Author: Jon

One More Before the Blackout

A Jon Post

Well, we found a small internet cafe here in Rundu, a border town on the Namibia/Angola border and decided it was a good idea to go ahead and say we are still alive and doing well.

Tomorrow we cross the border into Angola. We first expected to get into Angola about 5 days ago but the people we are traveling with had some unexpected delays. The truck they are driving is having some problems and it’s been in and out of garages trying to get it ready for the punishing Angolan roads.

We’ve had peace and felt good about how we’ve traveled. The travel itself has actually been easier at the slower pace we’ve been going. Instead of 10-15 hour driving days we’ve been going in 3-5 hour days, though tomorrow we expect more like 15-17 hours on the road.

Please pray that I (Jon) am alert and safe for the long drive tomorrow and please pray that Layne stays comfortable and that she has peace for the drive. She’s had some stomach problems and the incredibly bumpy roads would be very hard on her if she still feels bad tomorrow.

Thank you so much Jessica Coffelt, Sarah Romano, Stephanie Prescott, Lassiter Family, Pete and Judy Prescott, and Obidiah Pinner for your help with the equipment we purchased for this trip. I want you all to know that we’ve actually been using it. I am always happy when I get to use stuff like that and we’ve already needed nearly all of it and will unquestionably use the rest as we continue on to Angola.

We are so indebted to you all for your prayer and love.

We continue to live enraptured by the Love of Christ and, as we go where it is less comfortable than before, we are glad to know Christ and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering.

February 19, 2010

Jon

Personal

4 comments

We have made it to Windhoek, Namibia

A Layne Post

We have made it to Windhoek, Namibia. Again, the Lord has blessed us immensely with members of the body of Christ who have been willing to host us along the way, and going above and beyond what we could have imagined. We remain humbled and full of thanks, encouraged to take these next steps into Angola and confident in the provision of our faithful God.

Yesterday we had an 12 hour drive, in which my husband drove like a stud. He amazes me how he can stay so alert; all the while my head is bobbing around trying to be good company for him. A little pathetic, I know but honestly I feel I have no control. =)

Here is a glimpse into our car:

We started the day in Botswana with lots of clouds and even a little rain. You would have thought me ridiculous if you could have seen me… our air conditioner in the car is quite cool and with the cool weather outside, I was freezing. I had to put on socks, drape my pea-coat over my legs, and put on a fleece. I think this warm African weather has ruined me!

Early afternoon the sun emerged, bringing with it the normal heat, as I shed my layers. I wish you could have been in the car with me. For hours our drive in Botswana was lined with beautiful yellow wild flowers on either side of the road. Swarming above were thousands upon thousands of white and light blue butterflies. Beautiful! ( *clear my throat* We won’t talk of the ones that were plastered to the front of our vehicle.)

Ah! And the birds! I love the birds of Botswana. Especially the lilac breasted roller, which I have yet to spot since being back… until yesterday. I have become an expert at scanning the trees, knowing where to look, and finding the little bright colored beauties. For I while I would tell Jon every time I spotted one, but eventually, for his sake, I stopped.

Also, along the way, we watched patches of rain move across the African sky. I kept hoping we would pass through, but they kept missing us! Finally, just a few minutes after crossing the Namibian border, we went through head on. The rain drops were so large and falling so hard. It was glorious! Huge streaks of lightening danced in the distance, and stray beams of sunlight would force their way through the dominating darkness.

Again, I was humbled, this time at the grandness of our God and the privilege for us to be here on the mysterious continent.

Tomorrow we leave for Angola. We will not actually cross into Angola for a couple of days, as we have a few stops along the way. We anticipate being without internet for a time. Worst case would be about one month, though we will desperately look for options. It is a priority for us to remain connected to you, and we will connect as soon as possible. We are excited to report on Menongue and show you pictures of “the promised land”. ;)

Thank you for your ongoing love and support. Thanks for rising to help us with our needs getting into Angola. We love you, we love you!

