Our God is a great big GOD!!!

Jeneson and I have been having some great conversations about our future and our faith recently. And it seems that our most recent prayer letter (you can find it on the toolbar to the right) has also spurned some thinking and conversations among our friends and family. As many of you know, we have a lot ahead of us in the next couple of months. For a quick recap:

• I'm scheduled to get induced with baby #3 on Wednesday, July 28th
• Jeneson has to be down in New Orleans for school by Aug 18th
• I will probaby move down to New Orleans with the kids the beginning of September
• We are trying to sell our condo (has been on the market since the end of February)
• We don't know where we are going to live in New Orleans
• We are currently support raising to go to Sierra Leone (GOD willing the first half of 2011)

I think that is enough for now. Jeneson and I have great faith that God will provide for each and every one of these needs. After all, we serve a great, big GOD!!

All too often people say that they trust God, but don't let Him truely work in their lives. They put limits on what He can do. It is easy to trust God with the little things, the non-specifics, and the non-tangibles.
'God I trust that you will take Josiah's fever away (knowing that it is a little viral illness).'
'God I trust that you will provide for my needs today.'
'God please give me more patience with my family today.'
However, we need to trust God in the big things too. God's glory is really revealed when we let Him do big things in our lives, things that are not possible with merely our human efforts.

Think back to some of the workings of God in the Bible. The most obvious one that comes to mind is Abraham and Sarah.

Genesis 12:2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

God told this to Abraham when he was 75 years old and childless.

Genesis 15:5-6 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. Way beyond medical possibility and therefore a miracle from God. Abraham trusted that God would fulfil His promises.

Another example I like is the woman with the bleeding who just wanted to touch Jesus' garment and had the faith that if she could merely touch His garment she would be healed of the bleeding she had 12 years. She had faith and trusted Jesus for a big thing!

We are trusting God for BIG things because we have a great BIG GOD!!!

Summer 2010 support letter

Dear Friends,

     OK, so I missed my goal of getting our summer prayer letter out by the middle of June, but we have been a very busy family. God has been so good and shown Himself faithful to His goal to take us to Sierra Leone. We hope that you all have been able to enjoy the nice warm weather and some time away with family this summer. Here is a quick update on what we have been up to.

     Through the miracle known as Facebook, Jeneson was able to reconnect with an old friend, Brent, from his Zion Bible School days (we’re talking 20 years ago). Brent just happens to live in the Chicago area and have a church on the north side of the city. He graciously invited to speak there the end of April and we were blessed with the support and prayer we received from his congregation. In May, we spoke at our home church, Pathway Community Church in Elmhurst. While many in the church knew of our raising support to go to Sierra Leone, it was a great opportunity to share with the church body as a whole how God has planted this desire in our heart and is moving in our lives to get us there. Pathway has been a great support to us and we are grateful that God has led us to this wonderful body of believers who have committed to supporting us both spiritually and financially. God has certainly placed so many people in our path that just confirms that this is what God wants us to do.

     June was filled with travel and adventure for all of us. Sandy spent two weeks at the University of Missouri Kansas City at an INMED course in international medicine. She learned a lot about both the medical and public health aspect of practicing medicine in developing nations. She also connected with some wonderful people who are also following God to do work in various countries in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. While Sandy was away and the kids were spending some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma, Jeneson headed to Haiti with a group from Tulane University. This was a great experience medically and an enlightening experience spiritually as this was the first non-faith-based medical mission trip he has been on.

     The months of July and August show no signs of slowing down either. Jeneson’s Dad will be visiting from India in July and the beginning of August. Through connections with family and friends we will be speaking at a church in Shelbyville, IL in mid-July. Baby Abraham #3 is due the end of July/beginning of August. And, the middle of August will find us down in New Orleans as Jeneson starts the Tropical Medicine Diploma Program at Tulane University on August 18th. 

     We are definitely in need of your prayer support in the coming months. We are still trying to sell our condo and will be stepping out in faith as we look for a place to live in the New Orleans area. Through wonderful friends we have some contacts in the New Orleans area and are fully depending on God to provide for us financially and to lead us to where He wants us to be. Please pray for Sandy as she transitions to having a preschooler, toddler, and infant to care for in a new city. Please pray for Jeneson as he leaves his current job and starts further schooling in tropical medicine. Please pray for the kids as they adjust to a new sibling and a new house. The people of Sierra Leone continue to need prayers for the softening of hearts to hear about the love of Jesus. A short term team from Global will be travelling to Sierra Leone in mid-July and we are anticipating good reports from them on the well digging and hospital construction.

