cut it all up and drug it away.~
~Our camp cabin that we were priviledged to stay in. And THANK THE LORD for Mission helps and the van they are letting us use/rent. =)~
~Our little Elijah.~
~The Shirks did an excellant job with our kids. They had childrens' services in the morning and then during the afternoon they played games and did crafts with them.~
~The kids having races in the afternoon. My neices Natasha and Brittany were a HUGE help watching Elijah for me so I could help in the kitchen.~
~Kelly organizing the kids for a game.~
~Kimberly and Bryanna doing crafts during the afternoon. They made some cute things.~

~Our go-away dinner~

~Our last Saturday in Colombia, our church gave us the SWEETEST go-away dinner. We wept lots of tears as they expressed their love for us and what we have tried to do for them through God's help. They served us a delicious meal and this yummy "Tres Leches" (3 milk) cake. We tried to assure them that Lord willing we will be returning to them in Jan. and that we were leaving half of our hearts with them. We are trying to pray LOTS for our dear Colombian friends while we are away.~
~Singing hymns together in the fellowship hall.~
~Sis. Farly giving a very good devotional.~
~Our church was praying for our family and for Kelly. There were LOTS of tears shed on both our part and that of our dear Colombian friends!~
~My cute little doll that my secret sister bought for me. She matches our living room to a "T". Several ladies gave me gifts...how sweet and thoughtful they are! =)~
~Kelly and her Colombian secret sister.~
~The church was HAPPY to get our big wooden dinning room table and chairs to use in their fellowship hall for the ladies' meetings, etc. Here Phillip and Bro. Jimmy are visiting at that table after our DELICIOUS goodbye meal that they surprised us and served to our family.~
~A bunch of us after the go-away gathering.~
~We had someone snap this picture of Bro. Jimmy and Sis. Farly and their girls with our family on our last Sunday. It was HARD saying those dreaded goodbyes.~
~Our Welcoming Home Party that met us at the Cincinnati Airport on Tuesday August 4, 2009. It was so nice to see my sister Laura and her family, my parents, and Phillip's brother Michael and his family. This was the first time we had gotten to see their baby Sofia. What a cutie! It was NICE to be back home in the USA. (Although we left part of our hearts in Colombia.=)~
Lord willing, I will post pics of our wonderful Comargo camp soon.

~I'm back!~

Sorry, I know that you think I dropped off the planet, but I haven't had internet access for a few days while we were at our Comargo Campmeeting. Here are some pictures of us cleaning up our old house in Colombia that we moved out of, and some pics of our new apartment that God helped us to find. Enjoy!
~Kelly and Kimberly painting the old rental house in Colombia.~
~Painting the outside of our old house~
~The beautiful roses that Kelly got me and Kelly and I! =)~
~Like I said earlier, God provided us with a nice new apartment for 2/3 the price. It's smaller so we had to give our wooden dinning room table and chairs to the church and are using plastic table and chairs. We are very happy with our new apartment and we Thank God for helping us to find it. Here is our dinning room and our front door. The glass is non-see-through glass but you can see the glow from the green wall in the hallway coming through.~
~God is so good! The first time I saw the apartment I didn't notice that the tile in my new kitchen has fruit on it including apples...with which I use to decorate my kitchen. =) I plan to buy some more baskets to use as "drawers" on the bottom shelf when I get back to Colombia. I love my kitchen.~
~Our new living room. I plan to hang a gold framed mirror above the couch when we get back.~
~The guest bathroom. I was happy how the soap dish, soap dispense, and toothbrush holder tied the black of the tile, the aqua of the rug and the maroon of the shower curtain all together.~
~Our master bathroom. I was happy how that the tile has dolphins on it...for I had already had a seashell theme in my other home.~
~I'm happy with our Master bedroom. :)~
We begin our deputation tomorrow, so we are on the run getting everything ready. I'll stop back as often as I can access internet. Thank you for your prayers as we do deputation.

~We're Home~

Well...God DID help us!!! THANKS TONS for your prayers!! In the last 12 days we have packed up the whole house, moved it all across town and up 3 flights of stairs, set up and organized the new apartment, painted the inside and outside of the old house and cleaned it all up, and packed 16 suitcases to go to the USA etc. God and Kelly REALLY helped us to get it all done!! Up until 3 days before we were to travel we DID NOT HAVE OUR AIRPLANE TICKETS and were PRAYING HARD for God to send in the money!!! In the last 2 weeks we have had to pay 5 months rent. Since we weren't Colombians the owner of our new apt. wanted 3 months rent for the deposit, then we owed the first months rent on that new apt. and then we had to pay the last months rent on the old house too. WHEW! Well, On Friday, July 31st, God answered our prayers and sent in the money and helped us to find tickets we could afford. ALL PRAISE TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!!!
It was really HARD for our family to leave our dear Colombian friends!! There were lots of tears shed on both our part and theirs!!
God really helped us as we flew to Panama City, then to Houston, then to Cincinnati, Ohio. He even sent us an "angel" (man driving a cart) in the airport to help us get to our last airplane which would have left with out us, had it not been for our "angel" giving us a ride! Upon our arrival we were happy to see my dear parents, my sweet sister Laura and her family, and we were especially SURPRISED to see Phillip's brother Michael and family! Now, we are trying to organize all of our suitcases (some of them were full of treasures to store here) and trying to rest up before our Comargo camp starts this coming Monday! I'll try to post some pics soon. Thanks for your nice comments and prayers!! =)

~Traveling~

Please pray for us as we travel to the USA! If you have ever traveled internationally, you know how much one needs PRAYER to make all the connections, survive the flight with 3 children and a baby, haul all your luggage, etc. =) Thank you for praying for us!