February 15, 2010

Jon

Angola, Travel

5 comments

Ways you can help

Well we’re getting ready to start our journey to Angola and with that journey comes quite a few supplies. Because we are preparing to live out of a tent for at least 1 month and live without most basic cooking/living things for the other two months, we went out and made some purchases to try to give ourselves the best shot at success we could get. We realize that we are stewards of the support so many of you give us, so we did our best to go bargain hunting and keep these supplies as affordable as possible (for example, we bought sheets that are 50% polyester, 50% cotton… really? Polyester sheets? OOOk… they’re the cheapest we can find)

We decided we would ask for help with this, since these purchases put us over our normal monthly budget. I know many of you who read this blog already support us financially and, honestly, this request is not aimed at you. I also know that many who read this blog have considered supporting us financially, yet have not made the decision on how much/how often you would like to give. If that is you, we are asking you to consider helping us with these supplies. We’ve added pictures of the things we’ve purchased, and we would ask you to consider “sponsoring” or buying something with us. Can you do that? Would you help us in this way? Below we’ve listed different items and their prices.

Tarp and Ropes – $32 – SPONSORED! THANK YOU JESSICA!

Water Can and Water Bottles – $42 – SPONSORED! THANK YOU OBIDIAH PINNER!

Mosquito Net and Repellent – $59- SPONSORED! THANK YOU STEPHANIE!

Mattress and Pump – $42- SPONSORED! THANK YOU SARAH!

Recovery Spade, Hatchet, Mallet – $57- SPONSORED! THANK YOU STEPHANIE!

Chairs – $80

Bedding – $63

Cooler – $120 – SPONSORED! THANK YOU STEPHANIE!

Tent/Home – $740- SPONSORED! THANK YOU LASSITER FAMILY! THANK YOU PRESCOTT FAMILY!

Yes we realize that some of these things are very expensive. The cooler, for example, can be bought at Wal-mart in the USA for just $36. Unfortunately, here in Africa things like that are pretty expensive. (probably because they’re shipped from America!) The tent is quite expensive as well, however it is made of highly durable canvas, incredibly strong zippers and is one of those things that you buy knowing that this will last as long as you will.

Here is the process to help us with all of this.
Check the comments on this post to see what has already been sponsored. If what you’d like to sponsor is not mentioned, leave a comment telling us what you would like to give. This will prevent overlapping and extra money coming in. You can even sponsor part of an item (such as “$30 towards the cooler” or “$50 towards the tent”).

You have two ways you can get us the money:
1) Make a check to “Voices Of The World” and send it to

Voices Of The World
20595 S. 187th Way
Queen Creek, AZ 85142

2) Click on the “Support Us” tab at the top of this page and make a one time donation via Paypal for the amount you would like to give.

All checks or paypal donations to Voices Of The World are tax-deductible.

Thank you to all of our regular supporters. With your faithful support we were able to purchase all of these items in advance. We could not be here without all of you, and we know that well. Your love, your prayers, your encouragement, your support keep us here. We do love you all.

February 11, 2010

Jon

Angola, Travel

6 comments

Oops, a day late post

A Jon Post

Sorry this post is a day after the weekend. We went to Lobatse, Botswana to spend some time with some good friends and watch the Superbowl. It’s about a 4 hour drive from where we are staying now and we think well worth the time we got to spend with the sweet Walker family.

We’re getting ready to start our (very) long drive to Angola this coming weekend. It seems like the days/weeks go by so fast and I often find myself trying to find the time to just remember. I heard a sermon recently, mostly focusing on communion, which stirred my heart about remembrance. When Layne and I went to Mozambique in December I had thought we would be waiting there for at least 4-6 months (again, at least) and maybe up to a year or more. We ended up spending just over 7 weeks in Mozambique and I ended up marveling at how much the Lord exceeded my expectations in those short 7 weeks.

