Volume 5, Issue 1

Dear Family & Friends,

We are still savoring the memories of a wonderful vacation in South Africa. Though we traveled over 5,000 miles, we had a restful time. We praise God for safe travel, and help with border crossings and vehicle problems, and the timely arrival of the van we had planned to collect from Durban and all the necessary transit permits. But mostly we thank God for relationships, drawing closer as a family and friends.

Speaking of relationships, we greatly anticipate the arrival of Jonathan, Erica and Anna Lloyd. We trust that God will multiply our efforts as a team with them. Please pray for God to give them comfort and peace in all of their relationships in this big transition. Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Love,
Doug, Barb, Seth, Steven, Sara, Susanna and Sharon

Please Note: Change of cell phone no: +265-8-515-197

Memorable Vacation in South Africa
About 3 am Jan. 10 we left home for South Africa. Jaco Leeuwner and Nathanael Fickett helped us to drive both VW vans. God helped us to fix the coil ground on one vehicle and secure the oil dip stick sleeve on the other en route and to have smooth border crossings. Tues. am we arrived at “Beit Shofar”, the missionary retreat and home of our hosts, Piet and Grace Boshoff, west of Pretoria.

The main business item that we attended to in Pretoria was the sale of the VWs. We arranged for our mechanic Jacques to store both vehicles until payment by buyer. Early Sat. am Jan. 15, we left Pretoria with the Boshoffs for the South Coast. God provided an auto-electrician to repair a seized alternator and we arrived before dark. At Club Hacienda in Shelley Beach we enjoyed the ocean, beach volleyball, used book stores, delicious meals and devotions led by each of the boys.

On Sat. am Jan. 22 we parted from the Boshoff’s, who returned home, and left for Cape Town. We traveled through the green hills of the Transkei and rested at the cottage of friends at beautiful Kayser's Beach, south of East London. Early Mon. am Jan. 24, we continued our journey to the Cape and arrived at the cottage of John and Ann McGrath in Kommetjie in time for a moonlit stroll on the beach.

There we visited Cape Point, the penguins at Boulders Beach, Table Mountain, the ocean front, the Kommetjie Lighthouse, the Jewish Museum and a winery. We returned to Pretoria on Jan. 31 in time for Doug and Steven to take an overnight bus to Durban to collect the Toyota Hiace mini bus. And despite some delays for vehicle permits, we got through Mozambique on the day our visas expired and back into Malawi Feb. 6.

Please pray for God to bless all those who helped to make this vacation possible.

New Vehicles
The week after vacation, both the used Hiace and the vehicle for the Lloyd’s, a new Toyota Hilux pickup, cleared customs and were registered in Malawi. Despite this process taking longer than we expected, we thank God for His provision of suitable transportation.

Please pray that God will help us to be wise stewards and that He would give us safety with these vehicles.

Consulting Bible Study Groups
We thank God for the ongoing work of the Bible Study groups begun in 2002 when we lived in this area. On one of his periodic visits last month, Doug was particularly impressed with the enthusiasm of members of a new group that has sprung up under the leadership of R.

R serves as co-pastor of an Antioch congregation with Pastor S. Though Doug mainly worked with S in the beginning, R observed the effectiveness of the chronological approach and used it in teaching his relatives. He now has a group of about 12 adults which includes a Muslim leader. They are so hungry for the Word of God that they have asked R to teach them five days a week. They review past lessons with absentees and newcomers. They ask many deep questions.

Please pray that God’s Word would bear much fruit. (See Is 55:11, Mt 13:23)

Open Door!
In December we asked the Lord to open a door to work in the area of a certain Traditional Authority (TA) and He did! He did more than we expected. On Friday, Dec. 17, we were surprised that the entire issue was resolved. The TA and his counselors agreed that we could work freely in the area and conduct Small Group Bible Studies!

Please pray that God would guide us to teach those whose hearts are the most open in this area.

Lessons on Romans in Chiyao
During the month of December, Doug completed adapting the Chronological Teaching lessons in simple English for the Book of Romans. While we were away in January, D completed the translation of these lessons into Chiyao. He has already begun to translate them into Chichewa, the national language, for use by existing churches in evangelism and discipleship.

Please pray for God to give Doug & D diligence as they write lessons on the Book of Ephesians. (See Rom 12:11)

Character Corner: Gratefulness

Meekness vs. Anger

Yielding my personal rights and expectations to God. My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. Psalm 62:5, NKJV

In the early morning these days our house echoes our children’s monthly theme song: “Is Your All on the Altar?” One verse says: Oh, we never can know what the Lord will bestow Of the blessings for which we have prayed, Till our body and soul He doth fully control, And our all on the altar is laid.

At the Clearing Company in Durban, Doug and Steven realized that the van they were collecting was not the one we had ordered. The Japanese dealer promised to check his paper work but we had no choice but to drive this vehicle out of South Africa. Though most of the features, including mileage, were similar, we were tempted to be angry because we had ordered a 4x4 and this was a 2x4 and because of possible fraud against us. God helped us to be truly happy and to see the benefits of it’s having better fuel consumption and fewer potential mechanical problems.

Please pray that the dealer will accept our appeal for a refund on the price.

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Upcoming Events:
Mar 12-16: Visit by Reg. Admin. Jake & Nancy Shenk before proceeding on to Mozambique
Mar 21-23: Lloyd's depart US for Malawi
Apr 12-15: BIC Africa Missionary Retreat with Ken Hoke, Antelope Park, Gweru, Zimbabwe
Apr 18-22: Language Learning Workshop (tentative), Nampula, Moz.

BICC Evangelistic Meetings
Mar 18-22: Mwalasi

It has always been my ambition to preach
the gospel
where Christ was not known...
(Rom 15:20a) NIV