African American & African Worship in Galesburg, IL

Praise God for Pastor Jon Sibley and the folks at Full Gospel Church!!!

What a blessing it was to spend another Sunday morning with them in worship. Thanks for the opportunity to share the word. Praise Jesus for his love for 'scribbly life' Christians! Again and again Linz and I are seeing God at work as we walk this journey with him. Thank you for the very generous donations towards our adoption. This has been something Linz and I never expected to happen, but like I said amazing things like this keep happening again and again. Thank you for the continued prayers and support!

Last week an article ran in the Register Mail about a new worship service that began at "The Father's House" (New Church on Linwood Rd.) This unique service was and is for African people living and working in the Galesburg area, in particular The Democratic Republic of Congo, the very country we're adopting from! This is just another sign from God that he is most definitely in the lead of this journey we're on.

One of the first things we learned in foster/adoption classes is that its so important that your child experience as much of their culture and heritage as possible. They need to be able to embrace their roots. But, how does one do this well when their children are from Africa? Who would have thought the answer would present itself in our own hometown???

So, Saturday night at 6pm Linz, along with our foster son and I decided to attend. Upon arriving I met a man from Nigeria with the biggest, brightest, smile I've ever seen, and a name I can still not pronounce. He invited us in and for the next 2 1/2 hours we worshiped Jesus Christ in English, French, and African languages.

It's hard to formulate all that happened tonight in just a few short paragraphs. At times it was truly overwhelming. The worship was amazing! I learned quickly that in African culture 'African time' is a very different thing than 'American time' and if you're not 'moving' when worshiping then neither is the 'spirit'. During a time of testimony a young woman shared how difficulties of language had caused her to doubt God's plan for her in America and she was prepared to return to Africa, but then God moved and this church appeared! Prayer was something else.....I've never experienced something like this before so there's nothing to compair it with. As I sat in silent awe I heard people speaking and praising in at least 4 different languages not counting numerous other 'tongues'!

Needles to say, Linz and I are going back! We met a man from Togo with a very interesting story and view of adoption, but I feel this is a story Linz needs to tell....

Please pray for our angels!

Blessings.

Garage Sale Fundraiser

Hope this actually plays...took forever to load. I do feel I may be in trouble for a portion of this video, but we shall see.