Thursday, June 16, 2011

STEAM XIX - Trumble Missionary Update - 3 August 2010

Greetings from the depths of the Malawian Winter!

We have now been in Malawi for more than 6 months and things are going well. The weather has been very pleasant and the break from school has been nice for Beth and the kids. For Beth, however, the break is over as she works toward getting things ready for a new school year that begins on August 17. The College classes begin the following week so things are going to get cranked up here pretty soon.

We took about a week and spent some time together as a family on vacation. We split our time between Zomba Mountain which was quite beautiful and cool (we had a fire burning in the fireplace for much of the time) and Blantyre where the country’s only operational movie theatre is located. We saw a movie which was fun. We saw Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (aka Nanny McPhee Returns in the USA). The “Big Bang” in the title is related to a bomb during World War II, not some Darwinian theory. For some pictures of our time on Zomba Mountain, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187259&id=650243390&l=655a80e761.

My responsibilities have increased and I’m now involved in some of the financial operations of the Clinic and the Christian Academy as well as the College. I’ve also been working some with immigration issues for new non-Malawian staff and lately I’ve become more involved in security issues. Last week Children of the Nations, a ministry with a location not far from the campus of ABC, had an incident. Dr. Ty Krehbiel, a doctor who is spending a few weeks in Malawi, related the story this way:

--saw a guard from "Children of the Nations" in clinic today, they got broken into last night. apparently it was 10-20 men, they beat him with clubs, got him before he could blow his whistle. then they went straight for the safes in their main office and then went door to door taking computer equipment and anything else that was valuable. --interesting side note, also saw a white woman who stepped on some glass while trying to get away (followed by a quick surrender), they stopped the heist to bandage her foot, took all her computer stuff but didn't do anything to her. so, apparently they got some moral boundaries, maybe?

Anyway, apparently there has recently been an uptick in crime in the area in which we live and on Thursday I attended a community meeting of leaders. The effort is sort of along the lines of a ‘Neighborhood Watch’ program but because the police presence is not as robust as one might hope, the group agreed that households in the area would each contribute a certain amount each month to help fund security efforts. The funds will be used to hire some staff to man roadblocks and do patrols. The meeting lasted almost 3 hours and was conducted almost entirely in Chichewa. Of the maybe 75-90 people in attendance, I was the only non-Chichewa speaker…a LONG meeting. However, I ended up on a committee and we’ve already met once and will meet again within the week. Additionally, I have been involved in some security meetings on campus over the last two days.

Overall, I have felt quite safe in Malawi and I don’t think we’re in a lot of danger on the campus of ABC but it’s true that we are fabulously rich by the standards of most Malawians and thus we could make attractive targets.

The Eppersons, a family of 5 (including grandma) moved onto the ABC campus within the last several weeks and have been a real blessing (read more about their ministry here: http://sites.google.com/site/eppersonmalawimission/). They have a 13 year-old-boy (Ryan) and a 9-year-old girl (Kimmy) and we see quite a bit of them. It is has been good for Jim to have a friend with whom he can spend time). Quite a few sleepovers have occurred. Our son Will turned 11 on Friday. The Eppersons came over and we had a Mexican meal. A couple of other boys from campus also came and spent the night.

It has been a busy school break as many “regular” ABC residents have been gone (either on furlough or back in the States for a while before returning soon) and there have been many visitors to the campus. Last week we had a container from the Stateside office in Mississippi arrive. It contained textbooks for the College and the Academy, as well as some desks for the Academy, some dental equipment for the Clinic, and an assortment of personal goods for various families, including ours. Follow this link for container-unloading pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=195255&id=650243390&l=ba52dfbdd3. One of the things that came on the container for us was the complete series of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and we’ve been watching about one episode per night and Ryan Epperson has been joining us (tonight some of us watched two episodes). Fun!

Watch these two videos to get a feel for what unloading a container at ABC is like:






2. Follow a box as it comes off the container and goes into the gym - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTXY4f_1hl0



Prayer Items

Praise:
· For the way that God has allowed us to adjust to our new lives in Malawi

· For the many new teachers and other staff who are joining the ministry for this coming academic year (and beyond)

· For continued good health

Requests:
· Security – pray for the safety of all on the campus and also those in the community. Pray that those who would wish us harm would be thwarted in their efforts and that ABC’s response to the security concerns would be a testimony within the community.

· The upcoming academic year – pray for the approximately 300 students at ABC Christian Academy (where Beth teaches and the kids attend) as well as the approximately 240 students (including about 80-90 new freshmen) who will be attending the College


God is using this ministry to prepare Africans for ministry and we are blessed to be a part of that. Through your prayer and financial support, you can also be a part of the ministry! Thanks for your continued prayers and financial support!

Missionarily,

Dan (for the Trumble family)



Beth and Will on a hike we took on Zomba Mountain. Keep in mind that this is in the midst of winter (it’s a bit different than winter in Colorado!)

Will on his birthday with his cake

In June we acquired 5 cats. A Momma and 4 kittens. During our vacation, one kitten went missing. The Sunday before last another one had a losing battle with a vehicle. Here are the two remaining kittens. Picture by Elizabeth.

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