Stephen and I are excited about an amazing opportunity God has
presented for us to travel to Bukoba,
Tanzania, June
1, 2014- June 9, 2014, with e3 Partners.
After spending the entire summer before Stephen and I got married in Tanzania, it
has always been the desire of my heart to share my experiences on the Tanzania
Mission Field with my husband. While
several trips have come and gone over the past six and a half years, it has not
been until now that God’s desire has been for us to minister on a short term
mission trip as a couple.
The team we will be working with will consist mostly of
medical professionals along with some “regular” people like me. Stephen will have the primary task of
running a mobile pharmacy as the sole pharmacist on this trip. He will be in charge of gathering meds here
stateside, orchestrating their arrival in Bukoba and dispensing them daily as he works alongside doctors from several different fields of specialty. The mobile clinic will relocate daily in an
effort to reach as many people as possible with not only medical care but most
importantly spiritual care.
I will be working with the evangelism team (which
will include my mom Debbie Pruitt!) We will be partnering with local churches who have a vision to plant new churches where there are none. Our North American team will model for the nationals how to evangelize by sharing our personal testimonies and using evangelism tools to share the gospel. Each North American will also have a translator for the whole week. Each evening we will model how to have a discipleship group to enable the new believers to grow in their faith and learn to study the Bible. While the adults are having their Bible study, a children's meeting will also be taking place to present the gospel to the children with Bible stories, games and activities. By the middle of the week, the nationals we have been training will be ready to do the ministry on their own. We will come alongside each of them as their encouragers and prayer support as they begin to share the Gospel.
We are extremely excited about this opportunity and feel
that God has equipped us as a couple specifically for this trip through
Stephen’s profession as a pharmacist and my love of missions and
specifically the people of Tanzania.
My focus verse for the summer of 2006, in Tanzania was Isaiah 52:7, which reads,
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good
news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who
say to Zion,
‘Your God Reigns!’”
And in Romans
10:14-15, it says,
“How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom
they have not heard? And how can they
hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are
sent? As it is written, ‘Beautiful are
the feet of those who bring good news!’”
The past four years of our lives have been filled with joy along
much heartache as we have tried unsuccessfully to grow our family, but these
things have remained: Our God’s love and compassion which we experience through
our personal relationship with Christ.
It is only through this relationship that we have been able to
experience peace through some of the darkest times of our lives. It is this peace, compassion and love we
desire to share with the people of Bukoba,
Tanzania!
The trip will cost around $7600 for the both of us plus whatever extra we can raise to go towards the purchase of medicines. We have currently raised $5,090.00 through the generous gifts of friends and family over the past couple of months.
If you are interested in giving towards our trip you can visit our fundraising page at
One shoebox: a dollar store doll, silly bands, scratch paper from a 2011-2012 calendar, a mallet, soap, a tooth brush and a high school musical table cloth. As a child, if you had received only the previous in a shoebox for Christmas would you have been grateful?
I ashamedly must answer with a definite NO.
As long as I can remember since moving to Nacogdoches in 1999, I have participated in Operation Christmas Child by either packing a box myself or giving money. I would cram as much "junk" into my shoebox as possible. I knew every little bit would be welcomed but It was not until my first visit to Tanzania in 2005, that I really grasped what these items could mean. What I saw as junk was unimaginable treasure to the person opening that box. But it is the message of salvation through Christ that is the ultimate treasure.
This year was different. This year, while I missed the deadline to actually turn in a box, I was still able to participated. I, alongside 33 men and women from FBC Nac as well as hundreds of others at multiple distribution warehouses across the US, was able to help process and distribute thousands of shoe boxes on Thursday, December 12th. And what a blessing it was!
I had no clue what to expect when we got off the bus in Hurst, TX and entered a large warehouse facility.
After we checked in we were taken through a quick orientation and work began. That day each box would be opened. The money for the shipping was removed and placed into a large locked trunk. Then the box was passed down the line for inspection. The goal was to keep the box as close to how it was originally packed. "Illegal" items were removed (food, liquids, used toys, glass, etc.) and filler items were added in its place (BOBS shoes, plastic rings, TY Beanie Babies, silly bands, etc.). Next tape was wrapped completely around the box to secure its contents, labels were scanned (so each individual could know the destination of their box) and boxes where packed into larger boxes based on age and gender. From here each larger box containing 14-18 shoeboxes (the more you pack the more cost effective) was tapped and then taken away to be packed into a shipping crate. Next stop, a port city and then a ship ride to its country of destination. From 2pm-6pm my sole job was to tape each shoebox closed so its contents would be secure on its trek. These particular boxes for the day were bound for Honduras.
