WOW!!!! I can not believe a month has gone by and I have not updated you. SORRY.
I am in Lilongwa, Malawi in Southern Africa. I have been blessed to visit with Stella who is the African staff person for Willow Creek. I arrived on the 4th and drove with the World Relief staff to the city of Chatipa in Northern Malawi. Praise God I joined the Willow Creek team and spent four days hanging out with folks from home. We visited several of the WR projects that Willow has supported, spoke with women leaders and youth. We were blessed by some great drama and music from the youth about their life and involvement with WR programs. It was great to visit and be a part of what Willow's support has done. We visited water wells, passed out Bible to church leaders and students in the local language, visited AIDS patients and school kids.
On the PF side, I was able to continue to talk with a key leader about coming to the Global Summit in Sept. Their ministry experience and networking passion will bring needed insight to the meeting. I am very excited about the leaders who have agreed to join the Global Summit in Sept. Please keep praying for this meeting and all the details and funds that are needed. It will cost at least $1660 for each leader to join us. Please pray for us and join with us in supporting them.
APRIL 2008
Well, let me back track a minute and fill you in. During April I continued preparing leaders from Nyauhururu, Kenya for the Sept. meeting and worked on plans for a Northern Kenya mission trip and women's conference this coming July.
After returning to Nairobi there were a few more days of unrest, but so far everything has seem to calm down and return to "normal." I had an opportunity to travel to Uganda and visit Agape Global Mission. Tabitha and I spent a week speaking at a home for teen moms, at churches and schools.
One of my goals during these eight months is to invited the African delegation to the Global Summit in Sept. During my time in Uganda I have invited Dr. Lyn. She is on the MANI committee to mobilize African churches to missions. I am very excited that she is considering joining us. Please pray that God will open the doors for her to attend. She has a very busy schedule for this fall, but desires to join us.
On my way back to Kenya I stopped by Nyanza, Kenya. This area is the worst hit with the HIV/AIDS crisis. We were able to visit with 40 orphans and conduct a 2 day retreat for them. I performed physicals exams, Tabitha taught an HIV/AIDS awareness session and we toured a sugar factory. It doesn't start out so sweet. We left promising to cut out sugar from our diets. This is also the area that Senator Obama's father is from. We visited a school named after him.
I want to say again thank you so very much for your support and prayers. I am connecting in ways that could not been done before. God is working great land.
Please pray for the church leadership in Africa. Just like anywhere they have a great potential to do good for the Kingdom of God or harm against the people. We can uphold them and their families.
Please pray for the leaders that will be attending the Global Summit in Sept. They need funds, time to prepare for these intense four days and all the travel details.
Please continue to pray for me. My health is doing great and sleep is still a joke. The continued support that is needed ahead. I will not be returning home in August, but early Oct.
Please pray for the open opportunity to go to Tanzania and Ghana this July or August. There is a network of leaders that are open to mobilizing their churches for missions and I have been invited to speak with them. We are working out the details now.
THANK YOU!!!! for standing with me in ministry.
Esther