Arrival in Malawi

Dear Friends at New Life Family Church,

We made it safely to Malawi. As usual, things move quite slow. It took some time to get our Internet connected.

A big PRAISE GOD, our luggage except one speaker arrived the day we arrived. John was able to pick up the other speaker yesterday. EVERY single item is accounted for. It is always a miracle to have all items arrive. There are a lot of sticky fingers traveling through Africa.

We were very grateful to have the Lord provide a PA system for us just before leaving the U.S. We were able to bring it with us and after a lengthy conversation with the officials, they did NOT charge John duty on the system. It will be very helpful in holding crusades and our leadership conferences. Thank you, Lord!

I believe someone from your church also donated a water purification system to us which we brought over.

Joshua was able to start school on time and plugging in quickly. We are being forced to move so we appreciate your prayers for housing.

I am still recovering. My chest pain has subsided however I am coughing quite a lot. I appreciate your prayers as the Lord brings me to your mind. The Cat Scan I had shortly before leaving the U.S. showed my lungs to be clear so I’m sure this is something easy to treat.

We had a long layover in Amsterdam. A pastor friend of mine who lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands, came and picked us up from the airport to spend several hours with her. I traveled to the Netherlands in 2004 and again in 2006 and ministered in her church. It was wonderful seeing her again and for John and Joshua to finally meet her.

God bless
Colleen

NLFC on Facebook

New Life has 2 public pages on Facebook.  One for the church itself where you can get news/announcements/weather cancellations almost instantly.  We also have a page that focuses on our Haiti outreach.  ‘Like’ these pages to keep up to date on all things NLFC! 

New Life Family Church Page
New Life 4 Haiti Page

Video & Pictures from Haiti – July 2010

Our July Haiti group came back with a lot of video and pictures from their trip! 

Here’s the video Kelsie made from the trip:

We will post pictures soon!

The Prices Write – July Update

It’s hard to believe that our family started on a journey over 5 years ago, a journey into missions and onto the mission’s field.  Although not all of that time was actually spent “on” the field, it was certainly spent in preparation and training… focused on missions and doing the Lord’s work.  And God has blessed us richly through all of it.

After much prayer and consideration, our family has decided to return home, and this descision did not come easily.  Leaving these kiddos is going to be like ripping out pieces of our hearts, and I’m not sure how to soften that pain, but I know that God can.

God has already given us a peace about many things.  Although we like to think God “needs” us in order to accomplish His plan, the truth is that He chooses to “use” us.  He has many people that belong to the body of Christ and are able to be used to do the work.  We have met many good Christians here in Tepic.  We are praying that some of them would come alongside the Casa to help out. 

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 – “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”

We had an opportunity to plant seeds, and were fortunate to have seen growth — all of which comes from God.  One example of the growth we have seen is in a young boy named Juan Diego.  We had asked for your prayers for his salvation some time ago.  We have seen many changes in Juan and the other day he told Bill that he “has Christ in him”.  We thank God for answering prayers and for the changes He’s brought about in this little boy.

We cannot thank all of you enough for your support and prayers over the years.  We always think of Paul’s words to the Philippians when we think of your part in our ministry work here:

Philippians 1:3-6 – “I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Prayer Requests:

That God would guard the hearts and minds of the children including our girls, And that there would be no bitterness or anger because of our leaving

We ask that you would prayerfully consider continuing your support of our family through October, allowing us to move back and get our feet back on the ground.

That God would even now be raising up Nationals to take over the work we have begun with the children, spending time teaching them from God’s Word. 

For everything that must come together, packing, selling items, our return trip home, etc…

For Alexandra as she leave for Spokane, Washington, on August 5th, for the trip there with her Dad, for her to get settled in, and for a job while she is attending school.

For the transition back home.

For the possibility of attending a missions debriefing in Colorado, something we feel would be very helpful for our family.

We also ask for prayer as we look into the possibility of adopting 2 of the boys at the orphanage.

7 Serving Him: Bill, Joanie, Alexandra, Paige, Sydney, Sophie and Sunny Price

Contact Info: 
Vonage ph. #319-752-0746
E-mail: Prices7@msn.com

The Prices Write – May Update

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

This is one of the Bible verses that our older kids memorized for last week. We have just about finished up our Bible lessons on “Salvation”, and many of the things we have talked about come from the book of John. We were able to discuss “who” the thief is, and the ways that he steals, kills, and destroys. Our children have possibly experienced his work in their lives even more than most. Satan has destroyed their families and stolen their childhood. But the verse goes on to say that Jesus “came that they may have life and have it to the full.” We praise God that He sent Jesus, that we can have His truth, love, light and life. His truth and light drive out the lies in all the dark places. His love heals and restores us, and He gives us life.

