Praising God.....with a Chicken and All!

I had the privilege of preaching on one of my favorite Bible stories this morning, the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5.  By the grace of God I was able to preach about half of the message in Chichewa!  Thank you for your continued prayers for our language acquisition.  The translator that helped me for when I spoke English was very good.  He did make me and Erin laugh though.  Not only did he translate my English words into Chichewa but he also translated my Chichewa into English!  I was thinking the Chichewa would not be translated but he took his job as translating being whatever language came out of my mouth!

Before I began preaching people started bringing items to the front of the church for the Pastor and his family.  Some of the items included bread, corn, soap, and a live chicken!  A man brought the chicken to the front and just left it.  Of course it begins running around everywhere.  Thankfully a lady went over and tied its legs so it couldn't run anymore.  This was the first time I have preached with a chicken about 2 feet away from me. :-)

God is definitely at work at Bethany Baptist Church.  At the end of the service 3 people put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ!  Praising God for new brothers and sisters in Christ.

As the Giraffe Pantenth for the Water.......What??

I wanted to share a funny story that happened the other day with our language tutor.  Erin and I have begun the next phase in our language program and have moved on to wordless picture books.  The goal is to look at the picture and talk about everything we see.  Our tutor will then correct things we don't say properly.

The picture we were looking at had a big deer in it with a little boy sitting on a rock.  I knew that we hadn't learned the word deer so I asked what it is.  He said that he had never seen an animal like that so we would just call it the general name for animals of that type until he could ask someone.  He came back the next day and said he figured out what the word was.

I began asking more questions about the word he used and he began describing the animal.  He said, "You know, the really tall animal with a long neck."  I asked him if he was talking about a giraffe and he excitedly said yes!  I began describing how a deer is much different than a giraffe.  Upon hearing this he said that it helps understand things better.

He began singing the song 'As the Deer Panteth for the Water' and how we always thought that song and passage from Psalm 42 was very strange to think about a giraffe running to water because it was so thirsty!  The Chichewa Bible even translated the animal in Psalm 42:1 as being a giraffe!

Answered Prayers!

We received some wonderful news last week that we wanted to share.  Many of you have been praying for our work permits to be approved.  We are thrilled to say that this prayer has been answered!  Thank you so much for lifting this us to our Heavenly Father.  The process of our crate being released from the US and starting the long journey here by sea will take place soon!

We also wanted to thank you for praying for our language acquisition.  We have been studying Chewa for close to 2 months now.  The method we are using has had us only listening to the language.  The language teacher we have is very good and patient, which is great!  She says the words in Chewa and then either points to a picture or acts out what she is doing without using any English.  It's an intriguing method that seems to be working very well.  This past week we began speaking the language!  It's great to be able to hold a 'small' conversation with someone now.  We have realized that we can figure out some of what is being said to us but making our mouths repeat this can be very challenging!  Please continue to pray for our ears to hear things correctly, our mouths to be able to pronounce the words, and our minds to have good recall of what we have studied.

Today is the Day of Salvation!

What an amazing day of worship!  We were invited to go to church in a village today about 45 minutes outside of Lilongwe.  A friend I met back in April when I visited here came by this past week, and he is the pastor of 6 churches in this village.  Today all 6 churches met together for a combined service.  We left our house at 9 this morning and didn't get back until 3 this afternoon!

 Our truck, provided by the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, has 5 seats in it.  Our friend and his family, 5 more people, show up and say we are all going to fit into our truck.  The saying here holds true that there is always room for 1 more!  We are really glad they rode with us because they shared lots of information along the way about culture and places that we would drive past.

 We arrived at the church around 10 and there was already a large crowd there.  The deacons in the church met us at the truck and greeted us and carried our Bibles, diaper bag, chairs, etc.  We got seated and the pastor began to introduce us.  Some of this was in Chewa and some in English.  I am picking up bits and pieces and then realized that he said I would be bringing the message today!  He had mentioned this on the phone earlier in the week, but then I thought he was just joking or would have me stand and say something short.  I'm glad that I came prepared!

 The singing and music in the village was incredible.  Several choirs sang and they made some of the most unique instruments.  One guy made a guitar out of an old metal gas can that he shoved a piece of wood into and tied strings on.  Another guy made a steel guitar out of wood and used a glass medicine bottle to slide on the strings to make sound.  The sound from both of these instruments was unlike anything I have heard before. 

