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January 29, 2008

How are the Crowders?

Dear Friends,

The bitter wind blasted me nearly sideways, ruffling the hood of my parka. Was I going to make it? With cold-stiffened fingers, I retrieved my receipt and my cash. A short dash, a fumble with the keys, and I was back inside the safety of my car. 42 degrees said the bank sign. What! Only 42F? It feels like the North Pole out there!

Such was my experience last night: a Sudan missionary, acclimated to 110 degree heat, snakes, scorpions, and dust storms – barely surviving a trip to the ATM on a winter night in Tennessee.

How are We
We are very, very well. The Crowders are settled in a missionary house in Murfreesboro, TN. We arrived to find so many blessings: all our family at the airport, a donated car full of fuel, a house all set up for us, a freezer full of summer vegetables, and a pantry so stocked with food (by our church) we didn’t have to shop for two weeks. The Christmas season was so nice and we stayed quite busy bouncing from celebration to celebration. Once again, we experienced the wonder of channel surfing, fast internet, English as a mother tongue, and smooth roads.

How is Chris
I am great. Let me give you the Physical, Spiritual, Social, and Professional scorecard. Physically I’m healthy but I’m a bit light. Six weeks of Kenyan food put eight pounds back on, and as of today I’ve put on another six pounds. I started running 3 miles at a time and have now joined the YMCA. Spiritually, I feel close to the Lord through studying the Psalms each day. I just hit chapter 40 today. However, and this links to the Social, I would love to be meeting with a group of guys in Nashville on Wednesdays. Also, I’ve been able to reconnect with Jake, Scott, Luke, Wade, Carl, and some other good friends. Hopefully Brian Gresham and I can get out to his family’s farm for a few manly activities. Professionally, I’m driven down to my knees as we contemplate the challenges of our next assignment. Nothing is firm yet but it’s possible we’ll be in some form of leadership which brings challenges of all kinds. The way I see it, this 40-year old’s life is about half over, therefore it’s time to fix our eyes on the author and protector of our faith and accelerate to maximum cruising speed.

How is Beverly
Beverly is glad to be with friends and family. She is sharing the little joy named Thomas with all who wish to be dazzled by his giant smile. She has been able to have a date with her husband and is so absolutely excited about a Bible study that starts this week. Being a missionary in the middle of nowhere can leave a lot of desire for fun time with the girls back home. So she is trying to fill up her tank while she can. We also just found out that the Crowders are increasing in number again. We have a baby Crowder due August 25th. So please be praying for mama Thomas to have a lot of energy to incubate and still run around chasing little Thomas! Thank you all for your love and support. It is so great to see so many loving faces and just to get to have fun with you all. We are missing our Sudanese friends and our co-workers in Sudan. So please don’t forget to keep praying for the country of Sudan and for our co-workers.

How is Thomas

Thomas is a happy, silly little boy. God has given him a Careful Explorer’s personality. He enjoys life with gusto yet with a measure of caution. He checks things out before leaping. His best friends are 1) his Mama, 2) Elmo, and in a tie for 3) his Pop-Pop and his Grampa. His little cousin Abigail Grace is quite possibly his first girlfriend. His vocabulary, over 70 words, is frankly impressive to us. He misses his friends in Sudan, especially our guard Daniel and his donkeys.

How is Sudan
Sudan is a still at peace but the next three years are critical. Since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the two parties have embarked upon attempts to integrate their warring factions, develop new government structures, but all the while the original reasons for the conflict still simmer. Recent events have shown me the Northern government’s intentions: continue half-hearted gestures at peace while seeking other non-combative ways to get at the vast oil reserves in the South. SIM, having an open door for ministry in the south, intends to push ahead to strengthen the church and God’s people in the South. All the while, we pray for peace.

How is Kenya
At press time, our team has been able to travel to a retreat center for an annual Spiritual Life Conference. After an apparently rigged election that sparked all kinds of tribal conflicts, things have calmed down a bit. Please pray for the opposition and President to sit down to settle their differences. Kenya is and has been blessed by God as a peaceful, democratic launching pad for many different Gospel missions. Interestingly, the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir spoke last week in Malakal regarding the Kenya situation. He said: "We have to conduct a free and fair election [in 2011] in order to not repeat the Kenyan experience in our country." I never dreamed Kenyan violence would provide a negative example for Sudan.

Our Schedule
Jan 18-20 Covenant Presbyterian Church, Tullahoma, TN – Missions Conference
Feb 3-5 meeting colleagues in Charlotte, NC; Chris teaching a class on writing and web sites
Feb 23 Happy Anniversary! Trip to a secluded mountain B&B courtesy of our wonderful family
Mar 1 Bev shares at WECC Women’s retreat
March trip to Texas: Houston and Austin
June15 return to Sudan for 2nd term
August 25 next baby Crowder

Every blessing in our Savior,
Chris, Beverly, and Thomas

Published at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)