This one is for all the locals!

A sweet, precious young friend of ours, Jordan Goen, is trying to raise support to go to India this summer, on a mission trip.  She is in the 8th grade and has a passion and heart for the “least of these.” She is also a PK, which I have a huge place in my heart for, since that is what my kids are , as well!  Jordan has been to Brazil on mission trips and is now planning to go to India and you have a great chance to help her out!

Jordan has teamed up with Chick-fil-A for a special night of raising support for her trip.  All you have to do is eat dinner at Chick-fil-A (Sam Ridley location) on Thursday, April 9, between 5-8 pm and 20% of what you spend will be donated to Jordan’s mission trip to India!  So, not only are you taking a night off from the kitchen, you get to support an amazing teenager is her desire to share the love of Christ with those in India.  I love it!

For Jordan to get credit for your purchase, YOU MUST PRINT AND TAKE THE SPECIAL FLYER that I have attached below!

Thanks so much for helping Jordan out and investing in her life, as well as those she will encounter in India!

download flier

We arrived in Conakry in the evening and got our first taste of Africa.  The traffic was crazy, bizarre, out of control and a wild ride. People are everywhere, on bikes, “motos” and in cars.  There are no lanes or traffic signals, no street signs or even street lamps in some cases!  I closed my eyes several times and braced myself for a bump that never came.  I was also amazed at the number of people out and about. There are always people walking about on the streets, sitting in their courtyards or in front of their hut.  I also saw lots of trash everywhere, and ramshackle huts that people sold their goods out of.  It was a feast for the eyes that is for sure!

We ate dinner at the missionary family who was hosting us all week.  They are amazing. I learned so much from just being with them for 8 days.  I hope to highlight what so many of our missionaires face on a day to day basis, just to live.  To eat, to have running water, electricity and ice!  I am so burdened in a way I have never been to pray daily for those serving around the world.  Their sacrifice is huge, but I know that God will honor their obedience.

We stayed at a guest house that had an internet connection, running water, a fridge with GLASS BOTTLE soft drinks and a shower.  I was ready for all of those things!  We got to bed and were up early on Sunday to travel 12 hours across Guinea.  I had no idea what to expect.  We met two hands on missionaries, Rocky and Matt. They are semester missionaries through the IMB.  Great guys who are serving in Guinea. We left in two vehicles and took off.  We went through several checkpoints to get out of town and also through out the country.  When this isn’t something you do, EVER, it can be a bit unsettling, but we had no problems.

Our trek for the first 6 hours was windy and through the mountains. Breathtaking, at times.  I also caught my first glimpses of the differences between towns and villages.  We did stop at a gas station and I used a “squat pot” for the first time ever.  Basically, a hole in the floor, which is much more of a challenge for girls than boys, I must say!

The villages are a lot of what you have in your head of what Africa looks like, yet the reality of it, hit me, right in the face.  Children running around, in dirty, tattered clothing, no shoes, some are only partially clothed or have no clothes at all.  Their are goats and cows running everywhere, which always made me wonder how they kept track of which one belonged to who!  The women are working, usually in groups, I am sure to make the day go faster.  We have that in common!  They love to be with each other and gab!

The second half of our journey was not so easy.  The road had huge potholes in it.  This made for a very bumpy, long few hours.  Our drivers, the missionaries, were troopers.  They took such good care of us!  Another glimpse of what it takes, just to travel, in Africa.  It is hard, long and there is no McDonald’s to stop at!

We finally arrive in KonKon after dark and get our keys to the guest house.  Let me be frank.  I had a moment of anxiety and fear when I saw where we were staying.  I was praying for electricity.  I honestly thought, “I don’t know if I can do this.”  The Lord, used my husband in that moment to begin to show me how focused I can be on the things that don’t matter.  I needed to step it up. Quickly.  We found out the pump was out on the well, which basically meant that we would be drawing all our water out of the well, no running water and bucket baths.  It also meant you had to pour water down the commode when needed to flush it.  The house was solar and the fridge ran on batteries. We learned to be very economical with the lights so we could use fans at night to help cool us off so we could sleep.  I took a lot of deep breaths and reminded myself- YOU ARE IN AFRICA.  This isn’t my daily life but for many, it is.  For millions, it is.

D, the female missionary, the wife of P, the other missionary, had made chili, and brought it.  Here was a huge revelation for me.  The vast majority of food has to made from scratch.  There is no microwave, no frozen entrees, no fast food.  She made all of our food, all week, except for one night when we had an African meal made for us.  Hours of her day were spent and are spent preparing food.  The vegetables and fruits have to peeled and if they do not have a peel, they are soaked in diluted bleach water just to eat.  The water goes through a water purifier.  AMAZING and I will  never look at preparing food as difficult again. I HAD NO IDEA.

We settled in and began to get ready for our day with our translators the next day.

Stay tuned….

Thank you for all of the prayers! The last 36 hours has been a whirl-wind. Nashville, then Chicago, onto Brussels, Belgium and now in Conakry, Guinea. We rise and shine at 6am tomorrow to head to Kankan where we will spend the rest of the week. It will be a 12 hour road trip across the Guinea country side. It will be challenging.

Tonight we are at a missionary residence and we do have electricity and hot water! Yeah! Electricity is only on at certain times during the day in Guinea. Continue to pray for us and our family, especially our three precious kids who are without mommy and daddy for 10 days. Pray that we will be successful as we share the gospel with the Maninka.

Also, check out Jason’s blog, he will try to post pictures, videos, updates, etc.

We are hanging out in Brussels right now.  IT is about 4 am in Smyrna town.  I am a little tired.  I didn’t sleep very much on the last plane ride.