     We enjoy any opportunity to tell others of the desires that God has laid on our hearts and how He is working in our lives. So, if you are interested in hearing more or think that your church or small group or any other gathering would like to hear us speak, please contact us. And, as always, if you feel led to give financially to our goal of being in Sierra Leone the first part of next year, please contact Global Outreach Mission for information on financial support.


Blessed,

Jeneson & Sandy Abraham
Josiah, Lydia, and baby Abraham

FREE Healthcare!!!

Sierra Leone has just launched a program to provide free health care to all pregnant and lactating women and children under the age of 5. Here is a link to the article on allafrica.com (http://allafrica.com/stories/201004280613.html)  What an amazing first step for the country and for President Ernest Bai Koroma! Now I hate to be a cynic, but I am a realist. And at this point just let me say that I refuse to comment on the state of health care in this country.

I hope and pray that President Koroma continues to take the steps necessary to be able to implement a program of this magnitude, but there are a lot of hurdles that he must leap over in order to do so. this is something that even he and his top health officials (minus a Minister of Health and Sanitation since he was recently ousted after being found guilty of corruption and not yet replaced) admit will be difficult. According to a government press statement they toured some hospitals around the country to check the country's readiness for this program and found a lack of running water, lack of electricity and generators, acute lack of personnel, and insufficient beds and medical equipment.

In a country of 5.7 million people, this program has the potential to directly impact 1.5 women and children and to indirectly impact the rest of the country. But first, these women and children need to have access to a medical facility and in a country where there are approximately 1 doctor and 5 midwives for every 10,000 people (WHO recommends at least 228 physicians/100,000 people) finding somebody to take care of you can be a harsh reality. And, most of these physicians and health care workers are concentrated in the capital of Freetown, not in the vast rural areas of Sierra Leone. If they do have the ability to access a hospital or clinic what are the chances that the needed medication, treatment, or supplies will be available? Like I said, I am a realist.

The reality is that large NGOs (non-governmental organizations) such as UNICEF and small NGOs such as Global Outreach Mission (GOM) can work along side the government in helping to provide affordable, reliable, quality health care to the women, children, and men of Sierra Leone.

Our goal with GOM is to reach out to the people of the Mokanji area and show and share the love of Christ as we minister to people physically AND spiritually. We not only want to give them a healthier life, but eternal life in Christ.

Water, what a precious commodity

Water is such an amazing element. It can bring misery and death in the form of floods, droughts or disease. Or it can be a life-giving force. Through out the developing world clean drinking water is often scarce. Worldwide, over 1 billion people do not have access to clean water which ultimately results in approximately 3.5 million deaths per year.

Our friend Dan is currently in Sierra Leone helping their situation. He arrived in February with a well drilling rig with the goal of staying a few months and digging a few wells. This is what he is trying to remedy: The first picture is

just a small example of where many people in the world get their water. This picture was taken in Moribatown, Sierra Leone, a village about 20 miles south of Mokanji hospital (where we hope to be next year). The first well was dug in Moribatown on the grounds of one of the schools that Global Outreach Missions helps support. You can see the radiant smiles full of hope on the school children enjoying the flow of clean water. Dan is in the process of digging a well at the hospital site.

In addition to helping deliver clean water to Sierra Leone the goal is also to tell them of the living water.

John 4:13-15 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

How do they do it?

How do the moms and dads in Sierra Leone do it? How to they cope when their kids are sick?

This past weekend Josiah was sick with a fever and stomach flu and Lydia is getting multiple teeth in which makes her cranky and gives her rank diarrhea (i.e. both her mouth and butt hurt). Thankfully with our medical background and a Walgreens on every corner we knew what to do for them and had no problem getting Tylenol, Motrin, diaper cream, pedialyte and whatever food Josiah would try to eat. Yet, still the way that Josiah just quietly laid around (far from his usual energizer bunny talkative self) and Lydia's pitiful cry when her teeth started to hurt or when you changed her diaper was just heartbreaking. While I'm sure that the Mom's in Sierra Leone are quite resourceful with natural remedies there must be times when they feel completely helpless.