 During the singing I went over and asked the pastor how long I should preach for and he said 1 hour max.  I also asked if he would be translating and he said he would be.  I preached from Numbers 21:4-9.  The Holy Spirit was really moving and 5 people accepted Jesus Christ today!  Praise the Lord for new brothers and sisters!  One of those 5 people was the senior chief from the village.  This is really a big deal for the chief to make a decision like this.  He has requested a meeting with the pastor now to learn more about Jesus!  Please pray for this village and the churches to have a desire to reach others in the village.

 One of the church members prepared a meal for us at their home after the service.  It was very nice to spend more time with them and share a meal.  He made a comment that I will never forget.  He said they were so encouraged by us coming today and sharing because a lot of the times people forget about the villages and they need to hear about Jesus too. 

Praise Him, Praise Him We Have Power!

So thankful that we have power right now!  The electricity at our house since moving in has been unreliable at best.  This last stretch we were out for 20+ hours.  We were so excited when it came back on!  It stayed on for about 2 hours and then went off again.  Thankfully it was only for about an hour.  Hopefully it stays on long enough to post this and fall asleep with a fan blowing on us!

Since the power has been off so much we bought a small 2 burner gas stove.  For some reason it seems the power is always off at meal time.  I got the stove top all put together and the gas hooked up this afternoon so dinner could be prepared.  I turned on the gas and found out the brand new gas bottle I just bought was empty!  So back to town I went and got it filled up and we enjoyed a nice dinner.

We began our language study today and it went really well.  We are using a new method of language learning and are excited to keep building on it.  Our language helper is really top notch and has taught language for the Peace Corps for many years.  Pray that our ears will hear and our tongues will be able to speak.  We can't wait to be able to communicate with the people here in their heart language and share the hope that is only found in Jesus Christ.

The broken windows are all replaced in our house now but the screen saga continues.  Today was the 4th trip I have made to the shop to see if they are ready.  They are fixing 7 screens for us and we have 4 of them back now.  The other 3 were 'ready' according to them and I wish I could show you a picture of them!  One of them had a large hole they made while putting the new screen in and the other 2 were just about as bad.  I let the man know that this was not going to work and they were going to need to try again on those 3.  I am suppose to check back tomorrow to see when they might be ready again!

T.I.A. (This is Africa)!!!

It's hard to believe that we have been here approaching 2 weeks now.  This past Saturday we were able to move into our house!  That was a huge blessing to be able to unpack and get settled.  Thank you so much for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program.  Due to your faithful giving we have a house, truck, fuel for the truck, insurance, schooling for our kids, and the list goes on and on!

The boys have loved moving into our house.  Our house helper lives on our property and has 2 kids (Gome and Vito).  They are both older than our boys but they love to play with them.  All Sunday afternoon they played basketball and watched a movie.  Kaleb introduced a Nintendo 3Ds to Gome!  He had never seen anything like that and loved it.  Kaleb said, "Dad, he didn't even care what game he played.  He just wanted to play it!"

Money is very interesting here.  The largest bill is equivalent to about $2.50 USD.  You must pay cash everywhere you go so it feels like you are constantly going to the ATM or exchanging money.  Erin made the comment today that it feels like we are playing Monopoly since we have to carry so much cash; unlike the board game this doesn't add up to much!

We had to replace 6 windows in the house today and several screens to keep the mosquitos out.  There is not a company to call and come out.  If you want the process to go somewhat quickly, not sure anything happens very quickly here :-), you must go down to the shop and bring someone back to your house to take dimensions.  Then, you take him back to the shop for them to draw up a quote.  After you go to the ATM and draw out enough money you then go back to the shop and pay.  Once you pay they will cut the glass.  After the glass is cut you bring the man back to your house to replace the windows.  He isn't finished as I'm writing this, but I'm sure I will take him either back to the shop or his house when he is finished.  Needless to say, this has been an all day project!  The cost to replace 6 windows here is about..............$60!

T.I.A.!!!

Back in Africa!

We made it safely to Malawi last Thursday!  It was quite the journey, but the Lord placed people in our paths at just the right times to help with getting on and off planes.  We were warmly greeted at the airport in Johannesburg by old friends who helped transport us to the guesthouse for the night.  It was so great to see old friends and catch up even if it was for only a few hours.  The next morning we boarded the plane to Malawi and were again warmly greeted by our new co-workers.  It was such a blessing that customs at the Malawi airport allowed one co-worker to come back and assist with kids and luggage.  Between us and the other family that arrived we had quite the amount of luggage!

