The McDaniel Migration

Reading Class Starts

2012-02-25T07:06:00.000-05:00

On Sundays we attend a village church outside of town. This village is Coalane. Over a year ago, our IMB colleague, Wanne Dina, saw a need in this village. Many of the children were not learning to read. Some of them do not attend school, but some of them who do go to school are still struggling for many reasons. So, she began a weekly reading class at the church.

I was very excited about this when Wanne told me. Many of you know that I was a kindergarten teacher and I love teaching children. In addition, Meghan loves to teach and has been very disappointed that we have not been able to work with children much since arriving in January. The third bonus is that all of us need to learn how to read Portuguese!

In order to get more children into one school building, the schools use their buildings for half of the children in the morning and half of them in the afternoon. So, we will do a reading class in the morning and then another in the afternoon so that all children can come. This will make it possible for Meghan to go in the morning and Emma and Lilly to go in the afternoon.

This past Tuesday was the beginning of this year's reading class and we were ready to join in!

Sweet boy that I worked with

Meghan teaching

Look at these faces.....so eager to learn!

Some of our Sunday School girls

Wanne evaluating some of the children

Boys reading as they waited for their turn

This little guy I know of from Sundays.
He is very quiet and I have a special fondness for him, although I do not know why.
He must not go to school because he was at reading class
both in the morning and in the afternoon.

So many of the young girls came carrying small siblings.

At the end of our class, Wanne and Sally gave out some school supplies that were a reward to the children who came the whole year, last year. We tried to keep the other children out of the church for the few minutes while the supplies were being given out. Lilly and I had the job of keeping guard at the door.....not an easy job!

I will keep you updated on how our reading class is going. Please remember this ministry in your prayers. I would love for the girls to learn to read Portuguese here and improve their language usage. I also pray for my girls to develop their relationships there. More than anything, I want these children and their families to know the Lord personally!

Tracy

Tour of Casa de Família

2012-02-22T12:13:00.000-05:00

Do you remember my post about the big clump of clay we had to get for Meghan's art class? And the one about the girls making pottery with Meghan's clay on Saturday? Well, I told you that I would get back to it.

The place that we found the clay was a Catholic center here in town, called "Casa de Família". They have a trade school, children's home, soup kitchen for the elderly, and a community center. As part of their programs (which are numerous) they have this pottery project. A few young men make pottery and sell them. When we were there last week to get the clay we asked if the girls could come back when the guys would be making stuff and watch, as well as try it out themselves. Today was the day!

This was our group....Jessica, Eva (my new language conversant), Lilly, Emma,
Flora (the girl's language tutor,) Sally, and me
(Meghan could not go because she has school in the afternoon.)

one kiln

the other kiln

Rosa...the lady from the center that was helping us...

Getting dirty!

Many creations

Emma working on her horse

Lilly and her doll

Emma and her horse

It was a fun afternoon and we hope to have the finished products in a few weeks after they are fired.

Tracy

Another Sunday in Coalane

2012-02-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

Here is the view from my seat in the truck, looking back at my girls.
They were so excited that the cab of the truck was full...meaning....they could ride in the back going to church.
This is the road going down to the church.

Children's Sunday School at the church in Coalane grew again this past Sunday. We had over 60 kids!! It was very crazy, but good. We saw a difference in how Emma and Lilly interacted with the children. Our children and the children in the village are slowly getting more comfortable and less intimidated by each other.

This is the group that was there from the beginning of the lesson.
More came right up to the time when Sally was finishing everything.

There was one little girl, maybe about 3 years old that started crying inside the church where the adult were having SS. Her mother walked her out to us. I grabbed her hand and walked her to where Emma was sitting. I said, "Emma, I have a little friend. Can you help her?" Emma said, "Sure". About 2 minutes later Emma had her in her lap and was helping her color. Emma kept the biggest smile on her face the rest of the time!

Her smile = purpose

The Bible story was about Jonah

Coloring Jonah and the big fish

Lilly.....in the middle of the other children....that was new this week

My view from the back row

Tracy

Pottery

2012-02-21T04:48:00.000-05:00

Last week Meghan needed this very large lump of clay for her art class. We asked around and found out where we could buy it. With some assistance we were able to get some and she took it to school last Friday. (More about the place where we got the clay in a later post.) We were surprised when she brought home about 80% of the clay. They only need a small amount for their art project and she brought the rest home for her sisters to have. Lilly and Emma were delighted. So, Saturday morning they started early working on their creations.

This is how they started....a bag of clay and a bucket of water.

Sweet girl!
You can see the lemons on our tree beginning to ripen.
What will I do with a tree full of lemons?

Quickly they had a problem....they did not have a surface to work on. So, they went to Daddy and he set them up working on the bottom of my laundry hampers.

Lilly's creating begins

And Emma's as well

They were outside ALL DAY. We had to make them come in for lunch and they worked into the evening. They had a totally of about 15 different masterpieces by the time night fell.

So proud of herself!

The two of them talked and talked as they worked.

Some of their work

More creations

By the end of the day they were quite dirty, but so proud of that fact!

Our prayer is that we continue to make relationships and learn more language so that in the coming weeks the girls can have friends over to play on Saturdays!

