No one is safe!

So everyone is pretty miserable here at the Hallahan's! We have had fevers and racking coughs- Josh was officially diagnosed with asthmatic bronchitis- which we found out after he passed out in our kitchen on Friday morning. He was taken to the ER- but his xray and CAT scan were clean, so he was home by 1pm. It was just one of those freak things that made me wrestle with my God- but cling to Him all the more!

As I continue learning how to pray I am struck by how difficult prayer is for me. Wrestling is hard. Circumstances like my husband fainting in the kitchen aren't on my agenda! I like things to be neat, organized, and measurable. Relationships are messy and fluid- which is why I'm not very good at them- making this school of prayer very difficult! I love to read the Bible- I can have a reading plan, I can digest a verse and journal about it, I can check off which chapters I've read and I feel accomplished. In prayer I sit and wait... I speak and listen... I offer up my heart to God... but I can't measure transformation... I can't plan where the Spirit will lead... I can't schedule how long it will take for Him to get me there! And at that place of utter dependence and waiting- I find this tiny glimmer of freedom! I don't have to make prayer work. I don't have to know where it will end up. Just like I can't plan when I will be fully recovered from this illness. I am at the mercy of the germs... but in that abandon, there is freedom to wait and freedom to heal!

Viruses have a way of taking everything out of you- and while it's easy to say "Just get some rest" it's a different story when there are three other sick ones to tend to! I am sure I will be sick the longest, simply because I can't rest like I need to. But in the misery of being cooped up together, there is also joy in leaning on one another, which strengthens the bond of family! I am grateful that Josh has recovered and is now helping me return to health! And as I recover I will try and just be!
-Kelly

Family

As we continue to move forward towards living in Uganda one of the obvious facts of missionary life is beginning to sink in. Moving to Uganda means leaving behind family and friends. Maybe it was getting a tentative date of May 1, 2010 to be over in Uganda which made this sink in for me. I don't know. But it saddens me to realize we will be leaving behind everyone we love. Kelly and I have been so blessed to have our parents and siblings (almost all of them) a mere 15 minutes away from us. Blessed to have parents who watched our boys for us just about anytime we asked- and sometimes we were asked to share them! That won't be the case in Uganda.

In that sad thought though I am beginning to see how God is going to provide for us over in Uganda. As we spent a week at WGM headquarters God showed me that He was assembling a new family for us. Albeit no one will ever come close to taking the place of our real family, and I don't want them to, God is already surrounding us with people to love us and encourage us. One of the coolest things was to meet the Ferg family when we reached headquarters. The Fergs live in Atco NJ (a mere 20 minutes from Clayton) and are good friends with Bill and Amy Ashe who we know through Delanco. The Fergs will also be going to Uganda and will be ministering side by side with Kelly and I. Only God would arrange for that to happen! Also on our team are Jamie Friedrich and Pam Wilson. Both girls are associated with Asbury where Kelly graduated. Pam was the "baby whisperer" during our week at headquarters and withing moments of holding Seth one night he was asleep in her arms. Jamie is the one you can talk about serious things with and then go out and make snow angels because you have been cooped up inside all day. Of course, Kelly's brother Scott and wife Meg (and baby Tim) will be in Uganda as well (albeit a 9 hour drive away). So God is already surrounding us with awesome people who will be our family while in Uganda. We will also be with plenty of other missionaries who I'm sure will be just what our family needs.

As we continue on this journey I thank God for already helping to ease the pain of leaving friends and family behind. It will be hard and tears will shed but God is still in control and will provide for us all no matter where we are on this globe.

- Josh

Our Uganda Family!

No Power...

Caleb sitting in the dark during a power outage.

So, the other day our power went out... no we aren't in Uganda yet, something just went haywire with our power lines in Clayton! I've been meaning to blog about that moment for some days now, and couldn't find the time or the words. But I've come to really cherish the quite dark minutes we spent without power- because they point me to the inward reality of our Christian lives without prayer!