We are all finally sleeping through the night and feeling pretty comfortable navigating through the city.  Erin has been to several markets and is learning the best places to go for fruits, vegetables, etc.  We enjoyed worshipping Sunday at a church here in Lilongwe.  It is always such a blessing just to hear Africans worship.  I love to close my eyes and listen to the drums and their voices praising our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A big Thanksgiving feast will be celebrated on Thursday with families from Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia.  We are very excited to see some friends we have not seen in a while as well as meet new friends.  Just in case you are wondering, there will not be turkey at the table.  Not to worry though, we have been hosted at 2 of our co-workers homes and their cooking is amazing!

We appreciate your prayers and emails.  It is always encouraging to hear from you.  Please continue to pray for our work permits to be approved soon. 

Malawi Bound!

In less than 2 weeks we will be boarding the plane for Malawi!  Please pray that these last few days will be filled with great memories with family and friends.  Our time here in the States has been amazing.  We have thoroughly enjoyed being with family and reconnecting with friends.  Kody also had the opportunity to speak at several churches and share how the Lord is working in Africa.

These last few weeks can be stressful as well.  Trying to get all of our remaining belongings in 10 suitcases is tricky.  We have 8 of our 10 checked luggage already packed!  It's a good feeling to have most of the packing done so the last week here isn't quite so hectic.

Please pray for travel mercies for our family.  We will be on 4 different flights in 3 countries.  There is not a direct flight into Lilongwe from the States, but we are thrilled to get to overnight in Johannesburg and see many of our friends there!  We will be traveling with another family coming to Lilongwe and are very excited to be on this journey together.  They have 4 children close to our kids ages so that is a huge answer to prayer.

Pray for us as we prepare for our 'see ya later's' with friends and family.  This never gets any easier......we know that the Lord has called us to go and has given us much peace about that. but it's still difficult when you don't know when the next time you will see your loved ones.  Please pray for our family that the Lord will give them the strength to let us go and know that He will provide and protect us.

As we near the season of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, please begin asking how the Father would have you to give to support workers overseas.  Please take a moment and watch this video about the lostness we face every day and the great need for your financial support.  If you would like to support the work of our organization around the world by giving financially, please use this link.  Feel free to include "in honor of Kody and Erin Brandt" in the "tribute information" section.  This does not increase our salary; however, it does allow you to personalize your gift and our organization can more accurately understand who our partners are and the methods they use for giving.

Good-Bye Stuff

Before

After

After months of acquiring the "stuff" we want to crate to Malawi, we finally said good-bye to it yesterday.  The movers arrived around noon to box up all of our belongings.  They technically arrived here a few hours before that, but encountered a bit of delay as the driver took too sharp of a turn and got stuck in the ditch at the bottom of my in-law's hill.  The highway patrol took care of keeping the traffic back since the truck blocked both lanes of the intersecting highway while we waited on the tow truck to arrive.  The moving truck pulled away around 6:30 last night and headed for Columbia, MO.  Our "stuff" will be transferred to the crates and stored there until we receive our work permit and land in country.  So long for now!

Travel Mercies

Kody is currently on the airplane headed to Johannesburg, South Africa, for a week of meetings.  He'll arrive tomorrow around 2 p.m. our time.  Please pray for safe, smooth flights and layovers as he heads overseas.  God reminded me this morning that praying for travel mercies shouldn't be taken lightly.

I dropped Kody off at the St. Louis airport and headed for my in-law's house in Dixon, MO.  In the minutes before I was about to travel through I-44 near Rolla, highway patrol was blocking off the Interstate because of flooding between Rolla and Jerome (my exit!).  I was detoured through the city and told I wouldn't be able to get to Dixon.  I phoned my mother-in-law who told me of a back way.  She then tried to take the back way to her church in Rolla not even 30 minutes after I went through and it had already been deemed impassable; she had to head back home.  I had a small window to get to Dixon and God guided me through!

Thank you for your continual prayers on our behalf!  You never know what each day will bring.

(And yes, pictures are coming soon.  I haven't forgotten!)

Blog Facelift

Hi blog followers and prayer warriors!  As our family prepares to head back to Africa in two months, we've made a few tweaks to our blog.  We just had a photo shoot on Saturday, so you'll have to wait a few more days for new pictures.

In preparation for moving to Lilongwe, Malawi in September, we are busy purchasing things to crate amidst our hectic travel schedule for family visits, meetings, and speaking engagements.  We are cherishing every moment and memory being made during our time in the states.

Our family will continue to F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God)!

Farewells and Farewells.....

