EIGHT YEARS!!!

8 Years!! 

Can you believe? We can't! We had no idea when we started this journey with you that we would still be serving Jesus with J-Life after 8 years!! Lots has happened in 8 years! 

1. J-LIfe grew from 6 to 25 countries in Africa
2. Our family grew by one amazing Daughter in Law
3. Moved 3 times 
4. 3 different schools
5. 1 dog

All these are just things I can think of off the top of my head. The most amazing thing is that God has grown J-Life and is continuing to work into countries that were once on a dream list. We continue to thank Jesus and His leading. We are so blessed as a family and an organization. All the glory goes only to Jesus Christ! We are simply vessels being used by Him. I would challenge each of us to continue to look for ways in our daily lives to be intentional about living our live FOR Him!

We love each of you and are continually in awe of our prayer and financial partners.
WE COULD NOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!!

serving together, david, liz, matthew and grace

One of my obsessions

SHARPIES!!! I have an unusual and maybe abnormal love for Sharpies! I don't know exactly when it started but it was a couple of years ago. We couldn't get Sharpies here in South Africa until last year sometime which only added to my obsession. You know when you can't get something (Peanut Butter M&Ms, Starburst, good stickers, Sonic Route 44 Diet Coke with crunchy ice, Chick-fil-A), but who's counting? When you can't get something, it only adds to the obsession. When you rely on people coming to SA or your yearly Christmas stocking stuffer to get your Sharpies, your heart pounds when one begins to loose it's color or you can't find the color in the plethora of Sharpies or you're convinced that your children are hiding them from you.

Now, David just asked me (appallingly I might add) if I was blogging about Sharpies. And what that had to do with anything. Grace and I both answered, "Everything." (She's well trained). And I could try and bring something spiritual into this (because isn't that what missionaries are suppose to do?), but I won't. I just wanted to share my love of Sharpies and all other things listed that you can't get here in South Africa that I may or may not obsess about.

Thanks for listening to the rant.

Up next Monday....another missionary monday

Sewing

I sew, but only things that require straight lines. My mom made us take sewing lessons one year and it kinda stuck with me. So curtains, blankets, bedding. etc...those are the things I am good at.
This is a blanket I made for myself. It's a throw size. It's 2 layers of fleece so it's extra warm on my feet. The winter here in South Africa is quite cold. I know that comes as a surprise to some of you, but we are quite far from the equator so we get all four seasons. It would be better if our houses were equipped for winter with central heat, but it's only cold for about 12 weeks so I would rather have central air, if we were given a choice, but people don't put central air in their homes here, so when it's hot outside, it is hot inside and when it's cold outside, it's cold inside. Just the way it is. But anyway, this post was not about the weather. It's about sewing. Last week, I sewed a "Cars" comforter for our friend's little boy. I am not the best seamstress in the world, but am so glad my mom made me take lessons. I think everyone should know how to sew, at least a little. So, I am teaching Grace on the machine and Matthew knows how to sew a button and we even attempted to darn a sock the other day. I was feeling like a real Martha Stewart :). Sewing has come in super handy being a missionary and either helping someone by making a blanket or curtains or tablecloths or just being able to make curtains for my house. Love being able to minister in a maybe non-traditional way, but sharing God's love through sewing.

Missionary Monday 6

This is Palgrave. He is the country leader in Ghana, Ghana is in West Africa. This is his family. His wife Irene and children, Ruth-Janelle and Steve. I believe Palgrave went through the J-Life training in 2007. So, he has been around longer than we have. He has a great team around him to help him in the disciple making movement in Ghana. This year, Palgrave has been instrumental in growing disciples outside of Ghana. He has helped Nelson from Sierra Leone come to J-Life and continues to meet with him now that they are both back in west Africa. 

• Pray for Palgrave and Irene and their children, That the Lord would grant them wisdom to raise their beautiful children and to make time for their marriage.
• Pray for Ghana as they continue to grow the work being done there
• Pray for the outreach past Ghana's borders that is happening. 
• Pray for Palgrave as he continues to help Nelson through his first year in J-Life.

New Adventures

Well, we've come to the end of an era...my passport was full. And I mean full. No space for any stamps. I couldn't even leave the country if I had needed to. So, off the the US Consulate to apply for a new one.  

