Submitted by anne on Thu, 10/08/2009 - 9:38am
For many years our family has supported a young Ugandan through World Vision. We were recently notified that World Vision is ending its program relationship with Daniel’s village. It was a hard message because through the years we’ve been sending letter, cards, and little finger puppets we bought or made for him. We’ve watched him grow from a little boy to a handsome young man. I wish we could have actually met him in person.
As we write our farewell to him, we promise to continue to pray for him – to live up to his biblical namesake. May he always be safe, love the Lord, and dare to be a Daniel.
- - Anne
Submitted by anne on Thu, 12/25/2008 - 6:54pm
The whole family is very excited about our Christmas “present” this year – a visit from Elena from Moldova! She is the eldest daughter of my host family when I was in Moldova this past April. Elena is a first year student in music college in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova. She speaks Romanian, Russian, and a little Spanish and English, though she is eager to learn more of the latter! In any case, we’ll keep our English-Romanian dictionary handy!
Elena will be with us for just one short week, but we have lots of plans for each one of those days. Right now our biggest concern is all this snow, and only one of our vehicles is able to get around. Pray for no delays for her extremely long flight from Germany’s Frankfurt International Airport to SeaTac this Friday.
Submitted by anne on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 10:49am
Betty and PhyllisThe matriarch of our family was always my mother’s sister, Aunt Phyllis – affectionately referred to as just “Auntie.” Auntie went into the hospital about 2 weeks ago with pneumonia. We were all very concerned about this 90-year-old. Sure enough, this sweet little 100 lbs. lady didn’t make it. She went home to be with the Lord this morning at 6 AM.
Phyllis' BirthdayI recount here what I will never forget about Auntie. She loved all the important things in life: her family, her church, flowers, trees, babies, friends, traditions, and her home. What I remember about her is that she was the one who always set the stage and made the props for major holidays. She made everything special, with her artistic and fun personality coming through in everything she did. I’m glad I had the chance to whisper in her ear last week that she was “the best Auntie a girl could ever have.”
Betty and PhyllisTelling my mom (now 86) was difficult this morning. She looked away with a tear in her eye and acknowledged; “now I’m the last one in my family left.”
Submitted by anne on Sun, 06/01/2008 - 9:00am
After graduation from
King’s High School on June 6th, Jessica is heading directly to her first job. She will be working as "summer staff" at
Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center in Oregon. Her first day is June 9th. She will be at the conference center until August 19th. We will then have just 72 hours to deliver her to
Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois - 2,200 miles away.
Looks like we will have an empty-nest a bit sooner than we originally thought. It’s going to be very difficult to see her go, but we know the Lord is ordering her steps in all of this.
I’d better sign off before I start crying….
The Mom
P.S. A photo of a young Jessica Ball at Cannon Beach for one of the many summer vacations we had there (at the conference center) with the kids. Where did the time go?
Submitted by anne on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 3:49pm
Just a note to let you know that I’m back in town – with serious jet-lag after being up for 24 hours yesterday! I return with a cold and need lots more sleep, but otherwise I am doing well. I will put together a more formal report later, but wanted you to see a first picture of the lovely ladies from the Bethany Church (Evangelical).
This picture was taken on the day before Palm Sunday - otherwise known as Lazarus Saturday in the Orthodox tradition. Our team joined them in a massive clean-up effort in the church building, the grounds, and in the nearby community. Several of these ladies came to clean up and share a lunch meal with us that day. A couple of them also attend the feeding ministry of Bethany – a program that this mission trip helped fund for at least another six months. For those pensioners who get a meal through the program, it is often the only meal they get all day. I thoroughly enjoyed our time with these sweet people who I met at their mealtimes and through in-home visits. We went to bless them, but we received abundant blessings in return.
Thank you again for making this possible through your gifts and prayers! I'll be posting more stories soon.
Anne
Submitted by anne on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 11:32am
All is well, though several of us have a cold - yes, me too. Our hosts are incredibly hospitable and I have enjoyed every moment of our busy schedule. Today we went to the market (much like a temporary flea market for us - only permanent for them), the largest orthodox cathedral in Chisinau, and to the elderly feeding program in the afternoon. The old ladies now know us by name and have practiced to say "I love you" in English. They are so sweet. I have many stories to share on my return.
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