WOW...that best describes our hearts as we return from 3 days of watching our Father do what only He can do. We just arrived back in Sevare, filled our bellies with sprite, fanta orange, and some of our traveling favorties... things that make coming in fro, the village so refreshing. We refreshed ourselves with long hot showers and some relaxed moments just recounting all we saw our Father do. We are looking forward to a great nights rest and an early departure for the capital tomorrow. We wanted to thank you for ALL of your prayers for us and the P people. You have been heard and our Father has answered. We celebrate holidays the entire time we were in the village. It was a special time to be there...both to learn about their celebrations but ,ost of all to share with them our Thanksgiving celebration. It was a blessed day...filled with evidence of our Father making Himself known and demonstrating His incredible love for ALL of those He created.
Please pray for my email access to be restored so I can continue to share with you all the great things our Father has done. Please pray for complete healing and health to come to an older woman named Je. Pray for the protection of all in our Family. Pray for our travels to be protected by our Father tomorrow.
We thank Him for you and will send more when we get to the capital.
praising, singing, and dancing...
lori

Greetings from Sevare
We have had a great day making our way toward our destination. We stopped to pick up our translator and deliver a trunk of goodies to some friends who live here.We made the exchange and visited with the new wife of our translator. We stopped under a large baobab tree for lunch and had quite a large audience watching us...each writing a new chapter in his or her book called life experiences. After lunch we headed on our way along with all who were watching. So today the familiar experienced in an unfmiliar way was not by us but by those going throumericans eating under the baobab.
We found agh their normal day. Today the familiar way was interupted by the unfamiliar A place to rest for the night, ate dinner and are heading for a good nights rest: Please pray for us as we make our way to tell His story. We have been practicing and preparing ourselves with our translator Y. Please pray continually for us and for those we will be living and loving for the next few days. We will stop to greet the family of our partner whose mom is in Bamako and just had surgery. I talked with hi, and she is doing ,uch better today. Continue lifting her up.
Thanks again for taking this journey with us...
lori

Off to Panaland

The day has come and our travels begin again. We are all refreshed and ready to be with the Pana. We have a message to share, love to give, and time to hang with them to celebrate two big holidays...one holiday is theirs and one holiday is ours. Our two cultures meet on this trip in new ways...again we see...the familiar in an unfamiliar way!! How fun that we would be allowed to celebrate side by side with the Pana their biggest fet of the year! How fun that we would be allowed to share our thankfulness to God for giving them to us as family...across the ocean. WE serve a FUN GOD! Praying for you ...we know you are praying for us!!

We will be gone until Tuesday of next week...their may be possible updates but no promises...if not be ready for our return...

watching for the unfamiliar...
lori

update from Mali

Lori was kind enough to allow us to use her blog to speak to all of our friends at home. We arrived in Bamako late Monday night and then awoke early the next day to prepare for a traditional Thanksgiving feast, which was to the delight of all of our friends here. We all shared the duties and the menu. We had turkey, still frozen from the states, dressing, cranberry sauce,corn casserole, mashed potatoes and pumpkin and pecan pies. We were able to share this with some Malian friends as well and talked about what each of us were most thankful for this year.

We were able to see Pastor Dao last night and found out more about the procedure that was used to bring healing to his mother. We found out that she had broken her hip and that they had to go in and do hip surgery which is a pretty invasive surgery here. The prognosis appears to be good. One of the big differences in hospitals here and at home is that the care of the patient is up to the family. So there are large groups of family members with each patient making sure they have food to eat and medicine for their injuries. We were able to pray for her and are trusting God for her full recovery.

