Prayers For Angola

Ways to pray for Angola:

September 5th Angola will hold elections. Pray for peace and order in the process. There is no indication of unrest, but there is also anxiety of how the process will unfold.

David and Myriam as they prepare new curriculum for their Life Abundant HIV/AIDS Training for churches and train new teams for the project.

The inner city church as they look for property for their church and the new members that continue to come.

The Casango Church for their long term plans to build a permanent building.

Juan, Adriana, and Myriam as they continue to serve in providing for the medical needs of Luena.

For Domingo's marriage and his on going employment.

For Prince to find a steady job and an opportunity for him to use his tallents.

The homeschooling of Jeremy and T.J. Providing a long term teacher to support David and Myriam in the boys education.

Back home in America

Well, we left Hamburg, Germany on Monday, August 4th, flew to Munich and then to Charlotte, North Carolina. We spent the night there and then had a debriefing at SIM headquarters. We were able to tell about our mission trip, boast about the amazing work that God is doing in Angola through the Trott family, and get physicals to make sure we were healthy. We also met some amazing retired missionaries who work there at SIM USA. One lady, Ruth, particularly stood out in my mind as an amazing person. She is retired now, but once served with her husband in Benin, Africa. They served there for 7 years. They had 5 children, the youngest being 18 months old, when her husband went on a trip to Niger and lost his life in a train accident. Ruth returned to the US on furlough and then felt God's call to return to Africa. She returned with her 5 children to Nigeria, where she taught at a Missionary School for 12 more years. I asked her how she had the power and perseverance to do such a task, and she replied it was only by God's power. She also mentioned that now that her children are all grown up, they tell her that her decision to return to Africa was the best decision she could have made for them! I was awestruck and amazed at her devotion to the Lord and her commitment as a missionary.

After spending the day in North Carolina, we returned to LAX on August 6th. Baba (Nadia's dad) picked us up at the airport. We had jetlag for about a week, but had to get over it quickly since Craig started school on August 11th and Nadia had inservices starting the same day. The kids were excited to be home to play with their toys, sleep in their own bed, and see their family. I must admit it was good to sleep in my own bed too!

After all our travels this summer, we counted our blessings:

-For getting our Visas to even go on this adventure God called us to

-For staying healthy and not contracting Malaria

-For being able to serve the Trott family who are amazing missionaries!

-For the opportunity to meet and encourage Angolans, Zambian refugees, and other missionaries serving in Angola

-For our missionary housing that was safe, clean, and had electricity most of the evenings we were there

-For our safe road travels to Luena and back

-For safe, event free travel on all 11 airplanes!

-For a lovely week in Hamburg, Germany spent with Nadia's cousin and aunt & uncle

-And, most importantly, for the life changing opportunity to have a fresh perspective on how blessed we are to live in this country. Also to realize that life doesn't have to be so complicated- people can be content without all of the distractions of this world.

Thank you for sharing in our adventure. We pray that you would one day have the opportunity to serve the Lord in another country and experience the blessings that come with it. Thank you for praying for us- we felt all your prayers comfort and encourage us.

If I were to do it again, however, I might wait until my 4year old was a bit older. Ian did fine adjusting to the newness of everything but Nathan had a harder time. Here is me on one of our flights home, a bit exhausted, and ready to get home.

Here are the boys catching up on some much needed rest.

Happy to be home!

Pictures!

Nadia and her two favorite students TJ and Jeremy.


Becky and her children's Bible study in Luanda.














An African village in the Bush


Phillips´ with Myriam, David, Jeremy and TJ Trott


The Childrens Church in Luena

Craig Leading Bible Study at Casango Church

Myriam with AIDS Education Program in the Middle School.

Best Buddies!

Nadia Leading Bible Study

TJ´s Birthday Party.

Craig, Domingo, Nadia and Ian at the Casango Church


Ian, Nathan, Dedier, Jeremy, TJ at the Lake
Waterfall in Dala.


