"Do not fear. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:10
This Christmas, we pray you find HOPE in the One who is full of grace and truth... our Savior, Jesus! He is our thrill of Hope. Weary world... REJOICE!
Monday, 21 December 2020
Christmas Card 2020
Friday, 11 December 2020
Alicent Graduates College
This girls is an OVERCOMER!
Optimistic. Persistent. Determined.
On December 5, 2020 our Kenyan daughter graduated college!! We are incredibly proud of all
that she has overcome in life to reach this milestone!
She
has not let the circumstances she was born into define her. Growing up
in a rural village on Rusinga Island, she lost both of her parents by
the time she was 8 years old. She was wise beyond her years. At age 11,
she realized that if she remained attending her local village school
(where the teachers rarely showed up and there was little learning), she
would not receive a quality education and would not have opportunities
to attend secondary school. She wanted HOPE for a BETTER LIFE!
...
She was determined to create a better future for her life. Paul
Onundo and his wife took her in so that she could attend a better school in
Mbita. That gave her a second chance at her education. Which is a second
chance at life. Wow- thank you Paul and Mama Omondi... you have truly
made a lasting impact in Alicent's life!!!
...Focused. Determined. Persistent
That's just who she is in life.
...
Her talent stood out to Joe and she was invited to be one of the first Suba Lakers!
When
she was just 13 years old, she received the Best Player award at a
national Under 15 tournament. She was recruited to join Jera Secondary
School; known as one of the top girls football schools in the country!
We are so thankful for the coaching and mentoring of Coach Jacob Oganga. We always
knew Alicent was in good hands with Coach Oganga! Thanks coach!
...
In
2013 she tore her ACL in the Lake Region Football Championships. But
before she went out of the game, she scored a critical goal which helped
her team win the Championship and move on to the National Tournament.
She worked hard at her physical therapy to regain full strength and be
competitive on the football pitch again. She helped her team reach the
National Tournament again in 2014 as Team Captain. She overcame!
...
She
has a passion for football. During her gap year between high school and
college, she coached the team for the local secondary school near her
home and led the team to the finals at the sub-county tournament.
Once
she joined college, she quickly joined the women's football team. She
scored the goals to lead the team to win a championship in 2019.
---
But it's not all about football.
She
knew she needed a quality education in order to reach her goals and
contribute to her community. She wanted to pursue a career in the
medical industry.
With the financial
support of a number of people, she was able to attend Kenya Medical
Training Institute to get a Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics.
This
past January, while on her internship, she became gravely sick of
dysentery. She ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks, in critical
condition. By God's grace and mercy, He saw her through and helped her
recover. She overcame.
She had just barely
recovered from her illness, and even while she was still very weak, she
had to take her final exams and practicum. She passed. She overcame.
...
Then
COVID hit. She should have been able to graduate in March and start a
paid job. But COVID! After sitting idle with all the unknowns for a few
months, she was able to secure an unpaid internship at a private
hospital. Since she couldn't get her final graduation and degree
documents, she couldn't be paid for her work. She overcame. She
continued to volunteer. She overcame.
She is currently waiting (and studying) to take her national board exam while also volunteering at the Mbita Public Hosptial. We are praying and trusting the Lord for her to obtain a paid job.
We are confident that whatever challenges come her way throughout her life, she will continue to overcome with God's help. She will be successful in whatever she takes on!
---
More of Alicent's biography:
After Alicent’s father died when she was 4 years old, she lived for three years in Uganda with her maternal grandparents. In 2006 she returned to her paternal grandparents’ home on Rusinga Island to be with her sick mother. Not long after her return, her mother died. Alicent remained in Rusinga and was raised by one of her father’s other wives who has three children of her own that she is also caring for. The step-mother makes and sells charcoal to provide for the family needs. Alicent has a strong bond with her step-mother and her 80+ year old grandparents. She also has an older step-sister whom she is close with.
Tuesday, 14 July 2020
JoJo's Adoption
Every life is a gift.
Every child is a gift.
Adoption... is a gift.
We are thrilled to celebrate the adoption of our son!
Meet JoJo.
Joshua Joanthony Peterson
 |
| All photos by Codi Smith |
Joshua is Hebrew for "Jehovah is generous" or "Jehovah is salvation." In the Old Testament, Joshua
led the Israelites with courageous
leadership, charging into battle upon bloody battle, leading hundreds of
thousands into the Promised Land. He was a great leader for God's people and for his nation.
Our
prayer for our son is that he will be a great leader for God's people
and a great example for his native tribes, the Sioux and Assiniboine
Tribal Nations. We also pray that he will accept that Jesus (Jehovah) is his salvation!
"Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the
Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
Joanthony was his birth name given by his birth mother. (Originally spelled JoAnnthony.) It honors his heritage and his great-grandmother Joann.
We
recognize that adoption is created through great loss. Our sweet boy lost the
gift of knowing and growing up with his birth family, with his
half-siblings and with his tribe. It's a heartbreaking story filled with
great sadness, addiction and trauma.
Yet, at the same time... the Lord offers new life. And hope. And redemption.
"Behold, I am making all things new!" Rev 21:5
We
are committed to learning about his tribe and culture and being able to
share it with him. We are grateful to be in touch with his half-sister
and their family who already know much more than us about the Native
American culture. We recognize we will not always understand his
challenges both as an adopted child and also as a brown boy growing up
in a white family; yet, we are committed to loving him and providing him
a safe, nurturing home filled with God's love and grace.
We are so grateful God chose JoJo to be in our family!
We
can still recall the phone call in early April 2018. "Would you take-in a
newborn baby boy? It could be long term, yet we want him in a home
closer to his biological mother for possible visits if she can turn her
life around."
Daneen was two months
pregnant
with Aria at the time. We did the math. If this baby boy remained with
us
long term, the two babies would be just 8.5 months apart in age. Wow! Could we do that? At 42 years old? Well, we actually used to pray for
twins. Since we got married and started a family later in life, we
thought it would "make sense" to have two at once! Well... we got our
twins... Irish twins. Two infants and now two toddlers so close in age
are quite the challenge at times. But they're also double the fun! We
truly (and frequently!) cling to the scripture
in the Gospels... "with God all things are possible." Matt 19:26.
JoJo has been in our home and a part of our family since he was 2 months old.
JoJo has been in our family for 819 days, and in foster care for 882 days.
He was adopted on July 13, 2020.
Now, he is forever in our family.
God writes the best stories. Jehovah is generous!
"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9
Monday, 26 November 2018
A Special Update - Nov 2018
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will hope in him.” Lam 3:22-24
INTRODUCING OUR DAUGHTER
It is with grateful hearts that we share with you the arrival of our daughter, Aria Hope. Her life is a testimony of God's faithfulness and an answer to many prayers. Prayers from many of you and many others, all over the world. Thank you for your steadfast prayers for the Lord to grow our family.
Last February, when we first found out we were pregnant, the lyrics of the song "The Lord is Gracious and Compassionate" repeatedly came to Daneen's mind. God has been so gracious to us. Our journey of infertility for four years helped remind us that we are not entitled or guaranteed to be able to have children. We have always desired for adoption to be a part of our family, yet hoped we might also be able to experience having biological children as well. We knew that whatever the Lord had planned for our family, it would be perfect. God has such great compassion toward us. We praise Him for this gift of life in our daughter.
BABY J
This past April a special little baby boy came to us through foster care. Baby "J" arrived to us when he was 2 months old and is now an active and very mobile 9 month old. He brings so much joy into our home and to everyone he meets. Having a 9 month old and a newborn (our "irish twins") certainly makes life very full and challenging, but we know that both of these babies are a gift from God.
As with most children in foster care, his long-term situation is unknown. What we do know is that he is with us for now and a part of our family. We love him as if he were our own and will continue to do so as long as the Lord entrusts us to care for him.
The heart over baby J's face is for his protection and privacy; a
requirement for children in foster care. We wish we could show you his
cute, chubby cheeks and precious smile!
GOD IS FAITHFUL
Last January, we sent an email update to summarize 2017 and it ended with this....
As
we start a new year, we literally have no idea what this year might
look like. We currently do not have any children in our home, yet
anticipate that will change at any moment. We are hopeful that this year
might be the year our "forever" children enter our home, yet we have no
idea and no control over it. Our peace rests in the fact that we know
the Lord has great plans and His timing is always perfect!
Wow! Our prayer and hope was that this year our forever children would enter our home. We had no idea and in many ways had given up on that happening biologically through a pregnancy...
But God!!!
~~~
We wish you a special and purpose-filled Christmas season. We pray that your hope is in Jesus our Lord!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Much love from Montana,
Joe, Daneen, Baby J, Aria (and Pendo)
May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so
that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans
15:13
Wednesday, 10 January 2018
Reflections of 2017
Happy New Year!
As we reflected on this past year, we tried to think of how
to best describe the whole year. The only word we managed to think of was “full.”
Full of children.
Full of change and transition.
Full of basketball.
Full of life lessons.
