Foreign Activities

     Even though we live overseas, I still want our children to have friends, be involved in different activities, and even do some of the same things we did as kids.  One of those I did was 4-H.  Yes, I am a country girl from Kansas.  But, I learned so much from cake decorating, public speaking classes, cooking, and sewing.

     So while at the store the other day, I saw some ladies next to a 4-H sign here in Barbados!  They asked if I had kids and would I like them to join.  We live way out in the country here....takes 20 min to get to nearest store and about an hour anywhere else.  So, hearing that the club meets a few minutes away...I was excited.

     I went to our first meeting, clearly remembering my club growing up- very organized, structured, lots of activities and kids. We got to the meeting at 4, and no one was there for the start time.  After a bit one family showed up, a 15 year old girl, and 2 grandma's.  The grandma's had been in it since they were young and apparently still were a part.  I asked the teen girl what she liked about 4-H and she said, "What's 4-H?"

    At 4:30 a lady came to lead the meeting and proceeded to take another 20 minutes to set up.  Then, she said the club needed officers, named a director, and ME as assistant!  In the next breath she was saying something about me leading the sheep, rabbits, jams and jellies class.  Looking at the time I realized I had to pick the boys up, so I quickly left.  Who knows what else I was signed up for after I was gone.  Sometimes I forget I'm not in Kansas anymore....

Renewed Hope

This is the time we thought we'd be holding our newest baby.  It's a time we are so thankful God has helped bring WISE along and the busyness of getting the school ready to re-open in January has helped us not dwell on the time as much as we had thought we would dread this month.  

But it's still in our minds no matter how much we work on other things.  Several friends have had their babies we were due along with and makes me wish even more we could be there snuggling their babies just to hold a sweet newborn.  

And then just today our teammates and dear friends gave us their beloved recliner they have treasured  for over 30 years.  Getting new things is hard here and very expensive....so this was such a special gift.  Even more so as I had hoped to have one here for a new baby to rock in. 

 So, today I got to just sit and rock in it and treasure in my heart all the things that I have of our little one in heaven.  The sweet ultrasound pic, the doctor's notes, and the song my friend gave me which I will quote below.  It's not much we have, but this unborn was so loved. 

 And while we hope we can fill this chair with another rocking baby, until then God gave me such a renewed hope today.  As I rocked my 4 year old came and snuggled and just wanted to rock and my 9 year old just wanted to be read to in this sweet chair.  I am thankful God has given us this day together.  

This song brought so much peace to me:

1	Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what He deems best, Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest.
2	Every day the Lord Himself is near me, With a special mercy for each hour; All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r. The protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on Himself He laid; “As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,” This the pledge to me He made.
3	Help me then, in every tribulation, So to trust Thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation, Offered me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, E’er to take, as from a father’s hand, One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, Till with Christ the Lord I stand. by A.L. Skoog I do hope and pray whatever you are going through, you can have God's hope too!

Help Needed!

We are still looking for a few more groups to join the help in opening the new WISE campus.  Or if you would like to sponsor some of the work, such as a new roof, flooring in a staff home, or painting the classrooms....we would love the help!  

Contact us on the WISE Facebook page or at wisemissions@gmail.com for more info!  

Foreign Moving

     Moving anytime is trying and crazy. Moving from one country to another country is beyond even comprehension.  I'll try to put into words our last month.  But to do it justice, you'll just have to come visit and see!  So much happened that I did not even probably get it in the correct order of happenings.

1.      We arrived and lived in the dorms for 3 weeks with our family sharing 2 fans in what the locals are saying the hottest heat wave in 14 years.  Lucky us!
2.  Internet we were told would take 2 weeks to a month to install.  We are still waiting after the one month mark:)  Thankfully we got local cell phones that gave us free 30 days of e-mail.  
3. The electric was pretty bad here and ancient, so we had our first group arrive and there were 3 electricians with the group!
4. Beckett got impetigo.  Thankfully it is very contagious and our teammate Doctor had brought the medicine and none of the rest of us caught it!
5. The past owner had left a fridge....it did last us 2 days!  And then it died.
6. The containers of stuff took 3 weeks to process since the workers were on a government strike. Once we did get them, our furniture and bedding was all moldy because of being packed away in the humidity for 4 months.  Thankfully there are so many clotheslines all over and the sun dries them in an hour!
7. The water has been going out once a week for about 4-6 hours.  You would think we would figure this out and store some.....but even with a group of 19 here currently yesterday we were caught with empty jugs.  
8. For 3 weeks we could not get the school truck out of customs and had no vehicle and so we had a fast learning curve of learning the buses.  We are in the far country.  So, it is about a mile walk through hot cane fields to the reliable bus stop.  If you catch it right they go every hour.  Then, about an hour into the nearest place for groceries.  So it pretty much takes up half a day to get your food.  Thankfully the previous owners left their old van and thanks to a friend it started running. So this last week we have 2 running vehicles now!   
9. Millipedes, centipedes, monkeys, and mongoose are all over the place here.  We wondered which was getting into the pantry each night and realized it was just the local cat.
10. The farmer next to us has cattle, so twice they have been found hurt in the grass.  Who doesn't love free beef:)
11. We got our licenses.  The challenging part for me was not driving on the other side of the road, it was learning to drive a stick shift on the opposite side!
12. We have been visiting the local churches in our brotherhood.  On Saturday night one of the preachers asked Brice to preach the next day.  I was a bit worried that 12 hours notice to preach would not be enough time for Brice to bathe it in prayer and prepare a sermon, but God used the message to have several come forward for prayer and decisions.  
13. We put a tile floor into our home and one of the men who was coming had to cancel. So, Dave and Brice did the tiling and Pam and I learned how to grout.  So if you need tile work now, we could be willing.

