Oh my! I had not realized just how long it had been since I posted. I must admit, last week was quite hard for me. For some reason, I struggled with a lot of discouragement and edginess. Saturday was a good day of cleaning and relaxing. Sunday I was able to have a GFA display at my church in Frisco and we sold world maps and had free books available. I think we sold about 43 world maps. One couple then sponsored a missionary and myself! A new supporter! I was so excited!

My goal was to start this week right--which I think I did. Starting with prayer last night, getting up on time this morning and spending time with God. Today went much better than most of last week.

Spring travel plans: I'll be in Houston this weekend (Fri-Sat) for Acquire the Fire (ATF) be in San Antonio two weekends after that for ATF. I was supposed attend the Tulsa ATF in March (and was looking forward to seeing Me and Tiff), but that changed since I'll be in India during that time. Then I'll be at the KC ATF April 15-16. I hope to share at Christ Covenant Church in Lawrence on the 17th of April. AH!!! You can pray for me!

Thank you for praying for the time Joanna and I had to share with the high schoolers on Tuesday morning. We were thrilled at the end when eight Bridge of Hope children were sponsored! Praise God!

I got home from work this evening, exhausted. And of course the phone started ringing immediately. But, this time, it was another staff couple inviting my roommates and I over to their place for supper in 15 minutes. PRAISE GOD! That was a wonderful blessing.

Afterward, I spent an hour and a half at our Joanna's home with her family. Well, actually, with their computers. They got DSL on Tuesday and I went over to check a few things. Sure enough, I found two computers with no virus scan, no firewall, and Windows updates 2 years behind. By the end of the time, the computers and virus scans were updated and we had the firewall going on the router. The SSID was no longer broadcasting and WEP encryptions was working. We finished off the evening with the sound of the ping pong table.

Umm.... I'm trying to figure out how to type the sounds of a ping pong table...

A laughing voice, a teary eye, smeared mascara... that's part of what friendships and relationships are about. God could have created us to live independently, but instead he created us to rely on each other. It's only by our relationships with God and with others that we can grow. Pray that I would continue to be the person God wants me to be. Pray that I can be Dorinda without trying to pretend to be someone else.

I know you won't get this until later, but please pray for Joanna and I as we share at a high school chapel service tomorrow. Pray for the hearts of high schoolers to be touched to sponsor a child!

A few snippets of news...

In Haviland, KS, Barclay College students are putting on a fundraiser for GFA's Bridge of Hope program this Saturday. I'll let you know more as I get more information.

I'd love to be posting during the last three weeks of March, but I don't think I'm going to be near internet access for that time period. I'll let you know as I get more information.

[The cell phone rings. Oh, look, it's JD. Hi JD. What? I can't hear you. Where am I? I'm in my room. Why? Where are you? What? OH NO! JD, I'm sorry! What gate are you at? B? as in boy? I can't hear you. B? 30? I'm on my way. I am so sorry!]

1 hour later: Some friend I am. I'm just back from the airport. It's past bedtime. The other snippets of news will have to wait.

I shared tonight at a small group. About 9 adults there. Seeds were planted and I think will take root. One lady said if I can bring her a child profile on Sunday, she'll sponsor it. I don't think I'll have any new personal supporters, but there are definately people interested in the ministry.

I'm dead tired and heading to bed. Thank you for your prayers!

Thank you for all your prayers for the sharing opportunity Joanna and I this morning. I think it went very well. It was a great group of kids and I think we made them think. I think. I talked a little too long and crunched Joanna's time at the end. We'll adjust that for next Tuesday when we share with the high school chapel.

Looking for a resource to share with your church on the tsunami? Because of the multitude of requests, GFA has created a power point with pictures and music that quickly covers the tsunami, the devastation, the relief work, and the hope. My missions pastor is excited about sharing it with the church on Sunday. Maybe yours will be too. Make sure you have high speed internet to download this 8MB file... or be prepared to wait.

I share with a life group tomorrow evening about GFA and the tsunami. The same couple is hosting this as hosted the Bible study I shared at two weeks ago. Pray for grace, prepared hearts, and new supporters!

Stop by http://www.gfa.org/gfa/tsunamivideo011805 to see the latest update from the field. We got to see this Tuesday night in prayer meeting. It was supposed to be up on the web yesterday, but the company that hosts our media server took it offline for upgrades without notifying us. (Not so) great timing. The upgrades didn't work properly and they finally got us switched to another server 24 hours later.

Thanks for your prayers on the chapel meeting tomorrow. Joanna and I met for two hours this evening to line things out and it's coming together well. It's definately not our planning though. We planned things out for the first hour and then it all got changed--for the better. We could still use your prayers for tomorrow morning though. We've still got some logistical details to fall into place.