This is where faith in Christ and Mokanji hospital can make a difference. While us going to Sierra Leone is not going to cure every illness and ailment, we CAN make a difference. We can show and share the love of Christ and the knowledge that He is the great physician. The radical transformation that Christ can make in their lives. That He can work miracles and that He has also sent us to share with the people of Sierra Leone our medical knowledge and medicines.

Just a little thought from this weekend.

Sierra Leone Update

So, just a little update on how things are progressing in Sierra Leone and at Mokanji hospital. Since the end of 2009 Global Outreach Mission (GOM) and a partner, Let Them Laugh Out Loud (LTLOL) have been working on a clean water project in Sierra Leone. In mid-February the drilling rig arrived in Sierra Leone and the end of February a short-term team from the States arrived and dug the first well at a school in Moribatown. This well can deliver up to 10 gallons of clean water a minute!! What an amazing blessing. The school children and surrounding villagers now have access to clean water and with further education on sanitation and hand washing it is expected that the indence of diarrhea and waterborne illnesses will decrease.

Work on Mokanji hospital is also progressing. During the construction the two nurses and community health worker currently at Mokanji are doing what they can with minimal supplies and support out of a local house. A well is also being dug on the hospital grounds. We are continuing to pray that the work continues without any issues and are looking forward to working with these dedicated workers.

Spring 2010 support letter

Spring 2010 Support Letter

Dear Friends,


How has God been working in your life lately? There has been no shortage of God working in our lives. Over the past several months God has been slowly revealing His amazing plan for our future. It has also included many steps of faith. The first development is that we are expecting baby #3 the first week in August. So far, Sandy has been feeling fine except for tired from running after a very active Josiah and increasingly active Lydia. Also, this past month we put our condo on the market and trust that if God wants us to sell, He will bring the right buyer at the right time. Selling would give us a lot of financial and locational flexibility and would be necessary before we can go to Sierra Leone. Where would we live if we sell? Just another step of faith. One option would be New Orleans. Jeneson was recently accepted to the Diploma program in Tropical Medicine at Tulane University. This is one of the few Tropical Medicine programs in the country and a great opportunity for Jeneson to take first-rate courses in tropical medicine and public health as we prepare for Sierra Leone. He will be a full-time student from the end of August to mid-December.


God has also been at work through Global Outreach Mission (GOM). GOM has recently been working on a water project in Sierra Leone. The beginning of February saw the delivery of a well drilling rig to Freetown, Sierra Leone. In fact, our good friend Dan, after hearing us talk so much about GOM and their work in Sierra Leone, decided to partner with GOM and is currently there until July working with the well drilling rig and digging wells at the hospital site and some of the local schools and churches. Recently a short-term team from the States helped dig the first well at a school in Moribatown. The pictures of the children enjoying the fresh water are priceless. The work on Mokanji hospital has also begun.


So, what is the next step for us? While we continue to patiently wait for God’s next work in our lives we continue to faithfully seek out support. In addition to the situations mentioned above, we are asking for prayer for the people of Sierra Leone, that God would make their hearts fertile to hear the amazing story of the Gospel. We are also praying for Dan and his work with the water project and financial and material provisions for the construction work on Mokanji hospital. Additionally, we are still in need of people to step out in faith with us and support us financially. A big THANK YOU to those who have already given and to those who have partnered with us regularly. We need to obtain 100% support before we can go to minister to the people of Sierra Leone. One-time financial gifts are greatly appreciated, but we are asking for people to share our vision for the people of Sierra Leone and pledge $50-$100/month. Will you partner with us?


Please use the enclosed prayer card to indicate your willingness to support us and mail it back to GOM. If you have any questions or want to know more about how God is leading us, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sandy is going to try to update our blog (http://abrahamadventures.blogspot.com) more frequently so you can keep up with us in between our prayer letters. You can find more information and pictures from the most recent trip to Sierra Leone there.


Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.


Blessed,
Jeneson and Sandy Abraham
Josiah and Lydia