As I stare at a new blank blog page I'm saying a prayer asking God what does He want me to write, what will give Him glory? First of all let me explain. I'am not a writer! The thought of blogging scares me to death! I really would rather not share my thoughts and every little moment of my mostly routine life with the internet world. But to give God glory for what He does in this simpletons life gives me a new hope. This hope inspires me to write that God may use it to speak to someone. As He has shown me time and time again if I just open my mouth and let Him take over He will fill it. We are not yet on the foreign mission field we are here in San Angelo celebrating the resurrected Christ and praying for eyes to see where God will use us on this mission field. Right now it seems to be with our children and some close friends and family. We have been busy getting our house ready to put on the market and getting rid of stuff. Seems like mundane events to most but its in the mundane that God always seems to level me out! His desire for me to grow closer and closer to Him each day is evident as the Holy Spirit calls me to fall face down on the floor to bask in His presence, to fill me with His love, and cover me with His grace. He makes all the unknowns in my life not matter. He gives me a fresh outlook on the days to come. He assures me that out of all the people and relationships that I 'am leaving He is enough! He will sustain me. He holds me and comforts me all along this journey and no matter how impossible all of this seems to me He is the God of possible. I do love Him because He loves me so. He loves that dying, hurting world out there and He wants us to tell the world about Him.  What, then, shall we say in response to this ? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 "I'am with you and watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." genesis 28:15

We are humbled and very excited as we begin a new chapter in our life. We have lived in San Angelo, TX for the last 19 years and have attended PaulAnn Baptist Church for 16 of those years. We have had the honor and privilege of serving as Missions Coordinator for most of that time. Our passion has been to take people from our church on mission trips to Mexico, Guatemala, and Mozambique Africa. We were blessed to see God work in both the lives of our team members as well as those that we shared the truths of the Bible. Five to six years ago while in Mozambique we received a confirmation from the Lord that we should join Samaria Mission, which is the mission organization that we work with in South Africa. A year later we interviewed with the Staff and Elders of Christ Baptist Church located in Polokwane, South Africa. Samaria Mission is a ministry of that church. We were accepted and invited to come join Samaria Mission when the Lord's timing was evident.

Since the time of our confirmation to move to Africa, we have had the opportunity to be obedient in another area. Over the last 4 years we have adopted 3 of our great nieces/nephews. Jaylynn is now 9, Allie is 4, and Bentley is almost 2. Along with our sons Ben and Noah we now have a house full. With 5 kids at home and Merrit who is married with two kids (Elisha, and Kennedy) we have a full life. With the adoptions completed we are now ready to pursue our move to South Africa.

We began making our plans just after the 1st of the year. There is much to do before we leave and we are slowly but surely making progress. We have to get our three youngest kids passports, arrange airline tickets, arrange to ship our furniture and things, fix up our house, put the house on the market, get visas for South Africa, get the kids through school this year, and raise support. Most of these seem as monumental tasks to do all at one time, but we continue to take them one at a time. We are making progress and it feels good when we can mark something off the list. The Lord continues to give us peace about it all and we are continuing to move forward. Our goal is to move sometime this summer or early fall.

We would appreciate your prayers as we continue on this journey. Please pray that all of the tasks that we have to accomplish will be completed as the Lord wills. Please pray for our funding as we will be faith funded. Also, pray for our children as they prepare to move to a foreign country, and for Jill and I that the Lord will continue to grant us peace and wisdom. Also that we will be sensitive to His leading in making decisions.

Blessings,

The Hixon