suffering for Jesus

There seems to be a stereotype that missionaries are always "suffering for Jesus." I'm sure you've heard that line before and may have even used it to describe missionaries. I know that we have and that we even believed it for ourselves. That is, until we got here! Now, granted, there are days when I sure do miss home and would love to have more than just one day of 24 hours of electricity and a steady supply of internet access, but really those things aren't causes of suffering. Again, some days I would like to describe myself as suffering when I'm rolling around in bed whining to Mark that I would give anything for a cinnamon crunch bagel with cream cheese from Panera or a Homewrecker from Moe's or just the convenience of going to a drive thru instead of having to fix every meal! But, again, those can not be legitimately classified as a reason for suffering.

The following pictures are to help you bust the myth that we are "suffering for Jesus."

a happy couple enjoying a wonderful Christmas celebration filled with lots of friends & food. Mark got to play the guitar during the party as well as during the live Nativity scene. Yep, we are suffering for Jesus. (and yes, I'm wearing a sweater in 90 degree weather ... well it is Christmas!!)

Christmas presents provided by wonderful family & friends from the States. Wondering what was in those packages? New clothes & smelly lotion for me! Tons of candy & books (of course) for Mark! Whew, we are just really suffering for Jesus.

Christmas Eve dinner with Cephas, Tiago, Christiano & Hassane (our guard) complete with roast, green beans, corn, potatoes, carrots, homemade rolls (we like to call them Sister Phillips rolls) &, of course, fresh tomatoes. Now after Mark ate two plate fulls of food, he really was suffering ... but I don't think it was for Jesus.

So these doughnuts don't really compare to Eck's or Krispy Kreme but when you get a craving, you gotta do what you gotta do! Yes, homemade cinnamon doughnuts made by yours truly. Man life is tough when you are suffering for Jesus (more like life is tough when you live with a crazy man like Mark Phillips)!

A wonderful package from the Hepner family!! This makes the seventh package we've received since being on the field for only two months. Well if you count picking which magazine to read first as suffering or deciding to have peanut butter sandwiches or pancakes for supper as suffering, then I guess we're .... (fill in the blank)

Paula Deen? Nope, Parker Phillips! A down home southern treat of meatloaf, mashed potatoes & green beans! Yummmm

A Sunday tradition ... pizza & a movie in French. One pizza for Mark and I and one for Cephas. We like to call him our trash disposal!

the cost of Christmas

Now I know what you're thinking, you bet Christmas is costly what with all the fruit cakes being sent, the PS3's and Xboxes being bought, and the ties dad never wears being stored away!

But I think we forget how costly Christmas was and still is today. A song in Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God" album says "it was not a silent night, on the streets of David's town." You have a teenage girl surrounded by gossip and accusations (people in Mary's time knew how people got pregnant) - a rumor that stayed with Jesus his whole life (see John 8), you have a young father and husband having to move his family from country to country, and in the center of the story you have the greatest act of humility in all of history as "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

The life of Jesus was filled with cost. Even before his ministry began, you have a bunch of dead children from the hands of a bloodthirsty ruler. One of the great ironies in all of Scripture is calling the wise men 'wise.' Any 10 year old could have told you that you don't tell a power hungry king that there is a new king in town but that's just what the wise men did. As did the 'religious' leaders who were seeking some political gains as they spilled the beans about when and where this new king was to be born.

Christmas was costly and so is following Christ, then and now. Jesus stood on the verge of having literally thousands of followers and instead of grasping this chance he delivered a teaching on how costly and hard it is to follow him leaving just a handful of followers by the end of John 6.

Following Christ is about counting the cost and asking "Is Jesus worth it?" Believers all over the world sit in prisons and at the gravesides of family and huddled in dark places answer that question, "Yes He is!"

But it's not just about moving across the world or leaving behind comforts or family. It's more violent than that - it's about waging war on the flesh and it's a daily battle; it's losing our life to truly find it; it's throwing it away so that it can be saved; it is about the mystery of the gospel which is Christ in us, the hope of Glory; it's loving the giver more than the gifts.

May we count the cost this Christmas and say He is worth it. May we take up the sword of the Spirit and wage war on that which would take our focus off Christ. May we cling to Jesus more than we do our health, or our bank account, or our job, or our American Passports! May we pray like William Law prayed:

"O Holy Jesus, Son of the most high God, Thou that wert scourged at a pillar, stretched and nailed upon a cross for the sins of the world, unite me to Thy cross, and fill my soul with Thy holy, humble, and suffering spirit. O Fountain of Mercy, thou that didst save the theif upon the cross, save me from the guilt of a sinful life; Thou that didst cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene, cast out of my heart all evil thoughts and wicked tempers. O Giver of Life, Thou that didst raise Lazarus from the dead, raise up my soul from the death and darkness of sin. Thou that didst give to Thy Apostles power over unclean spirits, give me power over mine own heart. Thou that didst appear unto Thy disciples when the doors were shut, do Thou appear to me in the secret apartment of my heart. Thou that didst cleanse the lepers, heal the sick and give sight to the blind, cleanse my heart, heal the disorders of my soul, and fill me with heavenly light."

Christmas is costly, following Christ is costly, but Jesus is worth it all!

dreaming of a white christmas

That song has never been more true than it is right now. With temperatures reaching a cool 90 degrees in the day, there is no chance that our first Christmas in Africa will be white, unless you count the other side of our tan lines. But we are not necessarily dreaming of a White Christmas for the sake of snow, we are dreaming of simply spending Christmas with our family and friends (where there is, of course, more of a chance of the ground being white than here in Africa). So as I thought about what to post and of all the "happenings" of life here in Africa, my mind keeps wandering to what life must be like in the States.

As this season has a way of doing, I am reminded of all the things we will be missing during our first Christmas in Africa. But it's not the yummy food or the Christmas decorations or the shopping or even the slight chance of snow ... it's our family and friends. Sometimes when I get in my "moods" (the sad ones, that is), I open up our i-Photo and just look through all the pictures we have of our family and friends. I am usually flooded with so many memories - some making me laugh so hard I have to excuse myself and some sending me into a torrential downpour of tears - but, nonetheless, one has to do what one has to do. So since we can't tell you face to face how much we miss you, we are dedicating this blog to you!! We miss you so very much and wish you the warmest Merry Christmas of all (literally)!!


Oh how my husband misses his "boys" ...


... and I miss my girls ...


... and our BG BFF's ...


... and our MLC BFF's ...


... but most of all, our families!!


Merry Christmas!! We love you and miss you!

Mark and Parx

just a couple new pics....

We just came to Niamey for a few hours to catch up on some things and thought we'd put a couple pics on the blog. We'll be back in town next week and post some more. We've officially begun language study so please continue to pray for our minds to grasp French quickly!




We spent Thanksgiving with the Songhai team in Niamey.













Me, Yacouba, Chiddey, and Hilima













Parker learned how to make pizza from scratch (and I learned how to eat pizza from scratch - a skill that I didn't mind developing)