TheJourney in Africa

“Man, those fried grasshoppers are crunchy.” A word from Curt Chad. It’s a country. It’s called “The Dead Heart of Africa.”   That’s due to its location.  But it’s also due to the condition of the country.  Chad is a difficult place.  Hot.  Dusty.  Strongly Islamic.  Seemingly always on the edge of trouble. But after a month in Chad, we …

  Elmer’s Open Hand I’m here in the dead heart of Africa.  It’s a country we’re calling (for now) “Dido.” DeDe and I have been here nearly a month and I’ve thought about Elmer Conner daily. Elmer Conner was one of my Lake Charles (Louisiana) heroes. A spiritual mentor and encourager during my years at Dry Creek Camp.   He …

Greetings from Lizard City I was taught by my Louisiana great grandmother, Dosia Iles, “Baby, don’t ever hurt a lizard.”   Africa, like our Dry Creek Old House, is a place where lizards abound.   A word from Curt Actually, three words: 1. Curiosity 2. Wow! 3. Share We’re in a different part of Africa.  So different from the countries …

Bobby’s Best Catch:  Some would argue that it was his game-ending catch in the seventh game of the 1962 World Series. I beg to differ.   Thursday, 29 January As you read this, DeDe and I are traveling to a new African country. We’ll be there for most of the month. How to pray for us this month: Pray for …

It’d be a shame to have a boring life. Or a boring job. One of my themes for this year is: 1. Be Curious. 2. Be Wowed! 3. Tell about it. Here are a few photos and words about our week. All I can is “Wow!”  We are so privileged to be among the amazing folks we work with and …

    Prayer is like oxygen.  We must have it or die. That’s so true for those of us who live on the edge in Africa. We cannot go unless folks like you are praying. We thank you for “holding the rope” in prayer. We beg you to continue. Here are our major prayer needs for this week: 1. We …

  1. Be Curious 2. Say “Wow!” 3. Tell Stories Those three things are what I mostly do in Africa. I’m a storyteller. It’s what I do. It’s who I am. I have a very serious job here in the Chadan cluster. DeDe and I are focused on our Big Three jobs for this year: 1. Getting God’s Word into …

Lifting the Barn. Together we can do it. Even if you skip today’s post, don’t miss this video of several hundred people moving a barn in Nebraska. http://youtu.be/o83W0gj_CRE is my favorite “Pamoja” story: Herman Ostry’s barn floor was under twenty-nine inches of water because of a rising creek. The Bruno, Nebraska farmer invited a few friends to a “barn raising.” …

If you enjoy today’s post, please share it with your friends.   It’s Saturday. That means it’s picture day. There’s purpose in this: every picture does tell a story. And a picture is worth a thousand words. In fact, in Africa, it may be ten thousand. Here are photos from this past week as well as our sojourn in America. …

Welcome to our Thursday blog Today’s theme continues with trees. I’ve been sharing stories from our Louisiana Piney Woods. Today I’d like to show some of the beautiful trees of Africa. We’ll let the photos speak for themselves.   But before we get to the trees, you must see the video of these six girls.  It’s the cutest thing I’ve seen …

A word from Curt Curiosity It’s a good word for my life. I was born curious. It’s gotten me in some tight spots.  (Wildlife Agent at Sabine National Park to Robert Sanders and me,  “Now, which of the three “No Trespassing” signs did you fellows not see when you crawled under the gate.) Curiosity has also led to hundreds of …

  Two years ago when we left the Louisiana piney woods for red dirt Africa,  so many of our churches, friends, and families promised to “hold the rope” for us. They’ve kept their word. Tonight we speak to a gathering of these same folks who sent us out. They’ve asked,  “How can we do more?” From our presentation, here are …

  King Tambura’s Grave   A palm limb slapped me as we trekked through the overgrown underbrush to the king’s grave. The trail was narrow and evidently unused. It seemed nearly an insult to a great king.   King Tambura was the greatest king of the Zande people, a tribe that lives in the tri-corner where the countries of South …

  For those of you enjoying a daily helping of Christmas Jelly, today’s post will publish at noon CST. A word from Curt Today, it’s three words. StayOnMessage. Listen to a podcast of this message: Thoughts on Reached the Unreached   ( 4 minutes  Draft of message at FBC Durham)   DeDe and I share today at First Baptist Church …