Tracy

Happy Valentine's Day from Africa

2012-02-15T12:13:00.000-05:00

Our Valentine's week started Sunday at the church in Coalane. The Bible lesson was about how God loves us no matter what and how He takes our dirty hearts that are full of sin and gives us a new heart.

listening to the story

Making the sin-side of the heart "dirty"

Everyone has sin

I love how they are looking at it and thinking about the meaning

Here Lee is reading the 24th Psalm for the congregation. His first time reading for them in Portuguese! He did awesome!

After church we loaded up our mats and many children. Our girls got to ride in the back of the truck. (No comments about safety, please!)

Our prayer for these children is that they would understand the True Love of the Father. My hearts desire is to learn enough Portuguese to be able to visit their homes and talk to their parents. These children are not being raised in Godly homes. Pray that the Holy Spirit would ready all of their hearts to receive His gift of salvation.

We were very thankful for each other on Valentine's Day. We had a day full of treats and going out to eat!

Gifts from our journey-girls

Big kisses for our friends and family that we missed on this day!!!

Ready to go out-to-eat for the first time as a family in Quelimane!

The real brick oven at the pizzeria

a look inside

So excited to be eating out at the pizzeria!!!

All the girls!

Me and sweet Sally

Jessica, Emma, and Meg

Sally, Lilly, and me

My Guy!

Hugs to all of you!!!

Tracy

The Closest Thing to Target I Can Find

2012-02-11T13:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it's not all that close, but I like going there anyway.

There are 3 large markets in Quelimane. One of them is known as the "Used Clothing Market". They do indeed have lots of used clothing, however they have so much more! There is the used clothing, there is furniture, there is kitchen stuff, there is a large assortment of used linens, and there is hardware.....just like Target. I love it!

Just your style, Meghan!

Lee and I took our language teachers along with Meghan and Sally. The females were on a mission to find some cool tops for Meghan, Emma, Lilly and I. The guys....were just looking around.

Lee and Ciprinao, one of Lee's language teachers

If you come to visit....I will take you shopping! You never know what good stuff you might find. Here is what we found!

This is what we bought

This is what we wanted to buy but didn't

You ask where does the clothing come from? It comes from the states and Europe some how. Some have suggested to me that Goodwill and places like that send stuff to 3rd world countries. I'm not sure! If you have any insight, please comment!

Tracy

School Uniforms

2012-02-08T11:56:00.001-05:00

We had to have the girls' uniforms for school made after we got here in January. They were finally finished this past weekend. I took a few pictures for you all to see what they look like. (They are not as bad as we thought they might be!)

This is the paper that the gentleman who made the uniforms wrote the girl's measurements on.
They were carefully torn pieces of white paper. Nothing is ever wasted here!

So sweet!

Not all that stylish.....but pretty cute anyway!

This is the PE uniform that we brought from the states.
All students at every school wear white one day a week for PE class.

Emma's daily after school ritual.....sitting in front of the fan reading!

We are still having a few hard days, but overall they are adjusting well. (Emma said today, "I love school." That's something for her!) I am very proud of them!!! Keep praying for them to be brave!

Tracy

Our New Church Home

2012-02-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

I would love to introduce you to what may be our new church home for the year that we are in Quelimane. This is a small church plant in a neighboring village called Coalane. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to get there on a super bumpy road.

The church began 5 years ago. The pastor is a gentleman named João. He is also Lee's language teacher. They are the same age and are becoming great friends. Pastor João and his wife have 5 children ranging from 19 years to 2 months. (Sorry I did not think to get a picture of him on Sunday.) Please pray for God's blessing on their family and favor on their ministry.

This is the church and the children's Sunday School class.

Here is the inside of the church. (These children were early and followed me around before church started.)

About 1 year ago, journey-girl Sally, began working with the children during the adult Sunday School time. She has a great gift for working with children and has seen God bless her ministry with the kids. In the early days of children's Sunday School there were only a small handful of kids. Now Sally averages 30 kids per Sunday. One week there were 62 kids!

Here Sally gets the children seated onto straw mats for a Bible story.

After the Bible story the children do a craft relating to the story. There is a scripture verse that goes with it for them to take home. Here they are working on their craft. Can you guess what the story was this week?

At this point I can't really do much. I can only say greetings. However, this week I was able to hold a baby who had come strapped to the back of her sister (who was about 5 years old) so she could participate in the lesson. I didn't mind a bit!

The McDaniel girls are struggling understandably to find their place. They are already shy kids, but throw in the language barrier, mix it with a culture gap and they really don't know what to do with themselves at church. They are participating as much as they can and enjoying it some. (That is better than hating it, which was the reaction the first couple of weeks at other churches.)

The area where the church sits is very swampy and full of rice fields and little ponds. As we were driving down the tiny road toward the church we noticed small frogs jumping EVERYWHERE! I suppose every tadpole in the district decided it was the day to take to land! We got to the church and frogs were everywhere there, too. All during the service frogs were jumping around the church and the children were laughing and swatting them. It was very hard to focus on the few words of portuguese we could understand coming from the pastor's mouth! Here is a picture I got of a frog after the service. They were all about 1 1/2 inches long. All I could think of was the plague of the frogs in Egypt!!!

As we pulled away from the church we saw all of these small children swimming in one of the ponds, many of them with no clothes on.

The journey-girls or Wanne usually take a load of children home from church. Here they are getting out of the truck to run home.

