praise

We're thankful for our growing support team, for those who are backing our mission financially and those who let us know they are praying for us. Thank you for your encouragement and support!

Our van is already fixed and back on the road. Thanks Dad!

WestJet has a great seatsale for flying Wednesdays this summer. We are leaving for Toronto on August 6 for our final EI pre-field training and departing for Malawi on August 18. Also, WestJet has the same generous luggage allowance as British Airways for humanitarian aid workers so there should be no problem taking all our luggage to Toronto.

IN THE NEWS: Despite Malawi's problems with poor roads and storage and uneven food distribution that leave many hungry, there have been overall grain surpluses. Rains have been good for two years, and subsidies have helped farmers buy seeds and fertilizers. President Bingu Mutharika says Malawi must lessen its dependence on charity. [PBS 9 May 2008]

President BINGU WA MUTHARIKA: "We now have had the success -- two successive years of surplus. When I took over, we were told Malawi was poor and that we must go to the rest of the world and beg that we are poor, and the world will feel sorry for us. I said no, that's not the way the world in globalization works. People will come to Malawi to invest in opportunities if we are helping ourselves and they want to be part of that success story. Nobody, nobody wants to be part of a failing story."

MissionPREP

We're another step closer. And a little more culture-sensitive. We spent the last two weeks in missionary training, in a program called “Cultural Orientation for Personal Endurance & Enjoyment” by MissionPREP. The acronym is COPE, but like one of our instructors pointed out, our goal as missionaries is not just to cope or survive in another culture, but to thrive in it. And that is really what this course was about – learning to observe and interpret culture and deal with culture shock so that we can enjoy another culture and grow through our cross-cultural experiences, because that’s the key to endurance. We learned that when it comes to cultural differences, things are not always what they appear – or as they might say in Malawi,

“Kabanga mwala” (literally, “The tortoise looks like a stone”).

The course material was great, but what impacted us most was the relationships that we developed during those two weeks. It was very cool to get to know like-minded people who are preparing to participate in Kingdom ministry around the world. Between the participants, I think we pretty much the covered the globe in our combined travel experiences. It is very exciting to think of what God will do in the world through those people. We are thankful for the way God used our instructors and classmates to continue shaping us for ministry in Malawi.

PRAISE: we went from 50% support prior to COPE to 65% of our monthly support at present. God is good. Praise the Lord for the generosity of his people. We're thankful for the people who have joined our support team. Our flights are booked for August 18 so we have 2.5 months to raise the remaining support. Join our team!

PRAYER: our van broke down near the end of COPE -- blew the head gasket, which is kind of an expensive fix for an old van, but we need some form of transportation for the next two months. Please pray for wisdom in this situation. (the good news is that we had roadside assistance and my Dad is a mechanic and there is a cool story that goes with the experience, just ask)

Our Spring 2008 newsletter is in production and should be mailed out this week.