In many ways, it kinda makes me sad to give up my old passport. My whole African life is in that thing. from the first trip until now. Every border crossing, mission trip, family trip, everything is in that little blue book. I think of the lifetime of experiences held in that book. Faces of people met along the way and many I won't see again this side of heaven, but thanks to the grace of Jesus, we will see again. 

On the other hand, I think of the great adventures that await me! Just to think of filling up a brand new passport. I was a little smarter this time and got the 52 page book. My old passport was due to expire until next August.  I think of all the things my old book holds, all the adventures and things I have gotten to experience and I get so excited to see where the Lord is going to take me in those 52 pages! What a story I'll be telling 10 years from now. Who knew 10 years ago that we would even be living in South Africa as missionaries.  Who knew that our children who get to experience life in another country and have their eyes opened to a world bigger than themselves. 

I pray over this passport and that I will always go where the Lord will lead, share the things the Lord wants me share in those places and meet the exact right people He has placed before me. Big adventures await! 

Proud mom moment

The Cast

                              The Backstage Crew

                      Matthew
 


For the 9 weeks my kids have been practicing for Major Production which this year was "Rock and Roll through the Ages".  Matthew was the bassist and Grace was in charge of back stage. They practiced from 4-7pm three days a week. Which meant that we left home at 6:30am and got home at 7:45pm. You ask why in the world would I say they could do this? At some point I wondered myself, but then I would see them working hard at things they loved such as Grace painting the back drops or Matthew working on a new song. I am such a proud mom of all the hard work they did to make such a great show.  I am a firm believer in encouraging my kids to do what they love and to be good what they love. They can't get better without practice and hard work and DOING the thing they love. So, that means mom waiting (and helping out with the show by default) many hours and them practicing many hours, but their gifts from the Lord of painting and organizing and playing the bass have been work out and used for HIS glory. That is the point of our gifts, right? To be worked and practiced and used for HIS glory. Otherwise, the gift means very little.

Anyway, thanks for indulging this proud mom. May you let your little ones practice and work their gifts to HIS glory.

Whatcha doing end of September?

The trip is for ladies only (sorry gents) and it's a regular sort of mission trip. Here are some of the things we are thinking of doing. Visiting an orphanage, helping with a feeding scheme, doing holiday club (since it's the holidays here), visit a women's health clinic, maybe light painting or other such things. We will be in and around Heidelberg/ South Johannesburg area. We are hoping to nail down dates this week and start working on the cost. I would imagine somewhere around $2000. Don't let the money stop you. We can have fundraisers and ask some of those who can't go but want to be a  part to give. If God is leading you....there is no question about money. We will stay at the beautiful Camp Eden (international home of J-Life) or 'the farm' as we lovingly refer to it pictured above. These are some of the details I know of at this point. OH, the dates are end of Sept/beginning of Oct. Please email me at evenfamily5@gmail.com if you're interested or want more info.

Serving together, Liz

Missionary Monday

ok, so the new series is here and i am going to feature one of our J-Life Country leaders or a Regional director. I am going to start with a Regional Director and then the countries surrounding him and then move on to another region.

 

This is Mgliwe (mmm-glee-way) Simdinatome from Togo. Which is located in West Africa. You can see it's a very small country located between Ghana and Benin. It is a French speaking country.

Mgliwe's wife's name is Rhoder. His kids name's are Fidele (6), Hilaire (4) and Percee (2). Mgliwe came to know about J-Life at a Lausanne Conference held in Cape Town. Miah and Michelle Collins were working with J-Life at the time and they were in attendance. Michelle was assigned to the interpretation for the French speaking people. They needed another interpreter or something to that effect and Michelle met Mgliwe. They began to talk about what they did and Mgliwe shared his passion to to make youth disciples in French speaking Africa. This, of course, is what J-Life does. This is our mission. So the next January, Mgliwe came to be apart of our training. He then began to build a team in Togo and teach them what he had learned. Mgliwe works very hard and is passionate about the gospel being made known and making Christ-following disciples who will make disciples and so forth. Many of our team members from the French speaking countries in that region have come to work with us through Mgliwe and his influence. Mgliwe has now trained Ben, who will one day transition into being Togo Country Leader. Mgliwe is the Regional director for French speaking West Africa. 