I just love the little village that is around the church. It is so different than the city that we live in! I would love to one day live in a place like this. Notice how clean it is. The ladies get out and SWEEP the dirt to get all trash, leaves, fruit, etc. out of the yard.

That's it! Pray for us to develop relationships with the believers in this place and seek out the lost with them.

Tracy

Our First Trip to the Beach

2012-01-31T07:06:00.000-05:00

When we arrived in Quelimane the other IMB workers told us about a beautiful secluded beach about 1 hour outside of town. This past Saturday we decide to venture out and see if we could find it on our own...with just a few simple instructions. We made it without getting lost and had a great time. We all agreed that the drive was as much fun as the beach. There is always something to see when you go on a drive around here.

The road to the beach

Village market we went through

Village homes

We made it!!

The only other car here.

Testing the water

It is indeed secluded! And beautiful!

These sweet children came out with trays of apples to sell to us.
Then they stayed and played beside us.

These men are fishermen on this beach.

My cuties!

Tracy

The Girls' School in Quelimane

2012-01-28T13:33:00.001-05:00

The girls are enrolled in a small private school around the corner from our house. Late last summer as the plan for our language study in Quelimane was unfolding, it was strongly suggested to Lee and I that we consider having the girls attend this school. Lee and I very much wanted then and still now for the girls to learn Portuguese and have friends here. The best way for that to happen is for them to be with other kids. I must admit, when this idea was put on the table I almost threw up thinking about dropping my girls off at a classroom where they would NOT be able to communicate with anyone. I prayed and prayed. God's said, "Trust Me". I did. However, when the day came to leave them there.....I almost threw up again! My heart hurt leaving them there!! That was almost 2 weeks ago. Those first days were so hard!

The plan from the very beginning was that the girls would not be expected to perform academically. They were to be at the school for culture and language learning. We have a full homeschool curriculum that we are doing when they are not in school for their academics. This is where our first big problem came into play. You see, there was no "open house". You meet your teacher as you show-up on the first day. AND, I did not get to talk to the teachers and make sure that their expectations matched our expectations.

The schedule for the school has Emma and Lilly going from 7am-12pm. Meghan goes 1pm-5:30. On the first day everyone got up and got ready because we were all going to take the younger girls.

Here they are ready to go!

We got there and got everyone to their class. Sweet Wanne, the other IMB wife here, went with us to translate. The problem was that all the other parents were there too so it was next to impossible to communicate.

Here is Emma in her room.

Not so sure about things!

Then, we took them to the "assembly". This is what they do everyday. They line up by height in the classes and hear announcements. (Problem is my kids can't understand anything that is said! And neither can I!!!)

Here is assembly.

Really not so sure of things!!

We walked with them back to their classrooms. And soon made ourselves leave.

Here is the school from the outside.

This the drive going out of the school.

When we picked them up that first day. We praised them and gave all the glory to the Lord for giving them the strength! Then we went and got ice-cream ($15 for half-gallon).

At 1:00 it was time to take Meghan. Here she is with Sally. She was scared to death! They do the same assembly/announcement time and then off to their classes.

And we left her.....

The next several days were some of the most difficult of my life. All of them cried and cried....I stayed strong for a while, then I lost it! The girls really just wanted to be a fly-on-the-wall and figure out what to do by watching what other kids were doing. The teachers wanted to help them by talking in Portuguese to them and pointing and pointing and talking in Portuguese some more. All the while drawing more and more attention to the girls and making them feel extremely uncomfortable.

Lilly teacher very much wanted her to participate in all academics. This usually entailed copying long passages of cursive Portuguese into her notebook.

This was Thursday of that week and I had had enough. Wanne was able to get a meeting with the director on Friday morning. We sat down and explained to her that the girls need time to observe and that we did not expect the school to teach them academics, we are doing that at home. We let her know that they have a Portuguese tutor at home and that we are striving for them to learn the language as quickly as possible. Until then, they are only going to do what they can. We decided to move Lilly to 1st grade. They are just learning to write and read there. (We said that all the girls need to go there!)

By the end of that first week both Meghan and Emma had made some friends and were adjusting well.

Because of the cyclone this past week there was no school until Thursday. Meghan and Emma were both ready to get back to school. They realized that sitting in the house with no friends while Mom and Dad have language class all day for a year would be terribly boring! We took Lilly to her new class and it was wonderful. She has the most precious soft-spoken, smiling teacher and there is a 7-year old girl that speak very good English that she now sits beside. She had a terrific Thursday and Friday! Praise God!!

Here is Lilly in her new class.

In her "Laura Ingles" desk

Our first 2 weeks of school are behind us. Lee has continued to remind all of us that God will never leave us nor forsake us. And the Lord has proven that. the girls have really dug into God's word and looked to Him for protection and guidance. Better yet, they already see how they can be a witness to the Muslim children they are around.

As the Lord prompts you to pray, please do. This will be a year of tremendous growth for them, and for Lee and I, as we let them grow some wings and fly a little. We have no idea the trials ahead, but God does. Pray for us to hold fast to Him as we try to figure out how to serve Him in this place He has brought us to.

Praise God!!

Tracy

Tour of Our House in Quelimane

2012-01-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

We are about as settled in as we are going to get so I thought I would take a few pictures and show you around our house.

This is the back of our house.
On the left (where the gate is) is the drive going out to the street
and to the gate you see in the 1st picture.

