Joel & Kaliegh Griffin & Family
Warm greetings from Kaleigh and myself at the beginning of another year by God's grace. We have thoroughly enjoyed a much-needed rest over the past week and a half. The last several months have been an exceptional whirlwind of activity as we have been in the midst of building a home in the city of Luau, Angola to be a platform for our life and ministry here. It has been a lesson in building and logistics in Angola and a time of total dependence on the Lord for the strength and wisdom to carry on. The house is roughly finished, now just needing the finish work on the inside to make it a suitable and functional home.
We look back over the last several months, and we give thanks to God for his hand over all. During the peak of the project, our readings were Joel & Kaleigh Griffin, Elysia, Svea, & Cora. in Nehemiah, and the encouragement was very contextual and timely. Nehemiah took on a building project in God's name that he was unqualified for, but he did it in faith for God's glory and the good of the people of God. The good hand of the Lord was upon him, and the joy of the LORD was his strength, despite the attacks on the work. These encouragements from Nehemiah helped us along the way as we dealt with our challenges.
I would like to list some big things to thank God for as we look back over the last several months:
1. The Lord provided a shipping container as a tool shed for the project, and many of the tools necessary for the work (most especially a very large cement mixer) when a missionary family unexpectedly left Angola and asked us if we would like to purchase the goods for a bargain. It was a tremendous answer to prayer.
2. Seven skilled men volunteered to travel to Angola and build with us. What they accomplished in 44 days is incredible. It was, we believe, extraordinary progress enabled by the Lord. The team that we had was a great answer to prayer.
3. Despite building during the start of the rainy season, over the 44-day period of working as a large group we only lost about six hours of working time to the rain. Most Sundays it rained a lot, but of course, we didn't mind. Some lunch hours it rained while we had a break, but then the clouds would clear, and we would carry on. On one particular day I stood on the site and took a 360-degree video of the thunderstorms occurring all around the area, but it wasn't raining on site. Our consistent prayer during the project was for rain at suitable times, and we give God the glory for mightily answering our prayer.
Thank you for your interest in what the Lord is doing here in Angola. We are incredibly inadequate in ourselves to face the challenges of life and service here, but we are time and time again reminded of how big our Father is, and how much he delights in his children's trust.
Thank you for your support in prayer.
Spring 2017 Written by Joel & Kaleigh Griffin - Angola joel.kaleigh.griffin@gmail.com