The Stirlings

Livingstone. Johannesburg. Livingstone.

2010-12-28T03:47:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! So I know I said we'd be blogging often during this rainy season... but I'm really bad at remembering things like that! Haha. Nevertheless, here I am blogging and trying to be faithful at it. A little update: I (Jamie) am in Johannesburg, South Africa and my most handsome husband is in Livingstone, Zambia. I brought Elly (our little one) down to South Africa to get checked out by a pediatrician because she's had this horrendous ear infection for 3 weeks and it didn't clear up (until the day I got here). We've had a successful diagnosis of acid reflux for the little one and now she is going to be taking a little pepcid or rennies. Praise God it's only minor and we are believing for her complete healing in this regard. Would you stand with us to believe for divine health over her? I head back up to Livingstone tomorrow... but I have to say, this time in Jo'burg has been a nice break from the heat of 90 degrees (32 C). Okay I'm off to take a nap before I run a few errands and help make dinner. Love you all!

PS. Ciaran is good ---- busy busy busy as usual. I can't wait to see him tomorrow!

Rainy Season

2010-11-22T23:53:00.000-08:00

So, we're officially staying in Zambia for the rainy season. The rainy season has it's pros and it's cons. For my sanity's sake, let's just name the pros: the weather is incredible, there are awesome thunderstorms, everything is green and full, the base is quiet (which is a nice temporary change), and there is more time for me to finish my degree! Yes, we want to be home for the holidays enjoying family and some cooler weather, but this is God's plan for our lives right now and we gladly submit. Something I'm learning is that submitting is so much easier than not. Thank the Lord for his immeasurable grace. So what do we do over the rainy season? Ciaran is helping build a house for a family here that does sector management; I will continue to do finances, take care of my little princess, and continue on with my degree. There are only five of us on base, which is so crazy! I think it seems a little spooky sometimes because typically there are a minimum of 20 and during high season as many as 100. The whole point of this season is to watch over the missionary base. Getting out to the rural villages is practically impossible and driving through the mud is counter productive because you'll only find yourself stuck in it! Our hopes for this season is to grow and flourish just like the trees and flowers around us ;) We want to drown ourselves in God's word and grow stronger as a family. We will be blogging more often as well. Lots of love to you all!

Since our last newsletter...

2010-06-09T09:50:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

So since our last newsletter, quite of few people have been asking how "WE" specifically are doing. If you didn't receive our last newsletter it was on the LIFE Project and implementing schools to identify to vulnerable people in the villages.

Ciaran and I are doing great! Pregnancy is going good and baby is growing and healthy. I am 29 weeks pregnant and 3 days. Going into my 30th week, which means that we will be heading down to Johannesburg, South Africa to have the baby in just under 7 weeks. So soon! Are you wondering if we have names picked out? We are highly considering the name Elly Jean Stirling. Elly means noble, warrior, and ray of light. Pretty, isn't it?

The base is good! Ciaran is busy maintaining trucks, water tanks, building houses, plumbing houses, re-wiring the main centre and all homes since we received transformers and have full time electricity, and so much more. I'm busy teaching one of the AMT courses "Fundraising" and managing the financial side of base operations, and finishing up my degree correspondence. I only have 2 more sets of classes after these ones, and I am so excited to finish!

We are so excited for the baby to be here. We have containers arriving full of vitamins next week with our baby crib, stroller, and bedding inside. The minute that crib arrives we are setting it up! Everyday is one day closer to having baby Elly.

Love you guys!
The Stirlings

Electricity and all that it has to offer

2010-06-01T02:41:00.000-07:00

Goodbye candle light dinners for when the generator cuts out; goodbye light bulbs powered by generators; welcome Zesco power company

Yesterday I heard screams, whistles, and shouts from our house at Rapid 14 base. I thought to myself, "Could this be electricity coming from a source other than our generator?" Just ten minutes later Ciaran came running into the house with a big grin on his face and a form in his hand exclaiming, "We have electricity!"

Some of you may know that Overland Mission's Rapid 14 base in Zambia has been relying on a generator to run power to our lights and electronics for almost four years. Being as diesel is so expensive here in Zambia, we had allocated generator times, from 9 am to 12:30 pm and from 6 pm to 10:30. In the mornings, for those of us here and not on expeditions or in the villages some where, we would rush to our computers and get as much admin completed as three and a half hours allowed. Then we would wait until the evenings and finish our unfinished work.... and then make it to bed. How stressful! We kept thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice to have our admin completed during the day? Wouldn't it be nice to get our logistical work finished sooner so as to free up more time for ministering?"

...Well now we officially have electricity running to our base from Zesco, our local power company! No more generator (well maybe a few times a week when power cuts happen). Many say this is a beginning of a new era for Overland Missions. Having electricity throughout the day will make our operations more efficient and free up more time for ministry. What a God-send!

P.S. So much is going on here, by the way! We just had one large team leave; we have two teams coming in today and tomorrow; we have a conference coming up for the rural pastors network; AMT is thriving; and we are expecting our three containers full of vitamins next week! I will continue writing blogs on the testimonies brought back by the two teams coming in today and tomorrow. One team is headed for Zimbabwe and Mozambique and one team is going to minister within the Southern Province of Zambia. Can't wait!

Love you guys!
Jamie, Ciaran, and little Elly

So much has happened....

2010-04-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

Hey guys!