Some things I learned: each item was placed specifically by someone, for someone and God knows who; what we see as junk, others see as treasure, God can use something as simple as a plastic ring to bring His good news and salvation and Samaritans purse IS doing exactly what they say they are doing with the resources given to them.
So next year when you pack your shoebox rest assured your items will be delivered as closely as possible in the manner you packed it. God will use your box to bless not just a child, but their siblings, their parents and many more. And the gospel will be heard!
I can't begin to fully articulate all I am feeling about this experience right now but I hope this has shed a little light. As we are in the midst of our consumer driven, Americanized, first world problems, Christmas season let's take a moment to be thankful: not only for the material things we have but for the Goodnews of Jesus birth. After all as cliche as it sounds, Jesus IS the reason for the season!
So I've dropped the ball and it's already been a month since my fabulous trip to NYC! I have to credit the majority of these pictures to my fellow choir members. I did not take my camera on the trip, only my cell phone, thus almost all you see here are stolen from FaceBook. Oh social media, how I love you (sometimes!).
Becuase it has been over a month and it's a LONG post, please excuse my typo's and bad grammar!
If you've never had the privilege to go on a trip planned by Andre Simon, you are missing out. EVERYTHING is planned from the time you wake up, to what you should wear, to bathroom breaks and when you should breathe; just kidding, um... not really. To see the play by play and exactly how organized it is, check out the website (which could be saved as an app on the iPhone) Andre had created so we there was up to date information the entire trip!
Saturday:
Stephen braved the early morning and got me to the church at 5:30 am. We had prayer time and then headed out. On the bus ride to Houston Jody and I decided we wanted to see Wicked that night as it appeared we would have plenty of time for an evening show. I ordered our tickets on my phone and secured first row seats at a great price. We were pumped! We arrived in Newark around 4:00 pm and took the train to Penn Station where our hotel was located.
(I'd like to make a side note that when I got off the plane I had a gazillion missed text messages from JoDee Woodcock, Jenny Baker and Michael Kinney. Apparently we were going to be doing a Sprint Tri together the Sunday after I would be arriving home from my trip. Micheal was sponsoring us all, I just had to say yes and then everyone would be on board. A free Sprint Tri?, who needs a bike and water the week before a race?! Oh yes I'm in!)
Waiting for the Train to take us to Penn Station and the hotel.
We quickly got to our rooms, changed clothes and headed out to buy our tickets into the city. We (The Millers, The Miller Kids, Jody and I) quickly realized as we were buying the tickets, (from an automated machine) the train was coming and coming in about two minutes. We bought them quickly, but it was one of those situation were the faster you try to do something the harder it becomes. We barely got all the tickets in time, but alas we all made it on board!
I love that Megan is actually concerned with getting our tickets in time. The rest of us...we must document with a pic!
We were very lost and confused once we exited the train in Penn Station, NYC We roamed around train station looking for the actual subway system for quite some time. Once we found our bearings it was too late to head to Little Italy, our originally intended destination for dinner.
Our First NYC Tourist Photo Opp.
Instead, we opted to get off the subway near the theatre district and eat in Times Square. Roxy's was on the menu for that night. They say things are always bigger in Texas. As evidenced by the picture below, THEY aren't always right.
And you know I have a BIG mouth!!!!
After dinner the Miller's headed to Cinderella and Jody and I to Wicked; we planned to meet back up afterwards at the Subway Station. As we arrived at the ticket counter I was worried our tickets wouldn't actually be at will call. I had ordered them on my iPhone and the screen was little. My worst fears started coming true, the lady stated she did not have tickets under the name Wyatt. I got out my phone and gave her my confirmation number from the ticket master email. She then informed me our tickets were for that day's matinee. WHAT?! It wasn't Sunday, they don't have matinees on Saturdays! And so, I fork out the credit card and got two more tickets. We were there to see Wicked and so Wicked we were going to see! These seats actually ended up being much better, about twelve rows back and in the center which saved us from having neck cramps. What an experience!
The Set is AMAZING!
Why no, we did not just take a picture ma'am.
We met up with the Miller's afterwards, navigated our way home, and hit the sack (after a late night two miles on a treadmill, did I mention I was doing a Sprint Tri in less than eight days?). It was an exciting and early day we had planned for Sunday, our first official leg of the tour.
Headed Back to the Hotel
Sunday:
Sunday morning there was a breakfast for just our group at the hotel. Of course I slept as late as possible and arrived downstairs in just enough time to eat and get to the lobby where the bus was to pick us up.
