We're Going to Africa!!

see the little yellow country on the bottom right?


portrait of a girl from Mozambique.

It looks like we are really going to get to go to Africa for the summer. God willing, our family will be serving in Mozambique (one of the poorest countries in the world) from the end of May to the beginning of August...of this year! We do not know if this will turn into a long-term commitment, but we know we want to develop a relationship with a country in Africa and keep going back, year after year...that is one of our dreams as a family.

Zach will take a leave of absence from his job (or quit if that is not possible) and we will take a leap of faith. Since he has Type 1 diabetes, there is not an insurance carrier in the world (at least that we know of) that would take him on as a patient. He will take good care of himself while he is there, and we will pay out-of-pocket for his supplies (it's not a huge deal.) I am just explaining why we feel the need (in general) to stay connected to a large corporation with group benefits, etc. And why being long-term missionaries seems sometimes out of reach. I confess, though...faith is not the biggest fruit of my Spirit :) I struggle with trusting God at times. While I know that He most certainly can heal and provide for His children, I find myself thinking that he will somehow overlook me. Oh, to have the faith of a child!

We did not think we would be able to go this year, simply because until a month ago, we did not even have a birth certificate (let alone a passport) for our Max. But, one door after another has opened and in no time, we are on our way to getting him a passport. We will turn in the boys' applications this week. The man at the social security office told me that we would have to wait several months for a social security card (since Max is adopted) and that they had to verify his birth certificate with the state, etc (blah, blah, blah)...but then he plugged some numbers and looked at me as though a miracle had occurred and said, "I've never seen this happen before, but all of the numbers matched up, and you will be getting his card in 7-10 days." Isn't that cool?!! A few other doors have opened too, and we really feel we should seize the opportunity to break away and spend our summer pouring out our lives and loving the orphans we feel so called to serve. If all goes as planned, we will be serving alongside Heidi and Rolland Baker's team at Iris Ministries in Pemba, Mozambique. We're excited. We considered forgoing the trip to Africa and simply continuing to save for our next adoption. And as good of an idea as that seemed, we feel that we are getting the "green light" to go to Mozambique and the "yellow light" on adopting. We feel so sure that we'll have a little girl from Africa named Zadie someday, but we don't know exactly when. We are just thankful for God's leading and know that His ideas (and His timing) are much better than ours :)

Love,
Kate