August 2025 – Sailing and Serving
July 28, 2025
As our time in America draws to a close, our thoughts turn once again toward Africa. I've been hearing from our South African friends about how cold it’s been there. For the past few years, I’ve done my best to avoid winter on both continents by traveling back and forth two or three times a year.
I’ve really enjoyed spending time in our Urbandale, Iowa office, working alongside our wonderful American staff. I’ve also been blessed by many meaningful meetings with ministry partners and friends. One of the great joys of being part of a quality ministry is the deep friendships that form with those who walk alongside us in the work.
A highlight this summer was our participation in the World Food Prize’s annual Iowa Hunger Summit, where our Director of Development, Wendi Lane, opened the conference. She shared her personal story of struggling with food insecurity, making a powerful connection with the audience. Wendi is a gifted storyteller and does a beautiful job representing our ministry and the children we serve in Africa.
Summer in Iowa is also prime time for biking. The trails here are some of the best in the world! I usually ride my e-trike to work, church, shops, and restaurants. My current trike has logged 17,000 miles, and I plan to replace it at 20,000. I typically ride an ICE trike, but I’m now eyeing a well-made German model. The Germans are known for building excellent cars—hopefully their e-trikes are just as impressive.
Another huge blessing this month has been vacationing with my family on a small sailboat in the Greek Isles. I’m writing this as we rock and roll over the waves. The last time I sailed here was in 2004 with four friends during the Athens Olympics. The islands have certainly grown busier in the last 20 years, but they remain stunningly beautiful.
Dustin’s wife, Alex, has Greek heritage, which adds a special connection to our journey. Our granddaughter Juni, now 11, is developing a love for sailing and swimming—just like her grandpa. Sharing these special moments with family fills me with gratitude.
Sailing this time around is a bit different. I’m not quite as sure-footed as I used to be, and we’ve chartered a larger boat than usual. Dustin is well-trained as a captain, but we needed an official license to rent this boat, so we hired a captain to assist us. While I normally prefer to be in control, I’ve been thankful several times this week for our captain’s expertise—especially when anchoring in crowded bays. The Greek anchoring method is unique: drop anchor offshore, then reverse toward the beach while someone swims ashore with ropes to tie to a rock or tree. It's a tight squeeze at times—sometimes just a few meters between boats!
One evening, the eight of us went ashore for dinner. On the way back, our small dinghy’s engine quit just after Dustin was ferrying the first group. Beth, Alex, and I were left waiting on the beach—without phones, to keep them dry. After 30 minutes in the dark, I asked the bartender (who only spoke Greek) if we could hire a ride. Thankfully, just then, we spotted a light approaching—it was our captain and Dustin returning! We climbed into the dinghy, pushed off... and the engine quit again. We started drifting until, finally, after multiple attempts, our strong, young captain from the Canary Islands managed to row us back to the sailboat. Quite the adventure!
Many imagine sailing as peaceful—and it often is—but when the wind picks up, things get lively. Juni, a little seasick despite the Dramamine, is still having a blast—especially when we anchor near a beach for swimming.
We’re still struggling to get our food shipping containers through customs. This year, we were pledged 28 containers—about 5 million meals—from Meals from the Heartland and Convoy of Hope. As of August, only 5 containers have made it through. Because of this, we've had to cut back our feeding program from 5 days a week to just 2. Our small farm is such a blessing supplementing our feeding program with thousands of eggs and vegetables.
Thankfully, our faithful donors have given us additional funding, allowing us to purchase food in Africa and keep things going. I'm confident that God will provide for these children and that the containers will begin moving again soon. Shipping takes about two months, and we try to avoid December arrivals due to the holidays—so we aren’t expecting any more shipments this year.
We continue to trust in God's provision and timing.
"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."