Preaching at the Casango Church with Domingo Translating.

Kelvin, Domingo, Prince- our Zambian buddies

Domingo, the Elder of the City Church plant and David

Luena Mall

Tank from the War that was guarding a bridge

Ruth, Nadia and Petra in Saurimo

In Hamburg, Germany with Cousin Baschira

Aunt Jourieh and the silly boys in Stixe, Germany

Cruise Days in Hamburg

Enjoying the harbor cruise

Craig the Preacher!

Craig was invited to preach a Sunday sermon at a Zambian Refugee Village church in the outskirts of Luena. There were over 200 people present, including children. Service started at 10am with about an hour and a half of worship. I loved it! Most of the singing was in Ngangela (an African dialect). When it was time for Craig to preach, he did an excellent job! Our friend, Domingo, translated for him in that dialect. His message was a summary of the Bible studies he had conducted the past 2 Saturdays there and an invitation to accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers. Three people made commitments to the Lord afterwards! Praise be to God. The service lasted until 12:30 after singing I Surrender All. Afterwards, we shook all 200 attendees hands! Whew! I videotaped all the service to share with you all if you are interested. Craig´s reaction to preaching was he felt very stretched!!! I think the Lord used him in a mighty way.

On Thursday, we wrapped up 3 weeks of homeschooling Jeremy and TJ, which went very well. Ian and Nathan are sad to have it come to and end. We assured them that when the Trotts come on furlough in 2010 we will spend time together with their friends.

We were able to say farewell to our friends, Prince, Domingo, and Kelvin (our English speaking Zambian refugee friends) with a breakfast and prayer time on Saturday. David then took us on the Road to Saurimo. You´ve not truly been offroading until you´ve been on that road!! It is destroyed from road mines, and 40 years of lack of repair. So, it´s 8 hours of bouncing around in the car. The boys loved it especially since seatbelts aren´t required in Africa! I think it will be a long while before I ride on that road again. When we go to Saurimo, we spent the night at a Brethren Mission that was established in 1936 out in the bush. David then took us to the Saurimo airport were we departed for Luanda this morning. We are now staying with Becky, a Brethren missionary nurse who has served here for 49 years. Tomorrow, we depart for South Africa, then London, and finally Hamburg, Germany (24 hours of travel). We will visit with my cousin and Aunt for 1 week before returning home via a night at SIMCO in North Carolina.
I am hoping to post pictures when I get to Germany depending on our internet connection. Until then, please continue to pray for our travels and safety.
In Christ,
Nadia and Family

Church in Africa

On Sunday, we attended 2 services in Luena. The first one was a Children and Youth's Sunday School that David and Myriam established on Easter Sunday 2005. They had 30 kids attend initially and now have between 70-100 kids attending. They have trained national Angolans to teach the classes and now have 13 teachers that teach each week. They sang many songs led by a very gifted Worship Leader named Veronica. I am so impressed with how the Angolan people sing so beautifully. After worship, the children broke into small groups based on age for their lesson. Afterwards, they recited their memory verse. It was so sweet hearing thier little voices recite the Word of God in Portugese. I was able to videotape the service and the children ranging in age from 4 to 16 years old. I can't wait to share the video with you all.

Afterward, we attended a service at a new church plant that David and Myriam established in another part of Luena. It is called the Church of the Carpenter because it is held in an old Carpenter's Shop, with sheets for walls, a dirt floor, and a corrugated tin roof. That was established June 1st of this year. They hope to find a more permanent location soon. They are also praying for a pastor to take over services and until then they rotate the preaching duties. David did an excellent job preaching last week. We were invited to share our testimony and a song with the group of 28 members. Craig was very eloquent in sharing but I got choked up and couldn't finish. I get so emotional hearing the people sing with such love for the Lord and share their faith so openly. Ian read scripture from Isaiah and we sang "As we gather" as a family. It was a wonderful experience.
The day before, our neighbor Petra, had the youth from her Brethren Church come over for fellowship. We had about 10 young people gather in our backyard for ping pong, volleyball, and a chat with Craig about America. They were filled with questions about our home country. The young people are very open about their faith here and readily want to talk about the Bible too. I read some scripture from a Choque (a Tribal language) Bible that belongs to our friend Prince. They laughed hearing an American pronounce their language. I thought it was great!
We hope to be able to post some pictures before we leave but haven't been able to yet. We will keep trying so you can share in seeing all the sights. Please continue to pray that the Lord would use us to minister to our friends and the Angolan people while we are here.
In Christ,
Nadia and Family

