Urgent Prayer Request For My Granddaughter In Africa

I was in the midst of planning a post to introduce my daughter, Amy Morrow, and her family's work in Zambia, Africa-- where she, her husband, Tom and their six children recently begun receiving orphans into an orphanage they are building-- however, circumstances brought my plans forward...

(Written from a message sent by JoAnne Leppo --Tom's Mother:)

...I just received a call from Tom in Zambia. Two of their daughters were very sick from measles that they contracted from one of the orphans last week when, yesterday, 12 year-old Jasmine's fever got so high that Amy took both girls to the local clinic.

They were tested for malaria and it seems that Jasmine possibly has cerebral malaria-- which can be fatal. She hadn't eaten for five days and reacted badly to the medicine the doctor gave to stop the vomiting.

Both girls are now on IVs; Jennifer's fever has subsided-- but Jasmine is still serious.

The clinic doesn't have facilities for further testing, and she couldn't survive the 12-hour ride to the capital's hospital-- so they are taking her to a hospital two hours away, where a Russian doctor is going to meet them. If they can't help her, they will possibly life-flight her to Lusaka or South Africa.

So please desperately pray for Jasmine's life and health-- and Amy as she makes many needed decisions.

Tom is at the mission with the other children. He just returned from a trip in the bush trip-- three days of Bible classes and ministering to tribes. As soon as he got back, lightening struck-- damaging their Internet system and the control box for their water-pump. They are also in the midst of the longest power-outage they've ever had.

So, on top of the children's sicknesses, they also have no Internet, no running water-- and only emergency battery lights.

They are, as you know, quite isolated, so please pray for their encouragement, strength and against any further problems...

I'll write more as soon as I receive news. I don't think there will be any updates on their site for a while-- due to the lightening strike mentioned above-- but you can learn about the Morrows and their work here:

http://www.missionaryfamily.com/

Wedding in the Park

Angela, the beautiful bride in the photo at left, asked me,

“Would you stand in for my father at my wedding?”

I was honored. I knew Bruce Storm as a friend and missionary co-worker until he passed away 12 years ago at only 42 years-old-- when cancer interrupted his preparations for a mission to Vietnam.

The bride and groom, Kebo and Angela, met in Thailand where Kebo had gone from Japan as a volunteer following the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and Angela was already serving there as a missionary.

During the ceremony, Kebo and Angela exchanged vows of love and commitment to each other-- as well as confirming their desire to continue to dedicate their lives to Jesus in service to Him and others.

The simple outdoor ceremony in a large mountaintop park included our Alps Missionary community, Kebo's Japanese family-- including his missionary parents and friends.

Congratulations!

Holiday Hitching Japanese Style

Andrew (10) and I took advantage of our being free from school for about three weeks to visit our friends in Fukuoka (see pics here). We used our (now) tried and proven method of travel- hitchhiking at toll-road service areas with signs.

The 'thumb' method isn't really understood by Japanese motorists, but by positioning ourselves near the restaurants and restrooms with signs explaining what we're doing and where we're going, we get plenty of interest -- especially as 外国人 geijin (outside country people). A few folks picked us up for free English lessons, but most seemed to be motivated by a blend of various degrees of curiosity and kindness.

We had beautiful weather nearly the entire week that we were gone-- though we had to wait out the typhoon that grazed Fukuoka the night before we left to come back. Even a late night wait on the way down meant I could put my feet up and enjoy the full moon while Andrew dozed beside me.

A big THANK YOU to all the folks we met along the way and to the families with whom we stayed and played-- the Fukuoka Firecracker Home and Crystal and family-- also Funatsu-san, Aiko, Pamela, and their families-- Claudia, Megumi, and others . We love and miss you (that's why we visited!) and will look forward to seeing you again.

Big White Dog

Andrew [age 10]

One day was really hot. It was summer. I didn’t want to go out, but we went anyway. I was a little sad because it was so hot. When we got to the park, I saw a big white dog, and I started to cheer up a little.

I asked the man if the dog bites, and if I could pet it. He said, ‘yes’. So I started witnessing to him and I gave him a tract. He said he had a flower shop and where it was.

The next day, we went to the flower shop, told him about Jesus and he prayed to ask Jesus into his heart. We also met his wife. He and his wife just retired from the Air Force. She was in ‘intelligence’- a spy! And he gave us a picture of himself flying a fighter jet.

We went back to visit them and they told us they really liked the Activated Magizine that we gave them. We kept going back to visit them, play with their dog and give them more Activated mags. They told us that they really appreciated them.

I’m happy I went out that day, even though I didn’t want to. Today we got a letter from them and a photo of their dog, so I wanted to write about them.