a most incredible God moment

I was brought to tears at supper tonight. I was invited to join two of our team members, several Credit Union employees and an exchange employee of a Credit Union in Lilongwe,Malawi. As we made each others' acquaintance and heard what our new friend Mervis does at Finco in Lilongwe, God was there. Her Credit Union (Finco) is in Kawale, Lilongwe - the community we will be working in the first week of our stay. One of her roles is to teach a 4-6 week budgeting course to people who wish to begin their own business. The participants are then asked to "gather" in groups of at least 10, get a business loan, continue providing progress reports, and repay their loan in 6 months. The exciting part of all this is- she knows the language, can teach budgeting during the day time hours, and all a no charge. It is part of her job. How much better can it get?

Mervis returns to Lilongwe July 9th and we arrive July 29th. It will be awesome reconnecting with her in Malawi. She has also offered to teach us how to train women to make polish - a request of the Kawale leadership. I love it when God surprises us. Networking like tonight - arranged by one of our awesome prayer warriors - is amazing affirmation to me that God cares about every detail of our involvement in Malawi to help the orphans and widows affected by HIV/AIDS.

Our last official team meeting

Our "new and improved" team for Malawi 2011. So glad Leona and Liz have joined us and look forward to being the "hands and feet of Jesus " together. Our last team meeting finished today with a focus on approaching our mission experience with EXPECTANCY - which promotes openness to change, encountering Jesus and a positive perspective regardless of the circumstances and outcomes of the event; as opposed to EXPECTATIONS that can lead to frustrations and minimize our effectiveness and openness to divine revelation. Our next get together is July 21 to pack our "ministry supply suitcases" and then we leave July 27. After all these months, we only have to turn the calendar page once more to be on our way. God continues to guide us each step of the way.

We so appreciate your prayers. We are thrilled to know that our prayer support team is at least 90 strong ( 10 for each team member). What an army of warriors we will be to spread the love of Jesus to the widows and orphans affected /infected by HIV/AIDS - you here in Canada and us in Malawi. Thank you for ministering with us! Blessings.... Lydia for the team