We heard some amazing updates tonight in prayer meeting about the tsunami relief work on the field. I'll post a link to them as soon as they put them up on the web. I think they are sending part of an update out via email tomorrow.

CBS Channel 11 here in Dallas sent Dr. Mona Khanna to Sri Lanka two weeks ago to gather stories and bring back footage of the tsunami relief. "She and [her cameraman] have been following two North Texas aid organizations, the Texas Baptist Men and Carrollton-based Gospel for Asia. " They aired footage last night that didn't mention GFA by name, but it certainly looked like one of our churches in the background of one of the relief camps. Today they included a story and footage on Bro. KP and the GFA work at the 4:00 news slot.

Prayer need: A staff daughter I'll refer to as Joanna and I will be sharing about GFA and the tsunami and the Bridge of Hope child sponsorship programs at McKinney Christian Academy junior high chapel Thursday morning. We'll share at the high school chapel next Tuesday. Your prayers as we prepare are appreciated!

I'm over at a GFA staff family's home tonight, working on their computer. Seems like every time we spend more than 5 minutes on the internet, the computer freezes solid. We removed a troublesome software which might have done the trick. So now we're being on the internet for five minutes to see if it will mess up. I think it's past my bedtime.

You can listen to the conversations I was transcribing at http://www.gfa.org/gfa/tsunamiaudio011505.

Since I was at the office late last night, I got recruited to do some transcribing work for Bro. KP. He's currently in Asia, but had sent back some .wav files. The files contained interviews with several of our native leaders and pastors. As I played and rewound and played and slowed the speed down and tried to understand the thick Indian accents through the fuzz of my computer, I heard their stories over and over. Stories of watching the devastation take place and being helpless to do anything. Stories of tragedy, of families split forever. Stories of personal sacrifice and love. They are going to be using these stories to write update stories for the website. I'll let you know when they get posted.

One of my coworkers and I spent most of the day yesterday in Dallas for more computer training. We were evaluating the company to possibly work with them in the future to provide computer training. It was a job well done by the company. We stayed after the class for 45 minutes as two of the trainers plied us with questions about Gospel for Asia. Now if only our sales rep was a Christian.

Sign up for your own copy of the GFA email updates: http://www.gfa.org/emailupdate

Here's the link for more information about the 10,000 children... http://www.gfa.org/gfa/10000

One of our workers in Asia spoke about the children. He drew a verbal picture that even I cannot enunciate. He spoke of the hours after the tsunami hit. Working within sight of the beach, he saw the young children running up and down the sand and yelling for their parents. Screaming, trying to find their mom and dad in the only way they knew how. With nothing familiar and no answers from anyone, they simply continued to run up and down the beaches, desparately calling for their parents.

I thought of when I was lost as a child. Even thinking about it, the terrified feeling came back and I wanted my mommy. But can you imagine? Screaming for help and there is no one there to answer you. You will never see your family again. Ever.

There are mothers who have lost their children and, Bro. KP wrote, have lost their minds as well. Mothers who had their babies ripped from their arms by the powerful flood waters.

The local government officials in Sri Lanka have asked GFA to care for 10,000 of these orphans. You can read about it in the email Bro. KP sent today from Sri Lanka.

A child victim of the tsunami 

A native missionary we'll call Rajen visited a village in southern India. He was sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the villagers there. Kumar, one of the villagers, was upset by what Rajen shared and proceeded to beat him severely and chase him out of the village.

Two months later. A tsunami has devastated Kumar's village and Kumar himself is hurt and desparately needing medical attention. Before he can find a medical relief tent, who should find him but the very same missionary he had beaten and chased from the village months before. Lovingly, Rajen takes Kumar to a GFA medical relief clinic and stays with him as Kumar receives medical treatment.

Can you imagine what his thoughts might have been? "Why would you come back to help me after I was so mean to you? Who is this god of yours? I didn't know your god loved me so much."

Another life impacted for eternity.

For those who are recently stumbling across my blog-- I work in the stateside administrative offices of Gospel for Asia, a non-profit mission organization whose goal is fulfill the Great Commission among the most unreached in Asia through training, sending out, and partnering with indigenous missionaries. PLEASE stop by www.gfa.org to request a free book and learn about the ministry.

Right now we have over 1000 pastors and missionaries doing relief work in Southeast Asia. From bottled water to medical help, from displacement homes to rebuilding villages, from Gospel tracts to New Testaments, Gospel for Asia is ministering both physically AND spiritually among the tsunami victims. Stop by www.gfa.org/tsunami to learn more about our work--both short term and long term. 100% of gifts given to the disaster relief fund are sent to the mission field. Share the information with your friends and churches.