This is where Satan began to mess with us. LONG story short our bus arrived over an hour late and it was not a regular bus. It was a party bus; You know the type you rent for a bachelor party, which I'm pretty sure it was used for the night before as evidenced by the urine and vomit smell that engulfed you as you stepped onto the bus.
Practicing in the Lobby of the Hotel Waiting for the Bus to Arrive
And so we arrived at Somerset Hills Baptist church in Basking Ridge, NJ AFTER the service normally begins. They were gracious and waited for us to setup our bells and then they proceeded as planned. Their service went as usually but we filled the preaching section with our concert. It was so neat to see people truly worshiping as they listened and sang along with us. Satan tried to stop us from arriving, but God saw to it that his message for Somerset Hills would not be stopped.
The landscape was gorgeous!
After the service we were fed a great meal of lasagna, salad, garlic bread and sweet tea along with a Texas Sheet Cake for dessert.
Good food, Great Company!
We loaded up and headed to Calvary Baptist Church in Aberdeen, NJ with a detour at the Bridgewater Commons Mall to kill some time. Yes a few clothes were bought ;)
The church reminded me on the inside of the church I grew up going to in Ruston, LA, Temple Baptist Church, before it moved to its current location.
We arrived in Aberdeen around 4:30 and the hand bells had their opportunity to actually practice; they had played cold turkey at the concert earlier that morning. We all sat around and some even took naps to pass the time. As time drew closer to the concert I noticed lots of amazing smells coming from the fellowship hall. Could it be, where we going to be fed church lady food?! Yeah!
The concert was amazing and again, it was awesome to see the congregation worship with us. It's always fun to see people sing along to songs they know. We had so many songs prepared Andre was having to make cuts during the program according to time and our voices.
After the concert was over we headed to a good ole fashion pot luck dinner! It must be a baptist thing rather than just a southern thing because these ladies could cook. There was SO much food it was hard to know where to start.
While the day was taxing with the bus issues and the lack of practice before our first concert, God was glorified and worshiped. The food and fellowship was sweet and knowing God used us to bless these two smaller congregations was well worth it.
You know the saying, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Well, most of what happens on the party bus stays on the party bus! Here's our rendition of Urine the Party Bus, featuring Allen Reed.
Monday:
Monday we had breakfast in the hotel again, but this morning we had to have all of our luggage ready because we were going to be moving to our NYC hotel that evening. We ate, loaded up and headed to Project Hospitality on Staten Island. We traded the party bus for more of a people mover type bus. Our driver Mike was AMAZING and extremely informative about what all we were seeing and driving past. Once we arrive at Project Hospitality we were given a tour of the facility and an explanation of their history and services they provide. Upstairs they had a "super market" where people could "shop" for food and downstairs is where hot meals were provided. One of the things I like about their philosophy was treating people with kindness. If there are enough volunteers they bring the food to the patrons and serve them restaurant style. There were table clothes and even flowers on each table. Dignity is the word that comes to mind. During the meal time we sang while some of our group served.
This singing experience was quite different than the night before. In some respects it felt like we were singing and our words were hitting a wall. No one sang along and many seemed disinterested. In many ways it was heartbreaking. After we sang we went around to the different tables to introduce ourselves and try to get to know some of the people. I personally met several people but found it hard to connect and get a conversation going beyond surface level. While it was somewhat disappointing I do know that God used us to provide a meal and sing his word; it may have fallen on deaf ears, but then again it may not have. There was one lady who was helping serve that I know we blessed with our songs. She even requested we sing one twice. The project hospitality portion of our trip while not "life changing" was a great experience and I'm so glad we were there!
Part of our Group Singing at Project Hospitality
That afternoon we headed into the city to the Hilton Garden Inn just off Times Square and in the heart of the theatre district. This was one of our free evenings and we ate at Scarlatto. It had a mix of Italian and American foods and was VERY tasty!
LaDonna and I had a great time at our end of the table!
Great group with whom to share the evening.
After dinner our group headed over to watch The Newsies.In comparison to Wicked the set was very basic, however it was lots of scaffolding that rotated and that was pretty cool. As for the musical itself, the dancing was phenomenal. The athleticism of the actors was unbelievable. I had seen the movie version and the live thing did not leave me wanting!
Tuesday:
Tuesday morning our schedule had some options: Get up and leave for Good Morning America at 6:15 or sleep in. My original plan was to sleep in a bit and get up to run with Glen, but my allergies were messed up and my throat and sinus cavity felt like they were about explode. Dr. Vineyard called in a zpack to my hubby (really he just gave me the okay so I called it in) and then first thing Tuesday morning I went across the street to CVS to get it filled. I picked up Claritain D for the time being. They were going to have to wait until ten to get the transfer from M and S. Needless to say after a night of very little sleep I was awake, but not feeling too hot.