We have really been experiencing God’s work in the lives of some of our children. Our daughter, Paige, has begun a “leadership group” with Sydney and 4 of the other teens. She has really challenged them to be in their Bibles, to be memorizing verses, and to share with one another. They are also helping with our two younger Bible Study groups. They’ve been so responsible and receptive; this can only be from the LORD!

As God works in their lives, the enemy is trying hard to undo what God is doing. We ask for your prayers of protection for these children, that Satan will not be allowed to come in and snatch away the truths they are learning. We also need prayer, because oftentimes as God begins to reveal His truth to these kids, Satan stirs up things from their pasts and tries to use these things to stop them from believing truth. But we have hope, because as Jesus tells us in John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” And in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Our children need to experience this freedom that comes only from Christ!

Updates on the children
On May 19th one of the little boys from the Casa left to go back home with his Mom and siblings. This little boy, Brandon, (whom we have often referred to as Barney), has really touched our hearts and been such a part of our lives for the past year. It’s so hard for us to see him go! Sydney is taking it especially hard, as he was her little buddy. Brandon’s been at the Casa for 5 years, since he was 5 years old. Please pray with us for this special little boy. He has told Sydney he understands the Salvation message, but he hasn’t accepted Christ as his Savior. One of our biggest prayers for him is that he will be allowed to continue to come to our Bible studies and that we could continue to pour truths into him, and of course for his salvation.

Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Miguel, Josue, Lupita and Oliver. These siblings came to us so broken and hurt, but we’ve seen them learn to smile, receive love, and begin to trust. Their Mother had hired an attorney and was granted custody of the children. We were very concerned as it seemed unlikely her circumstances have changed. DIF (our child protection agency) challenged this ruling, and the Mom never showed up to the 2nd hearing. We were just informed that she went to DIF and has since told them she realized she can’t take her children back at this time; she is unable to care for them. We thank God for being in control of this situation and ask for prayers for their Mom that God would draw her to Himself and help her. We also ask you to pray with us for another sibling group at the Casa, Alan and Giovanni. They have lived at the Casa for about 7-1/2 years or so – since they were very young. Their Mom is also seeking to regain custody of them, and we’ve been told this would not be a good environment for these children. Once again we pray for God’s guidance and protection for these two boys. They have been pretty upset since hearing this news and so we pray that God would bring them peace and comfort during this time.

It seems as God is beginning to work in the lives of our kids at the Casa, Satan is taking them away! There have been other instances where we have had to fight for these children through prayer. Our weapons are not of this world and neither is our fight.

A little family news:
Our daughter, Alexandra, has been accepted into Moody Bible Institute. However, as the school in Chicago is full at this time, she will be attending their “sister school” in Spokane, Washington. We ask that you would pray for Alex as she prepares to move in August. Also, please pray for her Mom as she shouldn’t be worrying about sending her baby so far away! Please pray for all of the preparations which need to be done in this time of transition. Alexandra has been such a big help to us in our ministry here – we’re really going to miss her!

We also want to ask for continued prayer for safety here in Mexico, as things seem to be stepping up a bit between the drug lords and the federal police in Tepic as well as other parts of Mexico (much of what I’m sure you’ve heard about back home).  We don’t want people to think that we are living in fear, because we are not.  2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.”
 
God has kept us safe, and we believe He will continue to do so.  We thank Him for his safety and provision for our family here.

Thank you for praying with us – your prayers keep us going!

7 Serving Christ, Bill, Joanie, Alexandra, Paige, Sydney, Sophie and Sunny Price

Stuck in Nairobi

We are stuck in Nairobi, Kenya because of the volcano which erupted in Iceland.  We don’t know how long we will be stuck here.  We were returning to U.S. for our daughter’s graduation from college.

They put us in a beautiful hotel last night.  We got in our room about midnight.  They gave us a meal, too.  The place is wonderful.  It reminds me of a Hilton in the U.S.  The only problem is they only gave us a room for two people and didn’t have a cot.  They offered an extra room but we all wanted to stay together so Joshua slept on the floor.

My mom said the news said it could take up to two weeks for the ash to clear.  It depends on the wind and also how long the volcano continues to spew the ash.  I’d rather go back to Malawi than stay here for two weeks.  Angela will be terribly disappointed if we don’t make it for her fashion show (part of her final for college gradaution).  I would check into flying through SA but we know that could be very expensive because we might have to buy a whole new ticket and we couldn’t afford that.

We were so surprised as we drove through Nairobi because the airport is kind of a “pit” and to find the city so nice.  It was difficult to see a lot because it was dark but the buildings are beautiful and modern.  It is like SA.

We are at “complete” peace in all this.  None of this is a surprise to God.  He has a plan and it will be exciting to see what it is.  Thanks for your prayers. 

