Hello Ladies,

We are slowly being engulfed by the boxes and clutter as we pack up our house. It is an all-consuming task and I have to be reminded by others that there is a Africa Trip on the horizon. I apologize to each of you for my lack of posting. I am a one-track personality type. I struggle when there are numerous things going on at the same time for which I am responsible. I need to be reminded continually that I too need to be preparing for this April's trip. Help me!!

Many of you are wanting to know what you should be doing now? Probably the most important thing is fundraising for your ticket fare. We have extended the deadline for when your ticket money needs to be turned in... to March 15th. But the sooner you can get that in, the better. I hope you have mailed out your sponsor letters to everyone you know, and maybe even to friends of friends or extended family. Use your imagination.

Also, it is not too early to be getting your immunizations out of the way. The Hep B takes a couple of boosters after the initial shot. Remember the county clinics are the cheapest. Ask for the travel nurse.

Thirdly, it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get your passport now. Your Visa stamp will have to wait until after we have purchased the airline tickets so we can put the exact dates of our time in-country on the application.

Paso Robles group, when the time comes, you can get with Pastor Jim as a group to mail those passports in for the Visas. John and Cristin Harrell will organize the Ventura group when it's time. So look to your local leaders for help with trip preparations and getting to the airport, etc.

PLEASE feel free to send me an email with any question you may have or even just a comment about anything!! I welcome your communication, it keeps me focused and is a wonderful distraction from the boxes and packing. YOU ARE NOT BOTHERING ME. I want to get to know each of you. I check my email daily. Write me at--- susanharrell5@yahoo.com Put in the subject line-- April Uganda Trip, so I do not delete your email. If I don't recognize the sender right off, I won't open it.

Once your airfare has been raised please send it to our Mississippi address.. Unchanging Truth Ministires, P.O. Box 89, De Kalb, MS 39328. You might want to send it all together as a group... or if you prefer, you can send it to us in payments and I will keep track of it. (I think Pastor Jim will be collecting the trip money for the P.R. group.)

Well I guess that's it for now. I hope you are getting excited. Please be spending extended time in the Word and in fervent prayer for every aspect of this trip and the team. God will honor your effort and faithfulness, and we will see and experience the results.

With much love, your sister in Christ,
Susan

Teaching topics

NOTE TO THE LEAD TEACHERS---Two topics have been chosen by two or our teachers. One of our sessions will be on Women of the Bible. Jodi Plum will be leading those five sessions. I will be teaching on the topic of the Tongue and the Power of our Words. When meeting with a small discussion group in one of our women's conferences a few years ago, I was told one of the problems which they deal with is gossip! I gueas women are the same everywhere!

I look forward to hearing from our other two teachers from Paso Robles to hear how God is leading them concerning their session topics.

My husband, Scott and I will be leaving tomorrow after church for a cross-country drive to MS to make preparations for our January move. We will keep each of you and your families in our prayers. We pray that you experience the love and joy and peace Of Christ during this wonderful Christmas season! I look forward to seeing you all in Buelton, on the 10th of Jauary. We are thinking about meeting at Anderson Split Pea Restaurant. We will let everyone know for sure before then.

Lord bless you! Susan

PLANNED MEETING

Please pass the word that all the women will be meeting Sunday, January 10th, after church at 3:00 in Buelton. (The exact location will soon be announced.)

This will be the final time I can meet with all of you before the April Mission Trip. It will be wonderful to be able get together as a team. I look forward to it.

I was honored to meet with the group from Paso Robles this past Sunday, Dec 13th. What a wonderful addition to our team! I am anxious for our Ventura ladies to meet the P.R. group. I believe God has something great in store for us all by raising up such a large team of women.

UPDATE: It is settled. I am so excited to announce that we will be having four teaching sessions at our conference. There will be two sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon. Our four lead-teachers will be Jodi, Kim, Cindy and myself. Ladies, please be seeking the Lord intently as to what He would have you teach. Remember you will need material for five sessions. One per day for five days. Each session should go at least 30 min, but feel free to take up to an hour. Keep in mind two things-- you will have to go at a slower pace working with an interpreter. And these hard-working ladies have a hard time sitting still for a lengthy period without getting drowsy. So it would be best to plan your lecture to be around 45 minutes. Go over it outloud and time yourself. Hopefully we can have an idea of our topics of choice by the January 10th meeting. Please let me know as soon as possible--so I can coordinate the four of us. If you feel you need help, I would be happy to assist you any way I can. It would be good if you could email me a brief overview of each of your sessions a couple of weeks before we leave. This is only that I might suggest a clearer way to communicate a truth to our African sisters, should I see a problem.