We gathered together around 9:00 and headed to Harlem to deliver meals to seniors with the City Meals on Heels program. There is so much I could say about this adventure. We were all put into groups and each group was given a map with directions of who to deliver to. After specific instructions on how to deliver and the do's and don'ts we were off. Our group walked a total of five miles delivering meals through out the burrow. Most of the places we delivered to were project housing that reminded me a lot of old college dorms was far as how small the hall ways were. No of the people we delivered to asked us to come in and we were specifically told not talk about religion with them. So I found myself in the midst of the heat and aching feet and splitting headache prayer walking as I could. A few girls from our group did have an unfortunate run in with a man in an elevator wanting to stir things up by asking questions about the Trevon Martin Case. This was scary and we left the complex as quickly as possible. What was supposed to take about an hour ended up taking several and unfortunately caused us to miss singing at the Norwegian Christan Home in Brooklyn. It a long afternoon and a lot was experienced. It was an exhausting tyring experience, but one that truly helped me realize how blessed I am.
Our Meals on Heels Delivery Group
Because of the canceled concert, we headed back to the hotel and had a few hours of free time to rest before our group dinner at Carmines
.
It doesn't look like anything special, but it is!
While I still wasn't feeling very well (I had picked up my Z-pack right before we left for dinner) dinner was as tasty as it could be. SO. MUCH. FOOD! It was also fun for EVERYONE on the trip to sit and eat a meal together.
My End of the Table had some Great Ladies:)
After dinner Andre had a great treat. Jerry Robinson came to share his testimony with us. Please, if you have made it this far in this extremely long blog post, you MUST watch his testimony below.
Jerry no longer lives in NYC, but in Upstate New York. He was visiting his brother and best friend, both of whom came with him to our hotel lobby that evening. When Andre originally contacted Jerry to see if he could come share with our group, he did not know Jerry no longer lived in NYC. Jerry got back with Andre and let him know he would be visiting family and would love to meet up with us. Come to find out through his best friend, Jerry specifically made the trip to visit his brother so that he could come talk with us. It was about a five hour trip for him. We went to NYC to bless others and Jerry was just one of the many blessings we received in return.
God makes NO MISTAKES!
Wednesday:
Wednesday was our West Point day. We did not have to be anywhere until 11:45 so Glen and I got up and ran to Central Park (but I was a loser and still didn't feel well so we only did two miles). I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then out we headed.
Mike who had been our bus driver on Monday picked us up again and took us on our way. Once we arrived at West Point we were joined on the bus by a tour guide and took the driving tour through campus. It was super interesting and I loved all the history.
After the tour we had a bit of time to eat dinner. There were a few restaurants just off campus so we parked and walked to our dinner. Jody, LaDonna, April and I opted to eat at an awesome Pizza place. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was amazing! After dinner we were to meet back at the bus so we could head over to the Post Chapel.
We were the ONLY ones on the bus and it was PAST time for us to randevou Even Andre, Mr. "To be early is to be on time; to be on time is to be late" wasn't there!
We headed over to the Post Chapel around five to prepare for our concert at seven. So here's the thing, school was not in session and thus the only people on campus were the Plebes for the incoming class. I had envisioned us going to West Point to sing and there being a packed house. Needles to say this was not the case. There were a grand total of ten people in our audience. Ten. I'm not gonna lie, at first I was upset, but then God reminded me that we were there for THOSE ten people. There was the music minister who had helped get the concert arranged, the chaplain and his fiance, a family with three kids and a couple who was the in-laws of the daughter of one of our choir members. Two things stick out to me about the concert. The first is that Tony our bus driver was amazed by the hand bells, which he had never seen or heard before, and complementary of our singing. I pray that he really HEARD the gospel that night and a seed was planted. I was glad he took us up on our invite to come in and listen; the driver from Sunday had not and so I wasn't too hopeful Tony would. Second is that sometimes God brings a choir from Nacogdoches, TX to minister to extended family members of that choir. Without really sharing details, I believe without a doubt God had us at West Point to minister to the in laws of our choir members daughter. God is good and his message is healing. While what I envisioned for West Point was not what God envisioned. And for that I am grateful!
