Orphan boy with his blanket

This little boy warmed our hearts at the orphan care program last week. He was smiling, waving and probably would have gone home with us, no problem. He loved his new blanket and was barely big enough and strong enough to carry it, but he wouldn't allow anyone else to take it from him. What a joy we had in serving Jesus that day!

What a sweet boy!

The house we stayed in at the village

Larry preparing to preach in the village

Thankful for the Lord's provision!

This past weekend we traveled to a remote village to do a "seminar." I (Mandy) was teaching the group of ladies from Proverbs 31 and realized that even though I tried to speak on a level they could understand, they really couldn't understand. This is because there were no Bibles in the churches there. They lacked even some basic teaching from Scripture. Six churches were represented and there may have been only one pastor out of all of them with a torn up Bible. I was about to burst into tears and it was one of those times I had to totally rely on God for strength to continue. Fortunately I had a Malawian pastor's wife with me who had a Bible and knew more than the average Malawian woman about the Bible. She was able to step in for me and answer their questions in a way for them to understand. I promised the ladies that we would be getting Bibles into the hands of the pastors as soon as possible. Little did I know that one of the pastors who accompanied us had brought 12 Bibles that he had left over from a box we had given him. Another pastor who also accompanied us had brought 12 hymn books which they also so desperately needed. It was so uplifting to see how happy those six pastors were to receive these new Bibles - two for each church. We were told that they spent the entire night preaching and singing their praises to God. They didn't go to bed the entire night! Praise God for His provision!

One very thankful girl, receiving her blanket this week.

We were so blessed this past week to give out blankets to 40 orphans in our orphan program. Mandy's cousin, Ronda's son, Ian Frances recently had a birthday. Instead of presents, he asked that money be donated for the orphans in Malawi. He raised enough for us to purchase 40 blankets. Ronda and Ian's hearts were stirred this past March when we visited them in North Carolina. They had many questions about village life in Malawi and wanted to do something for orphans who are living in severe poverty in our orphan program. When we received the money and emailed them about what we wanted to do, here's what they said, "I just cried when I read your e-mail. I told Ian and he was very happy to hear the news. He had such a big smile on his face." God bless Ian for sacrificing so these kids can be warm at night.

The New Car!

BACK HOME AT LAST!!

We landed in Malawi on May 2nd. The weather is cooling off now and we will prepare for "winter." The temps right now are in the 70s (F) during the day and 50s at night - great sleeping weather. Malawi generally doesn't get freezing temperatures, but when it hits the 40s at night, we feel it. We usually don't need heat in the house, but have a space heater to use when it gets so cold at night.



This year Malawi did not get sufficient rainfall and the crops did not produce enough food. We are anticipating a hard famine season beginning as early as October.



The pastors from Blantyre visited us this past weekend to greet us and update us on the new church - Mphanda Christian Church in Mphanda village. The people are so hungry for God's Word and are begging us to come soon to teach them. We are also eager to begin.



Please pray that we will have a dependable vehicle soon. Each day, Larry goes out to shop, but comes home with the same story. We just can't afford the vehicle that seems like it will last for a few years.



We are so excited to be back in Malawi and we are praying for fresh passion and vision for ministry. It will be exciting to see how God will continue to work in us and through us. We feel so inadequate, but rely on His all-sufficient Grace. It is when we are weak that He is strong.

Larry has knee surgery!

Larry's knee surgery was a success and he is home recuperating. The doctor found some torn cartilage, arthritis and removed the meniscus. He'd been having pain off and on since we've been in Florida and we are so glad that he took the time to get it checked out. The date that we are returning to Malawi has changed and we are waiting for the tickets to be returned from South African Airlines, but we will be heading back the end of April. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for Larry's recovery.