Jo Saxton

Archive for the ‘My old blogging days’ Category

One of my favorite singers in my teens was a soul singer called Karyn White. She sang this classic ballad about a man she gave her all to, whom took her for granted. In the chorus she finally takes her stand…

I’m not your Superwoman, I’m not the kind of girl that you can let down and think that everything is OK, Boy I am only human….

Well I’ve found myself singing those words to myself recently!  

Still somehow  our culture and our own human weakness seems to  embrace the ideal of Superwoman, the woman who can conquer every part of life, amazing marriage, beautiful home, smiling kids, a great career and a flawless figure. Make her a Christian too and she knows the Bible inside out…

In this era when women can allegedly “have it all”, when is it all too much to have?  Is opportunity ever a bad thing, or does it just has to be taken simply because it’s there?  Like you I wear a lot of hats – there are the relationships I play, there is the job I have and then there’s the stuff that I either want to do or just needs to get done. There’s so much to do, think about sort out, it’s easy to go through the week in a state of perpetual anxiety; no rest, no fun, and definitely no space for God.

Until I feel it, sense it. Not merely being out of my depth, but somehow out of sync with life God and reality. Our Creator’s designed us for life to the full, not life that’s too full. He shaped us for communion with Him and community with other people, for relationships and responsibilities. And when I violate that rhythm it eventually begins to show in my attitudes, in how I spend my time, in my temperament, perhaps even in my dreams! In trying to be it all, yes my priorities got blurred, my energy sources depleted. Superwoman comes at a cost, one I’ve realized I am not prepared to pay. I don’t want to live to prove myself as success, when the gauge for success is broken and unrealistic. I don’t want find affirmation and security in what I can achieve, somehow feeling more worthy and acceptable that way. I don’t want to come to God and present how well I’m doing, I’d rather come to him for empowering and instruction. So I am admitting I am only human, and that something needs to give and some things probably need to change

How about you – Superwoman? Or Only Human?

Over the years my feelings towards Christmas have ranged from frustration, to outright hostility to ambivalence. Obviously, it wasn’t the reason for Christmas that posed the problem. It was everything else, I guessed, I thought. The rampant commercialism and all that.

I have two preschoolers and knew I had to approach this year differently. And for some reason, I wanted to. The girls had begun to change me; how could I be so cold in the face of such innocent excitement? In spite of myself I began to feel excited, I began to feel optimistic and hopeful. Though, in all honesty, I wasn’t sure why. I adopted a Christmas radio station – Christmas Songs 24/7, uncertain of whether it might send me crazy. It did quite the opposite. My first thought was that a Christmas song and its royalties = the best pension scheme ever, and if every my kids want to be songwriters I’m going to encourage them in this direction. Hey I might try a few lyrics myself.

But my second thought, my third, my fourth, well…

My thoughts were flooded with memories. The Little Drummer Boy, took me back to being four years old, and thinking that a child like me could think about Big Things like Jesus seriously ( I know that’s a little intense for a four year old, but what can I say). Then Last Christmas, reminded me of when I first fell in love. Not some teenage first flutter, but the overwhelming love at first sight that happened to me when I first saw George Michael on Top of the Pops singing Young Guns.  I was 8 and I knew I would never be the same. It took years to recover. I was 22 when I finally let George go. Fact.

Then there’s Band Aid’s Do They Know it’s Christmas – the original version. I love hearing that song. Even though I get pretty harsh on generalizations on Africa normally, all is forgiven on this song. Firstly because it’s a great song, that I remember feeling proud to buy. Secondly it gave us a bit of a conscience, it reminded us to care. Thirdly and yes the last shall be first I guess because George Michael was there.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – bring up different kinds of memories. That song is so poignant. Its then I remember the people I’ve lost, even though it wasn’t at Christmastime, the grief comes in a different more potent way. I’m reminded of friends for whom the Christmas season was marked by life changing tragedies. I feel the weariness of a long year when I hear that song. And often I feel the weariness of the long years, the past. The feeling that the promise and excitement fell short somehow. And I knew that feeling, that disappointment, that loss lay behind everything I’d felt about Christmas through the years.