With the life we’ve been living it’s been so easy to let myself simply move from one thing to the next as this whirlwind pushes us along. But I think it’s important, and I want to take the effort to remember the moments God stamped my heart, and the hearts of those around me, with His presence.

Invitation to a Christmas party at the Hospital oncology ward. Layne smiling, touching, kissing faces. Me… laughing and getting to play my violin with a group of laughing, clapping people around.
Meeting a man named Joaquim. Praying with him. Holding his hand. Saying goodbye. Hoping with him for eternity.
Meeting a child named Jose Manuel. Hugging him, picking him up and swinging him around. Holding his hand as I walk the grounds of the hospital.
Christmas with men and women in the oncology ward. Them, hundreds of miles away from their biological family. My wife and I, thousands of miles away from our biological family. All of us, finding that “Christmas with Family” can still be had in those circumstances.
A phone message as I am driving to South Africa to meet with potential partners in ministry in Angola. Joaquim died last night.
Hours of moving a satellite dish millimeters at a time until I find the “sweet spot” where we can pick up the reception to broadcast soccer games to thousands of people as a way to connect them to local churches planted in their villages.
Watching with awe as my wife displays the sacrificial, unconditional love of God to a dying woman in the Hospital. I have never witnessed such beauty. I wish you all could have seen what I saw over three days of the torturous death of Emilia. Emilia crying out for her God to be with her, Layne whispering softly in her ear the name of Jesus while wiping a cool cloth on a sweaty, tear-streaked face. You would have been so proud. Emilia did not die alone. Love’s promise was fulfilled.
Incredible family of Christ found in Jorge and Alice Pratos, missionaries from Portugal. We were welcomed and loved by them in so many ways. They introduced us to ministry at the hospital and entrusted us with making sure the soccer games were shown. Good, good friends.

There are so many more memories but those are the few that jump to my mind when I first start thinking about our time there over the last 2ish months. Thank you all so much for trusting us with ministry there.

We have applied at the Angolan Embassy here in South Africa for our visas and we are praying, praying, praying that they will be ready this coming Friday the 12^th. They told us to come back that day, however we have heard that they are prone to delaying those original dates.

I may have injured my shoulder in the showing of the final soccer game in Mozambique. It’s been bothering me since then and, as of the last few days, been getting a little worse. I had surgery on it 7 years ago because of an injury I got in Botswana that year. When you think of it, I’d ask that you pray that it heals back up. I’ve had some trouble with it of and on since the surgery. The doctors expected it and so did I but these past couple weeks have been a little more trouble than usual.

That’s all. I know this is long so I’ll just finish with a quick bulleted list of things we would ask you to partner with us in prayer.

Visas to Angola process and are available by this Friday.
Finances as we get ready to go to Angola and make some purchases in the preparation.
Our vehicle would stay problem free and make the 10,000 kilometer round-trip drive from Maputo (Mozambique) to Luanda (Angola) to Maputo.
My shoulder would heal up sooner rather than later. I can’t hug my wife very tight and I really like to hug my wife tight.
My wife and I would draw close to each other in this stressful, highly active, trusting heavily on God season.

February 8, 2010

Jon

Personal

4 comments

Jon and Layne’s Newsletter

Hello all faithful blog readers. We wrote and sent out a newsletter this weekend so we’re just going to post the opening paragraph and give you a link to download it if you haven’t already got it in your email. We don’t want to overwhelm you with things to read and our newsletter is plenty. Blog readers may already know most of what’s in our newsletter but there’s some extra in there too so go ahead and give it a read. Thanks all!

Dear Friends and Family,

Every day we remember how blessed we are that you believe in us. Every day we remember that we are not here alone. There is a beauty in the breath that comes from that knowledge. The first thing God said that was NOT good was to be alone.
Some of you may feel alone right now. Know that God says that is NOT good. And know that you are not alone. We are together in this. You are choosing to be a part of this with us.
Together.
Christ, us, you.
Together.