ABC Family

Our life has been taken over by the Lord! Literally! We find ourselves, for the first time, totally and completely dependent on Him and His people. This is so very humbling and exciting. We are learning so much and growing daily in our faith. Yet we know that we will never be fully prepared for what the Lord has in store for us. We keep plugging along, praying that we are doing everything that we should be doing to get us to the mission field. However, we know that most of the work will be done by the Lord.

Jeremy is becoming a proficient speaker. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he'd much rather be behind the scenes. He's very happy sitting in the sound booth at church every Sunday rather than being the one at the podium. However, the Lord is growing him. He's been asked to step out of his comfort zone and it's wonderful to see the change in Him. We've (ok...Jeremy) spoken 6 times in the past 14 days and have four more speaking times lined up for the next 7 days. One of our pastors asked that we go around and share what the Lord is doing in our lives with all of our church Sunday School classes and we're trying to make the rounds. It's so wonderful to speak in these classes. Some of these people we know well. Some, we just kind of know but have never been able to really talk much. And still others ask if we're new to the church or the communtiy when we enter the door of their SS class. It's funny because we're there every time the church doors open, yet our church is bigger than we thought. It seems so small and intimate, yet with two services it's hard for everyone to know everyone. This is one of the many blessings the Lord has already shown us through this process. We're building relationships, we're making new friends, we're connecting with our Body of believers. The results have been astonishing! All classes are different. Some make us laugh, others make us cry. Some want us to take 5 minutes (and they really means it! ;)) Other classes would probably have us speak through lunch if they could. Each class has its own personality and each class is wonderful in its own way. We are so very blessed and can't wait to see what else the Lord will show us through the classes!

We do have three churches that have asked us to speak so we're very excited about that. We're praying that the Lord uses us to spread His word and His mission to as many people as are willing to hear. This is His ministry and His work. We are so privileged to share what He's doing in our lives and others' lives on the mission field.

Speaking of others' lives, we were blessed beyond measure last night to be able to meet with Dr. Jack Chinchen and his lovely wife, Nell. We also met their daughter, Marion, and her sweet family. The Spencer's are home for a year on furlough and Jack and Nell are home for just a couple of months. The Chinchen's were "bush" missionaries in Liberia for seven years before they started African Bible Colleges in 1978. They now have three campuses in Liberia, Uganda, and of course, Malawi! This family is so very special and I can't wait to get to know them more.

Jan and Thad Harper (missionaries for 11 years in Africa and the Middle East and wonderful friends of ours who first introduced us to ABC) hosted these two families. Their son, Josh Harper, and his sweet wife Rebecca were also there. Josh and Rebecca just came back from Malawi after serving for a year as teachers at the ABC Academy. Melissa Morgan, who leaves for a year in Malawi on Aug. 10th, was also able to meet the family and introduce herself. It was so wonderful to count the number of missionaries all under this one roof! 16! All connected to ABC. All servants of the Lord! The Lord is so gracious in allowing us to meet these fellow missionaries before we even arrive. It just makes us so much more excited! Can we go tomorrow??

Jeremy and I are off for a few days on the beautiful Florida beach. His parents are spoiling the kids for the week and giving us a much needed break. We realize it'll probably be the last for a very long time. We'll keep you updated. Please remember to keep our family in your prayers. We are totally reliant on the Lord and you, His faithful servants, to be our Prayer Warriors during this exciting and trying time in our lives. Thank you for your support! We love you all!

Jill

Mother/Daughter day!

I spent most of today having a "girls day" with Tink. We haven't been able to have much Mother/Daughter alone time recently so I asked if she wanted to go shopping with me this morning. Oh, she's getting so big and we had a wonderful time. Our first stop was at Seattle Drip for a coffee drink and muffin! Yay! We love coffee drinks and this was extra special for us because we never afford them! The next stop was the school supply store where I wanted to look at bulletin board items for my school room at ABCCA. I'll be teaching 3rd grade so I needed to come up with a theme for the classroom and something for the door and the AR board. We decided to do monkeys (it fits, don't you think!?) and there are tons of items for monkyes around the store. Who knew monkey's were so popular! I'm getting so excited about getting into the classroom and meeting the kids.

After School Aides we went to the mall (which is right across the street). It's funny because Tink didn't even remember that mall. We just never really go shopping and I had to tell her it's the place where we get your photo made with Santa. She finally recognized it once we got there but that just shows you how much we shop. If I need something I go to the one store that I need that item from and that's it. But since this was a girls day we went to the mall. We found some great clearance items at Belk and were able to pretty much complete Tink and Prince's clothing needs for the next year or two (and all at 75% off!). We're trying to stock up to be prepared for the kids growing, etc. Princess already had a good bit and we still need a couple of things for them all but we're slowly building everything up. I never knew how hard it would be to get prepared for a move like this. It's one thing to think of the things you need for your house but it's another to plan for the things that your kids will need. Plus, we're trying to plan for birthdays and Christmas time while we're there because the items that will be available to purchase there seem to be very expensive... if they are available.

After a fun lunch in the food court, and a stop in the photo booth for those silly instant photos, we were off to both of our favorite store, Barnes and Noble! Tink had some birthday money to spend and that's where she wanted to spend it. She bought the original "Wizard of Oz", "National Velvet", and a book of Shakespeare stories. She's always loved Shakespeare and is constantly asking me to read her one of the story books that we have of his stories. She made me track her down another book full of his stories and it's beautiful! How many 8 year olds have even heard of Shakespeare?? She's a pretty amazing girl.

Jeremy and the other two stayed home and worked on the house. We're getting ready to put a sign in the yard and praying that the Lord will bring the people that He's chosen to buy our house soon. We know that the Lord has called us to Africa and raising support and selling a house is no problem for him! I can't wait to see Him work.

We'll be speaking in two different Sunday School classes in the morning so please pray that goes well. I'll keep you posted! Three churches have approached us about speaking so things are moving steadily alone. The Lord is Faithful! I am simply in AWE of Him!

Teachers Needed

We are so ready to be at ABC! I know the Lord will provide in His own timing. He is teaching us so very much through this fundraising process and we're learning to rely totally and completely on Him. It's so very humbling. At the same time our human emotions get in the way and we'd just jump on a plane tomorrow if we could.

I received an email from ABC the other day stating that they are still very much in need of teachers for this upcoming school year. They were hoping that our family would be there by August so that we could help fill that need. I have been assigned to a third grade class and I'd really love to be able to take those children. Oh, it's so hard. I know the Lord will provide!

Here is a little about the Academy: We are a small school (K-4 through 9th grade). We have about 300 students and growing. Our main objective is to offer a quality Christian education with good materials and resources from the United States. We keep tuition at a minimum by using volunteer teachers. We try to keep all our class sizes at 20. Our classes are 50% expatriot (any nationality other than Malawi) and 50% Malawian. We have Christian and non-Christians at our school. ABC Christian Academy is owned and governed by the AFrican Bible College Mission. We are always looking for Christian volunteer teachers to spend 1-2 years in Malawi and teach.

We are still looking for several teachers at the ABC Christian Academy for the upcoming academic year 2010-2011. We need one K-4 teacher, one Third grade teacher, a Sixth grade teacher, a P.E. teacher, and a middle school English teacher (grade 6th-9th).

If anyone feels led to serve the Lord in Malawi this upcoming school year (or anytime at all) please let us know and we'd be happy to put you in touch with someone who can answer any and all questions.

Please pray for us as we desire to follow the Lord in His calling. Pray that our support will arrive and that the Lord's people and His churches will see to it that His work is done in Malawi, Africa! God bless!