What surprised me most though, was the realization that that was how I used to feel, how is used to be. I don’t feel that anymore. Redemption came in two preschool faces with giddy smiles. There are new traditions, new memories. It’s a whole new day with a whole new life; so new that the past became irrelevant, even forgettable. So yes I LOVE Christmas. I love the tacky decorations because they horrify me whilst they make me kids laugh. I love Santa movies because they are utterly saccharine, but I don’t care. I can even embrace the grief, because though I have lost, I have lived and loved and people are worth remembering. And the thing I love most with my wonderful family, we even have our song.

“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Luke 5:12 TNIV).

 This man’s condition completely defined his life. He was socially alienated, isolated and vulnerable, and unwell. All that was left was to reach out to Jesus; there is no one else, no other hope, it’s desperate. He brings a simple, almost - request, more a statement really – Lord if you are willing… you can make me clean. He knows what Jesus can do, that He has the authority and power to change his life forever.

Yet for some reason, he’s not confident He will. Perhaps it’s the years of isolation, the rejection. He’s just used to people not wanting to know. Maybe it’s a prayer he’s cried out for years, and nothing happened. Whatever the reason, though he’s confident of Jesus’ power, he’s not confident that Jesus wants reach to him. So the man’s words remain an almost request, a statement latent with longing.

 My heart so identifies with this verse so often at the moment! When the pressure is on and circumstances stubbornly refuse to change, when I’m longing for a breakthrough, I wonder if the Lord, notices…me. I know you can God. I know you provide, heal, restore, and deliver. I’ve seen you do that countless times for others. But do you want to do that for me? Can I ask you to do that, only for …me?

As I think about it, I remember that challenging times test not only my confidence in His power, but also in His love. I know He is Lord and King, but He is also  my Heavenly Father. It something I have to remind myself  of, no matter how  tough itis to reconcile with my circumstances.

I wonder where you are desperate, on your knees. Does disappointment suggest to your heart and mind that your Heavenly Father doesn’t see you anymore, that he has forgotten you now? You know He’s able, but is He willing?

 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.(Luke 5:13 TNIV)

I love that Jesus touched him, spoke to him, and healed him.

When I read of His touch it reminds me that He is not distant, that he reaches out to us and reaches into our world, even when it’s not whole. His words, remind me that he is compassionate, and that His words can give us life in tough times and remind us that we are loved. His healing reminds me that though the battles are intense, and my prayers aren’t  always answered immediately, Jesus is still the God of the breakthrough. What do you need to be reminded of today? His touch? His words? Or His healing?

In recent weeks I’ve been inspired/challenged/convicted/whatever to do a “life laundry” and get rid of the clutter in our home.  There are toys the girls no longer play with, clothes we don’t wear, paper that simply needs recycling and things we have no use of anymore that we need to say goodbye to. It’s an unexpectedly intense process. Old toys brought back memories of previous era that I was reluctance to say goodbye to. Clothes of a previous clothes size! And then there is just the stuff.  Stuff that represented my life. On the surface it’s pretty meaningless, but it’s mine and it’s hard to let go. However there’s no room to keep it all. Nor is there any need. It just clutters up the house.

It wasn’t long before I saw the parallels with my own spiritual life. On one level, this life laundry is integral to it because the process is bringing things to the surface that I have to resolve

But it also makes me think of the rooms of my life, my heart. It makes me reflect on how much room there is for Jesus, and how much it’s clogged up with stuff, just stuff. I’m too busy, too tired, too frustrated. I’m hurting, in my anger I got  bitter, I’ve got self centered or greedy. Without even realizing, the doors to the rooms in my heart can barely open. All I can offer are the rooms I keep neat and tidy in order distract him from the rooms I don’t want him to see. He wants the freedom to move around the home of my heart freely; can I let him in? Sometimes I’m too scared or ashamed. But sometimes, there is room. There is space and he sweeps through the room with light and life, making the room fresh and brand new. Just like he did a few weeks back with reconciliation. Just like he’s done with answered prayers.  And I wonder how I’ve allowed myself to miss out on all that his freedom can bring.

