Waist Deep in Boxes

In one month we’ll be on a plane to Africa, where we plan to live and work in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. Our September 15th fundraiser deadline has come and gone and we are on to the business of putting those funds to good use. Living overseas isn’t new for us. John served on an island in the Indian ocean with the navy, and I was an exchange student in Vienna, Austria during my junior year in high school. Most of you know that we also lived in Brazil as a family for several years. But, moving is not a science and it’s never easy to decide what to leave and what to take, and when you do, it’s time consuming to make it happen. Currently our days are filled with scheduling and organizing and packing and buying and selling. It’s a lot, but we’re taking it one day at a time and hope to make it to moving day with no major incidents or omissions—like cans of pumpkin and cranberries for a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner soon after we arrive.

Many of you have asked what you can do to help. First of all, we need you to pray—not so we can get what we want, but so that we will accept God’s will in this. We’re about to face something difficult, and we’ll fare much better believing God is in charge of the details. Otherwise we’re likely to kick and scream to change our circumstances and find ourselves working against Him. We don’t need to write God’s will, we need to find it and live in it, and that's something that requires much prayer.

We also still need financial commitments. We have enough to make the move but not enough to sustain for very long. Our sponsoring church has agreed to fundraise for us, but we will be the ones to feel the burden if we’re lacking on the field. Please give what you can when you can. Every little bit helps. Very soon this blog will be about all the great things God is doing with your resources and it will be so rewarding to know that He’s using you to make it happen. 

As we gear up to learn a new way of life and a new kind of service to our fellow human being and to God, we look forward to your encouragement. Electricity in Malawi is spotty and internet coverage can be the same, but we plan to take advantage of the gift that social media is to mission work. We’ll do our best to continue to post updates and photos and we ask that you take the time to comment and give us feedback. If you really want to get involved, you might even consider a visit.

Here's a link to give to the mission work through the church: Westworth Church of Christ