This is the front of the house. We live in a duplex.
You can see a dividing line down the front of the building.
We live in the right side. Our gate is on the far right.

This is our truck and the side of the building that is adjacent to our yard.

This is our living and dining room.
I am standing at the front corner of the house looking back.
Sally and Lilly are working at the school desk and Lee is studying before his language class.
Through the arch is the office.
The kitchen is beyond Sally's head through the doorway you can barely see.

Kitchen

Scary, but huge pantry

Full Bath
Yes....that is a bidet....I guess left over from the Portuguese!!
We had this table built to go over it, which we use for storage.

Meghan's room w/ Lilly's mattress on the floor.
We have AC units in the bedrooms that we use at night.
Lilly's is broken so she is sleeping with her sisters until it is fixed.

Master bedroom :)

Emma's room

Not too bad!!! It's home to us!

Tracy

Meet Riley and Odie

2012-01-25T13:06:00.000-05:00

Our house in Quelimane came with 2 young dogs. Riley is a beagle mix and Odie is a Maltese mix. Lilly claims that Odie is hers and she carries it around like a baby. Emma is proud to have Riley as her own.

All last week Emma and Lilly begged to give the dogs a bath. They certainly needed it! Finally on Friday Lee had time to help them. The humans had a blast….the K-9s….not so much! However, they do love all the attention!!

Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures. I was trying to use less bandwidth for the upload (we pay for that).

Tracy

The Trip to Quelimane

2012-01-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

We traveled from Nampula to Quelimane on January 9. It was about a 9-hour journey that we all really enjoyed. There were so many new things to look at and things to talk about with the Turners and the 2 journey-girls, Jessica and Sally.

Here are some pictures from the front seat of the truck....

These are granite outcroppings outside of Nampula.

Meghan...heading to take a bathroom break.

Laundromat

Picnic Lunch

Waiting for a ride into town

HOME!

Tracy

Our First Storm

2012-01-25T12:31:00.001-05:00

It rained for 5 straight days here in Quelimane. There was a cyclone that came past us and dropped an enormous amount of rain on our area. Some houses were destroyed and many have water damage. Many homes here were not built with materials strong enough to withstand this kind of weather. Our home faired well. We had a leak inside of a wall and one in the roof. Both of these were in Lilly's room. She continues to sleep on the floor of her sister's room until we can get her room dried out.

The rain has stopped and thankfully today is sunny. The people here need it!

We enjoyed our email last week for a very short time and then.....it was gone. Today they sent someone out to work on it again and I am so thankful that he was able to get it going.

Here are some pictures of the high waters in our city. It is hard to believe that it is not worse!!

The girls' school is down this road.

Even the bicycles move right on through.

One main way that the local people of Quelimane get around is by "bicycle taxi". Here is what that looks like. There is little seat on the back of the bike. You hop on and he takes you where you need to go...all for less than 25¢! The awesome thing is to see how the people here balance. Sometimes you see a mother holding 2 children with no effort or someone with many boxes and bags from shopping. I'm not sure I will get brave enough to try it. If I do.....you will surely see a picture.

Tracy

Sunday in Nampula

2012-01-19T13:04:00.002-05:00

On our first Sunday in Mozambique we went to church with Billy and Sara in Nampula. For Lee and the girls it was their first time worshipping in an African church. The girls were a bit unsure about things but did really well. It is so difficult not knowing any of the language. We couldn’t even say, “Hi, how are you?” We just smiled and stood there! Here are some pictures of the church and of the crazy-muddy-busy road from the church to mission house.

The creative church decorations

After church the Turner’s took us to a RESTAURANT! Yes….that’s right! We ate cheese pizza and Zambezi chicken and fries! It was outside at a hotel and the restaurant part looked like Disney. We were so excited!

The caged monkey

The playground and the pool!

Tracy

Home at last!

2012-01-19T12:51:00.000-05:00

We are in our new home and we finally have Internet!!!!! Only 8 days….not too bad for Africa. I have written many blog posts while waiting for Internet so I will just post as I can for the next several days.

Tracy

Nampula Arrival

2012-01-07T15:32:00.000-05:00

Culture shock hit us immediately in the face. We stepped off the plane (it is one of those planes where the door has the stairs on it and it folds out and you walk off onto the concrete) and then walked behind everyone else towards the building. We walked into a small dark room where we went through the nice immigration man’s station and then on to the “not as friendly” customs men’s station. They detained us for a short time. Then our new friends, Billy and Sara Turner and the journey-girls Sally and Jessica, came in and helped Lee talk to them. They let us through after Lee showed them a letter on his laptop stating we were really moving to Africa. They thought we were bringing all this in to sell.

We loaded up in the trucks and headed to the mission house. This is the house that we will live in after language school and it was really cool to get to see it and stay in it for a while. We are all staying together in the house with the Turners until they take Sally, Jessica, and all of us McDaniel’s to Quelimane on Monday.

This beautiful Bouganvilla vine grows beind the house.

Temporary resting place for our trunks

It was Thursday at 1:30pm when we arrived in Nampula. I can’t remember too much from that day or Friday. Jetlag hit me hard! Shock hit hard, too. All of us were a bit out of sorts. Thursday night all of us were very ready for bed by 8:30, yet all up at 1:00am. Meghan and Lee went back to sleep within an hour, Emma, Lilly and I were up for several hours. All of us were hungry and not sleepy.

