Day 2533. Sammy was up way early again this morning. Soon they were all up and really loud which kept waking me up. At 9 am my alarm clock went off, and I got up to have breakfast and get ready. The kids were helping the Mom of the house to make blueberry muffins.
At 10 am we wanted to drive off, but it took us another 10 minutes before we actually did. Nothing had worked out for this morning, Sunday being the most important day, so I had gone online last night to see whether there were any churches of our network in the area and found one that was not far away so we decided to go there.
We got there at 10:35 which was 10 minutes before the service was supposed to start. Before we even went into the building, some of the youth welcomed us. Inside the building, adults welcomed us as if they knew us and as if we were part of the family. The assistant pastor then also joined us and talked to us, then the senior pastor's wife. We stood there until nearly 11 am which was the actual time the service was starting. The senior pastor was practicing for the service the whole time as he was also the worship leader which also meant that I did not get to talk to him before the service.
The worship time was really wonderful, with the pastor leading and his wife singing. It went on for 50 minutes. The kids stayed in the sanctuary the whole time. Emmy stayed in his seat but I pointed Tammy to the banners and she went over there and waved a few. Someone also brought Sammy one to use. I had Sammy with me the whole time, dancing with him and helping him with the flag. He was also raising his hands and having a great time. He never once asked to go to kids' church.
After worship, the kids left to go to their program, and Randy took them there. I thought that maybe they would ask visitors to introduce themselves like some churches do but they didn't. In fact, the pastor went straight into preaching the Word, and he preached for an hour. 15 minutes before the end someone brought Sammy back to us as he had asked to come be with us again.
After the pastor was done preaching, there was a ministry time, and everyone else went into the lobby. That's where we continued talking with people. A young lady who had the heart to become a missionary came up to me, and I blessed her with my book as it's perfect for someone like her. We also talked to other people. The whole time I kept looking into the sanctuary to see whether the pastor was done praying for people so I could get the chance to talk to him. Emmy was saying he was hungry but I reminded him that this was what we were in America for.
We ended up sitting in the back of the sanctuary and waiting and watching what was going on in the front. When the pastor was finally done, I went up to him and introduced myself and took a few minutes to tell him about Mali. He was very interested and spontaneously decided to have me speak to his people at the leaders' meeting that was about to start. I had a great time telling them testimonies of what God has done in Mali and also briefly my story. I took about half an hour. Then the pastor asked me to pray for him and his wife. As I did, the power of God touched them, especially the pastor. God's presence was so very strong. I also gave him a word that was a confirmation. It was so much fun! After we had prayed, I handed out some brochures and books and briefly talked to other people then it was time to get going.
Our friends we're staying with had also come to church and were in another room watching our children. That way Randy was also able to pray with me. We went outside, exchanged a few more words with people and said our good-byes. What an amazing morning it was, and what an amazing divine connection God has created! I'm looking forward to what God has in store in the future.
It was 3 pm, and everyone was hungry. Our friends had told us in advance where they wanted to take us to eat lunch so we put it into our GPS and started driving in that direction. Suddenly the phone rang. It was our friend, telling us that the restaurant had already closed. We were sitting at a red light, and there was my favorite restaurant, Applebee's, that I had not even gone to once yet, right there so I suggested we'd just go there, and they agreed.
We walked into the restaurant just after 3 pm and were told it would be some time before a big table for the 7 of us would be available. She then pointed at the table they were about to give as the people sitting ther ehad just gotten up to leave. As they were approaching us, our friends were amazed that it was the pastors of the church they had tried to get me connected with this morning but it had not worked out. Now the pastor did get the chance to meet me in person and talk briefly, and I gave them our brochure and my book. What were the chances! Another divine appointment! I was wowed by how the Lord had set up everything today!
We got the table, ordered our food, and at 4 pm we finally got to eat lunch. The kids ate more than usual, and we had a great time talking with each other. We even got to pray for the waitress who was so kind to take our picture in the end.
On the way back to the house we stopped at Walmart as we needed a few items. Randy ran in while I stayed in the car with the kids. By 6 pm we were back at the house.
You can imagine how very tired I was. I lay down on our bed and closed my eyes but there was lots going on around me. Emmy got to play soccer with the Dad of the house, and Sammy kept saying he wanted to go swimming. When he wants somehting, he wants it. He was not gonna let go. We finally all put our bathing suits on and went down to the pier and walked into the water. I'm no friend of lakes but went in for Sammy. We all had great fun in the water, most of all Sammy.
It was already pretty late once we were back at the house and had showered but the kids were all hungry. So our friends made some food, and we had one last meal together. Again, the kids ate well, and Randy had bought icecream that we all shared after. By then it was already 9:30 pm, so really time for them to go to bed. They petted the dog for a few minutes, then they said good-night and went to our room to put their pj's on and go to bed. Tammy was actually crying because we leave here in the morning. She asked me why we always had to say good-bye and leave the people we love. All three kids love our friends here, and they love them. It was 10 pm before the kids finally fell asleep. As for me, I had plenty of pictures to go through and lots to write. Now it's going on 2 am, and I'd better go to bed as I have to get up early to pack so we can continue our journey.
