Connections

I never cease to be amazed by God's ways. Shannon and I have been praying for many things over these past few months. One thing is for connections. We are asking God to put people in our lives that will work with us in any way to accomplish His purpose in Tanzania. There have been several instances just this week that I want to share about.

First, last Sunday evening, as we broke up into our new small groups at our church and began visiting with others, Shannon was talking with the leader. Jeff and his wife actually have lived across the street from my parents for several years and began attending our church about a year ago. In our large church and with our busy lives we have never really connected much. Anyway, during their conversation last week about Shannon's then pending trip, Jeff shared that he knows someone that has a well-drilling rig in Africa. He said he'd try to find out where they were located. Well, tonight as I returned to our group, Jeff came to tell me excitedly that the well-drilling rig is in Tanzania! The man owning it has already drilled several wells for the president of Tanzania. He travels there twice per year to do more drilling. Jeff plans to get even more information to us soon.

Second, on Monday, on the trip home from dropping off the team at the airport, I stopped at a restraunt with my two children that are homeschooled to have lunch. In talking with our server she told us that she knits scarves for orphanages around the world. She agreed with me that we probably wouldn't need a lot of those on the equator but shared that she has a friend in the Minneapolis area that knits teddy bears for orphanages. We exchanged information in hopes that we can connect again once things are set up.

Lastly, tonight while Jeff and I were talking about the well drilling, another member of our small group asked what we were talking about. Jim is another person in our church we didn't have an earlier connection with. He shared that he previously worked as an engineer and his career was to consult on the best placement of high-output wells. He said that with the help of an infrared picture he would be able to tell the best place to drill a well.

There are many more examples similar to these I could share that have occurred over these past months. I believe that as long as Shannon and I continue to step out in faith and pray for these connections, God will continue to answer. Please join us in praying for all of the pieces of this puzzle to continue to fall into place.

The team should be waking up as I write this. Today is the day they will travel by an 8 hour boat ride from the island back to Mwanza. Pray for their safe travel and rest once they arrive at their hotel. I am hoping to hear something from them by email on either Monday or Tuesday.