We leave to go visit our friends and people today. We are excited about sharing Thanksgiving with them. It has been several months since we've seen them and we are expecting to see great things this trip. We miss you and hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

All our love,

Walter and Cherenne

The Comforter and Provider

After our time of thanksgiving, fellowship, and rest, we went to visit our Malian partner in the harvest among the Dafin and the Pana. His mom broke her hip 6 months ago and no one realized exactly what had happened. They took her to the hospital in the capital city and discovered it was broken and would basically take a hip replacement. The cost was beyond our friend and his family's abilities...but God made a way for her to have the surgery yesterday. We did not know that until we went to visit...we were so thankful for God's provision and His comfort for this woman, our friend, and his family. The original cost had been cut more than half by a second opinion. Please continue to pray for the Dao family, the healing of this woman ...a follower and our sister. Give thanks to God for being everything she needs...for bringing comfort and provision in a time of desperation! Our God is big and His family bears His likeness! We were able to pray with and for her! Please join us in praying for her quick recovery, healing, and return to normal life. Thanks for being our partners in prayer.

A Day of Thanks

Today, we gathered with friends who serve among the harvest with us as well as with some Malian friends who have become more like family. We stopped the busyness of travel and all of its preparations to give thanks to God for His provisions! We had all the traditional American foods in a completely non American land...We shared it with family though not our biological families...again the familiar done in and unfamiliar way. We had the turkey, the dressing, the green bean casserole, the deviled eggs, the cranberry sauce along with the pecan and pumpkin pies. It was delicious! We shared around the table the things for which we are most thankful! It was a great day...enjoying friends, God, and the slower pace!
Enjoy your day of thanks...it is coming soon to a home near you!!

On the Ground in Mali

Greetings from the beloved place of Mali!!
Walter, Cherenne, and I made our connection in Paris, had a little nap in the airport, then boarded a completely full plane to Bamako. Our flight was uneventful and we were able to get some rest. Our journey into the Bamako airport was interesting with such a full plane and all of the people entering a small place trying to get their bags and get out of there as fast as possible. It was fun to get to the scan machine and be recognized by one of the men placing bags on the conveyor belt. He immediately made all the bags stop and allowed us to put our bags on there...You have to love Mali where knowing people makes things happen faster.
On my journey this time one thing has been very evident...in this culture your position is very important. Whatever your position...good or bad...it is your place and you deserve it. It made me begin thinking about the position we have in Christ...how because of Him, you and i can come boldly to the throne of God. Our position before Him is not because of what we deserve but because of what Jesus deserves. We belong to Him and that makes all of the difference. I also noticed how this culture says it is ok to take your position or even demand it. As i thought about that, i remembered the parable of Jesus when He talked about walking into a banquet and taking your place in the honored seat. He said it is better to take the lower position and then the person who has invited you can move you to the place of honor if it is the place prepared for you.
As we enter a time of thanksgiving this week and as this team goes out to the village, my prayer is that we all humble ourselves before God, take the time to think of the incredible things He has done for us...not because of us...but because of His Son. Jesus made that final sacrifice for us...So let us give Him thanks...bowing our knees and sitting at His feet. At the right time God will lift us up and give us our place in the Kingdom. For now...lets serve Him with hearts of thanks and lives of humble sacrifice.
I personally thank my God for you...each of you and the place of honor you have before Him...the way you bow before Him to intercede for this ministry and the peoples with whom we work. So as you celebrate with your families this time of thanksgiving...know that i am celebrating with God the gift of you and your support!

Today we will be having a thanksgiving feast with some of the missionaries and inviting one of the Malian families we love so much. Please pray for us as we continue to share with them to love of Jesus. We will also be visiting Pastor Dao...the missionary we serve with among the Pana. His mother needs surgery so he is still in Bamako with her. We will go to greet her, pray with her, and encourage our brother and partner in this work.
More to come...
lori and the Pana team

Greetings from the Charlotte airport!

I am taking a familiar trip in and unfamiliar way this time. I am excited to be leaving from my parents home to go to Mali! My parents were able to bring me to the airport for the first time in all my Mali travels and it was a blessing...of course we shared a few tears as we hugged and i walked into the airport. Another unfamiliar thing about the familiar trip is im leaving from a different airport and flying a different route. One more unfamiliar thing is I will be meeting my team in Paris tomorrow morning. Please pray for our connections, our flights, and our ability to rest on the planes. Sometimes it is exciting to do the familiar in an unfamiliar way...opens our eyes to the newness, the freshness of God.

Thank you for praying for this team and me as we make this journey to Mali! Im praying for you as well...that you will try doing the familiar in an unfamiliar way this week..Then Write me and let me know how you saw God in new ways...

