Just in the nick of time

Can I just tell you that my mom is absolutely the most amazing woman ever!! My passport situation was stressful and being patient as my flight time was approaching was not easy. I was encouraged and supported by so many people praying for me and reminding me that God is in control.

Here is the story:

I applied for my passport with two weeks left in my trip. Plenty of time for a 10 day need, right? Well, they informed me that those 10 days were 10 business days, putting the arrival of my passport the Saturday before my flight on Monday. "Phew", I thought, "that is really close", but God knows what He is doing, so I trusted.

The Wednesday before my departure I got a call from my Mom that said that the passport office wanted an explanation as to the loss of my passport. So, I wrote it, found a printer, then found a fax machine and sent it. I called the office to confirm that they had received it, but there was not answer. I left a message.

I planned to call the next day, but was not able to. I called on Friday to check the status. She told me they had not received my fax!!!! What?? And they did not call me and let me know. Man oh man. I went back to fax it again, and again she did not receive it. Then she gave me the correct fax number. I could not believe it! It was the day before I needed it to arrive in the mail, and she had not given me the right fax number. I was sweating by this point. She confirmed that they had received the explanation and that the passport would be sent in the mail that day.

Well, it did not arrive on Saturday like we were hoping and there is no mail (not even overnight express mail delivered on Sunday). My Mom decided to meet the mail truck at 5:30 am on Monday and then IF the passport arrived would drive it to Tampa (3 hrs away) to meet me at the airport. And that is how it worked out. It did actually arrive on Sunday, but was waiting for someone to sort the mail on Monday morning.

My mom is such a do-anything-to-help-the-ones-she-loves kind of person and I could not have been on that plane without her unconditional love.

Why do I have a new passport photo???

Why do I have a new passport photo???
Originally uploaded by dkoepke.

Oh man, what a story, I travel over 24 hours to get to New York and

my passport is cancelled upon entry to the United States. I don't

think I did anything wrong this trip, but it all goes back to the

fateful week in Ghana where my passport was "missing" for three days

and mysteriously showed up after we alerted the hotel manager. I

reported my passport lost on Friday morning, only to have it turn up

Friday afternoon. Since my new passport would not be available until

Monday and my flight was that Saturday I decided to leave the new

passport and leave with the old one. It is funny that no country has

even questioned my passport until almost a year later.



This story was not to entertain you too much, I do want to ask for

your prayer for quick paperwork so that my new passport could come in

the mail before my flight leaves on Monday. Thank you so much for

joining me in this request. God even cares about the silly stuff.

Greetings from Sunny Florida!!!

Wow, vacation time is great. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with friends and family and the friends that feel like family, too. God has really been great allowing me the opportunity to see many of the people that mean so much to me and encourage me so much. These people are such an important part of my ministry that I believe I would not be serving where I am without them. Thank you so much, guys! I am very very blessed to have people like you "holding the ropes" of this spirit-filled, exciting ministry.

What an honor being here, getting to share my heart for the Fulani with the people most important to me. It is so cool. I'm not much like Moses; I can really talk a lot, especially when I am very excited and passionate about the topic. My work in Niger drives me and getting to share it with others who truly have a passion to see the tribes, tongues and nations of the world to come to know Jesus Christ is such an amazing opportunity.

I'm having a great time if you could not tell! I will keep you updated.

The days are short...

Last week I headed out East in Niger to visit existing pockets of believers, some in churches, some not, and research where the Fulani populations are located. This information will help us to better plan for the placing of workers and strategies used to share the Truth. The trip was full of some craziness, difficult times and lots of fun. My friend came with me who speaks Hausa as well as Fulfulde, and she was so helpful! We traveled over 1500 kilometers in a week. It was a crazy few days.

I came home with an amazing grasp of what God has been and is currently doing around the country! I got to hear testimony of one Fulani believer that has been a christian for over 30 years and the impact one missionary had on his life. Praise God I may have the opportunity to meet her when I am in the states! What a legacy she has left among the Fulani!

I leave for the States in two days. Less than 48 hours will find me on a plane. I am so excited, but know these last two days will be full of planning and preparing for my time away from home. I am so thankful for those that are even now preparing for our arrival. I am so excited to get to see family and friends as well as participate in the Global Impact Conference at McGregor Baptist Church.

Two days... Tampa here I come.

More about my volunteers...

Wow, things have been busy here these past few weeks! From hosting a volunteer team in my home to bush taxiing my way across Eastern Niger I have been going and going. It has been wonderful though! When my body doesn't want to go anymore God always provides the energy that I need to keep His will first. 

He has blessed me so much these three weeks. The volunteer trip was especially encouraging especially hearing and sharing in their heart for the Fulani. It is such an honor to be able to facilitate missionaries like these as they serve God both home and abroad. They really touched the lives of the villagers and I can not wait until they can come again and see the joy as they are remembered for years to come.

We were blessed to be able to pray for the people as we visited them, tell stories from the Old Testament and Show the JESUS Film. It was awesome to see answered prayers as God's power was shown. Here is what one member wrote about it: 

   It was such an awesome experience to prayer walk in another country.  This was my first time.  We prayer-walked in the village of D.  We prayed to God to give them a desire and a craving to know Him.  We visited each hut and asked the women if we could pray for them.  Usually the requests were for better health for the children, clean water, and more livestock.  We encountered one situation where a woman was holding her cheek.  She was in so much pain.  We asked her what was wrong.  She was very shy and didn’t answer.  One of the other women told us she had been hurting for several days. Her cheek and neck were very swollen.  We asked her if it was okay to pray for her.  She nodded her approval.  Danielle prayed in the Fulfulde language and then the rest of us prayed in English.  We said our goodbyes and left.  The next day we came back to that same hut to check on the woman.  She was smiling and laughing.  She was healed.  Our God is awesome!

We had the opportunity to share the Gospel in two huts following the showing of the Jesus Film. Please pray that those seeds of Truth will continue to grow in the hearts of H and R and those other women and children that were in their homes. Thank you so much!