So hard to believe that we only have 5 nights left in South Africa.  The time has gone by so fast.  We have had 2 farewells in the past 2 days.  On Friday, Kody led his last session at the Soup Kitchen.  This past month he has gone through the book of Philippians.  The men have been very attentive and enjoyed hearing how Paul was able to be content and find joy regardless of his circumstances.  Joy comes through Jesus Christ alone and not from our circumstances.  The men came up individually to Kody at the end and said some very nice things.

We just returned tonight from the farewell at our church, Northmead Baptist Church.  It was so bittersweet.  We have made so many wonderful memories there and have seen God do amazing things.  To see the way that the youth have grown in their faith these past 2 years is priceless.  They each got up and read something that they had prepared and it was very touching.  It was an emotional evening.  One of the senior women in the church wrote a poem that we wanted to share:

 

Americans are odd folks; they live by a different code.

They 'speak funny' and they drive on the wrong side of the road.

It gets worse, they're also somewhat backward, the metric system not yet embraced.

We often wonder how they managed to put a man in space.

As for rugby and cricket!  That remains a mystery,

they are not part of their sporting history.

In spite of, or because of this, we hold you very dear.

We thank you Kody for your messages, they came through loud and clear.

It is a privilege and honor to have you in our midst.

Mere words cannot express how greatly you'll both be missed.

Bidding farewell is always tinged with pain,

But we have the glad assurance, that we will meet again.

God's timing is always perfect

He knew we had a need

For a person of your caliber to minister to the youth at Northmead.

So as we say farewell, we want you to know

Our thoughts and prayers go with you

As we prepare, to see you go.

 

Hamba Kahle! (Zulu for 'Go Well')  Tot Siens! (Afrikaans for 'Till We See You Again')

Ons het julle baie lief! (Afrikaans for 'We Love You Very Much') 

Ons sal julie nooit vergeet nie! (Afrikaans for 'We Shall Never Forget You')

 

We shall never forget our time here and the special people the Lord placed in our paths.  We love you all and will continue to keep you in our prayers!

Our Beautiful African Princess!

My First Day

By Karli Elizabeth

 

Things were going great until Mom decided that it was time for me to come out.  I was perfectly happy in my warm and cozy home, but things quickly changed!  All of a sudden I was lying on the table and heard my Dad scream for the doctors and nurses to come quick.  The doctor rushed in and was a little concerned because the cord was around my neck.  He quickly cut it off and I began breathing on my own.  I got to see my Mom and Dad's faces for the 1st time!  I have heard their voices for several months now so it was great to get to meet them.  Lots of people came to visit me that said they were my parent's friends.  I was really sleepy so I decided to sleep from 8:30 p.m. to 4:45 a.m. my first night so Mom and Dad could get some good sleep.

I received a big surprise the next morning!  Two of the cutest little boys came into my room with great big smiles, hugs, and kisses and said they were my brothers!  It was great fun being held by them, and I can tell they will always protect me.

Mommy seems very excited and loves to change my clothes and put new things in my hair.  Daddy....well, let's just say I have him wrapped around my little finger!

Love,
Karli

Welcome to Joburg Taco Del!

We were out this past Saturday and noticed a new restaurant called Taco Del.  This is not be confused with Taco Bell!  This was very exciting to us because you cannot find many Mexican restaurants here.  We really hope that it goes over well because the prices are somewhat affordable.  It would be nice to know where they buy all of their food because you can't find tortilla chips or enchilada sauce around here like they serve.

Old man winter has definitely arrived in Joburg........it is COLD!  I think we are better prepared this winter though.  We bought a small new heater for the living room and a heated under blanket for our bed this past Saturday.  We got a heated under blanket for the boys last year and finally broke down and bought one for us.  The heated under blanket with the new fleece sheets from Uncle Jim, Aunt Lisa, and Grandma Lorene sure did feel good last night!  Saturday morning we woke up and it was 23 degrees outside and it may have been colder inside our house than out!  We sure do miss central heat and fireplaces.

It's hard to believe that in 3 months little miss Karli will make her grand entrance!  We are getting very excited.  A lady in our church gave us a Moses basket and a small baby seat this past Sunday.  With these items plus the baby shower gifts from the party that Kody's mom and sister threw last month, it is all beginning to feel real!   

It was exciting to see that the Soup Kitchen continued to go strong while we were in Zambia.  Around 50 men are still faithfully attending and listening very attentively.  One man 2 weeks ago stayed after the Bible study was over and told Kody he wanted to learn more about Jesus.  Kody spent quite a bit of time sharing with him and then had the privilege of leading him to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ!