In the meantime, my life laundry continues one piece of clutter at a time. But with the hope and the intention that one day, eventually, my home will look and feel brand new, and there will be room to live.

It seems that Jesus wants the same for my life and heart, one room at a time. Fresh, brand new, room to live.

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – 19 (MSG)

In recent weeks, I’ve experienced something of a move of God’s Spirit in the whole area of relationships. There were no big stories, not big issues as such; but situations that had left a mark, a bruise. And quietly, almost imperceptibly, I’d made internal decisions to relate differently, to protect myself in some way. And life went on.

Until recently, when I spoke to a friend I’d not connected with for nearly 20 years. We reflected on old times, old stories, but with a new understanding, a greater perspective. And we asked each other’s forgiveness for who we’d been. I didn’t expect it to be so healing, but it was. God came. Not just to our broken history, but also to the ways that chapters of history had shaped who I’d become. He came and I saw where I’d settled for less than all that God offered. I’d settled for being a little more jaded, more distant. I’d settled for my own definitions and expectations of relationship and friendship. God came and I saw my responsibility in my choices, and attitudes and … everything really.  

When the Spirit of God is on the move, He reveals who I am. There’s something about His tenderness, His holiness that makes it difficult to hide. Still, there’s more it than that. This time I’ve been reminded that His very presence makes the impossible possible. God can wipe the slate clean and redeem the past. God can rebuild the most shattered relationships, even if there seems no way back. Not only does he heal; he reconciles.  He is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine through his power at work in our lives (Ephesians 3:20).

Is there anyone that you need  to be reconciledwith ?

I’m not a great fan of surprises, nor a huge fan of wiry grey hair. So imagine my deep joy when my beloved hairdresser Shirley told  me I had at least  4 new silver offerings since my last visit. It had only been TWO WEEKS.

Perhaps I shouldn’t care, but I did.  I was about to turn 35 , and it was  taking a little adjustment.  I  guess an age thing was happening.

I’m happy with my life. I have a great hubby, two adorable kids, many unexpected blessings. It’s not like I want to be twenty five again. Or even feel it.  If memory serves me right it was not my happiest year anyhow (27 , 28, 29 ROCKED the clock). I don’t want my twenty five year old body; my thirty year old running fiend shape was my all time fave! I am not haunted by regrets of choices I didn’t make, things I didn’t achieve…Professionally I am happy and motivated. But thirty five is…older and somehow significantly nearer to forty than it was even a year ago. And thirty five is simply NOW.

I’m not a twenty something woman dreaming of what life could be when I have married, have kids, work out what I want to do with my life.  I’ve enjoyed living in the future, the realm of ideals and possibilities. They gave me hope and inspiration. But maturity calls me to also live in the now, initiating life and embracing today.

I’ve made my choices and here I am: sometimes it’s wonderful, sometimes it’s crazy. Sometimes it’s nothing to speak of. Today is not always as exciting; life certainly doesn’t all go my way like it does in my dreams. Today has boredom and brilliance, struggles and successes, inspiration and insecurity, hurt and healing.  But it’s a day I’ve been given and when I pay it some attention, I see how wonderful and how important it is to live it.  Besides it determines my future anyway.

So perhaps embracing it is the answer, to discover the unknown in the life I know. Today I’m a bit more honest, more realistic, hopefully wiser than yesterday. (If the hair is any indicator – my wisdom is multiplying by the nanosecond. At some stage I may throw the current economic crisis to the wind and get my hair dyed. Keep my wisdom under wraps).

So , whatever your age, stage and hair color,  raise a glass to TODAY. They’ll never be another day like it.

“Not every issue is worth dying for. Choose the struggles that you have a chance of winning or making a difference in….

Choose battles worth fighting. You will differ with others in the choices that you make. Choose the struggle that deserves your energy. Choose a battle that will make a difference ten years from now. Choose the engagement that is God’s priority for you.”