Full of spiritual growth.
Full of using our spiritual gifts.
Full of memories.
Full of dependence on God.
A full life is a good thing. We truly feel that the Lord is
using us to our full capacity.
FOSTER CARE
Our personal ministry and much of our free time is devoted
to foster care. When we left working at a school for orphans in Kenya, we knew
we still wanted to be involved, in some way, with orphan care. Back in the
U.S., we quickly felt the Lord directing us to be involved in foster care. The
deeper we get into it, and the more we realize and live-out the challenges and
uncertainties with foster care… the more we feel called to continue. It is
hard, it is frustrating, it is full of unknowns… yet, it is worth it. While we
do desire to have “forever” children, either biologically or through adoption,
until God brings us those children, we are glad we can play our part in the
community to support some children during a very difficult time in their lives.
It has often been HARD. But in those times, we try to imagine what the kids are
going through, and we’re pretty sure that it’s much harder for them than it is
for us. Our hope is that the kids’ families will be restored and God will redeem
their story. Our prayer is that, during their time with us, they will experience
a very real example of God’s love, have an example of loving and encouraging parents
and a Christ-centered marriage.
In 2017 we had 9 children in our home, from the ages of 0 to
15 years and for lengths of stay from 3 weeks to 5 months. There were surely
many struggles, yet the highlights and blessings from our foster care journey this past year were:
·
Seeing 3 siblings reunited with their
birth father and go live with him.
·
Spending 2 weeks in the NICU with a precious
newborn baby and slowly jumping into caring for her.
·
Gaining great wisdom from the Ezzo’s and Young’s
by going through Preparation for Parenting. PARENTS: this is such valuable wisdom.
Their Biblically-centered teaching tools are available for children of all
ages!! Check out Growing Families Int’l.
·
5 amazing moths with baby "K". She was a true
joy in our lives and we loved caring for her and watching her grow.
·
Caring for "K" helped us better understand a
mother or father’s love for their children.
·
Letting go of "K" to return to her birth mom,
was terribly difficult yet it helped us grasp an understanding of God’s love
for us and how he let his only son come to this broken world and face a very
uncertain future.. but ultimately for the Father’s Glory!
·
Teaching "M", a the 15-year old teenager, about
the natural consequences in life and the importance of making wise choices.
·
Seeing "M" get excited about her report card
of all As and Bs for the first time in her life; or at least, since elementary school.
·
Daneen and another local foster mom started a
foster/kinship/adoption support group for our community which is being hosted
at our church. We are grateful to be a part of a church which desires to
support the needs of our community in practical ways.
·
Sharing about foster care with our church
congregation on Stand Sunday (also Orphan Sunday). We are blessed to have a pastor
who leads his church well and is a great teacher, yet also recognizes the
passions and strengths of his congregation.
·
Our final placement of 2017 was a sibling set of
4 which really, stretched us. When we were overloaded with the
challenges of these kiddos, we were blessed by our church community who desired
to support us in a very practical way by providing meals.
·
When the court hearing unexpectantly ruled that the
4 children should be returned to their mother just 5 days before Christmas, we
were thrilled for them!
BASKETBALL
Joe has been excelling in his roles at Dawson Community
College. It’s certainly a challenge to balance his two positions of Athletic
Director and Men’s Head Basketball Coach, which are both technically half-time
positions (ha!) Some of his work-related highlights and blessings include:
·
5 of his 6 Sophomores (from Spring 2017) were
recruited and are playing college basketball at higher levels.
·
Added Volleyball to the NJCAA Athletics
Department at DCC; after it was defunct for 4 years.
·
Hired a new Assistant Coach who has been a valuable
asset to the basketball program.
·
At half-way into the current season, their record
is 13-4 (three of those four losses were to Top 25 teams).
·
The basketball team has been working hard and is
excited to start the conference part of the season on Jan 8th.
CHRIST’S GIFT ACADEMY
Daneen continues to work part-time from home for Christ’sGift Academy. This role is a perfect fit for her gifts, abilities and for our
family. We love getting to stay connected with what is happening back in Mbita,
Kenya and having the opportunity to share the stories of the students and the
ministry. She loves the flexibility that comes with working from home
especially when we have children in our home! Some of the CGA highlights and
blessings include:
·
Celebrating CGA’s 20th year of
ministry in Mbita, Kenya
·
Communicating with’s CGA first-ever Kenyan
Ministry Coordinator and being able to get timely updates on things happening
on the ground in Mbita.
·
Receiving comments from supporters, sponsors,
and church partners about how they enjoy and appreciate the updates on the ministry.