This past week we were at headquarters for training, and I came to see how desperately we need prayer and how WGM really believes in the power of prayer. In their main building there is a screen that scrolls through their missionary, MK, and staff prayer focus of the day. Hearing President Hubert Harriman come before the Father on our behalf was amazing. You can just tell that he spends much time in His presence. And during one session we split into pairs to share a prayer request and pray with each other, and I was so blessed to share that time with Jamie! And then there are the logistical details and I have to say that just the thought of filling out expense reports sends me to my knees! Now that we are home we get many prayer requests on behalf of our new WGM family- it is so cool to be connected around the world!

During one session, Frank gave an illustration using a rubber band with four strings tied around it, and our goal was to use the strings to stretch the rubber band around a paper cup, and then to move paper cups into a pyramid. It was a great picture of how we (the rubber band) cannot do anything of worth on the mission field, unless our prayer partners (the strings) are praying. Only then will we have the strength and the power to build God's kingdom!

So today God's challenge to me (and to you): are you spending sufficient time in prayer? Do you understand the power that lies at your disposal if you would just align yourself with God's will and pray as He leads? And will you take that power and use it wisely and faithfully on behalf of those you love and those you serve?

On my knees,
Kelly

Link between Love and Prayer

Lesson #14 in the School of Prayer. "We sometimes commit ourselves to work for Christ out of zeal for His cause or for our own spiritual health, without giving ourselves in personal self-sacrificing love for those whose souls we seek. No wonder our faith is powerless and without victory! View each wretched one, however unloveable he is, in the light of the tender love of Jesus the Shepherd searching for the lost. Look for Jesus Christ in him and take him into a heart that really loves, for Jesus' sake. This is the secret of believing prayer and successful effort. Jesus speaks of love as the root of forgiveness. It is also the root of believing prayer... Whoever gives himself to let the love of God dwell in him, whoever in daily life loves as God loves, will have the power to believe in the love that hears his every prayer..." -With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray

I was struck to the core today as I read that my prayers depend on my love for those I am praying for. I must admit that I do not always love everyone- I often fall short on compassion. And so in my school of prayer I must soak myself in God's love, so that as I pray, His love is poured through me onto those I'm interceding for.

Bowled Over...

It astonishes me that people are already interested in and invested in our ministry! Of course, that only illustrates my lack of faith- but truly it has been a sweet affirmation of our calling to Uganda to see people send money to WGM for our new laptop, graciously supply money for gas as we travel to headquarters next week, and have others send money to WGM as our Christmas gifts! There is no bigger blessing than to know people care about us and want to join God in His kingdom work in Uganda! And we have only just begun! I'm sure there will be days when we wonder how we will ever reach 100% funding... but today I am grateful, for the gifts already sent, and for the faithful ones whom God is already preparing for our team! It is a privilege to be one of His "sent ones"- and we praise God for all those He has called to be His "sending ones"! Each one has a vital task to do, and we can't wait to see how He puts our team together!

Pray with us as we drive to Indiana to spend a week at headquarters for training. We will be driving through the night Saturday, and again on Thursday. Hopefully the boys will sleep most of the 11 hour drive- and Josh won't! We are looking forward to receiving more information, and meeting new people- and we are excited to learn how to be most effective during this year of fundraising and team building! Thank you for covering us in prayers for traveling mercies, that the boys would enjoy the child care (and behave well), and for effective training time!

School of Prayer

This new year I am resolving to stay enrolled in the school of prayer! I have been a Christian for 20+ years, and I am discovering how little I truly know about prayer, and how little I lean on the true power that prayer wields! As we begin this journey toward africa, I want to so steep myself in prayer, that every step I take, and every word I speak is His.

I am currently reading a very relevant book, With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. It is arranged so that you can read one chapter every day for one month. But it is so full of truth, and depth- that I believe I could read a chapter every day for a year, and still have so much farther to go! Today I read about the "Boldness of God's Friends". Are you His friend? Do you truly believe you can go to Him at any hour of the day and ask Him for what you need? Do you and He share the common interest of loving the lost? Because if you are truly walking as His friend- you may ask everything you need, and He will grant it! I don't believe I truly trust that He delights in answering my prayers. That is something I am working on! And it will be an exciting year as I press in closer to His heart- and make it my home. Will you join us in this adventure of prayer?