Ben Campbell Johnson Living Before God

I’ve spent the past few weeks thinking about these words, letting them sink in. These words challenged me to consider how I want to spend my money, energy, time and passion. If my choices today affect my future anyway – then I’d like my choices to be wise ones!

What really matters? I keep asking myself of each situation – is this something that will make a difference ten years from now?

God:

Too often I treat God as though He is following me, not the other way around! I want him to bless what I have decided is important to me. Yet when I get a fresh glimpse of who He is, I see again how much I need Him. He is worth fighting for, and He shows me what’s worth fighting for.

Significant Relationships:

Johnson’s words got me thinking about my family, definitely something worth fighting for. It’s too easy to be too busy for the most important people in my life. How am I investing in my marriage, in my children, or my extended family, friends?

A fresh perspective on calling:

These words have given me clarity about calling. Instead of waiting for some divine revelation, perhaps sometimes the fact that it’s important is calling enough. I see my community with new eyes.  What is my response to the pain and poverty that I see around me, particularly amongst children and teenagers? What I am doing about it?

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously-
take God seriously. Micah 6:8 MSG

What are you investing in today that will make a difference 10 years from now?

What are the things in your life that are worth fighting for?

Anna is 25 and lives in Lima, Peru with her husband Mark and her two boys (aged 3 and 1).  Anna and Mark have recently moved to a community where they are hoping to share Jesus with others, and continue the Kidz Klub and Mum’s and Tot’s group that they already oversee there. Anna got married at 18, and since then has lived in 4 countries, and in 8 different houses. She is passionate about mothering in the parental and the spiritual sense and also loves to read and gather information when she gets a free moment!

Jenny is married to James and has two little girls, Evie (2) & Tessa (9 weeks). At the moment they live in Manchester but are about to go to South Wales to do mission training before hopefully heading out to Australia to work along side Aborigines. Jenny enjoys reading, baking and crafty things in all the free time she gets in between juggling a toddler and a newborn!

Vanessa Garcia was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.  Currently 22, she works as an Elementary Coordinator for the Children’s Ministry Department at a large church in Arizona.  She also attends college part time pursuing her degree in Family Life Education, she teaches a High School Photography class, attends Discipleship Academy, and attempts to run her independent photography business…oh, and loves every crazy minute.  Her passions in life are her relationship with Jesus Christ, Photography, Traveling, and People.  She enjoys green tea, shopping, farmers markets, relaxing by the pool, and spending time with friends.  She loves serving families and watching the Lord at work in each household.    Vanessa hopes to continue on in ministry, which direction only the Lord knows, and one-day start a family of her own!

“The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”  (Genesis 2:18 TNIV)

There are some verses in the Bible that are soft and warm and others that are like dynamite, rousing the greatest of passions. Words are powerful things, and the words in this verse are no exception. They’re dynamite all right. But what do they actually mean?

Helper sounds like tea lady, back up, assistant, say some. And for those women who hoped that God had something more in mind for their identity, it’s heartbreaking. It’s not that they wish to belittle housekeepers, assistants, secretaries etc. It’s just that they know, oh how they know, that there’s something else in their hearts, and they believed God put that something there. And it doesn’t involve assisting. It employs their passions and intellects and initiative in a different way; their strategizing and strength for with a different end in mind. They’ve been frustrated for long enough -surely God hasn’t stopped believing in them too? And then there’s the suitable for him bit. For some, the heartbreak just deepens with the feeling that women were set on earth soley to compliment, help, make a man look better. They feel as though it meant they had no contribution of their own to bring.  At times suitable has been exchanged for lifesaver, one who brings out the best in their partner.  Which doesn’t sound bad at all really. Unless you are single. Then what’s your purpose? Are you a nobody because you didn’t get married?

 When you’re dealing with a rich language like the Hebrew of the Old Testament text, it’s worth a much closer look. There we discover that the word translated helper or helpmeet is EZER. We discover that it appears many times in the OT, but the vast majority of those times EZER describes God, as he is delivering and rescuing (helping) His people. It’s a word conveying power and strength, a word with military connotations. To be named EZER is not some afterthought, but in His image and likeness. And what an image and likeness! Not someone deemed unable to do more than assist because of their weakness, but one who can help because they have the passion, power and purpose to do so.

