We're home!

Hello everyone!

We made it! We're home all safe and sound! Thanks so much to all of you for your prayers, love, and support over the past 7 weeks! God truly changed our lives through this trip, we will never be the same! We can't wait to sit down with all of you and show you our pictures and share more stories that we didn't have time to post on here. Right now I'm really just at a loss for words. God truly has done exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond all that we ever could have imagined for this trip! We can't thank and praise Him enough for giving us the opportunity to serve Him in South Africa! All glory and praise to Him, for HE IS WORTHY!!!

May God richly bless each of you!

Abby & Shelly

A few final pictures!

Here are a couple of photos from this past week that we never posted...

This is Amanda...

And this is Shirley...

Susan reading a story to some of the kids from the preschool...

Our girls group for the "What the Bible Says About Sex" Bible Study. Because the electricity was out at that time we had to do it by candlelight...

Playing "Down by the banks" with the kids. They loved it! :)

Playing guitar...

Well, hope you enjoyed these final pictures! Please keep us in your prayers as we fly home tomorrow. Our flight leaves at 2:00 p.m. home time. We should arrive in Newark at about 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Love,
Abby & Shelly

Week #7 Prayer Update

Sorry, once again that this is a little delayed! Yesterday and today we were at a game drive, which was a lot of fun! This evening we took Amanda & Shirley to the airport, so they are probably on their way home by now, so please keep them in your prayers! Just 2 more days and we'll be the ones flying home. That's crazy!

So here is our final prayer and praise update...

Praises:

• Amanda & Shirley - For the time they gave up to come and serve with us here. They were a huge blessing to us and to the people here as well.
• Electricity - After almost 2 weeks of the electric being off at Ebenezer it finally came back on today! Praise God!
• Game Drive - For safe travels to and from and just for a good time of fellowship and refreshment. It was awesome to get to see the animals and marvel at God's beautiful creation!
• Just for the amazing trip that God has blessed us with. He has taught us both so much and definitely changed our lives!

Prayers:

• Safety - Please pray for Amanda & Shirley's safety as they fly home and also a smooth and quick recovery from jet-lag. Also keep our upcoming journey home in your prayers. We will be flying by ourselves so please pray for our safety and that everything would go smoothly.
• Goodbyes - That God would give us the strength and peace that we need to say goodbye to all these beautiful people that we've built relationships with over the past 7 weeks. It's going to be hard, and I'm sure we'll both be in tears! We're excited to come home, but not looking foward to the goodbyes, that's for sure!
• Our adjustment back to life in America - Please pray for strength as we go home and adjust to the time change and just normal life back in America. But also pray that God would continue to impress upon our hearts the things that He has taught us here and that He would show us how this experience should change our daily lives at home. We have now tasted what it is like to live life outside of our comfort zones and we never again want to settle for the "normal", lukewarm, mediocre Christian life. So please just keep that all in your prayers!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers over the past 7 weeks! You have all been such a blessing to us!

Love,
Abby & Shelly

A Quick Little Update...

Hi all!

Just thought we'd post a quick little update to let you all know what we're up to. Our final days are just flying by here! They are jam-packed with activity. Our mornings are spent with the preschool kids, singing songs, telling Bible stories, and doing crafts, games and puzzles. Right now they are apparently replacing the roof on the preschool building because there were so many leaks and stuff, so we are unable to use those facilities in the morning with the kids. So we have all been in the dinning hall which has been interesting. The first morning was a total disaster, but thankfully this morning was a lot less chaotic, so that's good!

In the afternoons we spend some time with the elderly, reading to them, rubbing lotion on their hands and just visiting with them. Shirley has also been taking all the young boys out to the soccer field for 2 hours in the afternoon and playing with them. They all love it! :)

Then in the evening we have our Bible Study with the youth using the book "What the Bible Says About Sex". So far that has gone very well! The youth have all been very open and receptive, which is a praise!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as our time here winds down and we prepare to go home. Goodbyes are going to be difficult for sure! But we are both very excited to come home too!

Love and miss you all!

Abby & Shelly

Our House

So we only have a week of our trip left and we're just now posting pictures of our house. Sorry about that! :) It certainly isn't finished yet, but it's getting there slowly but surely. Here are some before and after pictures for you. We'll start with our bedroom.

So this is before...

Just gotta love those pink walls!

And after...

Then the main room in the house before...



And after...

And here's one of the bathroom and storage room addition that's being put on our house. This was taken a few weeks ago, so by now there's a roof on and stuff. We're just waiting for the toilet to go in and the shower to get all hooked up. Maybe we'll get to use it once before we go home. :)

Can't wait to get home and share the rest of our pictures with you all!

Love,

Abby & Shelly

Week #6 Prayer Update

Hello everyone!

First of all, the lack of updates on the blog has been due to the fact that the power has been out at Ebenezer for a week now so we haven't been able to get online much. We're hoping that the electricity will come back on tomorrow!

Just a quick little update for you all. Amanda and Shirley arrived safely on Friday night and are doing very well so far. Because our house at Ebenezer is so tiny, right now half of us are staying at a near by conference center at night and the other half are staying at Ebenezer. We are going to rotate back and forth during the week so that we all have turns having hot showers and using clean toilets at the conference center. :) This week we are going to be kept pretty busy, so I'm sure the time will just fly by.

Here's our prayer and praise update for week #6...

