Urgent Prayer Request

I would like to ask everyone who reads our blog to pray for our safety. For the past few weeks, people have been coming over the wall and taking various items that are left outside. Thankfully, they haven't tried to get into any of the homes. Today during church, five bikes were stolen. Four of them were chained together. The thieves broke the lock with some type of bar and took the bikes. The other bike was chained to a brick post.

Love in Him,

LeAnne (for all 5 of us)

View Some Pictures

Photobucket Album

You can view our albums using the password "zikomo"

Christmas in February...

Well, not really. It's just that I am now finally getting some Christmas pictures on here. You can go to our photobucket and see all our pictures. Our username is 5slams and the password to view is zikomo. Please let me know if you want to see the pictures, but are unable to. Anyway, here are a few of the better ones. Hope you enjoy them. Check back often because I will be uploading more later.

Chrstmas Eve present opening. The girls get to choose one gift to open on Christmas Eve.

Amber Elizabeth chose a bracelet.

Molly Grace chose a notebook.

Sarah Rose chose Play-Doh.

The girls with Santa at the annual Christmas Party at the Ambassador's House.

We went over to the Dehnert's house (our next door neighbors) to sing Christmas carols.

Sarah Rose and Ford Jones

Amber Elizabeth and Ford Jones singing Christmas carols Christmas Eve.

Amber Elizabeth, Molly Grace, and Janelle Dehnert performing their ballet dance.

Amber Elizabeth walking around the corner. She is like her mama, not a morning person.

Amber Elizabeth with her journal.

Molly Grace with her iPod - her gift from Santa.

Molly Grace with her Hannah Montana DVD case.

Sarah Rose with her Elmo movie.

Sam with his Cadbury Wholenut bar he got in his stocking.

Sam with his guitar strings.

This is Megan Miller "McDonald" from Oregon. She spent last Christmas with us too. She is an honarary member of the family.

Megan again with her giraffe card from us. She loves giraffes as much as I do.

We love you!
LeAnne (for all 5 of us)

A Few Prayer Items

I just returned from Kachere Prison. Let's just say that Amnesty International knows about it. It's a small holding cell for teenage boys in Lilongwe, overcrowded, stench-laden, frightening, desparing. Thursday, we took Dr. Henry Krabbendam (evangelist, exhorter, scholar) there to share with the young men willing to gather. We were locked inside with the prisoners only a few moments when I began to notice a common trend that I had not seen before here in Malawi: living? skeletons. There were a number of them wearing only a torn rag for a loin cloth huddled in a corner. I assumed they were refugees from Congo who had been found and detained for illegal entry into Malawi. But we found out they were Malawian. They were thin beyond description, every bone exposed in their body, the look of exhaustion (maybe, death) on their face. I cannot assume they have very long left. I'm just asking that you help us pray for them. I plan on taking some of our students to help procure blankets and clothes, and some food. But we also pray as we give these things that they will throw their hope on the only one who can deliver them from this body of death.

I am preaching in the local churches again. It is exciting because the many are so eager. But their hearts are far from the Lord. Please pray for continued opportunities and for clarity of the message, and more importantly for the exposing of hearts, false religious motives, and torn motives that they will be melted by the gospel.

The Lord has really been opening opportunities for our college to minister into the Presbyterian church here recently, especially among its leadership. We ask prayer that a trusting relationship develop. We also ask for the conversions of many of its ministers. Without converted ministers, we can hardly expect converted laity. But we are expecting nothing less than reformation and revival.

Please also pray for our many students who continue (and always will) struggle financially.

Praise God for our lives, the service he has called us to, his equipping (especially the hardships which clarify our relationship with him), the support of our financially struggling churches and friends, and our family communion.

Malawi for Obama

My family and I recently visted a local gift-shop (notice, Chief Justice Roberts, the word order: "recently visited" = ADVERBIAL PHRASE) and noticed emblazoned on a rainbow of t-shirts a screen-printed face of President Obama with the words: "Malawi for Obama." I'm not sure Africa has seen a common hero like this since Muhammed Ali introduced his defensive 'rope-a-dope' in Zaire in 1974 against George Foreman. Everywhere we travel Malawians are excited about Obama, urban and village dwellers, for obvious reasons. Of course, our students were surprised when a visiting pastor from Los Angeles [who happens to be African-American] told them that he was "cautiously excited" (again, Chief Justice, adverb+verb=phrase) because of Obama's stance on a number of sensitive social topics. Here, politics are determined based on tribe, region, race, etc. Rarely are candidates parsed in such terms. Malawians just assumed race trumps convictions. Anyway, it was food for them as elections approach here in Malawi.

Which reminds me: As we watched (a number of ABC missionaries gathered around our television) the inauguration, there was one for sure moment of pride for me as an American. I was so proud of the many speakers who again, again, and again stressed the beauty of the American political transfer, emphasizing for the world to see our peaceful means. Yes, our politics can be bitter, but it is done with words and tampering with reputations. But here, with elections coming up, it was important for people to see that panga knives, clubs, and guns are not necessary. Thanks America for that lesson.

Sam