Then the Knegedu “suitable” bit.   The phrase means facing, corresponding to, like  it. “Facing” is important because it means to stand in a person’s presence as an equal and other entity. The EZER is not wrapped up and consumed in someone else’s story. The Ezer stands in bold partnership separate and equal, eyeball to eyeball. EZER is also a verb meaning to protect, surround, defend, cherish.

So what does that mean for us – does the EZER live today? I think so – I see the EZER in the mom who devotes her life to her family. The ezer is in the neighbor who cares about safety and security in her neighborhood. She’s the single mom who holds down a full time job and raises her kids alone. The career woman passionate about her work,  the campaigner for human rights. She’s the youth pastor who works tirelessly for the youth in the community. She is the senior pastor who has paid a high price to get to where she is, but is prepared to be misunderstood by men and women, knowing she is understood by her Heavenly Father.

Ezers come in all shapes and sizes, all ages, colors and classes. They look and live their lives very differently, but share something in their DNA. Made in God’s image, they have God’s power and strength. They can initiate or support. They have something about them. And they stand equal, autonomous, yet face to face with men. They have something to offer the men in their lives, and something to learn and receive from them.

When God looked down from heaven and made woman, what on earth was he thinking?

He was thinking EZER.

Dynamite.

Jess is 27 and has been living in Sheffield, England since 1999. She grew up in a loving Christian family but really began to own her faith during her teenage years. She is a keen organiser and administrator and her interests include English language and literature (the use of language and the written word), and is increasingly passionate about seeing the Western Church embrace its Jewish roots and rediscover the depths of meaning available to us when we study the Bible through Hebraic eyes.  She is particularly indebted to Dwight Pryor and the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies in Ohio for this new found passion.

“I am a foreigner in the Land…”
Ags is married to Andy and lives in Gateshead, UK. She is originally from Poland and has moved to England to do her Biblical Degree. There she met Andy and the rest is history…
She is thirty-something, a mum to Grace and Joe and a proud owner of a rescue Labrador called Woody.

She has many passions but music and cooking are the favourite! She loves friendships and making people smile. She enjoys the outdoor and walks with the dog: the peace, the beauty and the conversations with the Lord when none is listening

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

(Genesis 1:28)  

God’s gives humanity a job to do. He commissions them to take charge of the world He took great delight in making.  They are called to settle and establish themselves,  and to explore the great unknowns of the new creation. There’s no indicator of how the jobs will be divided. In fact there’s no indicator that the jobs will be divided at all. It’s a joint call and partnership to live life to the full.  A few reflections:

A call to a productive life. It seems that God doesn’t offer women (or men for that matter) life as distant spectators. We’re to subdue, fill, rule, an action packed call to engagement and involvement with our world. We may be settled in our space, but what about the world beyond our homes? Where can we get engaged and involved in the issues of the world, reflecting His values? It could be in serving the needs of the disadvantaged in our cities. It could be learning more about issues that affect people every day, issues of global trade, human trafficking, the environment.

 A call to be fruitful – Reproduce yourself. We understand that on one level “be fruitful and increase in number” refers to having children. But I’d like to contend that these terms have implications for all of us regardless of our stage of life. What has God put in us that we are investing into others? Are we mentoring anyone, sharing our faith with anyone? Perhaps  we’re sharing your skills to benefit our communities, or to equip work colleagues.  Or maybe this verse is a fresh reminder that the children we have are our calling, and we’re to invest in them, share our faith with them, be engaged and involved with them.To be made in God’s image means are no afterthought, but at part of his magnificent design. It means we have his potential in us, and his purposes waiting for us. There are a few more reflections from the early chapters of Genesis to explore.

In another post.

When God  looked down from heaven and made woman, what on earth was He thinking? It’s a clumsy, playful question, but it’s one I’ve pondered for months now, because it’s also an important question. If we want to live healthy, whole and effective lives, surely its vital to know God’s design specification for us, our God infused identity?

