Well, we’re off!!! It’s a beautiful day. No rain. Light snow flurries when we left Roanoke, but not much. The Lord held back the freezing rain from hitting Roanoke, even though all the surrounding areas got hit with bad weather. God is so good! We are riding down I-81 right now…just passing mile marker 235. There is such an air of expectation. As we’ve all heard from the prophets, 2007 is the Year of the Open Door, and that is what we are standing on for this mission trip!

Pastor has been preaching a series on the Year of the Open Door (which you can listen to online on the Valley Word website.) This is the season, the set time for spiritual Zion (the church) to walk in favor:

As you pray for us, keep in mind some of the scriptures that Pastor has been using in his messages:

Revelation 3:7-8
7 And to the angel (Gk: angelos- messenger…could be translated pastor) of the church in Philadelphia [Valley Word J] write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Psalms 102:13
“You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come.”

We appreciate you praying the word over us. We look forward to bringing you a good report!
Until next time…

Sandi and the Team: Pastor Eddie, Chris, Debbie, Suzanne, Aaron, William C., Rocky, Shaun, Joshua, and Tim

T- minus 46 hours and counting!

Wow! I am so excited! In less than 48 hours our team will be on a plane, Uganda-Bound. Things have been very intense the last couple weeks as we've made final preparations for our trip. A tremendous outpouring of donated medical supplies and medications has come in...roughly an additional $200,000 worth of stuff. Talk about God showing Himself mighty on our behalf! Much thanks to Western Virginia EMS, Carilion Health Systems (yet again!), and the many other companies that have donated equipment, supplies, and medications. One company donated 9400 doses of an antibiotic that (not-surprisingly) is used to treat...you guessed it: Malaria! Since that is one of the major diseases that we'll be dealing with in Uganda, it was definitely a God-thing.

The other way that God has proved Himself mighty on our behalf has been in the area of finances. I have to praise God for the church family of which I am a part. Not only do we have an 80-90% Tither rate, but our people not only tithe...they give over and above the tithe. Actually, we just have a church full of people who love to be a blessing to others, to the Kingdom of God, and the work of the ministry. On behalf of the Mission Team I can echo Paul's prayer over the church of Philippi. They were the only church that regularly communicated with Paul in regards to giving and receiving. They understood the principles of partnership, and so do Valley Word folk! To use the Apostle Paul's words, "my God shall supply all your [those who have partnered with us in any capacity regarding this mission trip] needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." I pray that fruit would abound to YOUR account, because of your willingness to sow into this missions project.

I will be posting pictures and blog entries while we are in Uganda, so check out our Online Photo Albums and click on the album entitled, "Uganda or Bust..." Thanks to all who are supporting us with a prayer covering. We love and appreciate you all! Bye for now...

~ Sandi