Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I have so much to write, but I've just got time to give you the quick version.
On November first we flew to New York. We stayed with my brother in Brooklyn, and they took us all around the city. Have you tried navigating the subway with three small kids? I don't know how families do it. At the end of the day we were always ready to get back to Jim and Becca's quiet (relatively speaking) and homey apartment.
We also drove down to Pennsylvania and Maryland where Heidi's grandma and aunt and uncle live. Leaving the city for the rolling country side was like lifting a weight off my shoulders. I guess I'm a country boy. Grandma Kunkle and Aunt Lois cooked us the most amazing meals. I think Grandma Kunkle must be the easiest person to be with. She just makes you feel right at home any time you see her.
Now we're in Michigan with Heidi's family. We got here just in time to help them put the finishing touches on their addition. Last night we hosted a party in the new great room, and it was just wonderful. God has blessed us with so many great friends. We even met a new couple who wants to help support us in our ministry!
The biggest blessing of all is our growing family. Harley and Abby are six months apart, and it took them all of about five minutes to become the best of friends. Girls are different than boys, and our two little girls just sit together and make each other laugh. They hug and kiss and ask where the other one is when they're not around.
As if that wasn't good enough?!... Heidi and our sister-in-law are expecting two new babies just two months apart!
God is good!

Mali.aria

This is an article I found that talks about how malaria affects Mali. CLICK HERE A totally treatable disease takes over 100,000 lives in Mali alone. I really hope some of you guys come and visit us in Mali when we move there. It just really opens your eyes in a way that no writing or pictures ever can.

Ten Things (first draft)

Ten things to do before I die
not yet in any particular order

1. Speak French fluently.
2. Speak Bambara fluently.
3. Make a deeply moving, professional quality, God-glorifying documentary film.
4. Be a missionary to Mali.
5. Leave a legacy of committed disciples in Mali.
6. See all my children commit their lives to Christ.
7. See grandchildren and great grandchildren serving Christ.
8. Publish my work in National Geographic. (a cover shot would be pretty nice too.)
9. Adopt children.
10. Pay off my student loans.

other possible alternates
Learn to really play the guitar, kora, and balafone (West African instruments)
Climb a few of the 14s
Write a book
Publish my autobiography or biography
Dance like no one's looking

cast your votes and make your own lists

Journalism in Mali

CLICK HERE for more BBC stories on Mali. This link is time sensitive because news is a living thing. So check it out soon. There are three video stories: one about a hostage situation and a Malian bride, one about a job center in Mali, and one about the poor treatment of journalists in Mali.

Street Scene in Mali

We got this video from some of our really good friends in Mali, Ben and Brenda. Brenda was Heidi's roommate in high school and college, and now they are missionaries in Mali.
Their video is of some kids in the street doing tumbling. It's always amazing to me how resourceful kids are. We can't wait to get out there with Ben and Brenda! They're a ton of fun!

Mali: Land of Mystery 002

I found some good Mali videos at National Geographic. If you click on the title of this post you can watch the videos. or Click Here
There are four videos. It amazes me how much parts of Mali have remained unchanged for hundreds of years. On a spiritual level it reminded me of the Bozo people of Mali. There are around 150,000 Bozos (stifle your laughs), and 84% of them have never even heard the good news about what Jesus has done for them. How is that possible? They don't live in some unreachable location. Pray for them.

It's hard to stay close if you don't understand life your friend is living. We probably won't live in Mali until 2010 (dates like that should only be in sci-fi movies). But we want you to know about the place that we're in love with. So CLICK HERE to get a quick overview of Mali by BBC.

Mali: Land of Mystery

So... you all probably know that this is a manatee. But I bet you didn't know that they have manatees in Mali! I couldn't believe it when I read about it. Apparently, you can find fresh water manatees in the Niger River, which spends a large part of its distance in Mali.
The picture above is not of African manatees. In fact, I couldn't really find a picture of one. There was a picture of an African manatee in a Japanese aquarium, but even that was a terrible picture.
So I'm thinking I'll do the first thorough photographic study of the African manatee. National Geographic here I come! Okay, so the Niger River also has hippos and crocodiles... So I'll probably get an "assistant" (that's what you call it in the professional photography business), give him my camera, tell him to swim out into the murky Niger, and take the credit for the photos after he's risked life and limb.
Of course, I would never do this even though it is considered totally legitimate in the magazine photography world. No joke.