So much has happened since we last updated our blog... clearly! Well we've done our trip from Zambia to South Africa to the States now we're back in South Africa and heading up to Zambia tomorrow. That is the extremely short version and later I will post a blog that tells of the details if anyone is interested in hearing! We have some amazing stories to share. So excited to get back up to the base.. oh and if you haven't heard already... we're pregnant! 5 months! Having a little girl. Cool guys, hope you are well. Lots of love, The Stirlings

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Visitor

2009-08-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

For the past week Ciaran and I and the rest of the staff of Overland Missions have been so blessed with the presence of Dr. Rodney Howard-Brown and his family out here in Zambia. We've had the pleasure of hosting a revival meeting in Mukuni village with him where many showed up to sing unto the Lord and receive a word from Dr. Rodney. Three people received instant healing and roughly 30 people rushed to the altar call to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Many were touched with the presence of God and His joy.

Dr. Rodney teamed up with Overland Missions this week as well to train the local pastors and their congregations on how to win souls! Encouraging and emphasizing that the great commission is not the great suggestion.

More to come! Love to you all!

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Gandolf the Red

2009-07-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Only in Africa would you do such a thing:

June 24th journal entry,

We woke up so early this morning! It wasn’t so much the early part that I despised so much, but rather the freezing cold! Ciaran and I jumped on our motorbike at 5 a.m. this morning to drive down to Gaborone, Botswana (1,000 kilometers) to retrieve our vehicle that just arrived from South Africa. Only an hour into the trip and I could barely feel my toes, nevertheless my fingers and legs and knees. I can’t imagine how cold Ciaran was in front of me breaking the wind. We both had 5 layers on, plus ski masks under our motorbike helmets.

I was so relieved to arrive at the Zambia/Botswana border, Kazangula, where we jumped on a ferry crossing. I finally had the chance to warm up my feet. I sat in the immigration office with my shoes off, literally putting my foot to my mouth to get heat and circulation into my toes. Who would’ve thought that Africa could be so cold?

For two days we traveled down through Botswana on the bike. We passed nearly 70 elephants, all playing near the water hole during the early morning hours. At one point we found 20 people surrounding an elephant lying on it’s side just off the road. We also pulled up out of curiosity only to discover a bullet hole in it’s head and the tusks hacked out, with fresh blood dripping down it’s trunk. The elephant had clearly been poached just hours before our arrival.

On the evening of the 25th we finally reached the border of South Africa and Botswana. For the first time we saw our car and leaped with excitement! We found the key in the exhaust pipe, filled out the paperwork for an “in transit” vehicle and headed back north… just after taking the motorbike apart and strapping it down in the back. God is so cool! We are so confident in our hearts that He is truly intentional about getting us this reliable transportation; we know He has a great purpose for this vehicle that He has so blessed us with.

A special thanks to Mark and Trish Baird for sponsoring this vehicle to us!

PS. We love you mom and dad!
PSs. We call our car Gandolf the Red, hence the blog name ;)

New Update

2009-06-24T01:18:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Ciaran and I are loving Zambia. We are busy, busy, busy! I recently recovered from malaria and am back on my feet. I've taken a short break from one of the AMT courses we are currently sitting in on to write this blog ---- we are learning GPS Navigation. Although I took the class last year, I'm in need of a refresher.

As I write, the construction on our house is progressing. Justin and Machinga are the head builders and we should be moved in mid to end July. See the picture posted. Our house is being built on the logistical base and is overlooking the gorge! We've been blessed with an epic view!

Our car arrives in Botswana hopefully the first week of July. We are anticipating its arrival. Things are definitely looking up. We've got many teams out in the bush right now doing ministry; it's such a pleasure to have so many people involved here with the same purpose of ministering the gospel to the unreached.

Love to you all!

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2009-05-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Just an update! Ciaran and I leave tomorrow (Thursday) night for Zambia... yay! We've rented a vehicle to drive up through Botswana and into Zambia. Why aren't we flying you might ask? We had to find a 4x4 trailer for an upcoming mission trip that Overland is doing and now we're driving it up. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels. Thank you for all of your support. We're excited to share more of our upcoming adventures for the Kingdom of God. Next up.... helping teach the Advanced Mission Training students! Blessings~~

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South Africa

2009-05-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody! Ciaran and I are in South Africa right now, as you may have read in our April newsletter. We're having a great time visiting friends and family. In fact we're headed to China Town today (which apparently isn't so much like an American China Town) somewhere here in Jo'burg, so we'll be taking pictures and posting them. Soon we will also post our wedding photos to photobucket.com. We're excited for Zambia. Please pray that we get a bushlore vehicle to drive up to Zambia so we can have room for all our items we're buying for our home. Please also note that you can catch us on facebook as we are frequently checking that.

For those of you coming into spring and summer, you are sooo lucky as Africa is cold! We're wearing t-shirt and flip-flops during the day, but fleeces and tennishoes and scarves by night. We've just been spoiled by the sunshine state of Florida.

Blessings!

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Our New Blog!

2009-03-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

Ciaran and I have finally decided to create a blog where we can update our family, supporters and friends on a weekly or monthly basis. We initially tried to create a website where people could come and see who we are, what we do, etc., but that's taking longer than expected. When our website is up and running we will post our link!

What will you find on this blog?

The information you will find on this blog concerns who we are, what we do, how to contact us and how partner with us in our missionary efforts in Africa. You will find at the top of our page several Pay Pal "Subscriber" buttons that allow you to financially partner with us monthly. There are buttons for the American Dollar, the British Pound and the South African Rand.

For those of you who are 15 to 27 years old we'd like you to additionally refer to the blog titled "The Thirty" so you can find out how we are trying to reach you and invite you to participate in around the world missions.

Thanks so much :)

With love,
Ciaran and Jamie

If you would like to support us monthly please click on the appropriate links below, we have both US dollar and British pound amounts available for your convenience.

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