The church I attend in Frisco celebrated their 5th anniversary today. From 51 people at the first service in 2000 to 250 people at my first service in 2003 to 784 people in this morning's service, the church is alive and growing and reaching out to the community. Today was also the grand opening for the church's first building. Before this month, the church was meeting in school buildings. I praise God for Hope Fellowship and each of the people in the church community that have opened their lives and invited me to share life with them. They have been a real encouragement.

Planned for this week: Facilitating others, attending a Project 2002 Level 2 training course, working on software training contracts, and researching helpdesk software solutions. Pray that I will be faithful in my times with God.

Last night/this morning was Friday Night Extended Night of Prayer. We spoke by phone with Bro. KP who was back in Asia, saw TD's pictures from his trip to Myanmar last month, shared exciting stories of how God is working in the midst of the tsunami, and prayed and prayed and prayed. We closed about 5 this morning.

Quick updates: The effects of the tsunami are larger than anything we can imagine here in the US. If you haven't seen the news, US Secretary-General Annan has been visiting the affected areas and is "shocked" by the damage. Bro. KP reported to us on the phone last night that the devastation is far worse than even he realized. TD, former military and now GFA's main videographer, arrived in Sri Lanka this past week and said, "It looks like a war zone." He said the soil has been literally stripped from the ground.

The three people listed above are not as naive as you and I. They've probably seen more disaster sites in their lives than I've even heard of.

TD spoke with a man yesterday who showed him what was left of his high class hotel. There was only the foundation slab. The hotel down the street didn't even have the foundation slab remaining.

Short facts: 6 million people displaced. 10,000 orphans in Sri Lanka alone. Dalits (low caste Hindus) being forced out of relief camps. Devastation like we've never seen.

Praise God that the Sri Lanka government is allowing GFA to start homes to take care of the orphans until their relatives can find them. Pray as GFA leaders seek to minister to immediate needs and to make effective long term plans. While other aid organizations move on, we'll be staying on. After all, that's who we are.

Bro. KP got a phone call today. Leaders were informing him of an area of the Andaman Islands where 9 villages had been wiped out and only 50 people (mostly women and children) were left. However, the relief teams didn't find this area until yesterday, so most of the survivors were very ill. Stop by www.gfa.org/tsunamivideo and listen to the update from Bro. KP.

Pray for me. I'm working on a contact with a local computer training company to help our users get better computer training and hence use their time more effectively. Working with sales people who don't want to give me straight answers is always hard for me. I need a lot of wisdom and need to know when to be firm and when to give and take.

Friday night extended night of prayer is tomorrow night. We'll be hearing updates on Myanmar and on the tsunami relief.

I had the privilege of sharing about the tsunami relief effort with a Bible Study group tonight. Or at least I thought I sharing about the tsunami. But JR and his wife showed the Call to Harvest DVD and then the eight group members began plying me with questions! I talked and talked and listened and talked. I finally got the tsunami and prayer requests covered and then they had more questions. And more questions. They asked how the administrative costs were covered if 100% of the tsunami and missionary funds went to the field. So I shared with them about support raising and how that works. Then one lady asked, "So if we want to sponsor a missionary like JR has done, how do we do that?"

Oh the joy of seeing people get excited about the ministry. I passed out information cards and several people seemed interested. We'll pray for fruit from the meeting. Then JR and his wife told me they were increasing the monthly amount they give toward my support!!!

Oh, AND I got news today that someone from the Baptist Church in Okeene (where I have shared twice in the past) is sponsoring a missionary!

THANK YOU! For your prayers!

Yeah, a good blog is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT- mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe. They're so perky. I love that. But that's not what he said. He distinctly said "To blave", and as we all know, to blave means to bluff, heh? So you were probably trying to read his blog and he was never blogging.

Or she was never blogging. Well, the internet is finally back up and working at the house... at least in a makeshift way. My sister took the time to get it set up while she was visiting the last two days.

Skipping to the big news: Stop by www.gfa.org/tsunami to see the updates on the tsunami relief, get prayer requests, and give financially. Pray for the 500+ missionaries we have working in the affected areas. Some of have lost members of their family or their entire family and are now working to fill both the physical and spiritual needs of the people.

I know. It happened 10 days ago. That's a long time ago to us. We often forget about international disasters after 10 days. But it's a long time to them too... 10 days of nothing but rain and sorrow and hunger and disease. And only more to come. Pray.