So far I have seen Him...
Give the gift of time with my family--celebrating, playing, and loving together...much needed time for us...thanks mom, dad, sheri, chuck, carrie, daniel, eli, vicki, hilary, erik and many aunts and uncles
Speaking to Philadelphia Baptist Church...thanks for the chance to share all God is doing in Mali
Leading a storying training for 2 churches in SC-- Oakbrook Community and New Life Baptist--thanks guys...dont forget to practice your stories..im coming back
The gift of coming to the aiport with my parents!!!
Make a way for my luggage to go straight through to Bamako...since i actually have 2 flights!!!
Lift my luggage up so that the weight was sufficient!!!
Protect me from a charge on an extra bag!!!
Friendly security people that didnt make me take off my hoodie!!

Have a great thanksgiving everyone!!! dont forget to thank God for all He is doing among the Pana and the Samogho!! He is our God and He is doing the amazing through people like you!!

bowed with a heart full of thanks...
lori

Praying...

Thank you for your work alongside us--the most important work of all...PRAYER! Without your prayers, the power of God will not be unleashed and the darkness will continue to cover their hearts and minds. We are believing God for great things and your prayers are the power to accomplish those great things! Thank you for choosing to be a part of this ministry and the work of God among the Pana! I look forward to giving you updates about the work as often as possible. We will be updating the blog on the website so you can follow along with us. There will be times when we are out in the village and will not be able to communicate all that is going on, but we will do our best to keep you updated as quickly as possible.

On your knees again....

The time is coming soon that Harvest Seekers and HighPoint Fellowship will be living, walking, and serving among the Pana people of Mali again. We have been planning and preparing, listening and following God's direction for our time among the Pana. You have been praying for us and for the Pana! It is time for all of us to take the next steps in seeking God for His will to be done among the Pana. This team will be leaving the United States this Sunday, November 22, 2009. We will be among the Pana from November 26-30.

This team will have a unique opportunity during their time among the Pana. We ask you to please pray with us about this opportunity. We will be in the village during the biggest holiday of the year. This holiday is called Tabaski and it will be Nov 28th. This Holiday is known as the Feast of the Sacrifice and it commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as commanded by God. On Tabaski a sheep or goat is slaughtered as a symbol of the ran God substituted for Abraham's son. During this holiday, the people are seeking forgiveness from God for the sins they have committed all year. The amazing and God thing about this opportunity is that this team has been preparing to tell the beginning stories from God's Word which includes Man's Disobedience, Cain and Abel, as well as the stories of Abraham, Sarah, and the testing of Abraham's Faith. The other important thing about this team being among the Pana during this time is the great possibility that the Pana do not really know the story about Abraham willingness to sacrifice his son because God asked him to. They may celebrate Tabaski because it is a national holiday but not truly understand the meaning behind it. We have watched God intimately pursuing the Pana for 3 years now. We have seen him bring 3 of them to faith as they began their walk with Jesus. We have seen God drawing both men and women to hear the stories from His Word as well as watched Him answer our prayers in ways that they would know it was Him.

Please pray with us for the salvation of many in the village of S.
Pray specifically with us for the chief and his family to choose to follow Jesus along with several others who have an interest in following.
Please pray with us that the fear of persecution would not keep anyone from receiving the ultimate sacrifice for our sins...Jesus.
Pray with us for opportunities to talk with the whole village about Abraham, Sarah, and their son Isaac.
Pray with us for wisdom and discernment about who we need to spend time with, what we specifically need to share with them, and how we can best live out Jesus among the Pana.
Please pray for us to clearly present God's Word to each person whether it is through stories, relationships, or our actions.

We will also be celebrating our holiday of Thanksgiving with the Pana. We plan to provide a meal for the village and share with them the tradition of meeting together with our families to give thanks to God for all He has done for us. The Pana are a part of our family and we want to give thanks to God for them and the relationships He has given us this past year. Please pray for our time of celebration of thanks with them...especially our thanks for God's final sacrifice for our sins...His Own Son--Jesus.