May 2007 Canipe Family & Ministry Update
Dear J. Cliff, As always, it is a blessing to report to you from South Africa and to share with you what is happening in our lives.  We find ourselves in a new season as a family as we said goodbye to Katie this month after she lived with us for the past nine months.  We also had some personal excitement as Natalie broke her arm badly and had to undergo two surgeries to set the arm, insert pins and have them removed nine weeks later.  Thankfully, she has healed perfectly and is back to normal.  With two outreaches into Africa being canceled for various reasons in the first six months of this year we have seen God's hand directing our steps.  We are constantly aware of the wisdom of Proverbs 16:9, "The mind of a man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps."  We have been spending a lot of time with people we are in relationship with who need encouragement and mentoring in different ways.  We know that this has been a season to sow into the lives of these people with love and commitment so that they can be strengthened in their relationship to the Lord.  We see the Lord's fruit in their lives and this is very rewarding.
We are very proud of Wesley!  He learning about woodworking and has just completed his first project.  He has made a great bird feeder.  All he has to do is apply the varnish and we will hang it up and feed the birds.  He is very proud and is already looking forward to his next project.  He is already excited about his visit to the States in December because one of his grand- fathers has a complete word working shop.	Katie Returns to the US We said goodbye to Katie this month.  It is hard to believe that it was nine months since she first arrived in South Africa.  Katie's time with us was very significant for our family.  She served us and helped out in so many ways.  We know that her being with us was a blessing from the Lord.  She is now back in America where she is settling back into life in the USA.  We are sure she will take many great memories of South Africa with her. Family Ministry Trip We will be taking a family ministry trip into Africa during the children's mid-year school holiday.  We will be driving into Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia for three weeks.  It has been our desire to travel with the children to expose them more to Africa as well as Cliff's work.  We will spend a few days in Francistown, Botswana with the local fellowship there as well as leaders throughout the city.  We will then travel to northern Botswana and into Zimbabwe.  After a couple of days of family time we will cross over into Zambia where Cliff will teach for three days in a leaders conference in Livingston, Zambia.  We will then travel back through Namibia and Botswana as we return home.  We will be camping in tents in many of the places we go.  We will be traveling between June 22nd and July 16th.  We would really appreciate your prayers for safety and blessing during these dates.  We look forward to reporting back to you all that God does during this trip when we get back.
Visit to the States We are excited that we will be able to visit the States again at the end of this year.  We will be in the States for seven weeks during December and January.  We will be spending our time in North Carolina, Little Rock and Dallas.  We will keep you posted on the details of our visit as we draw closer to the time.  However, we wanted to mention that we will be trying to see as many people as possible during our time in the States and we don't want to leave anyone out.  So if you are in one of these areas and would want to connect with us, please send us an email and we will be sure to get together for a quick visit.