I love Europe, all 3 hours of it.

I kinda feel like country come to Europe!

Oh well, it has been fun seeing all the different cultures and hearing the different languaages.  They dress cool, too.

We are about to leave for another long flight and will land in Africa!

Thanks for praying!

I used a fancy number drawer at random.org and here is what they came up with….

True Random Number Service

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7
2

Timestamp: 2009-02-16 01:55:56 UTC

So, based on the numbers above the winners of the Intimate Issues books are…..

1. On February 11th, 2009 at 10:56 pm e Heather Says:Loe the look!! I would love to read this book!! You guys are so creative!
2. Nancy Hamilton Says:This would be a great book to share with college girls Im discipling! A few of them are about to get married…and Im sure there’s some great insight in there! Great blog Kelly!

Congratulations, Heather and Nancy!!  I will be in touch to send you the book this week!!

Even if you did not win, I still highly recommend this book for all the ladies out there!  It is worth the price of the book to invest in your marriage!

Welcome to my new digs!  Jason has wanted to switch to wordpress for a long time and he came in to our office last night and showed me my new blog home!

I am going to be adding, maybe changing the look but you get the drift!

I am also now officially kellystewart.org.  I hesitated for a long time putting my name out there, but seriously, it is not like a went to great links to conceal it!

So please add kellystewart.org to your readers and remove stewartfamily5.blogspot.com!

NOW that I have you here, I thought I would give you a chance to win an amazing book.

The book is called Intimate Issues  21 Questions Christian Women Ask About Sex* by Linda dillow and Lorraine Pintus

I heard these ladies on Focus on the Family about 10 years ago, back when I was still a newlywed, and went and got the book.

Back then, and still today, it gave me an idea of what goes on in a man’s head and really revolutionized my own thinking!

Here is the official description:

What does God think about sex? Can you be godly and sensuous? How do you recapture the passion in your marriage? With warmth, wisdom, and candor, Dillow and Pintus answer the most-asked questions Christian women have about sexual intimacy. Their biblical insights and creative ideas will guide married couples to deeper, more satisfying relationships. Trade paperback edition.

I am giving away 2, TWO, II, copies of this book!

All you have to do is leave a comment!  I would love for you all to enter, even if you don’t have  blog, just an email address!

I will choose a winner on February 15, Sunday night!!

So, welcome, I hope you come back again!

“Cory, Cory, Cory to my emerwasing soul!” Bradley, age 2

Translated: “Glory, Glory, Glory to the one who saved my soul.” Steve Fee in Grace will be my Song on the Burn For You CD.

He sings this all the time, while wearing the Barbie guitar, which he refers to as his Rock Star!

Love that kid….

I am blown away that I am traveling to Africa in 19 days.

Seriously, I am having trouble wrapping my mind around what I will be doing in 19 days.

Jason and I have had a heart for Africa for over 10 years now. I have always known that at some point I would travel there, experience this amazing continent and witness the heart of the people. I am excited to go with Jason and see it with him. To be able to dialogue with him, download with him and share this trip is something I am grateful for. To be honest, I almost backed out of going. I just didn’t feel ready to go.

I had a long list of why I thought I should not go. I mean what kind of mother leaves her children for 10 days? What kind of parent flies across the ocean for 24 hours with her spouse, while leaving her children? What kind of person goes to Africa, not really knowing what to expect? And, the one that kept ringing in my head- what if something happens to you and Jason?

SATAN. you are such a punk and I will not give you the satisfaction of influencing what GOD has ordained before the beginning of time for me to do.

SO, I am going. I think it is vital for my children to see their mommy living out her faith. I think it is essential for them to see me go, to be obedient to what God has led me to do. I want them to know that it often leads them out of their comfort zone, but that is such a sweet spot in their walk with Christ.

I thought I would share over the next 19 days what I am doing to get ready for what I know will be a life changing trip. Some will be completely superficial and some will be how I am preparing my soul for this journey of faith.

Because I am a girl and we are traveling to West Africa, I have had many a thoughts about what I am going to wear. CRAZY, but there are definite guidelines for what is appropriate and cultural.
I do have to wear a skirt below the knee and my head has to be covered by a hat of any kind.

I bought these for our trip. I wanted comfort and my feet to be covered.

I also bought this cool backpack/sling for all my stuff I will take on the airplane. If you have traveled on a long trip, I would love to hear the things you took on your carry on!
I have also had a ridiculous amount of immunizations, but did I really want to get Typhoid? Umm, no. SO, we had Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Meningococcal, Hep A and Hep B.

Please pray for our family as you think of us over the next month. I will be posting a specific list later, but for now, just pray for us as we get ready to go!

After re-entering the world of eating after being out for a couple of days, I still did not have much of an appetite. Which is fine, I will take the one bonus of having a stomach virus!

Combined with our lackluster selection in the pantry and I decided to cook a little dinner from a box.

Big mistake.

Let’s just say after the Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas had simmered for 25 minutes, it looked disgusting. I knew there was no way I was eating what was on my stove. Jason totally agreed.
I just figured I would serve up crescent rolls and throw out some fruit and cheese and call it a Parisian dinner.

But, alas, I also managed to burn the crescent rolls.

I can’t remember the last time a botched dinner up so completely. I know early in our marriage there were many times dinner went down the disposal, but not in the last few years!

So, I did what every mom has done and pulled out the cereal boxes.

I am the poster mom for nutrition. I ate Cocoa Krispies last night and drank the hint of chocolate from the bowl when I was done.

What is your go to meal?