At home in Africa

We are finally settled at our Missionary home in Angola, Africa.

We arrived on Sunday morning at 6:45 am in Saurimo (8 hours North of Luena). The airport officials made things a bit complicated until David showed up to pick us up. We thanked the Lord for getting us out of that jam! We then took a leisurely 9 and a half hour drive to Luena on a bumpy road riddled with potholes and ruts. We laughed about our adventure in the bush! We passed by many villages built with cinder block and thatched roofs and saw the nationals living in the bush. We also saw a lovely waterfall along the river in Dala. We were warmly greeted by David and Myriam's family when we arrived in Luena that night. Her brother, sister-in-law, and nephew live here as well. They took us to our missionary home and our neighbor, Peytra, a missionary nurse from Holland, showed us around the house, including: how to take a shower (fill the bucket mounted above the tub, plug in the heater attached to it, and voila! 7 minutes later you have a warm shower but only at night), how to tuck in the mosquito nets under your mattress, how to use the filtered water tank, and the propane stove for cooking. She told us she hadn't had electricity for the past week but that it had turned on the night. So far we have had it every night we have been there. Once again, Thank you Lord!

We slept most of the next day since we had been awake for 23 hours and really needed the rest. The following evening we celebrated TJ's 6th birthday at the Trott's house, in which our boys gave him some Lego sets (of course). We started homeschooling the boys at our home on Tuesday morning. Craig and I took turns teaching the various subjects to the boys. Craig started the boys on an Olympic training PE regime at recess, which includes push ups, pull ups, stretching, jumping jacks, 100 yard dash, and running laps in the backyard. It really helps having him help disperse some of that testosterone with homeschooling 4 boys!!! I must say they have become instant friends and enjoy many of the same pursuits. We are also finding out that they have similar personalities as well.

After homeschooling, we walk the two blocks to the Trotts house and eat lunch (the main meal of the day). The kids play with the boys in their room or outside in the field in front with the Angolan children. The boys are amazed at how the Angolan children stare at them all the time. Apparently, they don't see white children too often and are curious. I was able to video tape them and even had some of the kids sing and dance for me. They loved watching themselves played back on the video camera.

Craig has been kept busy in the afternoons helping David with car repair and generator repair (they have two but one isn't wokring properly). They haven't had electricity for 1 and half years so it is a must to have good working generators. Today they are going to buy a starter and install it to see if that is the problem.

We have met some Angolan refugees who have recently returned from Zambia. Prince speaks excellent English, is college educated, is a Christian and has agreed to teach our kids some songs during school. We started music today and the kids enjoyed singing the Bible songs with him.

We are looking forward to seeing how else the Lord will use us while we serve here in Angola. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support.

In Christ,

Nadia and Family

All's Well From London

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Kevin Bibo got us to the airport with no problem and without him all the bags would not have made it ... have to get an Angola sticker for the luggage rack... Poor Kevin might still be stuck in traffic trying to make it back to Crestline ...
The flight was very smooth with Nathan sleeping 2/3 of the way. The Heathrow airport has very nice public showers and so Nadia and I feel one hundred percent better. The boys are sleeping again which is good.

GREAT NEWS: We contacted David Trott and he has arranged a flight to Saurimo Sunday morning and for us to stay with Becky in Luanda Saturday Night. He had been traveling the last four days and was amazed as we all were of how God opened the door for us to get our visas.