On Friday, Billy and Sara took Lee, Meghan, and I to get a few basic cooking supplies to take with us to Quelimane. We went to 2 different stores to purchase them. I wish I had taken my camera so you could see what they looked like. Think the size of PetSmart, but looked like Costco or Sam’s on the inside. We found so many things that we thought we could not get. They had pasta, canned veggies (even Baked Beans), toilet paper, and cocoa powder! They even had coffee, which was almost $90 for about 2 lbs. (We will not be buying that!) Friday night we all slept better. I left a small snack for the girls in their room so that they could eat a bite in their room if they were starving and then quickly lay back down and hopefully go back to sleep. It worked!

Lee and Tracy's room

Meghan, Emma, and Lilly's room

Saturday morning we took the girls out to shop a bit. Emma and Meghan got some cute flip-flops at a tiny roadside shop and then we went to some fabric stores. I am excited to get to make things with all of the beautiful fabrics that you can find here. Our last stop of the morning was at a very busy shop that is similar to Dollar General. After that we had had all the culturing we could handle for the day!

There are 2 great things about the house in Nampula, a tiny kitten that the Turners have nursed back from the brink of death, named “Rickets”, and an awesome tree house.

Emma, Lilly, and journey-girl Jessica

"Rickets" the cat

Tracy

The Migration Continues

2012-01-07T15:12:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Johannesburg after bouncing up and down over the Atlantic with little trouble. When we got to baggage claim our trunks were nowhere to be found. Lee stood in line at an information desk to find out that they had put the trunks in a back corner…not sure why. We loaded those onto baggage carts and headed on our way to find the IMB personnel sent to receive us. They loaded our bags and took us to McDonald’s for dinner. (It tasted just like in the US.) We spent the night at the Baptist Guesthouse.

Our internal clocks proved to be messed up because about 1am, 4 of us woke up for several hours. Thursday morning we had to shuffle some of our baggage before heading back to the airport for our second flight.

We were a bit nervous because we knew that they would be charging us baggage fees based on weight and didn’t know about the carry-ons. We ended up paying about what we expected and they didn’t weigh our carry-ons. :)

The plane was tiny, but it was a fun flight! We were in the very back and there were several empty seats. That way we were able to all look out the windows and enjoy God’s creation. Africa is very beautiful!

Tracy

The Migration Begins

2012-01-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

On the 3rd of January we loaded up the Wise Chapel UMC church van and set out for the Atlanta airport. This is Lee’s family’s church and they were so gracious to let us use it to get all of our things to the airport in one vehicle. The pastor and his wife were so kind to drive us so that no grandparents had to say good-bye in the airport. (My request…well…demand.)

We all had a bad case of the butterflies! We were excited to finally be leaving, yet apprehensive about the journey. We checked 16 footlockers and carried on 10 pieces. It was a sight! We located the Chick-fil-a for a last American meal and then went to our gate for boarding.

Our plane was nice. It seemed to be very new. The girls were so excited about the in-flight entertainment. So many movies to choose from!! We settled in with about 25 minutes until our scheduled departure. It was torture for them to have to sit at the gate and look at the screen for an extra hour while maintenance worked on an air conditioner. Finally we took off! It was about 8:15 pm est. We made several attempts to all go to sleep….to no avail! After many hours we were all able to nap. Lee and I slept about 2 hours, Meghan and Lilly about 4 hours, but Emma was only able to get about 1 hour of sleep. The flight was very bumpy. The flight attendant said that this flight is always bumpy. The funny thing was every time we “dropped” the children on the plane would say, “woo”. It made me laugh.

Tracy

To Alabama

2012-01-07T14:47:00.001-05:00

We then spent about one week with Lee’s parents in Alabama. Here are some pictures of Christmas, family, and the packing!

Perfect Christmas Gifts

A PUPPY!

Sweet Dot!

Going to visit Tracy's Nanna

All of our trunks packed and ready to weigh

Using a "calf scale" to weigh the trunks

We took the trunks to the "feed mill" to use their certified scales

All weighing under 70 pounds

Meghan recording the trunk weights

We did it! Everything packed and ready to go.

Tracy

Christmas

2012-01-07T13:11:00.000-05:00

We spent about a week with my parents in Georgia during our break before leaving the country. It was very special to celebrate Christmas there. Here are some of our memories.

We also worked on getting all of our things packed into our trunks. We gave away more stuff and left a huge pile to donate. Imagine that…..more things to get rid of!!!

It was bitter sweet! We were ready to get on with our journey but so sad to say good-bye! We love you Grandma and Granddaddy!

Tracy

Memories of FPO

2011-12-28T22:59:00.001-05:00

We have been gone from Virginia for almost 2 weeks. Life has been very busy with visiting friends and family. It has been a sweet time. I wanted to make one more post about our time at FPO to share some random memories. Hope you enjoy!

First let me introduce you to sweet baby Hadassah! She stole our heart from the first day we saw her. That was when we went to Orlando for our Appointment Service in September. From that day Meghan began praying that we would be together in the same Quad (our little house that 2 families, 2 couples and one single young man all lived together in) at FPO. God answered her prayer. All 5 members of the McDaniel family fought over who would hold her every moment she was awake! She was absolutely the sweetest baby ever!! Can you tell I miss her?

