Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you are all having a wonderful time and are given the opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas with at least one person this year. The birth of Christ is truly a life changing miracle that was predestined from the beginning of time. God came down to earth and became flesh. Amazing! He knows what it is like to be one of us. He knows our temptations, trials, hardships, joy, love, hope, etc. He knows it because He's experienced it firsthand. How amazing is His love for us that He would do something so great as come to earth not only to live as us but also to die for us so that we might live?
My days here in Chicago are coming to an end until Feburary, when I'll return to work on support raising. That will be one of my main focuses while in the states for the next few months. I've enjoyed the time with my family, despite the continuing battle with jet lag. Also, please pray for my dog, Zeke. He ran off this morning and we still have yet to find him. He has a collar on with our phone number, but we're worried that someone may have decided to keep him or that no one stopped him to check the collar. Hopefully he will make his way home by tomorrow.
Have a great Christmas and New Years. I will update again soon. Oh and if you're wondering, my december newsletter will be combined with my janurary one since my laptop is out of comission. Good news is that my insurance in pulling through and will cover a replacement, which I just ordered. I've finally joined the cool club and bought a mac! ;-)

Welcome to the USA!

I made it home, praise the Lord! Yes, I cried a bit as we landed into Washington DC, but that's a usual occurance for me. Leaving Africa is always hard, but I always know I'll be back soon. This year, I'll be back in March or April to lead expedition teams and to train new expedition leaders. We have plenty of trucks now so we can take many teams each month into the rural villages of Africa. If you want to come on an expedition, sign up on www.overlandmissions.com (we also send team to the amazon, mexico, dominican republic, and southeast asia).
So I've traded heat and mud for cold and snow. What a change! It was strange to sleep without the sounds of the zambezi running through the gorge, crickets and frogs, and our dogs barking as some animal in the middle of the night. I slept well though due to jet lag. It'll take me a couple more days to recover but it'll be fine. It's a good time to relax and take it easy.
My cell phone is working so please feel free to give me a call if you know the number. If not, email me. I'll have email access while home. Have a great Christmas everyone!

Crazy times!

I know I haven'
t blogged or updated the webpage in awhile. There are two reasons. 1) Lightening destroyed our internet modem. 2) my laptop is completely dead. I mean,"it's time to upgrade to Mac" dead. The stupid thing won't even turn on anymore. The keyboard just blinks lights at me as if taunting me. ;-) It's cool though. I'm believing the Lord for a mac as soon as I get home. I'm leaving for the states tomorrow and will be in chicago on wednesday! Please feel free to email me at laura@overlandmissions.com. I will have email access while home. If you have my cell number, also feel free to call. I'd love to hear from you all! :) Please pray for safe travels and sanity for these long flights.
God Bless!

So get this...

Okay so on Monday or so, my laptop decided to break down. The ethernet port no longer works which means no internet until I get home and it gets fixed. My internet time is now limited to borrowing other people's laptops here on base to check emails and quickly do whatever work is needed. At least I only have 10 days until I leave for america and then I can get it fixed.
I cannot believe in 10 days I will on an airplane to washington dc and then connecting to my flight to chicago. I am already getting sad about leaving but I know that the 4 months will fly by fast. It's not 100% positive that I'll be back in april, nothing is ever positive until you are on the plane and landing. I have to raise up the remainder of my monthly support needs before I can return. Once that is done, I will be much more flexible to open myself up for many more ministry opportunities. Praise God! I know He will provide as always. :)