Praises:

• That Amanda & Shirley arrived safely on Friday night and are adjusting quickly and are already being a blessing to us and the people here at Ebenezer.
• That we were all able to get hot showers on Friday night at the conference center. :) I'm not going to say how long we had gone without taking showers because, well, it's just kind of gross! :) But let me tell you, I don't think a shower has ever felt so nice as it did on Friday night!We couldn't remember when we last had a hot shower, so we all just soaked it up and took nice long showers! :) 

Prayers:

• Health - Shelly was sick all day on Friday, and Bill is fighting a nasty cold, so continue to keep us in your prayers that we would remain strong and healthy.
• Preschool - This week since Amanda and Shirley are here we are planning to do a VBS type of program in the Preschool. Our theme is going to be on health and hygiene and stuff like that. In addition to teaching the kids how to take care of their bodies we'll also be doing Bible lessons, songs, games, and crafts every day. So please keep all of that in your prayers!
• Our last week here - Pray that as we come down the home stretch we would finish well and that in our last week here we would be able to be a blessing to all the people that we come in contact with. Also pray that God would continue to prepare our hearts to go home.
• Electricity - Please pray that it comes back on soon! :) Without it for a week you run out of water, and the toilets get all backed up and stuff, so pray that tomorrow would be the day that it would come back on!
• Youth Bible Study - In the evenings this week we are going to be doing a study with the youth based on the book "What the Bible Says About Sex". This is a huge issue here that never gets addressed, so that is why we are going to be doing this study with the youth at Ebenezer. Pray that the youth would have open hearts and minds and that through this study they would choose to live a life of purity. Also pray that we would all have wisdom as we lead the study.
• Patience & Flexibility

Thank you again for each of your prayers and the constant encouragement and support that you all give us. We appreciate it so very much! Just one more week and we'll be home again. Crazy!

Love you all!

Abby & Shelly

Photos

Here are some photos from this week so far...

This is Sebastian, a volunteer from Germany who was here at Ebenezer for 10 days. He helped us a lot in the preschool and we really enjoyed serving with him and getting to know him.

We visited the elderly this afternoon and read the Bible to them and rubbed lotion on their hands.

Hope you are all having a blessed week!

Abby & Shelly

Please Pray!

Hi all!

We would just like to ask you to pray for us, we definitely feel like the enemey is attacking right now. It seems that all our efforts here are being undone. We're having some issues with some of the people here at Ebenezer. We were able to have a meeting with everyone tonight which helped a lot. But please keep us in your prayers that God would give us the wisdom and patience we need to handle each situation.

Tonight at Bible Study, Satan was certainly attacking! There were people laughing, yelling, and carrying on while we're trying to worship and read God's Word. It was just very difficult and discouraging! So please keep us all in your prayers! Thanks so much!

Oh, and one more thing. We had asked for prayer concerning the Crisis Intervention Program that we were going to be starting this week. Well those plans kind of fell through. Not enought children showed up to make it worth while, so we are not going to be doing that this week after all. Just thought we'd let you know that. God is definitely teaching us how to have flexibility! Each day we must let go of our own agendas and wills and exchange them for what God has in store for us. So continue to pray that we would remain flexible and willing vessels that the Lord can use.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. We love and miss you all!

Abby & Shelly

Pictures

Here's a few photos from this past week. Enjoy!

Taking the elderly on a walk...

Hope you are all having a wonderful week-end!

Shelly & Abby

Week #5 Prayer Update

Prayers...

• Crisis Intervention Program - We are starting a program to help some of the kids here who have lost their parents or a loved one. So we will be doing that in the afternoons this week. Please pray that the kids would be open and that God would use this program to comfort and heal them.
• Amanda & Shirely - They arrive this coming Friday, so pray for safe travels and that the Lord would prepare their hearts for their time with us here.
• Our last 2 weeks here - Pray that the remainder of our time here would be fruitful and that we would be able to be a blessing to the people here. Also pray that God would continue to prepare our hearts to go home and apply what we have learned here on this trip.
• Health & Strength
• Patience & Flexibility

Praises...

• That our house is coming closer to completion every day. Maybe it will be done by the time we leave. :)
• That we are both healthy
• The weather has warmed up a bit! :)
• The elderly responded very well to our time spent with them this past week.

Love,
Shelly & Abby

Mice & Chicken Feet

So the adventure continues...

All day today the women here at Ebenezer have been preparing a wonderful meal for tomorrow. Chicken feet. :) Needless to say, we will not be eating lunch in the dining hall tomorrow. :) They all think it's the funniest thing that we get so grossed out over these chicken feet. One of the girls actually chased Abby around with chicken feet dangling from her hands. Gross! :)

But that's not all. Our evening of sitting around the heater peacefully munching popcorn was suddenly interupted by a little guest. A mouse. :) The next hour was spent in a mad chase trying to get it out of the house. We finally succeeded only to have the persistent little guy come right back in! By this time we were all in tears, practically rolling on the floor laughing! :) Don't worry though, we finally did get him out of the house. So now we can sleep in peace! :) The best part is that we got it all on video! Can't wait to show you when we get home. It's pretty funny! :)

Hope you all are having a week-end full of adventures like us! :)

Love,

Abby & Shelly

Real quick.....

Bill and Susan asked Shelly and I to pass this along to all of you.

Help TentMaker Ministries bring the Word of God to the orphans, vulnerable children and caregivers they minister to in Africa by casting a vote for them in the Giving of Life Grant initiative at http://www.givingoflife.com/browse/tentmaker_ministries/ . The 10 ministries receiving the most votes between now and November 4 make the finals. Please vote for TentMaker Ministries every day, share the link and encourage all your friends to do so also!

Thanks!

Abby & Shelly