A Time to Mourn

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Dear friends and family,

For a few months you've known that there has been a serious illness in our family. During that time my daddy-in-law, Randy Roberts, battled a very aggressive cancer. Last Tuesday, he died. It is our belief that Randy is now with his Maker. Though it's been a stressful time (That's very understated.), we praise the Lord for Randy's life.



We wanted to send Racheal and Fisher to yesterday's memorial celebration in North Carolina, but it didn't work out. Instead, we've asked Racheal's oldest brother, Randall, to come help her in Dakar while i, corey, can't be there. We'll be flying him there in a few weeks.

So this Sunday, Racheal and Fisher (and River, as if he had a choice) are headed to Dakar where there's better medical care for birthing babies. They'll be there for about two months; Randall will come in to help Racheal get around and watch Fisher while she's in the doctor visits (No kids allowed.). I'll join them in early September, pending River's progress. After the birth, Randall will return to the States and the four of us Pendergrasses will return to our home in Usus land.

Prayer ReQuests:

• Pray for Racheal traveling alone with a watermelon growing on her belly and a near 2-year-old on her hip. Plus luggage. Yikes.
  
  
• Pray for River and Racheal's health. They're doing fairly well.
• Pray for Racheal's family in the States and us in West Africa grieving the passing of her father.
• Pray for me, corey, as i'll have to be without my precious family for about a month.
  
  

'til the whole world hears,

corey reid pendergrass

Vagabonds

Receiving Our Crate... (essentials for the skimmers):

• Watch our latest video: Episode 4!
• We are all pretty healthy.
• We are being more intentional about having meaningful conversations with our neighbors.
• After 9 months of waiting, our crate has arrived!
• Happy USA Independence Day
  

...with Nothing Lost or Stolen (extras for the detail-junkies):

Dear friends,

Well, we made it back to West Africa and have been been getting resettled. It's been an eventful month since we got back.

Racheal will be flying to Sengeal to deliver River. However, the airline wasn't going to let her on this late in the pregnancy, but our diligent mission personnel wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and they were able to get special permission.

A few days ago our crate arrived. We had shipped it on September 24, 2010, 9 months ago. There were many items like major appliances and tools that we were looking forward to. There were tons of things like toys and clothes we'd forgotten about. There were some things like a DC-to-AC electricity inverter that will be so helpful. There were some things like a fish tank vacuum siphon that made us wonder why we put it in the crate. All-in-all, it's been a fun exciting time. It's funny to think about most of the problems and struggles of the last several months we've spent in West Africa. Most of those headaches from the Enemy could have been alleviated by something in that wooden box. However, let us not assume that we are now out of the Enemy's reach.

Prayer ReQuests:

• Praise the Lord for our time in NC and being able to return here.
  
• Pray for Racheal and River in the last two months of the pregnancy.
• Pray for Dave, Gabe, May, Goose, and Macy who we're building relationships with. Pray that those relationships would allow for a solid sharing of the Gospel.
  
• Pray for Racheal and Fisher and River as they will travel to Senegal soon. Pray for corey as he will have to wait another month after they leave.
  

'til the whole world hears,

corey reid pendergrass