lost pictures, etc.

With our computer being gone for a few weeks, we weren't able to put our pictures from Christmas on the blog. Now that it has returned here are a few pictures from the last month or two.


Our little 4 foot Christmas tree. Our guard was quite amazed that we had a tree with lights on it inside our house!


Christmas dinner ... chicken pot pie! Yummm!


4 month belly pic. (This is for you, Kelli Kepner!)


Mark is going to be so smittened with Isabelle!


Another belly pic for my girls ... 5 months along!

big d & madame j come to town

Mark's parents came for a visit this last week. We had a wonderful time with them! They got a good taste of our day-to-day life as well as getting to see & experience a whole lot in the short time they were here. Our friends in Ayorou absolutely loved them & treated them like kings! Here are a few pics from their time here ...

Mark and his parents with the giraffes.


The Phillips with their other son, Cephas. We took them to our local Chinese restaurant in the capital city.


Janis riding a camel. She's a pro!

It's a ...

GIRL!! We just found out today and wanted y'all to know. You can change "Baby Phillips" to Isabelle Ruth in your prayers.

10 extra days

We had 10 extra wonderful days with two of our friends from Living Hope. They got to stay behind and get a taste of the "day to day" life in Ayorou. I (Parker) was especially thankful for those extra days as they went out with me daily to sit with women. They were able to story and share their testimonies with 3 of my friends in Ayorou. We also had time to just hang out & have some good ole girl time. It was truly, truly a blessing! Thanks Sarah & Nat!


This is Sarah with her "son" Mohammed. If you have the same name as someone else, you immediately become that person - you are someone's daughter/son, brother/sister, mom/dad. Luckily for Sarah, she had a very common name and became many people's daughters or sisters. And lucky for her, too, that she had such a cute kid!


This is Fadilla. Some of the women in Ayorou call her the "ugly" child. But, as you can see, she's not! And one of our friends from the States wanted to tell her that she was not by sending this little cat for her. As you can see too, she loved her present!


One of our days out with women we sat for 8 hours and got henna on our feet! Aren't they beautiful? The women of Ayorou thought so!


We got to see some giraffes on the last day of their visit ... up close & personal.


We ended our extra 10 days with a pedicure. It didn't quite get the black off our feet, but it was fun to be pampered for an hour.

living hope comes to ayorou

About ten times a day for the last week Parker and I have been looking at each other and saying, "This is so surreal!" Last week we picked up 8 friends from Living Hope (5 of which were former students) for their week of ministry in Ayorou. It was such an unbelievable experience to minister alongside our friends in this different context. We were so amazed that, in God's sovereignty, He would see fit to bring our paths back together!

We had an incredible week. The fellowship was so sweet and we laughed more in the past 7 days than we thought possible! The ministry was also sweet. The team came prepared and presented a fantastic VBS. They also went out with Parker and I in the afternoons to prayerwalk, share their testimony, story, and pray for the Songhai people (including the chief).

I just looked at over 1000 pictures from the week in effort to try and give you a snapshot of their week.


Parker had a blast hanging with some of her girls.


The fellas decided to get matching shirts made. We'll be looking for the release of their Southern Gospel album sometime in the spring.


The kids loved the team from LHBC and their crazy games.


We warned the team that they would fall in love with the kids of Ayorou.


Jeff showing off his camel riding skills.


Bryan the Donkey King.


Thank you Living Hope! We love you!