·
Receiving the news that 5 of our alumni graduated
from college/university. These were all students who started university when we
were still in Mbita. Two of our all-time favorite students were among these graduates.
Steven Ogechi finished nursing school to become CGA’s first Registered Nurse.
Ogechi gave his life to Christ in 7th grade after Joe shared the
gospel to his class!! Moses started secondary school, through CGA, after being
out of school for over 10 years. He is a living testimony of CGA and the importance
of perseverance and waiting on the Lord’s timing.
·
CGA met the year-end giving needed to meet the
needs of our financial budget.
SUBA LAKERS
We continue to also stay connected with our girls in the SubaLakers Football Club. Our focus has been to ensure the girls have the funds to finish
their education. This year we have 9 girls who started their final year of high
school last week. Most of them are all on a full or half scholarship for their football
skills!! We are so proud of these girls and desire to see them have opportunities
for a great future. Yet, as we talk about it last in this newsletter update, it’s
also (unfortunately) gets the least amount of our time to focus on. There are
some great highlights and blessings from the Suba Lakers this past year:
· Lilian was recruited for to play on the Kenya National
Football Team, the Startlets. Since late 2016, she
has traveled to Botswana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Morocco, Cameroon, and Jordan!
She is the primary goal keeper for the Under 20 National Team and currently a
back-up keeper for the Women’s National team. As a member of the national team
she has received enough funds to not only pay for her own education but to also
build her mother a house!
· Alicent, who has been like a daughter to Joe, started
college at Kenya Medical Training Institute studying Nutrition and Dietetics. A friend
of ours has graciously offered to support her college education!
· This coming Fall, Karen will graduate from Mawego
Technical Institute with an Agricultural Diploma. Thanks to the support of a
friend who have assisted with her tuition fees.
· In December
we received the report for the needed funds for the girls’ education for 2018 and,
to our surprise, the needed amount was in the Suba Lakers USA account. The Lord
is a great Provider.
A few additional 2017
highlights were:
· Hosting the Watoto Children’s Choir from Uganda in
Glendive, MT. For 3 days, our church had the opportunity to host this incredible
group of children and adults. I knew the choir would be amazing and everyone
would be blessed. But until they arrived and later performed, no one else had a
clue how blessed they would be!! Daneen LOVED having a little bit of Uganda in
Glendive. She even cooked them Ugandan-style beans and rice as well as chai and
mandazi. The team thought they were in heaven when they got to enjoy a taste of
home!! We love getting to be a part of a church who was open to bringing the
choir to Glendive; and we were thrilled the Watoto USA team found a way to
bring the choir to our off the beaten path (middle of nowhere) location!
· We continue to the lead the campus InterVarsity at
Dawson Community College. With it being a very small campus (approx. 250
students) it’s a challenging place to minister. This year we have had a solid
group of students attending Bible Study each week. We partner with a number of
local churches who provide a meal for the students once a month. This past fall
we had 2 students attend the Montana Fall InterVarsity Conference and really
learned a lot. We are thrilled that one of our DCC IV students has been
accepted to go on a 6 week mission trip to KENYA with InterVarsity!!
As we start a new year, we
literally have no idea what this year might look like. Our peace is in the fact
the we know the Lord has great plans in store. Surely the year will be full of blessings and many lessons
along the way.
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
2016 Family Letter
Happy New Year!
It has been 1.5 years since we moved to Glendive, MT! Compared to last year, this winter has been much colder (many days below 0 deg F) and we've had much more snow (8 inches on Christmas and 8 more inches coming on New Year's). Despite the weather, we are getting more and more settled into our community. We really enjoy small town Montana life. After moving back to America from Kenya over 2 years ago, we thought life would eventually calm down or perhaps become steady, but we are quickly realizing life is a constant state of transition.
Daneen was working for the college in Recruiting and Admissions for a year and left that position in July so that she could be more flexible for parenting children. She is now working part-time from home for Christ’s Gift Academy, the organization we served with in Kenya. She does admin work including online fundraisers, newsletters, social media, and other sponsor and public relations communication. One of her large goals for 2017 will be to increase funding for the organization to help meet the general budget and fund many needed capital improvements, and also to support her own monthly stipend. Daneen is thoroughly enjoying this role and it's an answer to prayer; a flexible schedule, working from home and serving an international non-profit she's passionate about. She also does some substitute teaching in the local schools to help supplement our income.