Here are the girls giving Hadassah a bath. (They participated with her momma almost every night.)

Lilly giving Haddy a bottle at bedtime one night. (Perfect little mother, isn't she?!)

Me, putting her PJs on her one night.

Here the girls are in the dining room for breakfast one day.

Here they are at the school with their teachers. I forgot to get Mr. Ben -- Lilly's other teacher :(

The night the top bunk fell on Lilly with Emma on top!!! No one was seriously hurt!

The girls creating purses in the sewing room.

Mozambican art...

Our precious FPO family. We lived in one house, composed of 5 little apartments and one living room for almost 9 weeks. They were a huge blessing to our family. We can wait to see all of you again in Zambia in April!

Training is over....off we go! We cannot wait to get to the field and begin learning the language and the culture of our people! Thank you for praying for us. You are a blessing!

Tracy

Lottie 5K

2011-12-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

Early in our time in Virginia, one of our colleges decided to put together a 5K that would be scheduled toward the end of our time there. He gave out a "Couch to 5K" plan to those with no running history and encouraged anyone wanting to participate to begin training. Lee and Meghan quickly started the program to get ready. They had great father/daughter time every other day as they ran together.

As the week approached Emma decided that she wanted to participate, too. Then the day of the run, Lilly did not want to be left out. So, all of them ended up running!

Here they are suited up and ready to run.

Here they are suited up and ready to run!

Lilly and her friend on the starting line.

Lee and Meg going strong.

Emma surprising us with her non-training self.

Lilly and a different friend holding hands while running....she wouldn't leave him behind :)

Lee and Meg running the whole thing!!!

Emma was the next to cross the finish line!

Then, Lilly makes it across!

All of our house-mates exhausted after their run!! Great Job guys!!!

I was so proud of my family for their hard work!!!

Tracy

A New Kind of Worship

2011-12-07T19:16:00.000-05:00

In the lives of all of us here, corporate worship is a central part of our faith. This looks different for all of us. Some of us came from small congregations of less than 100 and some of us came from mega churches. Yet, "church" for us is similar. That is all about to change.

Every Sunday night, a different affinity group prepares a worship in the styles and languages of that area of the world. It is a very special time for us to share in each other's culture. We try to mimic the culture of the body of Christ in that setting. We even try to wear clothing appropriate for that culture.

No interpreting is allowed. All songs, all scripture readings, all prayers are in the native language of the people. Then, there is a short sermon or teaching in a native language.

The first night it was very funny. We looked at each other and laughed because we did not know what we were singing or what was being said.

This is very helpful for the McDaniel family, though. When we step off the plane we will not hear any English. When we go to the market, we will not hear English. When we go to church of Sunday, we will not hear English. Our ears need to be used to hearing other languages and our hearts need to know what it feels like to not understand what people are saying or singing. This is good preparation for that.

The best night for us was when we had Sub-Saharan Africa worship. Enjoy some of our photos!

All dressed in our African clothes.

Lilly brought her baby along and her drum.

My sweet friend Shandra and baby Hadassa

Drum lessons

Emma trying to get the rhythm!

Girls not knowing what to think of the languages that they are hearing

Tracy

Thank you Lottie Moon!

2011-12-06T12:40:00.004-05:00

Here the girls stand beside the tiny, famous, feisty Southern Baptist Missionary named Lottie Moon. (Yes, she was actually that size in real life!)

Lottie worked as a missionary to China in the 1800s. During her years of service to the Chinese people she sent many letters home urging the church to support foreign missions in a greater way. In 1918 an annual offering was named after Lottie. Every penny given to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering goes to support IMB missionaries. I think that would make Lottie proud! Today over 5,000 missionaries are serving on foreign soil to reach the world with the Gospel. This year our family is part of that number. How will you give this year?

Want to know more about the Lottie Moon Christmas offering? or the International Mission Board? Click the link below.

Tracy

Trip to Washington DC

2011-11-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

Our whole group (94 men, women, and children) loaded onto buses early this morning headed to our Nation's Capital. This was not just a day of sight seeing. We were given several assignments for our time in the city. We were to find a restaurant from our new country, do different types of observing and interacting internationals as well as navigate the subway. It was a lot of fun!
One of the first things we did was find this awesome Portuguese/Mozambican restaurant. It is called Nando's Peri-Peri. It was so delicious! The story goes that during the 15th and 16th century Portuguese explorers set up a port on the coast of what is now the African country of Mozambique. When they did the indigenous Africans introduced them to the African Bird's Eye Chili. The locals called their little fiery chili pepper Pili-Pili. Peri-Peri was as close as the explorers could get. This is a pepper still used in Mozambique today (or so I understand). Nando's also had what they called "Portuguese rolls". We understand that this is the main food in Mozambique and that there is a bakery next to the Mission house in Napula. If they taste like what we had at Nando's....which I hardly believe is possible...my mid-section is in trouble!

Here we are in front of Nando's.

The girls really liked it too!

Here we are navigating the Metro.

One of the coolest things we did was to find the Mozambican Embassy. Sadly they were closed for the holiday. We prayed on the steps and had some pictures made. I am sure that whoever watches their surveillance tapes will wonder what those crazy Americans were doing!

Lilly enjoying hot Krispy-Kreme doughnuts in front of the White House.