Amy Carmichael

I'm reading From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya for the third time now. I really like it. (Heidi can't stand it.) It is a quick (500 pages) history of Christian missions.





The story about Amy Carmichael had a quote that really said what I have been wanting to tell people. When confronted with the criticism that her work of meeting physical needs and providing education wasn't evangelistic enough for a missionary she said, "Souls are more or less securely fastened to bodies ...and as you cannot get the souls out and deal with them separately, you have to take them both together."

I got so excited when I read that because it confirmed the common sense and wisdom of how God has been leading me all these years. I can't wait to see how God uses what He has been teaching me about Himself and about visual journalism to change peoples lives in Mali. I was timid about leaving the mission field to study photography. But... now... "Who has known the mind of the Lord or offered Him and counsel?" (Rom. 11:34) He knows what He's doing.

Check out this video the my missionary buddy, Matt Kingsley, turned me on to. I would love to help these kind of small business get going in Mali. Better yet, I would love my good friend Brian Pederson to come out to Mali and run a micro finance business. That's what he said he would want to do if he was a missionary.

Love y'all

Eadelman Encouragement

This is a picture of two of the kids that were in Kadiolo, Mali when we lived there in 1999-2000.


There is a couple in that same village now that we have known for a long time. They are field leaders for WorldVenture in Mali, and they have been an encouragement to us as we prepare to move out there.
Their names are Ernie and Jan Eadelman. Below is an excerpt from a letter Jan wrote to us. I hope it lets you see how God is going ahead of us in Mali and the work we will do there.



Jeff,

Sorry I didn't get right back to you. I should have. And then our phone
lines went down for several days so we did not get anything in or out.
Today they came back up.

The comment that Glenn mentioned: “It is our desire to tell true stories
that compel Malians toward a relationship with God.” is very
interesting. I think you could use it in your materials and
presentations etc. It brings up some interesting ideas and
questions--Bible stories? Testimonies? etc. I am sure you will use it well.

We will keep in touch with input for using your special skills here in
Mali. I am sure there are some neat ways. For instance, just last week
the Radio Drama team put on a evening of drama for the community. It was
videoed and also there were many still shots taken. I am sure both could
have been improved by more training for the photographers. But the
reason they did both was to get the message out in various
ways--brochures for money raising, publicity of other sorts, and they
are planning to use the video in many venues from villages to national
TV. In fact, there were clips from it on national TV's evening news the
following nights. So the opportunities are out there. Making money at it
will be a little bit more of a challenge--but things do change.

Just recently the director Radio Yeleen was sharing his passion with
Ernie. He dreams is to get more and higher quality training for his
radio staff as well as have a video studio here where training can be
provided to help reach Mali for Christ. You see, God is already planting
a reciprocal dream here.

I love the way you are dreaming, both of you, of how God may be able to
use you in Mali. That will appeal to the people you are talking with and
will help you raise the necessary support and funds. It is great. Keep
it up. My caution to you is to remember they are dreams, and when you
arrive you will be living in reality. When your expectations meet with
the heat, dust and dirt of the real Mali some may become a little
tattered and unreachable. Don't decide that it is a spiritual problem
and you are not living on a high enough plane. It is just that we live
in a real world, in a culture that you have been exposed to but do not
totally understand. In fact, as Linda Arzouni says, after decades in
Africa--"I can dress like the Malians, I can eat their food, I can talk
their language, I can love them--but I can never be one of them."

God bless you as you impact your world today and in the days ahead. The
Lord helps us to dream and, if we let Him, helps us put our dreams to
work to make the most of reality.

Sincerely,
Jan


Isn't that great. I love people who still write real, 'meaty' letters!

Wedding

We had a great time at our friends, Deep and Michelle's, wedding. They have a whirlwind story of a beginning, and I can't wait to see what God does with them. I told them when they were first 'official' that their relationship was going to make a great story. I should have talked them into letting me make a documentary about it.



