here are some pictures... :)

Gaudenzia and Emmanuel...
Kelvin and Emmanuel E...
Noella and Enoch...
This is my team for most of the time that I am here. It has been such a blessing to have them here...we are having a great time together. :)

here is a picture from my backyard... :) The picture doesn't do it justice.

so...everyone is asking me to post pictures, and I would LOVE to...but I am having technical difficulties! :) But be patient with me! I will figure it out soon.

Its hard to believe I have already been here for two weeks. The time is going by SO fast...yet, in many ways I feel like I have been here for years!

I have already had so many new experiences. I literally could write for pages about what has happened thus far. Each day is filled with so many exciting adventures and life-changing experiences. It is completely by God's grace that I am here and I am overwhelmed by the fact that the Lord brought me from Phoenix to Tanzania and is allowing me to see everything I have seen.

I am really enjoying being at the Emmanuel Center. Those boys are amazing. They all have stories that would break your heart, yet they are filled with so much joy and they really love each other. I have spent several days there playing soccer and trying to teach some English...but mostly they were laughing at my poor attempt to pronounce the Swahili words correctly. :)

We have also been working at Moyo Moja, a center for widowed or single mothers. I will write more about it later, the center just opened a week ago...so most of the work is just in getting it up and running, but once it is--I know it is going to be used to touch and change so many lives.

The world is so big. I know that isn't a very enlightening statement, but as I make new friends and meet new people every day from so many different cultures, countries, and backgrounds, I am just realizing more and more how small I am and how big the world is. It amazes me to think that God cares with such intense passion about each and every one of us and longs and desires for personal, intimate, authentic relationship with each and every soul. I have known that in my head for a long time, but somehow being here, seeing how the Lord is pursuing His children all over the world in such powerful ways has given me an entirely new love and hunger for God.

Like I said, I could write for pages about what is going on, what I am learning, and how much fun I am having! Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers. :)

I am finally here! :)

Here is a picture of Jill (the missionary I will be working with) and her two children that she is in the process of adopting, Noella Sessy and Enoch Manji


here are four of the boys from the Emmanuel Center.

my favorite 7 year old...

I have had such a great time in Rhode Island. I am SO blessed to have an amazing extended family. Today is my last day of this snowy, cold weather...I leave tomorrow for Tanzania! I appreciate everyones encouragement, support, and prayers. We were able to fill up two of those blue containers with lots of fun things for the kids and the missionaries over there!

My aunt and uncle and their two children went to Tanzania this time last year. Cole, was extremely jealous that I was going to the Emmanuel Center without him. Hardly a day goes by that Cole does not talk about going to Africa or those kids... he even tried to sneak into my luggage. :) We were joking with him for about a week before we realized that he thought we were serious. His little heart was so sad when Chris had to explain to him that he could not ride in my luggage. I am convinced if we were to discover Martians on Mars tomorrow...Cole would be on the next space ship ride to be the first missionary there. :) I love his special heart.

Just “skimming” through the news tonight…some pretty heavy headlines.

Quake Kills More Than 3,000 in South Asia

Mudslides, Floods in Guatemala Kill 500

Is it ever hard for any of you to stay focused? It is for me. It does not take much to convince me that there are so many broken people in need of God’s healing touch. Everywhere I look, I see physical, spiritual, and emotional need. I just want to be in the place that God can use me the most to impact his kingdom the most. It is easy for me to get overwhelmed sometimes, to look at all the hurt and pain and know that many will never know the power in God’s touch.

So as I was praying today about what is going on all over the world…from the people closest to me…to those in our country who have lost everything from Katrina, to Guatemala, to South Asia…I began to get discouraged as to how God can use me to reach those individuals who are experiencing incredible devastation right now.

Then I read this amazing passage of scripture…

1 Peter 4:8-11

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

That passage blew me away. So what can I do? What can we do?

Be serious and watchful in our prayers.
Above all things—have a fervent love for one another.
Use the gifts God gave us…minister them to one another…
Speak on behalf of God, minister under the ability which God supplies
SO THAT in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
What an intense “crash” the church would become if we did that?

Just wanted to share some precious stories about my cousin, Nicholas.

Last week, Allison, Nicholas, and I were walking down the street in downtown phoenix and a man who seemed to be homeless walked up to us. He asked us for some money to ride the bus. Without hesitating, my eight-year-old cousin reached into his pocket, whipped out his wallet, looked at the man with a big smile and said, “I have money.”

The man looked at him and said, “no, no, kid…I can’t take your money.” And Nicholas quickly responded, “no, its okay…I get $2 a week in allowance”. As we walked away, Nick looked at us and said, “the sad thing is, he will probably spend it on beer…but he still needs it more then me.” I was so touched at his pure heart and his desire to give, without hesitation. It wasn't just that he was too innocent to assume that themoney would not be used on food...he was so innocent that it didn't matter to him what it was spent on, he just knew he had plenty and this man had little.

Then…this past weekend, Nick and I were hanging out and somehow the topic of kids came up…he looked at me with a total sincere heart…there was no doubt in his mind that he would one day do this, but he said, “Dennae, I am going to adopt five kids. One from China, one from India, one from Africa, one from Russia, and one from Mexico that way I have one child from all parts of the world. Then when we go on missions trips, my kids can translate for us depending on the country we are in.” He had this huge smile on his face and was so excited as he thought about it.

His heart is so special. I totally love that kid. The heart that all of my younger cousins have totally blows me away…you always hear about 2nd and 3rd generation Christians who are totally burned by church and turned off to God, but the Lord has gotten a hold of these precious hearts at a young age and I feel like God is constantly speaking to me through their precious thoughts, motives, and big dreams. I long to have that precious child like love, heart, and passion.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Matthew 18:1-6

just some thoughts...

“The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged. This would burn away the impurities from our lives as the bugs and fungi were burned away by the fire that dwelt in the bush.”

-A.W. Tozer

I read that in “The Pursuit of God” a few weeks ago and the words keep coming up in conversation and discussion about the church. It seems like Christians all around me are famished for God’s presence and I think A.W. Tozer’s observations hit the nail on the head. What if we entered into spiritual experience? What if w truly understood that we are in God and God is in us. How would that change the way we live our daily lives? How would it change the way we view and serve this world?

It seems like the topic of conversation the past few weeks in my circle has been, “works”. “Works can’t save you” and “you can’t earn your salvation” are concepts the church wants to make sure their congregation really understands. Here is an analogy I have kind of been imaging up in my head as I have been listening to people…imagine your relationship with your spouse. What if you took out the trash, tucked your kids into bed at night, did the dishes, sat and listened to your wife share their feelings/ frustrations, and even kissed them goodbye in the morning because it made you a “good husband/wife”. What if your only purpose in doing all those things were to live up to the standard of what a “good spouse” was, but you had no desire to do it out of your love for the person? You would quickly become burned out and feel a lack of love in your life. That is the equivalent to “doing” just for the sake of “doing” what God requires of you. But what if you did the same things in your relationship with your spouse, not because you had to, but because you deeply loved the person and wanted to pour out as much of your love into their life as possible? The actions might look the same, but the heart would be different. One person is burned out by the action and the other is energized by the action.
I think that is one of the differences between the average Christian wandering through life famishing for God’s presence and one walking through knowing they are in God and God is in them. I really believe a lot of entering into God’s presence and an intimate relationship with Christ has to do with our understanding of what that means…to be aware that God in us means we share his heart…and God’s heart beats for people. He has an intense love for them I believe he wants to pour into our hearts…if the world is perishing for a lack of knowledge of God then I need to do a better job of knowing God so I can share Him with them.