• Please pray for Mgliwe to have wisdom and strength to manage his time with his work and family. As you can see, he has 3 wonderful little ones who need his attention. 
• Pray for his ministry and his leadership in the ministry.   
• Pray for his wife as she helps with the ministry.
• Pray for continued favor in the expansion of the ministry.

Kids Questions

Recently a friend's son had to ask a missionary kid some questions. I thought they would be great to share the answer here:

1.   Do I travel much?  We have gone one several family trips to various places. Mostly places in South Africa. We have been to Durban, Kruger National park, Pilanesburg Park, and Cape Town.  In Oct of 2014 we travelled by car to Ndola, Zambia. It took three days to drive. We drove up through Botswana and across the Zambian border at Victoria Falls where Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana meet.  This was an amazing trip to be able to see several countries all at once.  We have also been to Swaziland twice. Swaziland is the country that borders South Africa and Mozambique.  This March, my father needs to see some of our J-Life ministry guys up in Kenya and we are planning to go with. We will fly because it is too far by car.
2.    Do I help my parents?  Do I help them with ministry? Not in a direct way. We are with them a lot when they are working, but as far as day to day things, we are at school. We do lots of ministry things such as a feeding program that goes on every Wednesday. We help each holiday. There are also several church plants that our ministry and our church here help with, so we help with that when we can.
3.   Do I have many friends?  Yes. I go to a school that the high school is about 600 in number. My grade has about 120 kids in it. We are the only Americans in the school, but we don’t feel out of place. We have been in South Africa for 7 and ¾ years. We have been at this school for 5 years. My best friends are Caleb and Jesse. We have common interest such as gaming, science, art and several sports.
4.    Where do your parents work mainly?  My father works from his home office about 3 days a week and from our International Headquarters about 2 days a week which is on a farm about 25 minutes away from where we live in Heidelberg. There is a campsite at the headquarters that is used to help make money for the ministry as well as used as an outreach tool for Jesus. My dad, David, travels mainly in July, August, sept and October.  J-Life is in over 20 African countries (there are 54 total). So, he travels to see the country leaders during that time. Usually only 3-4 countries each year. My mom, Liz, volunteers at our school, Waterstone College,  and in trade we get full scholarships to the school. She works as the science lab assistant. Our school fees would be about $1200 a month otherwise and we could not afford to be at such an amazing school. We (my parents) raise all their own funds so her “working” at the school helps out a lot.
5.    What are my parents’ names? David and Liz Even
6.    My name is Matthew Even and I am in 11^th grade. My sister is named Grace and she is in the 9^th grade. We have an older brother, Andrew who works for Walmart and lives in the Bentonville area. His wife’s name is Elizabeth.

 
A website maybe to help you:  http://test.jlife.org.za/ (still under construction)
  
School website: http://www.curro.co.za/schools/gauteng/waterstone-college.aspx

Say what?!?!

I know, I know....your flabbergasted I am writing, but one of my New Years resolutions is to blog at least 6 times this year...for all you bloggers who blog everyday, well I know it seems like little, but for me it's big.  Been gone for a year.  And honestly I don't know what happened. Just stopped.

Anywho....

J-Life Summit 2016

Summit is where all 20+ Country leaders and some team members get together for a week of training, mentoring, sharing, learning, worshipping, and encouraging one another. The leadership team shares vision for the next 4 years. Its a hectic week for everyone with all the traveling and meetings, but well worth all the effort for us all to be together. I am only there a little bit because I am at school with the kids, but love visiting with all of our people when I can. They are such amazing people who share the love of Jesus and want to share His life with others.

It's amazing some of their stories, of which I will be sharing over the next few weeks on "Missionary Mondays". I know typing this now commits me to doing it on Mondays. Eeeks. I can and will do it. People keep me accountable. If you don't see a story....get onto me.

In case this video doesn't work....here is a Facebook Link to Video

So, this is the week of faces except for the final celebration dinner which I will put up pics tomorrow.  The internet has been super slow. It's taken me ten tries and all afternoon to get this video loaded.  

love serving together....

liz