Greetings from Luanda! 

Do you remember your senior year of high school or college (or dream about what it will be like)?  That’s how we feel right now.  So much to squeeze in until the end of June!  We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Our annual prayer retreat was held in Johannesburg right after Christmas and concluded on New Year’s Eve by ringing in 2008 with some close friends and the volunteer team that came to minister to our kids during the retreat.  Veronica had a great time at MK (missionary kid) camp and got to see many of her friends from all over our region of southern Africa.  After the retreat, we took a week of much needed vacation with several other families and took the girls to a water park and amusement park located in and around Joburg.  We saw several movies, took the girls clothes shopping, and ate at McDonalds more times than I can count.  Shannon celebrated her 40th birthday the day before we came back to Angola.  No comments will be made at this time....

Shan and the girls are doing some crunch time on their homeschooling schedule to stay on track to complete school in early June.  This week has been especially stressful for all involved, and I know she’d appreciate your prayers for wisdom and patience!  I am trying to regroup and start teaching English classes again, but time is slipping away.  Travel from January through May will also present a challenge to a consistent teaching schedule, and I am seeking God’s wisdom with the new curriculum I’ll be using this year.    

Over the next 12 days, our IMB Angolan team will be assisting the Angolan Baptist Convention with the Sammy Tippit Crusade and Pastors’ conference in Luanda and throughout several provinces.  Scot McHaney and Gil and Lya Santhon will be traveling to the interior of the country with members of the evangelism teams which will begin arriving over the weekend.  My responsibilities will focus on logistical support for the crusade team.  We were blessed 2 years ago when this ministry came, and we ask for your prayers that God will use Sammy and his team in a mighty way.  Our prayer is that the gospel is presented in a clear way and received by those whose hearts God has prepared.  We pray for the gospel to impact the next generation of young Angolans who will lead this country in the years to come.  Trust in government (and things of this world), as the Angolans have seen, is empty and full of disappointment.  Pray for the hearts of the Luanda Urban people group to put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior!  We also ask you to pray for the safety and health of the ministry team as well as our IMB colleagues as they travel throughout the country.