Isaac And Brittany .com

Hello everyone, sorry it has been a while since the last post. Brittany and I are doing well, little Emmanuel is really thriving and we love him so much. We are teaching the kids and, as of today, one adult. Tomorrow I am going to share my testimony with 30 or 40 guys at a place called 'the city of rest' it is in downtown Freetown and it is a place for drug addicts and people with serious mental problems. It is a really amazing ministry and was started by one of the oldest living pastors in Sierra Leone, he still runs up the stairs though! I am going to share my story as the Lord helped me out of drug addiction.
I wanted to share a bit of our hearts, share a bit about what God is doing. Being here is difficult as you all can imagine. It is difficult for obvious reasons, mainly its not the United States! :) So we have really had to reexamine our reasons for being here. Heidi Baker, the director of Iris ministries, talks a lot about this subject. She flat out tells mission school students 'If your not in love, don't come! (to missions)'
She says this because the only motivation that sustains, the only motivation that leads to real change is love. Love first for Jesus, and then for those who He loves. (two things that become almost interchangable)
Its really easy to hope in other things though. We all know this especially as Americans. A million things are vying for our attention, and our affections. Pride, money, success, fear, entertainment, sports, etc... But what is it that really keeps us going? What wakes us up in the morning and gives us hope.
The options here are limited, food... going to the restaurant a couple times a week...taking the kids to the beach now and then... ugghhhh. You sort of run out after a little while. But love works, it doesn't just work. Love makes us thrive, and not just any love but the very love of God flowing through you.
We are learning it, little by little, interaction by interaction, situation by situation. Learning to 'Love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength...and love our neighbor as our self'
I'm so used to having love just be PART of what keeps me going. Its a whole different thing to have it be ALL. It really means giving of ourselves. Thats what Christs death and ressurection shows us. (To love costs something, or its not really love)
Loving here doesnt come naturally. There is soo much to learn about the culture and everthing has to been done in that context. For example, they play checkers here totally different and at first I just thought the guy I was playing with was stupid and didnt know the rules. Even after I learned that he was playing the way everyone plays here, I wanted to correct him. I stopped myself, realizing my pride, and played the way they do. Its kind of like that dealing with the culture as a whole. We are learning that we need to drop our ideas of how thing are done, the way interactions happen and what they mean etc.. and humble ourselves. We need to be vulnurable and let those around us instruct us. Instead of the natural thing to do which is to stay aloof. In the end when we bond this way, it looks like love.
We are doing so many things here (I haven't shared much of it). But this is what is really the important thing. I Cor 13 " If I sell all I have and give it to the poor...if I give my body to be burned... but I have not love, it is nothing" Getting stuff done isnt the point. Love is, and we are learning.
So like Paul said, "not that I have achieved it yet... but I press on toward the goal to obtain the prize of the upward call of Christ Jesus"
We love you!
Isaac

One day Brittany and I were talking and we realized that God was putting the same thing on both of our hearts. Emmanuel, the 8-9 month old of the group of five orphans that have been living with us since November had been weighing on both of our hearts/minds. Brittany started talking about it with me. We realized that for the most part his brothers and sister were taking care of him. They fed him, changed him, slept with him. Often during the day Emmanuel would just sit quietly not demanding any attention and would go almost unnoticed. Andrew and Angella are busy with David, one of the the most active 8month olds I have ever seen, and so it made sense to Brittany and I that we should take Emmanuel into our room. It was a little over our heads at first. I have never even changed a diaper, and Brittany didnt know much either. Over the last week though we have fallen in love with this little guy. (Sometimes we want to wake him up just to play with him) He is really coming alive too. Now he laughs and jerks his body around and smacks his lips like an old man. Last night when we put him to bed (a little mat next to our blowup mattress) He just 'preached' for about a half an hour, saying bah, bah, bah. Its really amazing to get to love him during these early years when he may never remember. But they are years that probably will have a big impact on him in the future. Brittany and I are so blessed to have 'God with us' (the meaning of Emmanuel) Thank you for your prayers and support.