Ethiopia again!

We are planning another trip to Ethiopia - Lee and Pam this time! It's in the early stages so nothing is quite firm yet - but we are praying and beginning to plan. The school that is there will be graduating their first senior class and I hope to go and tutor the children to help them pass their exam - it is given in English! I also hope to work with the younger children. Lee hopes to go and work more at the school on construction - perhaps a bathroom. We are planning early because it will be a large trip with both of us going and will take lots of prayer! Please pray with us as we see what God brings our way!

Ethiopia

Thank you so much for sending me to Ethiopia. Our trip was a success in terms of accomplishing the water project but more important the fact that the villagers knew why we had come so far. We had several set backs throughout the week which was almost expected, but the final set back, as discouraging as it was, God used for His purse. On the morning of the last day, we woke up to find that one of the villagers had vandalized our work. He had been one of the workers that had helped through the week, but was angry that he wasn’t asked to work the last day. The elders of the village called a meeting. The young man was given grace for his actions and apologized to the elders and to us. Although he had to pay a fine, we showed forgiveness and were able to demonstrate God’s forgiveness and grace. During the gathering, my partner on the trip, Bob, was able to give a clear presentation of the gospel that I believe will bear fruit. We were able to finish fairly late in the day and when we left they had a water system that will help them every day. The water is available to members of the village and the school. More importantly, we pray that His living water will flow through their lives in the village of Archebar.

Thank you again for your prayers and support!

Lee's Home!

Yea! Lee arrived safely back home! He had a wonderful time - said it was full of a LOT of work. But they accomplished the task and shared about Jesus! He'll write in a few days and I'll update the blog. His pictures are amazing...still trying to get them off the camera since our cord broke. I just wanted to let you know he was back safe and sound.

www.flickr.com

Getting Ready - Lee to Ethiopia

Well, Lee is getting ready for Ethiopia! He will be leaving October 9. Please pray for him as he prepares for this big trip...pray for him spiritually and physically. Pray that God will prepare the way for their journey and the hearts of the people there. Pray that Lee will be touched as well by the journey. It will be a physically demanding trip but I think he is excited for what is to come! I doubt I will be able to post blogs during his trip...I don't think I will have any contact with him until he touches ground back in the US. But check just in case!

PTL he has raised 3/4 of his money. He needs about $400 more. God is good! He always provides and we thank all the people who have supported his trip. I know he will be contacting people after the trip. As most of you know, he is not much of a computer person :-) . That's why I write the blog for him!

Pictures up top... I was able to see Lauren run at Stanford this weekend. That was exciting! Yea Lauren! Her team placed 3rd behind Stanford and UC Davis. APU beat out a lot of big schools so they were quite excited to place 3rd!

Praying...

Brett will be going with his school to Jamaica next summer. He is taking a missions class and this is the "culmination" of the course. It's exciting!

Our family has been on so many mission trips these past few years. It's amazing, really. I never would have imagined it! God always amazes me...His plans are always so much bigger. This year I decided "no more trips for a while...need to save for college..." Leaving Brazil last year, I knew I wanted to go back. And I still have such a heart for Mozambique! I am praying about both areas again. Myself says, "no, I'm staying home." But I want what God wants...what does HE want me to do? Please pray that I listen to Him whatever He tells me. I want His will...not mine. Pray that I don't shut down His opportunities...or try to open ones that aren't His calling. Thank you!

Lee to Ethiopia!

Yes, Lee will be going to Ethiopia in October! Please start praying for him and his small team! He will be going with one other man from our trip (Bob) and 2 men from the Ethiopian Church in Sacramento. They will traveling to a small village at the 10,000 foot level to install a water filter system and bring water down from a hill to the nearby village. Seifu, one of the men going, grew up in this village. He started a small Christian School there. Some of you may remember a book drive I held for the school 2 years ago.

Support! He needs a lot of it!

First, he needs prayer support! Begin praying NOW!

Secondly, he needs financial support. He needs to raise almost $3,000.The group needs to raise over $10,000 just for the water system. Checks may be mailed to Lakeside Church / Lee Jimison Ethiopia. Email me and I'll send you the address of the church.

Check back for updates! Did you read about my recent BRAZIL trip?

Trip Recap!