John, Colleen, and Joshua Smith

The Prices Write – April Update

March News From Malawi

Sunday was an exciting day.  We started our first church on Sunday out in the village where the preschool is located.  The name of the school and church is “New Beginnings Ministry”.  We made the suggestion of the name and they loved it right away.  We told them as they choose to serve Jesus Christ, they will experience a “new beginning” in their life and village. The Group Village Headman Sadjiwa (the head chief) and seven other chiefs attended along with about 100 villagers. The villagers requested we start a church there.  We have a young man who we’ve been working with for over a year who is stepping in as the pastor.  He has been the one doing all our interpreting and “foot work” out at the school so the villagers know him well.  They know he cares about them and he has a true servant’s heart.  He gave his heart to the Lord in 1989.  The Lord gave him a dream in 1995 and since then he has felt a call on his life to pastor a church. He is very excited for the opportunity.  He has a strong desire to attend Bible school so we are going to try to raise the money to send him.  There is a school here he can attend for about $50 per term.  There are four terms to graduate.  This cost includes the Bible training, room and board. 

A couple Saturdays ago we did a clothing distribution out at our preschool.  There are now 213 children registered at the school.  We gave each of them two pieces of clothing and we had some larger sized clothing left over so we distributed clothing to the primary school age children who were present.  We ended up giving clothing to about 500 children.  There were about 25 chiefs and several hundred people present to watch the distribution so we preached to them, too.  The Lord blessed us with a “no rain” day which made it much simpler to do the distribution.

We started a new chief ministry in an area about 50 miles from Lilongwe.  Twenty chiefs attended and some of their wives.  Colleen taught two sessions.  We held the meeting in a new CCAP church building.  The building will seat 3000 people.  The pastor also attended the meeting.  He says he has 6000 members.  The pastor pleaded with us to come and do leadership training with his pastors.

Colleen will be speaking at a Women’s Tea this coming Saturday.  Many people have purchased tickets to attend including the High Commissioner for Zimbabwe, the wives of all the Zambian Embassy leaders, the president’s daughter, and some members of parliament.  Please pray the Lord will fill her mouth with His Words.

We will both be speaking at a three day leadership conference on Easter weekend.  We treasure your prayers.

It costs us $7 per gallon for gas and our truck only gets about 12 miles per gallon.  Slowly the money is coming in toward another vehicle.  We are looking for a diesel SUV which will get better gas mileage.  We treasure your prayers in this.

We are returning home mid-April for our daughter’s graduation from college.  We promised our children when we left for the mission field, we will come home for their milestones.  I’ve been so busy that I haven’t given much thought to coming home.  My mom asked me yesterday how we are getting home from MPLS.  I hadn’t even thought about making those arrangements.  I’m not really comfortable with my dad traveling alone, yet, so I hate to ask him.  I asked my mom to do some checking for me.  I think my brother Steve will be in Haiti again when we return.

Our plans for Joshua’s schooling are falling into place.  There is still unknown things but I guess we will trust God.  He doesn’t want to go the Maranatha but I think it is just a case of not “knowing” how he will be accepted and all that.  I’m sure he will do fine.  He makes friends so easy.  He had 20 friends attend his birthday party here.

God bless

John, Colleen and Joshua Smith

Haiti Videos on YouTube

Pastor Brad, Dann, and John brought back a lot of video from their Haiti trip.  You’ve seen only a fraction of the video at church.  If you’d like to see more we will be posting video blogs on YouTube periodically.  Keep checking back on this post for the updates!

Enjoy the videos and please pray about how you can help New Life with outreach in Haiti in the future.

If you have a YouTube account, please subsribe to our channel and rate the videos!   Thank You!

Here is a small glimpse at what our group experienced:

Here is a list of the videos currently posted (more coming soon!):
Haiti Music Video  
Haiti Video Blog 1 – Traveling the Dominican Republic & Crossing Into Haiti
Haiti Video Blog 2 (Part 1) – Touring Port Au Prince
Haiti Video Blog 2 (Part 2) – Touring Port Au Prince
Haiti Video Blog 3 – Reflecting on the destruction and working in Port Au Prince 
Haiti Video Blog 4 – Finishing work in Port Au Prince, sharing with those in need, and moonwalking lessons with Dann!
Haiti Video Blog 5 – Rebuilding a damaged home in the mountains and Super Bowl Sunday in Haiti
Haiti Video Blog 6 – Continuing work in the mountains & looking forward to future projects

Also, you can view our YouTube Channel Page to sort through the videos yourself.

Here is Steve Tucker’s video from the trip!  This video features a look at some of the work that was finished after Pastor Brad, Dann, & John left.

Latest Article from The HawkEye

Our Haiti group was featured in The Hawkeye on Monday.

Here is the main article:  http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Haiti-022210

Also, here is their letter to the editor:  http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Dann-Quam-021710

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