Finding Faith in the Battle

We left the US 2 weeks ago today. It's hard to imagine how so much change can fit into 14 simple days! But life is good, and we're still having fun. No tummy-illnesses yet, full adjustment to the time change, and I've even cooked several meals and made a chocolate cake from scratch! I mean, that's MAJOR! We worshiped today in a local Baptist church. The simple structure (dirt floors, plank-board benches) was surprising, but the singing was out of this world. The Malawians can sing, let me tell you! And the songs were local, not American songs translated. It was truly beautiful, and even the kids did well for the 2 hour service despite it being in Chichewa! We leave at 6:30am on Wednesday for Zambia, where we'll have another month-long adventure completing cultural tasks in the capital and in the village. In some ways it will no doubt be challenging, but we hear good things about all that we'll learn. We return May 22nd, and then we'll fully settle in to our

I wrote last week that it was time to get some keys on my poor key chain. How God loves to answer the prayers of your heart with more than you can ask or imagine! We are now in Lilongwe, moved in our own house after 10 months of transitional living. As we arrived from the airport, they handed us our own set of keys...all 21of them for the house, 2 for the gate, and 2 for the car! That's 25 keys, all different, all necessary, and no master. My key chain runneth over! Malawi is beautiful, full of birds and tropical plants and sunshine. We're adjusted to the time-change, doing ok driving on the left side of the road, and still struggling to eat much more than peanut butter and jelly, but we'll get there. When we got off the plane last Tuesday, Anya stood on the tarmac, turned in circles, and sighed over and over again, "Home, sweet home, sweet home!" Ethan collapsed on the ground, spread out all limbs, and sobbed, "I just can't do it anymore!" Chad and

Our bags are packed, we're ready to go... sounds like a John Denver song! We spent yesterday morning in a marathon errands circuit, hitting all the last minute stores for all the 'indispensable' things (from marshmallows and jello packets to a swimming suit for Isaac and plastic diaper covers) and we hope to not have to ever see a Walmart again for a very long time. Yesterday afternoon and evening we packed, packed and then packed some more. Everything has fit into 10 suitcases and 8 carry-ons. The dilemma now is this: do we make one of the bags overweight, pay the small fee, and carry less carry-ons through the 4 airports on 3 continents (Richmond, Chicago, London, and South Africa), or do we save money and just figure it'll all be over in 36 hours. Hmmmmmm. A wise aunt of mine once said there really are some things that are fixed by throwing money at it. I'm thinking this is one of them! We're taking family photos with Chad's family today, eating one last

1 Pray for the Malawian believers, that God will fill them “with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col 1:9). 2 Thank God for the excellent training we received before leaving for the mission field, thanks to faithful and sacrificial giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering every year 3 Pray for unity among the Lilongwe team as we will work together for God’s glory. Pray that we will be a blessing to the team when we arrive. 4 Pray that all our “to do” list would get done and that we would have a special last day with Chad’s family 5 Pray for the next 2 days as we travel. We leave at 2pm Yakima time for London via Chicago. Pray for meaningful good-byes. Pray also that we might sleep on the plane! 6 Pray for traveling mercies; safety during our day in London and as we leave at 7pm (11am Yakima time) for Africa. Pray for patience on our part, and good attitudes/behavior from our tired kids. 7 Praise God that our travels are over!! We arrive