Saturday, December 17, 2005

In Guinea

Hey Prayer Buddies,

The team just got back from a 8 hour ride into the northern part of the country visiting some missionaries there and visiting some unreached villages ... some of the team taking 4 hour hikes just to get there ...

Everyone is healthy and safe so far, so thanks for your prayers ... but it's been pretty challenging for some of the people on the team ... so please continue to pray for strength, joy, energy and protection for all of us.

Next week is a 13 hour ride to some never-before-reached villages and people groups! Exciting stuff!!! Pray for Christ to shine through the team ... and for healing and salvation for the land. You're prayers are making a difference in our lives ... thank you!!

Monday, December 05, 2005

Thailand and Guinea Teams


Pray for us ... =O) Thank you!

Guinea: December 5-31

Thailand: December 5-23

Morocco: November 28-January 28


We'll be meeting at the airport at 10AM tomorrow (Monday) morning for those coming out to see the teams off. Partner with us by being a very precious prayer shield for our teams! We cherish each prayer lifted up on our behalf ... remembering that "your prayer support is our life support!"

I also added a slideshow of various pictures I took from my Melbourne trip a couple of weeks back. You can view them here.

All the team members are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us during our mission trips. It's been a wild ride so far during prep ... and it's only just begun! We'll try and update when we can ... blessings to you all and have a great Christmas! =)

Currently Listening
All That You Can't Leave Behind
By U2
Grace


Friday, December 02, 2005

We Got It!!!!!

We have visas!!

Hey, thanks for those who were praying for our visa situation for Guinea. I just got word 1 minute ago that the Guinea offices gave the OK for us to go in. Just in time ... that's the timing of God. So thanks again ... wow, we're not even there yet and there's been so many adventures for our team this year.

We also recently got word that we'll have to move out of our current place of worship for Sundays (Riverside High School's Gym) ... so now a new adventure begins of looking for a new place to have our weekend services before the new year (not a lot of time!).

Can you please pray for God to provide the right place for us? I have a feeling that next year is going to be a year of new changes for our ministry as well ... and this news only confirms it in various ways. God's keeping us all on our toes ... and keeping our lives pretty interesting I would say! =) Thankful for your prayers ...

EDIT: "Hello, hello" ... and we also have Vertigo ...

U2 Tickets!! I picked up my U2 tickets today and will be keeping them in a safe place until March 31, 2006. =) Nice! I must have been one of the first people to pick them up because my conversation with the guy at the box office was like this:

Me: "I'm here to pick up my U2 tickets."

Guy: "What? U2? They don't go on sale until Monday."

Me: "I know, but I was able to get pre-sale tickets early."

Guy: (looking at me very questionably ... either very doubtful or very jealous or both =P)

Me: "I heard you just need my name and confirmation number." (so I give it to him ... he types in my name and info and out come my U2 tickets ... and I walk away very happy).

Hee hee hee ... so giddy now ...

Listening To ...
Jars of Clay
By Jars of Clay
Flood

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Interesting Updates ...


An urgent prayer request:

We were supposed to receive our Guinea visas by now, but it seems that the Guinea offices are having second thoughts about giving them to us (!) ... they called yesterday to let us know (!) ... how nice of them to give us so much time to work with! So we'll find out tomorrow (Friday) if we have them or not. We also need our passports returned to us by their offices by Monday (the day we're supposed to leave!) in order to even get to France (the country we're flying through). So now everything is a race against the clock ... (how exciting!) =p

Our flight is at 6PM on Monday, as long as we get our passports mailed back (FedEx) by the morning or afternoon, we can do some debating in France for the Guinea visas ... otherwise there may be a new country God wants our team to go to this year that we didn't know about prior! Again ... how exciting(!?) =) So please pray for God to open the right doors and for our team to be ready to go anywhere He desires. God's been making this year's missions prep so interesting so far ... =)

On a lighter note:

My buddy from San Francisco, Sam Baik, and his brother Ben arrived yesterday morning and will be vacationing in Australia for about 2 weeks.

We went to Morocco and Guinea together earlier this year ... it's good to see him again. We mainly hung out in the city yesterday after the usual visits to the Thai place and Koorong next to my home.

And in order to make me very happy, he gave me the new U2 concert DVD ... hot off the US press =) Muchos gracias for that Sam! How did you know??? =)

And oh yeah ... one more thing ...

I got U2 tickets baby!!!!!!!!!! My unused "special code" from the previous concert tour in the USA opened up the opportunity to buy "pre-sale" tickets for their March 2006 concert in Sydney.

God is good. Tickets go on sale to the public Monday (the day we leave!) ... so that's one less thing for me to worry about on Monday. Thank you God!!!!

But please do pray for our visa situation with Guinea ... and that our team would trust in Him, knowing that He works out all things for the good of those who love Him ... and have been called according to His purpose. I'll let you know what we find out tomorrow. Until then, see you in His presence as we pray ...

Finally Watching ...
U2 - Vertigo 2005 - Live From Chicago (Deluxe Edition)
By U2
DVD Set