Joe is thriving in his roles as Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Coach at Dawson Community College. Last season, 2015-2016, the team greatly improved throughout the season, finishing 2nd in the conference and reaching the Regional Championship Game before losing a close game that would have sent them to Nationals. This season, they have gotten off to a better start and are currently 9-7 at the halfway point. The team has had to deal with several injuries to key players, but has still managed to compete hard and has been in every game they’ve played, except one. He enjoys the daily interaction with his players, teaching the game of basketball along with life lessons and, of course, he loves the competition. His team is very diverse with about half of the team from Montana/Wyoming and other players from Colorado, Louisiana, Canada, Bahamas, Costa Rica and Australia. If you'd like to follow the season or even watch a livestream of one of their home games, check out the Dawson Buc's website.
One of the highlights from this past year was going on a 7 day cruise to Cozumel, Honduras and Belize with Joe’s family to celebrate his parent’s 50th anniversary. It was a special time to be with family and enjoy a new experience (1st cruise) and seeing new places. After the cruise we were also able to travel to Pennsylvania to visit Daneen’s family for a week.
We are not sure what is in store for us in 2017, but we expect there to be more changes and transitions; especially in our family life as we journey through foster care! We continue to trust God to lead and guide us.
It seems like a long time since we have seen most of you! That's kind of a side effect of living in the middle of nowhere Eastern Montana. :-) Even if we haven’t seen you (or talked to you) in a while, please know that we love you, miss you and pray for many of you regularly.
God’s blessings to you in 2017! We hope the new year is filled with joy in your heart and that your hope is in Jesus our Lord!
Much love,
Joe and Daneen Peterson
May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so
that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans
15:13
Tuesday, 22 December 2015
Christmas Update 2015
We really enjoy our new hometown of Glendive. It is a town of just 5,000 which actually suits us even better than we thought. We like that there are only a few options to choose from. We have our two grocery stores, K-Mart, Subway and several locally owned restaurants and shops. It only takes 5-10 minutes to drive anywhere in town and there are frequent events happening and various things to do; plus you get to know people quicker in a smaller setting where you cross paths often. We also love that Makoshika State Park is right in Glendive which has great hiking trails within minutes.
We love our new home (built in 1927) with its big living room, great location and detached 2 car garage! We have plenty of room for visitors and trust God will fill our 3 extra bedrooms with children; in His perfect timing. And we really love our new puppy, Pendo, which means “love” in Kiswahilii. She is a Bishon/Poodle mix. Training her has required a lot of time, effort and patience, but she brings us so much joy. Her energy makes our home come alive. She loves to play fetch, tug-of-war and would lick our faces 24/7 if we allowed her to.
Joe has enjoyed getting back into the college basketball world, though it has been overwhelming at times. Since starting the job in June, he has hit the ground running with recruiting, scheduling, scouting, training, practice, involving the players in the community, overseeing their academic progress and much more. The team is 6-8 (win-loss) on the season and have been a good group of guys to work with. With a new coach, a new system and 10 new players, it has been a big transition, but the team is improving and ready to start conference in early January. Many people around town have frequently mentioned how excited they are that he has taken on this job and how great it is to have “Little Joe” back at Dawson.
Daneen has done a great job in her new role in Enrollment at the college; organizing Orientation, sending out weekly emails to the students, managing the front office and social media, initiating an Adopt-A-Buc program to match students with host families, and recruiting new students for next year. The traveling required for recruiting has been a huge challenge; though she enjoys interacting with the students and working in the college environment.
We have also enjoyed reviving the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship on campus. Our college only has about 125 students living on campus and 200 students overall, yet around 12-15 students attend each week for worship and to hear God’s Word. Once a month we have a meal as an outreach and around 30-50 students attend and often stay for the guest speaker. We are thankful for the great support from a few local churches in providing the monthly meals. We have no idea of all that God is doing on campus through IV, but we know that believers are being challenged to grow in their faith and others are hearing the Word.
We are excited about what God has done in our lives and what He is going to do in and through us in Glendive.
We wish you a wonderful Christmas and hope that you enjoy special memories with friends and family. We pray that you take time to reflect on the greatest gift of all; God sending His Son for us!
New Contact Info
Our new address:
613 N. Kendrick Ave
Glendive, MT 59330
Prayer Requests
1. Wisdom as Joe leads the basketball program; to build it with a foundation based on effort, attitude and teamwork. And to impact each of his players in a positive way.
2. For God to bless us with children in His perfect timing.
3. For Daneen’s health to continue to improve, and for complete and total physical healing.
4. For the leadership of CGA and Suba Lakers to continue to step up; and for lives to continue to be transformed in Mbita, Kenya.
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