The next best thing about the wedding was that I got to dance with my daughter for a long time. She couldn't get enough of it. When we were finally dragging all the kids off the dance floor we walked past the speaker, and it was like she found a whole new dance partner. She just stood in front of the speaker rockin' to the music.
I hope we give her what she needs to develop her musical talents.
Heidi also wrote about the wedding, and she posted pictures of our kids dancing. You can click on 'Wedding' above to go to her blog.

Jeff and Heidi Frazee are Having a Baby!

This is a picture from December First of 2005.


The picture is of Harley Joy, but we are expecting our next baby in mid March. I am hoping for a little girl, Lord willing.
We weren't exactly trying to get pregnant, but we did have a discussion about it. We thought, "If we don't get pregnant soon, we really don't want to get pregnant for a couple years."
Here's the reasoning. Heidi and I have both lived in West Africa for years, and while we learned to communicate we could never have those really good, life-changing kind of discussions because our language skills are so lacking. We are really excited, Heidi in particular, to study language, and we know that if Heidi was pregnant or caring for an infant during language school... well, it just wouldn't do. She wouldn't be able to learn French like she has always wanted to.
We give God the credit for determining our steps, but we think this is going to work out just right.
Drew will finish first grade, and we will have a 6 month old baby (entertained by the other kids, sleeping through the night, nursing less often) by the time we head for France in August 2008.
Pray for us! Oh, and I'm sorry if this is how you heard we're having a baby. We can't keep track of who knows and who doesn't know. Tell all your friends. It's better than hearing it from a blog!

Nine Percent

We sent out our first prayer letter, and made one trip to Ojai (where we had a great little birthday party for Drew). And... Praise God, we are at 9% of our monthly support. If any of you want to call or stop by to talk about how good God is there's nothing I'd rather do.
After Heidi and I prayed a prayer of thanks to God last night, we committed ourselves to Him: learning about Him, spending time with Him, and knowing Him.
It would be easy for us, in our excitement, to pursue the next 10%, but we would be in error. It is not our efforts or your commitments that provide for our needs.
Deuteronomy 8:18
But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to
produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your
forefathers...
I am so thankful that He has given our friends and family these abilities and used them to bless us in such a tangible and encouraging way. Praise God.

Happy Anniversary

Heidi and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on July 9th. We spent a day in Santa Cruz, and we walked along the Boardwalk. We walked the length of the Boardwalk twice, and as we pulled away from the throngs of people walking toward the pier I told Heidi, "It's been a long time since I was around that much humanity." That short quarter-mile stretch held so much laughing, running, pushing, music, drunkenness, fighting, playing, and eating.
We were looking for a place to eat as we walked along the pier, and we saw several hungry/homeless people. I had forgotten. It's been too long since I was around truly hungry people. I was convicted that at this marking point in our marriage we couldn't simply celebrate ourselves. With Heidi's permission we invited a young man, Johnny, to share our anniversary dinner with us.
We had a pleasant dinner and good conversation. I hope we were an encouragement to Johnny. I didn't think about it at the time, but I am so happy with my marriage. I trust Heidi implicitly, not only for her actions but even for her motivations. Her life, in every aspect, belongs to God, and so does mine.
When you join your life to Christ you become less of yourself, and in the same way a Christ-centered marriage makes you less yourself and more Christ-like. When scripture says that 'two become one' it carries so many beautiful meanings, and in heavens backward math I can honestly say that the two of us are less than we were before we got married. All of you who are struggling against self can feel what I mean.

World of Change

So... yeah...
A lot has happened since I posted last time. I haven't shot any assignments for Times Media Inc. in as long as I can remember. I was working nearly full time at Kiddie Kandids until just recently. My boss there, Lora, is great. I'm pretty sure we'll keep in touch for a long time. She has been so flexible in the process of us joining World Venture.
That's the biggest news. We just got back from Colorado where we went through numerous interviews, classes, and training sessions. We were appointed as missionaries to Mali, West Africa. We made some amazing friends while we were there. There were six other couples. Heidi was so completely in her element. She seemed to be more at home there than... when she's at home.
So now we are starting to invest a lot of time building the relationships that will make it possible for us to live and serve the church in Mali.
I have so much more to say, but I'll just leave you with this video. This is the first video I ever made. This family went to the finals in some TV talent show. Anyway, I figured if I am going to try to build a professional media endeavor in a third world I had better learn to post video on the web.
Don't forget to turn your sound on.