Shining His Glory and Heading Home...Updated with Photos

The MAF Conference ended yesterday.  It was a great ending to a wonderful time with such precious children.  We learned how God uses the furnace (problems and trouble in life) to make us into the person He wants us to be.  To help illustrate that point, we made cookies.  As we made the cookies, the children got to sample the ingredients, talking about how each tasted and how that corresponded to events in life. For example, oats are dry, just like life is often dry and boring.  Cocoa is bitter and life can often be sad and bitter.  Vanilla sure smells good but tastes awful.  Life can sometimes seem like it's going to be one way and turn out to be completely different.  However, God uses all the things in our life to make us who He wants us to be...but it often requires us going through the furnace.  The same was true with the cookies.  Once we mixed them together and put them in the "furnace", they became something yummy.

We also made a craft, using broken crayon pieces.  Those broken pieces didn't look very good or worth much but after they went through the furnace, they became something quite beautiful.

The last thing we learned is that God received all the glow-ry (glory) through our hard times.  We illustrated how His glory shines from us through the use of glow sticks.  Others will know we have been through the furnace by how Jesus shines through us.

Last night was the MAF talent show.  Quite a few people shared their different talents for us.

The children sang the two songs we have learned, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego" and "Joy is the Flag".  They also recited the six points they had learned.

It was a fun evening.  I was sad to tell the families goodbye.  I have so enjoyed meeting all of them, working with the children, and ministering to the women.

I couldn't leave without giving each couple a signed copy of my book.

After church today, we dropped off our luggage. (They check in your baggage early here.)  Then, we went to eat lunch at a nice restaurant where we were able to eat African food.  Mike had crocodile and I had antelope with fried plantains.  We both enjoyed our meals very much!!

We are now packing up the rest of our carry-ons and getting ready to leave...in about 15 minutes. Yikes!!!  So, no pictures for now but I will add them when I get back to Colorado...Tuesday.  Well, it may be Wednesday before I get the photos on here.

Please pray for us as we travel home the next three days.  We leave Kinshasa around 10:30 PM here (3:30 MDT).  We arrive in Denver Monday evening around 7:30 PM MDT...a long day plus ahead of us.  We will stay in Denver Monday night and take the bus home on Tuesday, arriving home around 5:00 PM Tuesday.