To all our ladies-- remember to keep all the team in your daily prayer. As soon as it is set, we will post the names of everyone going.

Ask God to continue to prepare you for this trip. Be sensitive to any things He may reveal to you that may be sin or hindrances to His work in your life. Be open and willing to confess and repent, or remove or let go of anything He may reveal. It's through our obedience to even the simplest things that we grow in Christlikeness.

I'll be praying for each of you. Please keep Scott and me in your prayers as we are getting ready for this big move the end of January. After that we will look forward to meeting up with you on the second leg of the trip, wherever our stopover will be. This is going to be a great conference!

I will be trying to blog some every week. It may be more of a challenge soon, as packing for our cross-country move will be consuming our time more ad more. Please remember Scott and I in your prayers as we enter this new realm of ministry and a new life. We have no idea how all this is going to happen or what it is going to look like... we just know with all certainty that God is saying, "Go". Pray for us to have clear discernment for each step we are to take, and for a quiet faith that does not rest upon what we can see or understand... but solely on our God and His faithfulness and love.

We will be moving to a rural area of Mississippi, where we will set up our home base for Unchanging Truth Ministries International. As God raises up supporters for this work, we will continue the radio program, Unchanging Truth, to numerous contries around the world, including all of Africa on Radio East and Radio West shortwave. There will be 3 - 4 mission trips a year, as funds permit, to continue the ministry of training pastors in the poorest areas of the 3rd world countries-- where they have no access or funds for any schooling. As we have the volunteers, we will also be doing women's, youth and children's conferences, which will go on simultaneously with the pastors' conferences. We will also be developing a curriculum to be used both online and on CD.

All this sounds so huge and overwhelming at times. But then we remember the vastness of our Father and His resources, and then we rest in faith and confidence for what yet is going to happen.

A few prayer requests--

Pray for an easy transition for our whole family.

Not only are we moving, but so is our daughter, Rebecca, and her family from California to Texas-- to a new job and new home(both still being sought) to take care of her mother-in-law who has lung cancer.

Also pray our son John and his wife, Cristin. Although they are not moving cross-country, they will be moving into a new home in Ojai and will be starting a new ministry at a church there. John has just been hired as their worship pastor.

It has been so exciting and amazing to see how God is working in each of our circumstances, both shutting doors and opening wide other opportunities-- directing each of us in the way we should go.

PRAY also for our whole mission team that will be going on this April trip. Pray for God to prepare us--(Heb 12:1,2), by removing all hindrances and sin from our lives so we will be fit vessels for His use.

PRAY for God to remove all personal agendas or selfish motivations, and instead to bind us together with one purpose and desire to glorify Him.

PRAY for Pastor Paul Muwangala, who will be making all the arrangements for the conferences there in Kakira.

And PRAY for all those who will be attending the conferences, including the curious bystanders that are always present when Muzungus, (white people), come.

The presense of Satan is powerful there. So let's all begin to pray for God's protection during that time. Pray that he would be bound from this area and all of Uganda as more and more people are coming to Christ.

I look forward to sitting down with you face to face to talk and pray.

In the love of Christ, Susan

Next time... we'll talk about possible study topics for the women for this year.

Welcome ladies! I am so anxious to see your faces, and to be able to join hands and hearts with you in prayer. Thank you for listening to the prompting of God's Spirit and responding in obedience to His call to go. Although we have six months between now and our actual departure, there is much to be done in that span of time.

You need to start now with your vaccinations, some require months before they are complete. (Note the blogsite for trip details. There you will find information on which vaccinations you will be needing.) And although it is not that lengthy a process, going ahead and getting your passport would get that out of the way too. Once you have your passport, we will give you the address of the Ugandan Embassy here in the U.S. where you can send it to obtain your visa before we go. You can also get the visa--(which is a stamp in your passport, permitting you to enter their country), upon arrival when we check in to the Entebbee airport. But it's better for the team if that is already done ahead of time.

But the most important preparation that must begin now is that of your heart. I encourage you to seek God fervently, asking Him to reveal all hindrances and sins that may be preventing you from being wholly His. (Heb 12:1-2) And pray daily for God's work to be accomplished in you, in our teammates, and in the hearts of those attending these conferences... and all others to which we are able to share and help along the way. There will be an ongoing, current prayer list posted on this blog for which we all can pray together specifically for various needs.

You are stepping out in faith on perhaps one of your greatest adventures yet with Christ. He is delighting in you right now --just for being you, and for loving Him through your obedience. (John 15:9-10)

The journey begins now.
Much love from a fellow-travelor,

Susan Harrell