Road trips and plane rides

Okay, it's official I just booked my flight to NY. Yippee!

First I will be spending a good part of January in Texas. The annual CRI board and staff meeting in Dallas, then on to visit a church and friends in Tomball. Then a trip over to Mesa Arizona to see my "new parents" ( God continues to bless me!)

We should be getting back to Cedar Rapids sometime that first week of February.

I leave on the 5th of February for NY and fly back to Cedar Rapids on the 14th.

This is exciting to me, as I have not been in NY since last April.

I am looking forward to visiting with family and friends, and sharing stories of how God continues to walk with me and bless me.

I am hoping to line up 1:1 time, coffee dates, lunch, whatever.

I am also praying for the opportunity to meet with a few pastors, or mission board members, anyone who wants to hear about what the Lord is doing in Mozambique.

My prayer is that once they hear, the Lord will move in the hearts of those who are meant to walk with me on this journey. Supporting me financially as well as praying specifically for the needs of the people of Mozambique.

Please get in touch with me, so we can get something on the calender, I'd love to hear from you!

email me at ~ vdorsey12@yahoo.com or valerie@childrensrelief.org

I also need people's email address! So now you have two good reasons to contact me!

Can't wait to hear from you!

God's blessings to you all!

Statistics

I just heard an incredible statistic.

Every 24 hours, 25,000 children die from hunger related illnesses.

I spend half the year in a third world country, I've seen more hungry children than I ever thought possible.

Still this number is completely inconceivable to me.

Please pray for these children.

Pray that they will come to know the Lord before they become a part of this growing statistic.

God's Perfectness

God's plan is perfect.

I wonder just how many times I've said that to myself and others over the course of the last two and a half years? I've lost count.

I've said it when it seemed like the right thing to say. I've said it when in fact I've really questioned the validity of it. I've also said it when I've meant it with all my heart.

People come into your life and you love them and you thank God for them, and then they die. You question why such a 'bad thing' had to happen. But as you continue to live and seek after the Lord and follow His plan, you begin to see the 'good' that He allows to come out of what we perceive as bad.

My life and the path that the Lord has me on is absolute proof of this. He is faithful to provide all good things to those who love and serve Him.

Praise the Lord that now as I find myself saying it daily, I feel it deep inside my soul. As my faith continues to grow my vision of His perfect plan is slowly coming into focus.

I know God's plan is perfect, always.

I praise Him for His perfect plan for my life.

My prayer now that I am back in the states

After four flights and 32 hours of travel we arrived back in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday afternoon. Praise God!

We had our own welcoming committee, Kathy's family as well as many of our friends from church, it was a great to see everyone! 

God blessed us with an uneventful trip, no delays, smooth rides, bags that made it home, even good food! What more could you ask for? God just continues to bless us in everything. everyday!

So now we have many things on our to do list...many things to accomplish before we head back to Mozambique in May.

My prayer is to remember and pray for the people that the Lord has allowed me to love and serve in Mozambique.

My prayer is to continue to draw nearer to the Lord each and everyday.

My prayer is to remain in His will and continue to serve others with a humble heart.

My prayer is to listen for His voice and direction before I move forward with my plans.

My prayer is to  read His word and seek His wisdom.

My prayer is to put others before myself.

My prayer is to never miss an opportunity to share the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you Jesus for this life.

Our last week in Mozambique

Today we celebrated the Lord's day at His church in Centro Emmissor. The singing the fellowship the dancing the message all totally glorifying God. It was a great day and we were blessed. 

We got to dance with the ladies and then we were given an opportunity to speak to the church. Kathy and I both had words of encouragement to share. I then closed with Numbers 6:24-26, and Kathy used something out of Acts. Finally we were presented with new capalanas. Then more singing and dancing.

As we were getting ready to go, we were given a live chicken as a gift to thank us for our love, support and encouragement.

A live chicken! Can you believe it? How great is that?  It is currently in 'foster care' while we decide the best way to utilize our little feathered friend. Right now we are leaning toward finding him a girlfriend and allowing them to set up house. I can't tell you how many times we have talked about having chickens. We could use the eggs to feed our teams, as well as our staff.

God simply always provides for our needs.

Finally home after 2pm,  with about 50 minutes to rest before I needed to start transporting people to Manuel and Ramizia's home for their baby dedication. Everyone with a car agreed to help bring people from the church to their home. Many cars and multiple trips. They were so blessed by all the people who came to witness this dedication.

There were people there from many of the church plants. Savane Church, a church plant about 90 minutes away that Manuel is the leader of,  arrived quite late, after the gifts had been given and prayers said. So after they came and offered their gift ( can you believe it was 2 live chickens!?) they were handed to me! 

I was not sure what was going on, but quickly got the idea. They wanted me to pray over these 'gifts' like we had prayed for all the other gifts.

 I stood there trying to compose myself and asking God to give me the right words. I was mindful of just how incredibly unique this moment was. Would I have ever guessed anything like this could take place in my life?

There I stood in the center of a crowd of at least 200 people watching me hold 2 chickens up over my head asking God to bless them and "allow them to make many eggs or chicks or whatever it is that they are suppose to do". Seriously, that was my prayer. Unbelievable.

So many of the church plant leaders and their families came. There were many men, many men! Pastor Jeronimo was there as well. This is not normally the case, and it was such a wonderful testimony. It was just a great day.  A really great Sunday! 

I will  miss living life here in Dondo Mozambique.

I pray that the Lord's plan will include my returning here, in the spring with full support in place. Amen!