What is Stateside Assignment?

Stateside Assignment is what used to be called "furlough."  So what do we do while we are in the states?  For the most part, we try to educate the local SBC church on our people groups and our work.  We visit churches and tell them about all that we do and challenge them to get involved by praying, giving, and going themselves.  Especially, during this time of the year we are traveling a lot and speaking in many churches to help promote the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  You can check in my sidebar and click on Who was Lottie Moon if you do not know who she was and why we as Southern Baptists take up this offering.  Above is a recent picture of Kevin and I at a missions fair that we attended.  We set up a table with some things from Zambia and information about our work and then talked with people who were interested in hearing about what God is doing in our part of the world.
Another part of "stateside assignment" is that we have to get medical clearance to go back to Zambia.  So, we have lots of physicals to complete and make sure we are healthy.
Kevin also is still doing his job that he does in Zambia from here.  He is now in  more of an administrative position so he spends a lot of time on skype and by email with our missionaries.  He is also working on his PHD while we are here in the states so that is taking a lot of his time as well. 
Lastly, we get to enjoy spending time with family and friends whom we haven't seen in 4 1/2 years.  Perhaps the hardest thing about being a missionary is being separated from our families for so long.  What a blessing it is for us that we can have time with them for a while.  Of course, we also enjoy the comforts of living in America-eating out, shopping, fast internet, and having plenty of entertainment at our fingertips.
Do we miss Zambia??  You bet we do!!  But for now we will enjoy our time in the states until March when we go back.
Please pray for us that our time in the states would be fruitful, restful, and anything else that God wants it to be!
Also, you can check out in my sidebar under "Favorite Links" for other information about Lottie Moon and what the offering goes to support.

Corn Maze Fun!

Recently, I took Justin and Hannah to a Corn Maze.  This corn field covers over 6 acres and 2 1/2 miles of path which you have to walk through as you search for hidden letters that spell out Kens Corn Maze.  Our first section took us the longest to get through but we did the whole thing in 58 min.  We had to carry this big flag in case we got lost and needed any help getting out.  Thankfully, we did not have to use it!

You can just get a glimpse of what the field looks like in this pic.

Justin and Hannah

There were a few inflatable climbing things which Hannah enjoyed.

This was a rope maze for kids.  I couldn't figure it out but Justin persevered and finally got it.

Hannah

Hannah and Justin

Me and Hannah

Locks of Love

Hannah's hair before getting it cut.

She's getting it cut.

Here she is holding her hair that was cut off!

View from the back

For the last several months Hannah has been talking about letting her hair grow out so she could send it to Locks of Love.  Finally, she decided that today was the day to do this.  Her hair ended up being shorter than she thought it would be but she is happy that it is going to help someone else.
Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.  If you too are interested in donating your hair you can go to:  http://www.locksoflove.org/

When I grow up....

We had the privilege to go and share a lunch with some retired missionaries in our area of NC a couple of weeks ago.  After we ate a wonderful lunch, each one around the room introduced themselves to us.  They all said, "My name is........ and I served in........(country), for ........ years, and now I'm serving here in Raleigh, NC doing......"
They wanted Kevin to share a little about what we do in Zambia but we just wanted to hear about their experiences on the mission field.  Can you imagine??  In that room were probably 25 missionaries with hundreds of years of experience added together.  We sure could have learned a lot from them!  As they were going around and sharing who they are and what they did and what they do now I got tears in my eyes, because I realized I want to be like them when I grow up.  Even though they served the majority of their life on the mission field and then retired they are still so concerned about their people groups they worked with, the nations, and even where they are living now.  Even though they have retired they have not stopped serving their Lord!  May we all be challenged by these hero's of the faith.  No matter where we are or how old we are we can always seek where God would have us to serve, and then be faithful to do exactly what it is He wants us to do until our last breath.  I think that is what God would have us to do.

Misc. Pics.

Hannah enjoying talking on my phone.

Hannah with a few of her cousins.

Hannah with my dad.

Justin has enjoyed going rock climbing while we have been in the states.

Hannah dressed up for church.  She is so excited because I let her get some shoes with a little bit of heel to it.

Guten tag

Guten tag means "Good day" in German.  Kevin has been studying German since we got home at the end of July.  Why in the world would he do that you might ask?  Well, he has been working on his PHD at Southeastern Seminary for the last couple of years.  He is towards the end of the program now and one of the last few things he has to do is pass a German test.  This big test is this Friday from 9-12.  Please pray for him over the next couple of days as he continues to study that he would retain all this information on grammar and vocabulary and that he would pass this exam on Friday.