Inward Renewal

Thirty years ago today, Andrea was born near the small village of Muruu, Kenya at around 9 PM.   Andrea’s mother (Donna Armes) had been planning to deliver in Nairobi – a four hour bush drive away.  Andrea had other plans though, making a surprise visit 5 weeks early.  God providentially made it possible for a Dutch doctor to be present and assist with the delivery and even helped avert a crisis when Andrea was born with the chord around her neck.  Ever since, people have come to know Andrea for her warm heart, joyful spirit, creative energy, and depth of character.  I thought it would be fun to post a few memorable photos.  Happy Birthday AJ!

Tracy Singleton, who works with pastors in our leadership training program, had a birthday recently.  Ian and Ireen worked hard on home-made cards to deliver to him.  With their cards in hand they walked across the lane and knocked at his back door.  They were pretty dissapointed to find out that Tracy had left home to run some errands.  Andrea reassured them that they could try again later.

Tracy loves working outdoors on his garden and trimming trees, so we thought getting him a tree would be just the perfect B-day gift.  The little tree in the picture is a naartjie tree.  It produces a soft, loose-skinned South African citrus fruit. The naartjie name is Afrikaans but  is also known as a mandarin or tangerine fruit outside of South Africa.  Ian and Ireen couldn’t have been more proud about the arrangement.  Happy B-day Tracy!

or nartjie, is a soft loose-skinned South African citrus fruit. It is also known as a mandarin, satsuma or tangerine outside of South Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Look up naartjie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The name is Afrikaans and is originally from the Tamil word nartei meaning citrus.

Today we are celebrating Ian’s second birthday!  Two years ago today, we took this picture of Ian’s little scrunched up face.  He was born at 7:50 PM on a Wed. evening…. weighed in at 3.33 kg or 7lbs 3 oz …. measured 47cm long or 18.5 inches long.  We gave him the name Ian because it means “God is gracious”.  We are so thankful to God for the gift that he is and are so proud of our little man!