And Emma feeding the pigeons....

Great fun!

Tracy

Killing Chickens

2011-11-25T20:47:00.000-05:00

The leadership here wants to prepare us for our field experience as much as possible. For those of us going to Sub-Saharan Africa, that means learning how to kill chickens and cook bread over the fire. So last weekend....we did both! It was a crazy experience.

Here we are beginning down by the lake with a fire.

Emma found a farm dog and tied it to herself.

Uncle Robert telling stories to the children....

Here is 1 of the 4 chickens peeking out of her box.

Here Uncle Bob is choosing the best bird!

Cute, isn't she?

Getting the instructions for the killing.

Head on the chopping block....

After the headless bird danced and danced, it rested in peace....

Bird in the boiling water for 10 seconds....

Time to pluck!

And pluck....

And pluck...

Time to eviscerate...

We had to leave before the chickens were cooked. But the bread that we cooked over the fire was very good.

Tracy

The 1st of Many Haircuts

2011-11-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

I knew the day would come....

Lee got up the nerve and let me cut his hair!

I will do it all of the time in Africa and it is time that I learn how. My friend Shandra cuts her husband's hair so she encouraged me (and Lee) to just do it after church today.

Here he is telling me how the "barber" does it.

Here Meghan and I getting him covered up. (No...I was not styling my Texas hair....the wind was blowing!)

Trying to get up the nerve to put the clippers to his head...

Lee is saying, "Just do it. Have confidence!" I am thinking, "This could go really bad!"

Hair going everywhere!

Checking progress in his reflection in the window.

Just about finished. Lilly can out of to make sure I didn't need help.

He received many comments on how well I did. I only butchered 1 side burn. Other than that I was right proud of myself. I think Lee is wishing he had not spent all that $$ all these years on haircuts!

Tracy

Shot Clinic

2011-11-11T15:58:00.000-05:00

This is Meghan! I am finally doing my first blog post.

Today we had our shots. I was excited because we only had to have a half day of school!

After mom and dad picked us up we went to lunch and then to check-in. The way it works is you check-in and watch a movie while they are getting our paperwork. We waited and watched veggie-tales. After about 30 min. we went to the clinic. The "clinic"is a separate building where they give you your shots. They call your name and you go back. They let 1 parent and 1 child go in. They always have a party for you afterwards. You get candy and noise makers.

Here we are waiting for them to call our name.

Here this little girl had just got her shots and her dad was getting his. Daddy offered to hold her and she loved him.

A prayer team came and helped take care of children while their parents were getting shots.

We all had to get a TB test and here are our band-aids.

Here are all of us and our shots.

Here are how many needles each person got stuck with:

Lee:3
Tracy:3
Meghan:3
Emma:4
Lilly:3

I am glad we are 2/3 done with getting shots!

I hope you liked my first blog post!

Meghan

The Visas Came!

2011-11-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

Now we can officially go to Mozambique!

Our visas came yesterday!!!!!

Henna

2011-11-02T17:07:00.000-04:00

Henna is a temporary artwork drawn on the skin. It is very popular among ladies in South Asia, the Middle East and some parts of Africa. It is made from henna leaves ground into a fine powder which is added to lemon juice or strong tea to make a paste. The paste is then placed into henna cones and then piped onto the skin. After it dries, the paste is wiped off and the design remains on the skin for a week or more.

Believers in these areas are using this art form to share the Good News to these ladies. Whether they are in a home or restaurant, a story from the Bible is told and discussed and then a henna design is used to reinforce the story.

Each week some of the ladies here are sharing with us how to do this art form. I discovered something unexpected the very first night that I took the girls over to the home where this was going on. While I expected that we would learn a new, cool way for sharing God's word with others, I did not expect for my Lilly to learn the meaning to a story that she hadn't heard very many times. Just another example of how God's word never returns void!

Here she is telling the story of the women with the bleeding disorder...

Here we are at the second week of Henna "class".

Here is the finished design.

This is what it looks like once the paste comes off.

Packing our Crate

2011-10-25T15:51:00.001-04:00

Less than a week before we left to come to Virginia for training, we packed our wooden crates to be shipped to Mozambique. It was a huge blessing to get to send things to our new country in this way. Most families are not allowed to do this because their country does not allow it.

Along with having so many other things we had to do, we worked diligently for weeks trying to prepare for this event. Having never done anything like this we didn't know much about what to expect.

There were many things to purchase to send ahead to use in Africa.

We also went through our things and decided what needed to go with us and what did not.

The day before crating day, I had 3 precious friends help me pack boxes, inventory everything that would be going into the crate, and take our kids to church. One special friend even stayed all night to help us. That night we got about 3 hours of sleep.

By the end of the night (or should I say into the early morning) we had most of our boxes packed and things moved into our breakfast room ready for the movers to come.

The big day arrived with rain showers in the area. Just as the moving company was on their way the rain got heavier and heavier. There is no garage or even a car-port at the mission house. So, we loaded everything into a truck and followed our crates back to the warehouse.

Once we got there we spread everything out on the floor. At that point they told Lee to take as long as he needed to finish. So, he and one of their employees got to the business of getting as much as possible into these 2 small crates.

One crate fully packed...one more to go!!!

About 6 hours later....we signed the papers and were done!