Society communicates its own designs for our identity .Some of its messages inspire; others insult! Combine that with conflicting ideas about womanhood within Christian circles, and sometimes we’re caught between confusion and frustration!

What is our identity? It’s such a fundamental question, about not just what we do in life, but essentially, how to be. And whilst generations of debate about women will not be resolved in one blog post, here’s my first thought.

Made in God’s Image and Likeness

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, ^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

    ²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image,
       in the image of God he created them;
       male and female he created them

 (Gen 1: 26-27 TNIV)

Somewhere along the line in church history, people began to adopt the belief that men were made in God’s image, whilst women were made completely or partly in men’s image. As a result, it became acceptable, perhaps even spiritual to believe that women were secondary to men, inferior in some way.  That characteristics traditionally understood to be feminine (expressing emotion etc) were more fleshly, earthy. Yet the Bible itself never says that. Male and female are made in God’s image and likeness. Both male and female and reflect something of his nature and characteristics, just like we reflect something of our parents in our looks and personalities.

This is good news for us women; we are not an afterthought; we’re designed from the very heart of God. To be made in the image and likeness of God says something powerful about our potential! We have the potential to reflect His attitudes and priorities in our lives. We have the potential to walk in His power and authority. We may not know it, think it or feel it, but we’re His children, it’s in our spiritual DNA. Potentially the fruit of the spirit is ours; the power of the Holy Spirit is ours because God’s life flows through us.

Your parents may have said you won’t make it, your teachers, friends, exes, and work colleagues may have written you off. But they don’t have to have the last word on your life. The first word has already defined you; you are made in the image of God.

 (There’s so much more to say about this, but I’ve already reached my world limit. Another post is on its way.)

So I am with my girls reading Dora books and we get chatting about the future.

“Mommy when I grow up I want to be a basketball player” said Tia, looking all athletic and sporty.

“When I grow up I’m going to be a cowgirl!” said Zoë, looking nothing like a cowgirl, but still being very earnest.

My girls have not worked out yet that they are doing to be doctors or human rights lawyers with political aspirations. But they are young, and I want them to enjoy their ideas before life (i.e. Mama) sets in.

Tia turned to me and said

“Mommy, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

My real answer came way too quickly, way too honestly. And thankfully, totally internally:

When I grow up I want to be thin.

Meanwhile back in real time my girls were waiting for answer. They’d been waiting for 3 seconds now. Hurry up!

“Mama, what do you want to be when YOU grow up?”

“When you grow up.” echoed Zoë for some kind of symbolic emphasis.

I smiled and said

“When I grow up? When I grow up, I’m going to be your mum.”

Ally is 26 and lives in Sheffield with her fellow co-writer Vanessa, which she loves. Ally spends half her week working with the students of St Thomas Church Philadelphia, who are great. The other half is spent working in the communities in and around Sheffield as a community Dietitian. She loves anything with poka dots on, a good adventure, is regularly found in Starbucks and would like to live near the sea one day and surf every day. (Please Lord!) Ally has a passion to see people become everything that God has made them to be and love him with abandon.

Hi I’m Clare, currently at Sheffield Uni, coming to the end of an English Lit. with Biblical Studies degree,. I will be starting a discipleship year at my church in Sheffield in September.  At the moment I’m excited about seeing God break through on the clubbing scene and have been seeing him do some really awesome stuff in Sheffield Uni’s Union club nights; a shift in the atmosphere and a real openness to Jesus. I would love to see that happening in clubs all over Sheffield. I am also a fan of people, travelling, running, buttons, playing music, crazy dancing and pesto.

Naomi Fennell just turned 30,and is  in transition currently going around the world. She spent 5 years on staff of large church in Sheffield UK as youth worker and set up a ministry for  teenage mums . Naomi is an orthoptist (that’s in the eye profession to the rest of us!) and worked part time in a children’s hospital. Her heart  is for  children in developing countries,  recently  spending time with Iris Ministries in Mozambique. Naomi believes in having fun, loving people and adventure!!!