A Look Into Our Recent Trip To Taiwan & India
We just got back from our first trip overseas with Ryder to Taiwan and India. In Taiwan Daniel taught around 40 students how to simple church plant among the lost. We were then a part of a gathering of church planters from around the world who are also a part of leadership in the organization, All Nations. From their, Daniel went onto India to visit some of the seeds we have planted over the years. It was an incredibly fruitful and rich time. Here is a look into our time….

Mom & Ryder's 1st views of Taiwan on a train

Ryder got to pretty much fly 1st class on the 21 hours in planes!

You would have thought Ryder was Michael Jackson by all the attention he received!



Everywhere we went we were stopped by people to see Ryder

Taiwan has the lowest birth rate in the world, let alone many white babies!

Ryder and daddy having fun in front of street restaurant


We'll let this one speak for itself :-)
  

Nothing better than worshipping with the Taiwanese of whom only 2% follow Jesus

Two of Dan's monk friends he met with while in India

Two of Dan's closest monk friends inside their room in the monastery 

Foreigner

Our close friend Raj and his wife Aratna with their baby girl Isha. Raj is one of the only followers of Jesus in his entire people group

Making Disciples In Our Living Room!


We started a 4-month course in our living room as an experiment with one of Dan's best friends. Our goal was to see what would happen if we focused on training young people with jobs or in school to be missionaries in their environments. We meet on Sunday and Monday nights and invite various speakers to come teach on different topics. It has been incredible thus far!



With Great Joy We Introduce To You Our Baby Boy, Ryder McCoy Shannon!

 
                     Introducing Ryder-Medium from Daniel Shannon on Vimeo.

We have been anticipating with great excitement since last fall the 1st new addition to our family.
We chose not  to find out  whether we were having a boy or a girl which allowed each day of the last 9 months, to be filled with so much wonder! We were expecting our little gift to arrive around April 27th and were enjoying preparing for them one step at a time. It was a big shock to us when on April 3rd our midwife called with results from a blood test for Meehan. The results showed she had a rare condition called "Colestatisis' which is a pregnancy induced condition that placed our baby at high risk for being a stillborn. They informed us that afternoon that we needed to induce labor in less than 48 hours, putting our baby at 3 weeks before their estimated due date. Needless to say, this was a bit of a shock, and because of  Meehan's condition, were transferred to Denver Health to have our baby. When we checked in there, early that morning we assumed we would have our baby by that afternoon. Little did we know that Meehan's induction would take 4 days! Looking back, we are so thankful for the midwives and doctors that assisted us in this process, as they really tried to allow Meehan's body, and our baby to accept that it was time for birth. Meehan had contractions for 3 of those days and then was in active labor for 1. At 3:12pm on Monday, April the 8th, our baby boy was brought into this world! I, Daniel, actually caught him, and then handed him up to Meehan. It was amazing! We named him Ryder McCoy Shannon, which means "Mounted Warrior"(Ryder), "Son of Fire"(McCoy), "Little Wise Owl or Wise One"(Shannon). We can't tell you how thrilled we are! You will probably notice in some of his pictures a little bulge above his left eye. We are still having this examined, but the general consensus so far is that it is most likely a rare type of hemangioma (benign tumor). We feel so blessed to be being seen by the #1 pediatric dermatologist in the nation at Children's Hospital here in Denver. We'd be lying to say this wasn't hard for us at 1st to take in, but we both feel very much t peace now and are just glad he is OK. Thank you for your patience and privacy as we have walked through so much these past few weeks and of course, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers for us. God has been so gracious and good to us and we are so blessed to have Ryder in our lives.

"Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God."

Psalm 22:9-10

Why We Are In The USA Right Now...

Some of you may be a little confused as to why we are living in the United States right now after living the past 2 1/2 years in Africa.  to make a long story short, we are taking a bit of a breather (sabbatical) to enjoy the birth of our son, start off strong as a family and to seek the Lord on how we go forward from here. I wouldn't say that this move was necessarily a part of our plan but we are very grateful that we have landed here at this time mainly because our being here allowed us to catch the complications that threatened Ryder before he was born. Now, to be able have the best pediatric doctors in the world oversee Ryder's bump on his head is an additional reason that we are so thankful to live here right now. When we think of being in Africa, or even YWAM in Hawaii, we cringe not knowing if things would have gone the way they have. We are VERY grateful.
 In the mean time, I Daniel, have plenty of teaching opportunities that I'm wading through for the next several months and will also be running a church planting course with my best friend right here in Denver! I'm also taking the opportunity of this season to write about many of the things I have seen and learned from my 12 years of experience in missions. Doing this has been on my heart for a long time and I have been encouraged by many people to try and write a book.
Although Meehan is definitely focused on being a mom right now, I know her heart is to take steps back into public relations for Baby Safe, raising funds, awareness, and multiplication for this organization that has grabbed our hearts. She is also very excited to try and finish a couple of courses   to finish her teaching degree.
 All that to say, we are very thankful for this 'forced break' and we feel very responsible to so many of you who support us financially and prayerfully. We appreciate those of you who have encouraged us to take this time for the health and establishment of our new family.

Dan's Upcoming Teaching....



Dan stepped back from traveling and teaching over the past few years while we lived in Africa and during that time he felt the Lord confirm some things in his heart.  He sensed God showing him that he was never to just only teach, but rather to find ways to live out in his own life what it is he is teaching/ telling others to do. In his life, Daniel has lived seasons of only being a teacher & trainer, but he has  come to realize that his passion for teaching comes through the stories that he lives not just in teaching theory. There was also a time when he traveled and spoke around the world more than half of the year. (He has taught in 40 different countries, many 2-3 times each!) Although Dan has taken a step back from that much teaching, God continues to open opportunities for him to use his teaching gift to share what he has learned in each new season of life. Here are a few of the upcoming events where he has been invited to speak:
  • YWAM Crossroads DTS - Colorado Springs, CO June 16th-20th
  • Foundations School of Discipleship-Visalia, CA August 19th-21st
  • YWAM DTS- Battambong, Cambodia July 22-26 (Pending on our decision)
  • YWAM DTS - Denver, CO September 2nd-6th
  • YWAM DTS - Dharamsala, India October 7th-11th (Pending on our decision)


From Gangsta' to Surfa'




MEET THE BOYS
I know Dan will want to tell you from his own up-close and personal perspective, but as a spectator of this tender moment of "bad" boys gone good, I'd like to be the first to say that my husband was amazing; 
bringing SUCH a fresh perspective to these guys lives's through the purity of creation and the pure enjoyment to be had in it... 

SURFING























Tonight,
 Dan is sleeping the night in Massi, the township where these guys live... I will leave the details of the day to him but please enjoy the follow photos as you wait eagerly for the rest...

HERE WE GO...
...















Meehan Represents Baby Safe In The "Sunday Times" Of Capetown


To read the full article, click here
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/baby-dumping-on-the-rise-in-w-cape-1.1267814


I love representing Baby Safe for special PR opportunities of which I have many. This next week I will also be on the radio in addition to speaking to an audience of a bout 300 on the 13th of April