After the concert was over we headed back to the city. The ride seemed to take FOREVER (speak with the Sandlot Voice!). We were all a bit hungry due to our early dinner and a conviencent store stop was made. Jody and I had asked that morning if anyone wanted to go to the Empire State building when we got back that evening. We didn't realize we would be getting back at 11:00 pm. Needless to say our enthusiastic group of several dwindles to a perfect group of five: Jody, Lanette, Mike and Marilyn. I have to say going to the Empire State building at midnight was the BEST! We knew we only had one day to really sight see and we couldn't do it all, YOLO. The line was short (non existent), the view was phenomenal and the company perfect. One thing I did not expect was the wind. It was blowing so hard and we were so high that the butterflies in my stomach were AWESOME! Almost as good as when you ride a roller coaster.
Come again ma'am, you're a church secretary? LOL, we just couldn't resist all the poles!
The amount of "lines" we had to walk through from this point was crazy. I'm pretty sure people have to wait five hours during the day. It took a good fifteen minutes just to walk through all the areas!
The wind almost blew us away!
The picture doesn't doesn't do it justice :(
And so, after a long day and an amazing midnight trip, we went to sleep and gear up for our one day of sight seeing before heading home.
Thursday:
This was a pack it all in because this is all you have left day. I purposely photographed the entire day...
A good breakfast is a must for a day full of site seeing!
Waiting on the Subway: Do you know what's Uptown near the 49th Street and 7th Avenue Station?
Tiffany's, that's what! I waited SIX whole days to get to you1
And so did these amazing ladies! What's in my little blue bag you ask, Collar Stays (sp?) and Cuff Links for Estie, a tiny bow necklace along with a pearl drop necklace. No Jody, I am NOT a princess, but yes I might be a little spoiled!
You've never to big to visit the toy store...
And play on the BIG piano.
Where is this child's mama? Doesn't she see we are trying to take a picture!
Lunch at the Plaza?
Central Park Carriage Ride
"So no one told you life was gonna be this way..."
"..It's like you're always stuck in second gear...I'll be there for you...'cause you're there for me too."
We had a hard time getting our driver to actually be in a picture. Illegal much?
Yeah for cost sharing!
When in doubt, check YELP! We almost couldn't find this awesome place that only sat about fifteen people.
Classic Photo Bomb by the waiter.
Now that's better :)
Thank you Sharon for actually taking pictures!
Minus Wendy Williams as Mama (oh she was AWFUL!) the dancing was amazing and the songs were so fun. I kept having to remind myself to stop singing out loud.
And there you have it. Hard to know where to start and what to do when you only have one day. Central Park and the Plaza were new to me so I'd say it was a successful day!
Friday:
While I had a fantastic week and God did some amazing things, I was ready to get home. Only problem, Stephen was in Frisco for the annual Texas Pharmacy Association Conference. Talk about a sad day coming home to an empty house (thank you Don and Jane for picking me up!). But alas, my tempur pedic was a feel for a soar back. A quick swim and run to Academy and then to bed. Saturday came sooner than I expected and I was headed to Denton to Tri my heart out after a week of no workouts except for three miles on the treadmill (a two miler and a on miler on separate days) and a two miler to/in Central Park. Check out my next post to see how that turned out ;)
When is the last time you neighbored, intentionally reached out to someone in your neighborhood? Two days after we had moved into our house on Dogwood our sweet neighbor Clarence brought over some homemade coffee cake. I cannot even begin to explain how grateful and special his action made us feel. This past week I caught the tail end of a Focus on the Family where the guest was talking about neighboring and how to start to live life with your neighbors rather than by your neighbors.
The first step, just know their names and let them know yours. I can honestly say I've been feeling the need to get to know my neighbors better these past several months. In December I made peppermint bark for several of my neighbors (all but one of whom I had some type of relationship with already). The one neighbor I do not know is directly across the street. We wave when we pass each other, but that is the extent of our relationship. In an effort to reach out I added him to our peppermint bark list. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get him at the door and had to leave the bark on the plate for him to find with our Christmas card on it.
Several houses have been put on the market in our neighborhood recently and many of them on our street. So in an attempt to continue reaching out I made some sprinkle covered sugar cookies and walked them down the street to the couple that just moved in last week. A small conversation was had and a few bits and pieces of information exchanged, BUT they have our phone numbers and he gave us theirs. Who knows were this contact will lead, but if anything just reaching out is a good place to start.
So I challenge you, whether you are new to your neighborhood or have been there for twenty years, reach out to a neighbor you don't already know, maybe even the one with the barking dog that you can't stand! You never know what lies behind those closed doors and what type of joy a simple act can bring. Bake some cookies. Mow their front yard. Write them a note introducing yourself. Just reach out!