These are a few stories of life the last few weeks.  Every step of the way God has seen us through and provided and we are so thankful!  

   

We are finally moved in and had our first family dinner together!  P.S. The previous owners left their piano....what a fun surprise!

The Perfect Family

     Sometimes we just have to laugh when things get crazy.  Here are a few crazy moments that we can now laugh at from this summer:

     We were running late to a church...Brice was supposed to be preaching and we were about 10 minutes late.  Though we live in the Caribbean on island time, we still always try to be on time.  So my planning side was sweating and I was frustrated at my husband over our lateness.  Usually we start off with a prayer in the car for the morning, not this morning we were arguing.  After the hour drive, Brice rushes out into the church and as I get the kids one of our boys started fussing saying he was tired of churches and throws a fit he doesn't want to go to church.  I knee his backside and say, "You love church and you are going!"  All this in the parking lot.  As we sneak into the front....we hear the pastor saying as he introduced our family, "If you've only spent a few minutes around this people you will see how genuine and loving and perfect they are."  Ha!  The people who saw us in the parking lot know the truth:)

     Driving to another church in KY we had not had time for breakfast or to stop, so I found a bag of fruit snacks and an orange for our youngest and tossed them at him in the back of the van.  Right as we pull up to into the church parking lot, Paxson threw up all over the borrowed car and blankets.  Because of the drive to the next church that night.....we were thankful we had windows that rolled down until we were able to clean the car!

  At one church we could not find our youngest after church was over.  Most everyone had left by then.  After some searching under the pews, we found him drinking all the juice left in the bottoms of people's used cups.

   Our kids often get asked questions as missionaries.  They always thought every church was so big...we are used to a one room open air church.  And they struggled when people asked where they were from.....they would say St. Vincent (where we were) or Barbados (where we are going).  We laughed when our middle son insisted one Sunday School class that they told him he was from Missionary instead of Barbados or St. Vincent.

   We're thankful for laughter and fun times and ready for more adventure! And we are so thankful for grace!

"That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household" Eph 2:19-22.  Thankful for being apart of the body of Christ!

Only 2 days left here

     We do have a unique life.  While waiting for the closing of the new property for the school, we were in the states for our longest furlough of 3 months.  This meant 3 months of basically living out of our uncle's car.  On the passenger side we had our office- documents, cards, applications to mail students, etc.  Unless we happened to be at our parent's homes for a few nights in a row we lived out of our suitcases in visiting church friends homes.  So, while we love the United States and all it offers and love seeing dear friends and family and meeting new ones - we are so thrilled to be able to be in our home.

     We are not sure what to expect when we arrive in a few days.  It may take a few days to get electricity and water going.  OR it could take a week or more!  It will take awhile to get our stuff via boat.  We do not have transportation and live in the country.  So, we'd ask your prayers for our excitement to be home there to continue and for us all to be patient as we get settled in. And if you don't hear from us....be patient may be awhile for internet.

     This move we have seen God growing WISE as applications come in for new students and we are so grateful to the groups coming to help ready the campus this fall.  With growth and a move, we have found their to be additional costs and would appreciate your prayers for the following

- additional monthly support
- new students getting their visas to come
-our residencies
-the schools accreditation process
-the building to sell in St. Vincent

     If you are interested in more information or would like to help partner with us, please contact us at wise missions@gmail.com.  We would be happy to send you a prayer calendar, prayer picture cards, brochures, etc.

     Support is sent to
     WISE
     PO Box 8098
     Columbia, MO 65205

Growing and Moving

     So much to share and we have been on the road lots without Internet.  While we waited for the move in date (August 24th), God has done so many neat things!  Some have been teaching us to wait on His will and timing.  If you do not get our newsletter and want to see pictures and more on the latest move, please message us with your information!

      Some amazing things that have happened lately with the mission:

- One new church and 2 new supporters have committed to monthly giving as the school grows.  We are still praying for more, but so thankful for these!

- With our time waiting on the closing, our time in the states was longer than a month, so we got extra time with family and kids being in American summer sports.

-Andy Nichols, from OCC, is joining us for the spring semester to teach at WISE.

- Sweet Jenny, the owner of the WISE Center, in Barbados hosted Brice and Co. and they got to inspect the property WISE is buying to grow.

- We had a great pastor's meeting with local pastors in Barbados to help teach in the college there!

- So many have told us of their excitement and prayers for the move!

- Neighbors and Brice and Dave were able to get the shipping containers packed and sent off on the boat in 2 days in SVG!

- A supporting church paid for all the shipping containers!

- We started a new fundraising campaign for the new property and so many dear supporters have helped us almost reach $8,000 of the $10,000 matching grant that was given.

- New friends and pastors helped get inspections going for the school to soon open in Barbados.

- Applications have started coming in for new students in the new property of 6 acre college!

- Several groups have committed to coming to help ready to campus for the new start!

- Our van and gas travel was donated by family this summer.

- Dear partners and board members sent us on a special family time trip this past week to be together as our family and to have fun together.

- We have traveled over 10,000 miles seeing so many dear friends and churches, we are so blessed to have so many great partners!

-Two more weeks and we move into the new school......nothing beats having a dresser than a suitcase!


So so humbled and grateful for all God is doing and that we get to be a part of it!