Getting Ready-

Our months of planning and preparation are almost over. Since visiting Malawi for the first time last fall we have become involved with Ministry of Hope, a Christian organization providing orphan care there, and felt lead by the Lord to start a second crisis nursery for infant orphans in Malawi. We will leave on Tuesday, May 30^th from Seattle, flying to JFK, on to Johannesburg, South Africa and finally to Lilongwe, Malawi. We will stay in Lilongwe for a couple of weeks to familiarize ourselves with the operation of the crisis nursery there, look for a car and other furnishings before heading north to our ultimate destination of Mzuzu.

While we have spent the last few weeks here making lists, buying, packing and repacking our 16 pieces of luggage, the Lord has been at work at the other end of our trip getting things ready there. We were put in contact with a missionary family in Mzuzu (Jim & Jodi McGill) that have been amazing in providing help for us. A house was found and rented, beds built and moved in, tables, chairs and other furnishings found and made ready for us when we arrive. The Lord is truly gracious, as I wondered how I would break it to the family that we would be sleeping and eating on the floor for a few days when we arrived, but now get to rejoice in all He has done for us through the McGills!

As we complete our final preparations, please pray that we will have a smooth journey and receive wisdom for all that we must do before being ready to assist the orphan children we are going there for. There are many pitfalls to encounter on the road to our goal- sluggish government agencies, people to hire that will help, materials to acquire, diseases to avoid, and dangerous roads to travel. But we know God will be with us through all. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Psalm 91:2