Why Africa???

This is a copy of part of the letter we gave to a few family and friends dated March 4, 2008. Hopefully this explains everything..... This is my 4th son, Ayden Chad. He is named after Africa. Ayden, from the gulf of Aden(northeast corner) and Chad, in Africa. I have always had a heart for Africa and unreached people groups. One monday night Drew and Sarah Moss were over for our Monday night ritual of breakfast for dinner. We got into a conversation about what our drem trip would be. I said, "Africa." A few seconds later I received a text message that read, "Do you want to go to Africa?". As you can imagine, chills ran down my spine! The text was from Melissa. A college student in Jacksonville, Fl. I was her Sunday School teacher when she was in 12th grade. She needed another person to go with her and her brother on the 3 week mission trip to Zambia to teach the Bible to an unreached people group. I had fears and concerns about finances and leaving the kids for three weeks. It was my husband who said, " You're going! God will work it out." I know God has been preparing me for this for years. We have also decided to ask our oldest son, Bryan (14), if he was even interested in going. We told him we did not have the money and that if he wanted to go he would have to use the money he'd been saving for his first car ( it's not much, but he's worked hard for it). We also told him this would be a sacrifice and it would probably mean he would not be getting a car right when he turned 16. The next day he came to us and said he wanted to go, fully knowing what it could cost him. As parents we are so proud of him! It is our desire for our Children to be different, and we believe it will take doing some things differently and exposing them to the world so that their eyes will be opened to what really matters in life. We love John Piper's mission statement, "We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples". And that is exactly what we hope to do in Africa. We will be going to Kaputa, Zambia- on the border of the Congo. We will be working with the Adair family, missionaries with the IMB. This is not a luxury trip! No sightseeing, or safari rides. We are solely going to work with the missionaries to evangelize Kaputa. We have somewhere around 24 hrs. of flying, then a 2 day 4 wheel drive on poor roads. The cost of the trip is 2,600 each. Pray for Ken, Deven, Nathan, and Ayden while we are gone. We will be gone on Deven's 11th birthday and this will be especially hard on Ayden (1yr. and pure momma's boy!).
"Go therefore and make disciples of all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."-Jesus Christ