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Next issue may come with the customes agents when we arrive in Luanda with all the donations. We trust it will work out for the best.

Can't Always Get What You Want ...

Well the visas were a true answer to prayer and a shock to the travel agency trying to book our flights. If God can work out the paperwork then we are confident the flying tin cans is no big deal either. We can get to Angola no problem but return flights are hard to come by. My thoughts (Craig) are hey lets just get there and the rest will work out ... I think I am in the minority.
UpDate: Departing LAX Thursday at 5:30pm on British Airlines to London and then to Luanda, Angola. That's as far as we can get so we'll let you know.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!

Our Visas are granted!

Praise the Lord! Our Visas were granted today, Tuesday, July 1st at 11:00am. God is faithful! So, we now need to rebook our flights for Angola. We could leave as soon as tomorrow or as late as next Monday, July 7th. We'll post our departure as soon as we find out. Please pray for safe flights and calm kids while traveling. Pray for our 12 hour road trip from Saurimo to Luena after we arrive in Angola, too. We are so elated and excited for this adventure. It wouldn't be possible without your faithful prayers. Thank you for your support on our mission trip!

Financial Giving

We have raised $4,900 of our estimated short term mission cost of $14,500.
If anyone is interested in supporting us with a tax deductible gift, please send it to:
SIM USA
P.O. Box 7900
Charlotte, NC 28241
Missionary #27900: Craig and Nadia Phillips
* (800) 521-6449 *
Thanks so much for your support and prayers.

The Trott Family Prayer Letter for June

Here is the most recent prayer letter for our friends, The Trott Family. Please keep them in your prayers as they do amazing work in Angola...

The Church of the Carpenter
June 1st marked the birth of the urban church plant we have prayed about for so long. The opening was postponed, but in answer to our prayers, and after a meeting with the mayor, we were given the green light to proceed. Our temporary meeting place is an old carpenter’s shop! We are still praying for a more suitable short-term location in the downtown area as well as a permanent site for the future in one of the new housing developments. The goal of this church plant is to effectively minister to Portuguese-speaking urban professionals and students through relevant preaching and worship. With urban migration and 21st century globalization, post-war-Angola’s population is now concentrated in the cities. People of various tribal groups and mother tongues live and work side by side. Increasingly, Portuguese is the mainstream language of education and business. Pray with us that many of these “city folk” might give their lives to the Carpenter through this ministry.
Meanwhile, the Life Abundant program keeps going strong. We have reached 1,531 middle school students so far this year. In July, we will present the curriculum in two more schools. And remember the wrong turn in the bush? Those believers in Samufo are now taking the gospel to the neighboring village of Tchimboma! An evangelism team is also meeting with residents in the 4 de Fevereiro area with the vision to plant a church there. Keep praying for visitors’ visas so that the Phillips family can come minister alongside us next month and for the legalization of the mission house. We covet your prayers for safe travel on our road trip to the SIM spiritual life conference in Lubango (SW Angola) and back this month.
Thank you so much for your faithful support!
[p r o j e c t angola] david & myriam trott c/o u.i.e.a. c.p. 33 lubango, angola david.trott@sim.org myriam.trott@sim.org
june 2008
By prayer,
David, Myriam,
Jeremy & TJ Trott
SIM USA * P.O. Box 7900 * Charlotte, NC * 28241 * (800) 521-6449 * missionary #066628

Getting ready to go to Angola

We are getting ready to go on our African adventure to Angola. We are still waiting for our Visas to clear. We are trusting the Lord that if this is His will for us, He will make it happen. We have collected several donated items of food and toys thanks to generous family and friends. Please continue to pray for our trip and for approval of our visas. Thanks and God bless!

Celebrating our Daddy on Father's Day!

Celebrating at the Redlands HS Prom.

Having fun at Spirit West Coast in Del Mar. We got to see our favorite band, Third Day, perform.