It's hard to believe I'm home! I must say Brazil was an amazing trip...much more than I could even describe. It was the hardest trip I've been on - physically and emotionally - yet the best. I would love to give you a day to day recap...but I also know people are busy and don't want to read every last detail!

We ran 2 weekend camps for about 80 kids. The camps were held at Camp California...a very beautiful area! And once you know where the kids come from, you realize how much the camp means to them. At camp we had fun time where kids swam and played, games, crafts, and Bible stories. Our theme was the Olympics and I did puppet shows with Rauel for the bible stories. What was soooo wonderful was sharing the good news of JESUS at camp with the kids! Even "the professor" came to camp and did a magic presentation. I think camp to them is much like Hume Lake to many kids here in California...it can be a life changing experience. For my ending chapel, I spoke to the kids about running a race...they had 2 choices how to run it... they could have a ball and heavy metal chain tied around their race and run over the hurdles all the way to the finish...or...they could have an Olympic athlete runner run with them who would untie the chain, pull them as they ran, and help push them over the hurdles. We wrapped up by showing them how the ball and chain are sin and life without God and the athletic runner is Jesus who can release them of their chain and run with them...the hurdles (difficulties in life) are still there, but Jesus will help them through them to the finish. Camp was wonderful and amazing and I fell in love with so many of the kids I wanted to take them home with me in my backpack!

The rest of my time there during the weeks were spent at the favelas. It's hard to explain the favelas. People who live in favelas are lower than poor, low cast citizens. There are no laws or rules in favelas and they are all run by drug lords. The kids are constantly exposed to drugs, sex, and violence. As on example, I saw a cute little boy playing with a dog. He was, I thought, trying to get the dog to play tug. So I asked someone to translate for me. The boy was actually saying, "Come on dog. I'm going to shoot you. Put this in your mouth so I can shoot you." Another girl, age 13, is a prostitute and uses the money for drugs but last year used part of the money for underwear to attend the camp. This year she came and has a new baby. She is a very troubled girl and without going into major details, became enraged at a boy at camp and wanted to kill him. In fact, she took a knife at camp and hid it to return to later during our night game of "Monge" to retrieve the knife and kill him in the dark. Luckily, it didn't happen. Another girl, age 9, told me she was going to have her "honeymoon" later that day. This is normal life in a favela. I thought I had seen the worst on my Africa trips, but I must say that the Brazilian favelas are worse. Not only are the people extremely poor, but the violence and drugs are so ridiculously out of control! One member of our team was mugged while downtown our last day there.

I would love to write about everything, but I don't think most people want to read a novel on a blog! I can sum it up by saying that it was the worst yet the best. Living conditions are awful, but loving the kids and sharing Jesus with them was amazing. I am so excited that I could share HIS MESSAGE clearly with them and I hope and pray that it touched the life of at least one child there because then it is all worth it.

Please continue to pray for Restoration MInistries. Many of the workers are overworked and underpaid. Many of them grew up in the favelas themselves. They are beautiful, loving people, with a heart for God!

I had special kids I bonded with if you could pray for them... Bruna, Joa' Paulo, Alvaro, Danielo, Camile and Giselle. Please lift them up in your prayers.

Thank you so much to my supporters. You really can't imagine all it has meant to me to be able to go to Brazil and share Jesus with these dear children. They really need love. They need Jesus. I know this was an impact to many of them. I'll try to put up more pictures on utube in the next few weeks that will fill in more of the story!

Choi and Obrigada!

Thursday in Brazil

Hi family and friends!
This will have to be a quick blog update. I don~t have much time on the computer here. I am trying to upload a few pictures for you. We~ve been very very busy with lots and lots of kids! One day we had 150 at vbs and we~ve held one camp. Today we are at another favela doing vbs and this weekend we will run another camp. I must say out of all my mission trips, this one has allowed me to SHARE the good news of Jesus directly with kids! It~s great.
The poor kids live in meager conditions but their main problem is drugs, drug trafficing, prostitution, and violence. Today~s favela was right in the middle of a large drug trafficing area. All the men were on each corner...but they gave permission for Restoration Ministries to be there. Last night I counted 12 gun shots outside our hotel.
Keep praying for our work here and that we are able to share Jesus with the kids. Pray for our health because I~ve had a chest cold. I can~t write more but I will write a longer update when I get home!! Thanks!!
PS...I couldn~t get the pictures to upload from here so you~ll have to wait! sorry! obrigada