Greetings!
13 years ago last night we were in the hospital giving birth to Jim, our firstborn (actually, Beth was giving birth and I was just standing there doing the “supportive husband” thing). He was born at 5:26 PM which was right about the same time as the beginning of Game 2 of the 1996 World Series between the Yankees and Braves. We are now the parents of a teenager! Yikes! Stephen, our youngest, turned 8 earlier in the month.
Plans continue to roll for our move to Malawi. Yesterday I talked with my boss about my departure from Compassion. My final day could be as soon as November 24 or I might end up doing some work still into December. However it works out, I’m down to my last few weeks at Compassion before departing for the mission field. It will be quite a change after 16 years! God willing, we plan to go to Iowa for Thanksgiving and then travel to Washington D.C. for a wedding on December 5. The boys will finish school on December 18 and we will depart for Iowa sometime during that next week (hopefully after celebrating Christmas early with family in Colorado). We will depart from Minneapolis on January 11 after spending some time with relatives in Iowa. Someone at work directed me to a travel agent who has obtained some outstanding prices for the six of us to fly to Malawi for less than $6000. If you have much experience with paying for airfare to Africa, you will appreciate this excellent price.
I have been in contact with an organization that will help us ship a container with household goods. We haven’t finalized those arrangements yet but hopefully will fill and ship the container within the next few weeks. There is a real chance that we will arrive in Malawi before our goods so we may have the opportunity to exercise some “missionary flexibility” right off the bat.
There are still some questions about our financial support but we are confident that we are in God’s hands and that He will provide for our needs. When we look at the committed (and communicated) ongoing financial support, we are at about 45% of our overall goal but there are still people out there who have said that they will support us financially but for whom we do not yet have an amount. We have received some encouraging news on the fundraising front over the last couple of weeks. Thank you to those of you who have already agreed to provide financial support!. Of course, additional support would be very welcome. Please pray about how God might be leading you in that regard. We also face some significant up-front costs including the airfare, the shipping of household goods, and getting set up once we are in Malawi (including the purchase of a vehicle). The jobs we will be filling in Malawi are full-blown missionary positions. We will receive no salary for the work that we do. We need faithful prayer and financial supporters like you!
On the evening of September 20 we did a presentation to people at church. On October 1 I had an opportunity to briefly address some church leaders and I have done several presentations to people at work. Tomorrow, Friday October 23, I am the speaker at the Grace Presbyterian Church annual men’s steak fry (if you are a man and are in the Colorado Springs area, you are welcome to join us…contact me for details). It looks hopeful that we may be able to present our ministry to another church on November 15. If your church would be interested in hearing about our ministry in Malawi, please let us know!
Finally, let me encourage you to follow these links to learn about “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”. He is an amazing young man from Malawi and several years ago he spent some time at ABC Christian Academy (the Christian school that is part of the African Bible College ministry in Malawi and where Beth will be teaching).
Video Clip: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-7-2009/william-kamkwamba
Article: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/10/05/malawi.wind.boy/index.html
Prayer Items:
Praise
· For God’s sovereign plan. He’s in control. We are not in control. And it’s okay!
· For the faithful prayer and financial support that God is raising up for us. We now have more than 450 names on our update list including many Compassion friends from all over the world.
· For four pretty neat kids.
Requests
· Please continue to pray for Jim. As of yesterday, he is a teenager and that can be a tough time of life. If your parents move you to Africa in the middle of your 7th grade year, that can be cause for some anxiety.
· That the details for everything would continue to come together. This is a pretty daunting process!
· That our hearts would be focused on doing what God wants for us and that we would find joy in obedience to Him.
· Health – pray that God would keep us healthy as we work through the process of getting to Malawi.
Thank you for your support!
Dan
for the Trumble family
email: Trumble.STEAM@gmail.com
blog: www.trumble-steam.blogspot.com
phone: (719) 635-5109
13 years ago last night we were in the hospital giving birth to Jim, our firstborn (actually, Beth was giving birth and I was just standing there doing the “supportive husband” thing). He was born at 5:26 PM which was right about the same time as the beginning of Game 2 of the 1996 World Series between the Yankees and Braves. We are now the parents of a teenager! Yikes! Stephen, our youngest, turned 8 earlier in the month.
Plans continue to roll for our move to Malawi. Yesterday I talked with my boss about my departure from Compassion. My final day could be as soon as November 24 or I might end up doing some work still into December. However it works out, I’m down to my last few weeks at Compassion before departing for the mission field. It will be quite a change after 16 years! God willing, we plan to go to Iowa for Thanksgiving and then travel to Washington D.C. for a wedding on December 5. The boys will finish school on December 18 and we will depart for Iowa sometime during that next week (hopefully after celebrating Christmas early with family in Colorado). We will depart from Minneapolis on January 11 after spending some time with relatives in Iowa. Someone at work directed me to a travel agent who has obtained some outstanding prices for the six of us to fly to Malawi for less than $6000. If you have much experience with paying for airfare to Africa, you will appreciate this excellent price.
I have been in contact with an organization that will help us ship a container with household goods. We haven’t finalized those arrangements yet but hopefully will fill and ship the container within the next few weeks. There is a real chance that we will arrive in Malawi before our goods so we may have the opportunity to exercise some “missionary flexibility” right off the bat.
There are still some questions about our financial support but we are confident that we are in God’s hands and that He will provide for our needs. When we look at the committed (and communicated) ongoing financial support, we are at about 45% of our overall goal but there are still people out there who have said that they will support us financially but for whom we do not yet have an amount. We have received some encouraging news on the fundraising front over the last couple of weeks. Thank you to those of you who have already agreed to provide financial support!. Of course, additional support would be very welcome. Please pray about how God might be leading you in that regard. We also face some significant up-front costs including the airfare, the shipping of household goods, and getting set up once we are in Malawi (including the purchase of a vehicle). The jobs we will be filling in Malawi are full-blown missionary positions. We will receive no salary for the work that we do. We need faithful prayer and financial supporters like you!
On the evening of September 20 we did a presentation to people at church. On October 1 I had an opportunity to briefly address some church leaders and I have done several presentations to people at work. Tomorrow, Friday October 23, I am the speaker at the Grace Presbyterian Church annual men’s steak fry (if you are a man and are in the Colorado Springs area, you are welcome to join us…contact me for details). It looks hopeful that we may be able to present our ministry to another church on November 15. If your church would be interested in hearing about our ministry in Malawi, please let us know!
Finally, let me encourage you to follow these links to learn about “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”. He is an amazing young man from Malawi and several years ago he spent some time at ABC Christian Academy (the Christian school that is part of the African Bible College ministry in Malawi and where Beth will be teaching).
Video Clip: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-7-2009/william-kamkwamba
Article: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/10/05/malawi.wind.boy/index.html
Prayer Items:
Praise
· For God’s sovereign plan. He’s in control. We are not in control. And it’s okay!
· For the faithful prayer and financial support that God is raising up for us. We now have more than 450 names on our update list including many Compassion friends from all over the world.
· For four pretty neat kids.
Requests
· Please continue to pray for Jim. As of yesterday, he is a teenager and that can be a tough time of life. If your parents move you to Africa in the middle of your 7th grade year, that can be cause for some anxiety.
· That the details for everything would continue to come together. This is a pretty daunting process!
· That our hearts would be focused on doing what God wants for us and that we would find joy in obedience to Him.
· Health – pray that God would keep us healthy as we work through the process of getting to Malawi.
Thank you for your support!
Dan
for the Trumble family
email: Trumble.STEAM@gmail.com
blog: www.trumble-steam.blogspot.com
phone: (719) 635-5109
