I am so very happy to see you...

Do you know how many times we heard that phrase today in our own language? Every time I heard the phrase said to me or someone in our group, it nearly makes me cry....

These people have no idea have "so very happy" we are to see them. They are an absolute inspiration and a walking testimony of the grace of God. Each one of us has our own special stories of specific people that we were "so very happy to see" because God placed them in our lives during a specific time on this trip. Each one of us carries home a specific memory/moment that God truly encouraged, convicted or just down right blessed our heart....it has been amazing. I can't wait for each of you to hear the stories from each one of us in the coming weeks.

It has been very hot and we are consuming gallons upon gallons of liquid a day--praise God for the culligan man--his bottled water has kept us alive : )

Today we completely finished a church---roof is up, tin is on, and the people are excited and praising God! It is a great accomplishment! It was so much fun for me to play with the children....there are a couple that have also won a spot in my heart. One girl's name was Sandy....she was about 9 years old and she had a "Brianne" heart--she just wanted to make sure everyone was okay all the time. I could understand that, and I can't even speak her language! Bri, you would have LOVED her : ) The other was a little boy named Oen (pronounced Owen). Holy cow, this boy was a HOOT! He was 8 years old and you could tell he just knew he was God's gift to the world! He called me his "white girlfriend" and played his "air guitar" for me every chance he could---cracked me up all day!

One of the most humbly experiences so far, also happened at the church this afternoon. I had a pastor who understood basic English invite me to his home about .5 mile away from where the guys were working. Of course I went! We we got to his yard (which by the way was only a dirt yard, but it was absolutely spotless!), he announced me to his family. The started pouring out of this little hut....literally the house was about the size of most bathrooms. He got me the one chair from inside the hut and had me sit in the shade while everyone else in his family came and sat on the ground....that in an of itself almost made me cry. Then, he proceeded to tell me in broken English "I am so sorry I do not have a gift-not even bananas--for you. I have had many persecutions. But, I do have a gift I can give." Then, we went over to his one goat who had just had 2 babies (literally probably 2 days ago) and got one of the babies to bring to me. He wanted me to take one of the babies as a gift for coming to him home! I almost lost it! I did not want to cry because I knew I would not be able to explain to him why I was crying and I didn't want him to think I was upset. I tried as best as I could to say "No, spending time with your family is an honor to me...this is the best gift". For the next hour, I sat in the shade and listened to his whole family sing to me, teach me creole, and tell me their story. Most of their family had died and some are dying right now from the cholera outbreak. It was absolutely heart breaking. However, after his whole story--part in English, most in Creole, he closed his eyes and pointed to the sky and said, "After all this, I KNOW my God loves me.....He loves me.....and I love Him" I can't explain the emotions of awe, praise to God, inspiration, shame, and so many other things I felt at that very moment...God definitely used Him in my life at that moment---I won't be the same!

Tonight we went to the Bible institute and saw over 200 men and ladies coming from miles away to learn more of God's Word! It was awesome. I got to speak with the ladies tonight, and I won't go into all the details, but I want you to know that God met with us tonight....nothing short of anything that He was capable of doing, and I am just humbled. There are some amazing women here---I cannot wait for you all to meet them!


Tomorrow is ORPHANAGE DAY!!!!!! We all cannot wait---I think we are all just itching to get there!!! I promise, we will hug each one of your kids for you, give them the gifts and take TONS of pictures! I have determined there is no way to upload photos because of the speed, so you will just have to wait on those!

Jan--the pig is making it just fine--loving every stop we make. He should find his forever home tomorrow--please tell Sarah!

Mom--tell dad that everyone is still asking about him. Matt & I are "famous" only because we are known as "Toby's kids" : )

Bob Cooper drank 2 full bottles of water today--totally supposed to report that!

Sean, Pastor, Terry, and Lille all suffered "tin injuries" but are mending and doing well!
Josh and Todd worked like machines today putting the tin on--it couldn't have been less than 120 degrees and they never complained.

Ed continues to work like crazy--today he was the tin man as he lifted the tin to the roof. He also did alot of the measurements for the boards with Bob Lawrence. 

Don't know how much we will get to share the rest of the trip---but please continue to pray and know that God is doing great things...we can't wait for tomorrow : )