Appreciate Your Prayers

Tomorrow morning we leave for a meeting that is close to the Zimbabwe border.  We will be driving so prayers for safe travels are appreciated.  We will be at this meeting until the 17th and then have one day to wash our clothes and repack to head for Zambia for one month!  It will be a busy time but we are excited to see what the Lord will show us during this time.  Kody then leaves for a one week course at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on May 19th.  After this course he only has one left!!  I'm sure we will have lots to post about when we get back.

We were supposed to find out the sex of the new baby this past Tuesday but unfortunately the baby did not cooperate.  Our next appointent is now May 28th so hopefully we will find out then!

Hitting the Ground Running

It has been a joy and honor to have the 14 Broadway Baptist team members from Springfield, MO, join us in our ministry this past week.  They arrived Saturday evening, 17 March, with half of their luggage, tired, weary from travel and smiles from ear to ear!  They experienced ministry in a township as well as at our church and the surrounding community.  Northmead Baptist Church (our church here in SA) has also experienced ministry in a new and exciting way, too.  The church members joined forces with the Broadway team in prayer walking, revival, and an outreach event this past Friday.

The week produced a revived church and community through 13 professions of faith and a desire to see God change bad habits and save lost family members/friends.  What a week!  We can't wait to see how God continues to work in and through the church as a result of this past week!

Please pray for the Broadway team as they are traveling home.  They should be in the U.S. now, but still have several connecting flights.

Hearing the Baby's Heartbeat!

We had our 1st doctor's visit today for baby #3.  We didn't really know what to expect but was very suprised.  The doctor is great and very knowledgeable.  Erin is 10 weeks along and he said the baby is very healthy.  He performed an ultrasound and we got to see and hear the baby's heartbeat as well as see it moving it's arms around.  The doctor was very suprised to see the arms moving like they were because generally they are sleeping most of the time at this point.  Fortunately, Kaleb and Blake are both wrong as the doctor verified it is a baby and not a puppy and that there is only 1!!

They recorded the ultrasound on a DVD that they let you take and then bring back each time to record the next one.  It will be fun to watch the baby grow and develop on the DVD.  We go back again in 3 weeks for the next appointment.  Your prayers throughout the pregnancy and delivery are much appreciated. 

The Hand of God

This past Monday we set out for Kruger National Park with Mom and Dad.  It takes around 6 hours to drive there.  Everything was going great and we were about 4 kilometers away from entering the park when things turned for the worse. 

We were driving through a small village and noticed that something strange was going on.  The entire village was out beside the road and glass and debris were everywhere.  At first we thought that maybe a wreck had just happened.  We soon found out that was not the case.  The further we drove the worse it got.  They had ripped up the curbs on the side of the road and threw them all over the road to try and block the path.  We were able to find a path to get through, but then came to a road block of burning trees and tires. 

A group of people were motioning for us to come towards them to go down a side road to avoid the road block.  I made the mistake of going towards them.  In a matter of seconds a large group surrounded our vehicle and began shouting and hitting the vehicle and one guy jumped on the hood.  They started punching the windows trying to break them and rocks are hitting the vehicle on all sides.  I floored it to try and get away in hopes of getting the guy off the hood.  We thankfully made it through only to find a much worse road block about 1 kilometer away.  There was no way at all that we could get through this one.  We were all very scared and not sure what to do because we certainly did not want to go back through the mob we just encountered, but knew that was the only way out.  We stopped the car and decided to pray and ask God to deliver us from this situation. 

After driving just a few meters God placed a police car right in front of us!  I quickly drove over to him and asked what was going on in the village.  He said it was a riot over services they felt they should be getting.  We described what had just happened to us and asked if he could help us out.  He graciously agreed to escort us back out of the village.  We found out that 2 people died in the riot a few hours after we had left.  It was a frightening situation but incredible to see the hand of God deliver us from it.  We want to thank everyone for their continued prayer support, as we feel it daily.

Big News!

We just found out that the Lord has blessed us with a 3rd child!  Erin is due sometime in mid-late September.  Please pray that she will have a smooth pregnancy and safe delivery.  Blake thinks Mommy is going to have a puppy and Kaleb thinks Mommy is going to have boy and a girl!  We hope they are both wrong. :-)  She is about 8 weeks along now and we think they typically found out the gender here around 16 weeks.

Nana and Papa in Africa!

Kody's parents, affectionately referred to as Nana and Papa, arrived to Johannesburg, South Africa, last night!  While the boys were a little timid around them at first, they have more than made up for that now!

We have a full schedule planned, starting with Soup Kitchen and Youth Group today.  The Lion & Rhino Park and Kruger Game Park are on the list of fun activities!

We'll post pictures soon!