the summer of 2003

Here are two of my favorite pictures from the summer I spent in the Middle East. The first picture was in a village in the northern part of the country. When we arrived at the village they separated our team into men and women. They took us to a small house where all of the women and children gathered in as close as they could, and then they began to fan us and bring us drinks. We found out later we were the first Americans to ever visit this small village, and the leaders told us that their ancestors had dreamed of and prayed for this day for thousands of years. Please pray that God would send more of His children to this place one day and that they would come to have a relationship with His Son, the Prince of Peace. They desperately need Him.

The second picture is of the family that I lived with for that summer. I love and miss each one of them so much. They taught me about family, and they taught me about the power of God because through prayer and God's grace I saw Him begin to draw each one of them to His heart. Please continue to pray for them. That summer God changed my life.

"For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."

Isaiah 61:11