Many months from now, we will see all that stuff again. I wonder what condition that wooden box will be in then? Stay tuned....

Tracy

Address in Richmond

2011-10-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

If you are interest in sending any of us mail while we are in training, here is our address.

International Learning Center

c/o (our name) Quad 24A

16492 MLC Lane

Rockville, VA 23146

We would love to hear from you!

Tracy

We made it!

2011-10-20T12:48:00.000-04:00

Monday of this week was a very long day. Everything that we would need for our 2 months of training had to be carefully packed into Lee’s Honda pilot. The packing list included shoes and clothing for 5 people, coats, jackets, and gloves for the cold weather that is to come, games and books for the girls, and so many other things. It was a hoot! Not an inch of space went unused. Even the car's jack compartment was used for storage.

After many hours, we were on our way! The girls were in the car like sardines in a can. Yet, not a complaint was issued the entire way to Virginia. Lilly said, "This is a great memory. I think we will tell our children about it." I hope they always remember the time that God sent us to Africa to tell people about Jesus.

Around 9pm Monday evening we pulled up to the International Learning Center. It had been a very long day.

I would love to share about the last 2 weeks. There is so much to tell and show you in pictures. In the days to come I will try to go back and post about our adventures.

For now, love to everyone!

Tracy

Do not store up for yourselves...

2011-10-04T22:51:00.003-04:00

TREASURES ON EARTH!

Why, oh, why do we accumulate so much stuff? I hope I never again have as much stuff as we had 6 months ago.

In an attempt to get rid off everything that we would not need for training in Richmond or ultimately in Africa, we had a yard sale in May. That was just the beginning! After that, we sold things on Craig's List and through our virtual yard sale. We gave things to family and friends. I took load of boxes to be donated. Yet....we still had enough for this huge yard sale this past Saturday.

Thank you to my sweet friends, Ashley, Julie, and Shannon for helping me on Friday and Saturday. I could not have done it without you girls!!!

We sold about half of our stuff on Saturday.

Today, Bill and Bruce from the Salvation Army came and picked up the rest!

Good Job guys! You see, these men have had some hard times, but are working hard to stay on their feet. Bill and Bruce are putting their hope in the Lord. Are you?

Lesson learned over the past 6 months....there is freedom in having less....

Tracy

Our October Schedule

2011-09-29T20:52:00.002-04:00

This is what the next couple of weeks looks like for the McDaniel crew....

Saturday, October 1 -- Biggest Yard Sale in Charlotte history. It will be in our front yard at 5108 Dogwood Place, Charlotte 28212. We could still use some help Friday afternoon and evening for set-up and in the early morning hours on Saturday getting everything put out and ready.
Sunday, October 2 -- We will be commissioned at HGBC Main Campus during all three morning worship services.
Wednesday, October 5 -- (Lee's Birthday) We will be traveling to Augusta, GA to speak to a student event at FBC Augusta.
Sunday, October 9 morning -- We will be commissioned at HGBC North Campus during both morning worship services.
Sunday, October 9 evening -- HGBC will honor us with a reception at North campus following the Night of Worship which begins at 6:00.
Friday, October 14 -- This is the tentative date for packing our crate to ship to Mozambique, Africa.
Monday, October 17 -- We will travel to Richmond, VA to begin our 2 months of concentrated training for the mission field.

So much to say...

2011-09-28T12:43:00.000-04:00

Finally, the blog is up and going!

I know so many of you want to know what is going on with our family. I will try to catch you up on the major things that have been happening in our crazy life.

We moved out of our house on June 14 and into the Haynes family basement. They were precious to let all 5 of us, a golden retriever and all of our things invade their home for about 7 weeks. We are so thankful for their hospitality and generosity.

At the end of July, Tracy and Emma went with a group from HGBC to Ridgecrest in the North Carolina mountains for a week of fun at CentriKid camp.

The first week of August brought a hot move to the HGBC Mission House. It was a blessing to have a huge backyard and a bedroom for everyone!

Meghan was able to get her ears pierced. (The picture is blurry, but priceless! I only had one hand for the camera because she was squeezing the other one!)

At the end of August we celebrated Miss Emma Claire’s 10^th birthday in our backyard. The party was full of water games and an awesome tarp slip n’ slide!

Part of the moving process for us was finding a new home for our sweet golden retriever, Molly.

God provided a great family for her! Thank you Rosenschein family for loving her as much as we do. That has made all the difference for us.

We slipped out of town for a few days and enjoyed our family’s place at the beach. I have no pictures from this last trip to the coast! What kind of mother am I?!?!? Lee and I spent a good bit of time that week working on paper work and the like for the IMB.

September has flown by. On the 10^th Lee and I left for Orlando, FL. We spent 5 days with other men and women preparing for our service with the IMB. It was a wonderful time to meet other missionary families, IMB staff, and trustees. They are all precious people with a unified goal: to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We are honored to join this team!

Our time ended in a celebration service where we were appointed as International Mission Board missionaries. We were blessed by our family and friends that came so far to share this special time with us.

After our appointment service, we were able to spend over a week in the Orlando area on vacation. It was great to spend concentrated time with our kids having fun! Things are so busy at home that they needed some focused time from mom and dad (and some grandparents) and we needed to soak up some time with them.

Now we are back at home with a long list of things to do. Pray for us. The enemy would love to discourage us.

Tracy