| Carey�s Corner ~ Carey is growing by leaps and bounds! Each and every day we are amazed at how he is rapidly changing from a helpless baby to a determined little boy! We are still in process as far as the adoption goes, but are hopeful that soon after you receive this Christmas letter, he will be fully ours � what a Christmas present! On November 1st, we had a little celebration commemorating our first year with Carey (can you believe it has been a year already!?) It was a casual affair sharing some punch and cookies with our friends. We invited the social worker to join with us as well, after all, she has been a big part of Carey�s life this year. Although we had been praying all along for the adoption process, on this morning, since it was the one-year date, I changed our prayer. I asked God to specifically give the social worker a sense of urgency (we already have that sense of urgency, but I asked that SHE get it, and that we could get this whole process finished by the end of November. As Larry was driving her home, she turned to him and said, �I want to come back to your house on Monday to do the �in-home� evaluation so that I can complete the paperwork this week. That way we can contact the lawyer and go before the magistrate before the end of the month. IS GOD GOOD! OR WHAT!!! |
| Record Enrollments at African Bible College and ABC Academy! School opened for classes the first week of September. What was different was the size of the freshman class. Normally, we expect a class to contain about forty students; this year�s freshman class has more than sixty! They�re so big, they can�t meet in a regular classroom; they must meet for classes in either the chapel or the dining hall. As we were sharing in our last newsletter, we felt so badly at to be turning away so many potential students that we were looking at alternative ways of accommodating more students. The resulting decision was to invite a larger class of freshman to come. We began the new 2003/2004 school year with 62 freshman! The adjustments make things somewhat strained at times, but if additional students are given the opportunity to gain a Christian education, it will be well worth whatever adjustments are necessary! In this year�s class we have our first blind student. He comes with a fellow who helps him by typing his books and handouts and quizzes into Braille for him. Janet and I continue to have freshman students over for pizza on Fridays, but it will take a while before we finish having them over this year. I have the freshmen for world history; Janet has them for ethics. I don�t know how they�re doing in her course, but grades are high in history. Either the students got smarter, or the teaching got better (or maybe both). As director of outreach, the expanded student body has presented me with new challenges. The students, however, approach the opportunity for ministry in the community with the same alacrity and enthusiasm that they always have. I�m happy to report that after being expelled from Lilongwe Central Hospital last year, I talked to hospital officials and got us back in. I also had to explain to students that preaching is great for football stadiums, but not for hospital rooms with sick patients. The students in that ministry are now receiving instruction and supervision from the new hospital chaplain. We continue to work closely with the Navigators and with AWANA. I personally believe that these are two really productive programs. ABC Christian Academy started just a few years ago with just the elementary grades and nineteen students. This year, it goes through grade nine and has over 160 students. The curriculum and faculty are American, but the student body is thoroughly international. I look forward to the day when I see young Carey Brown walking to school in his blue and white (the school colors) uniform. |
| Bentry, there are goats in your church! The first weekend in October I took six ABC students into Mozambique for the purposes of doing evangelism, showing the Campus Crusade Jesus Film, and distributing Bibles. This time, Janet stayed behind with Carey. On this trip we worked with Bentry Mhango, an African Bible College graduate, class of 2000. He is working as an evangelist under the auspices of the Igreja Reformada em Mozambique (Reformed Church in Mozambique). Like all African pastors, he is responsible for a number of �prayer houses� spread out over a wide area. At least now he has a motorbike rather than a bicycle. The main group, next to his house, has grown from 70 to over 300 members since his arrival; this includes the chief. We showed the Jesus film the first night, and then I managed to pull the wrong plug and killed the projector (fortunately it�s been repaired and is being used again). I keep telling people that I�m a history teacher, not a technician. That night I lay in bed and listened to the Gule Wamkulu (literally, �Big Dance�) hoop and holler all night just outside Bentry�s house. This is a secret men�s society steeped in occultic traditional religion; they are very anti-Christian. Bentry, however, tells me that most of his new members come as converts from this group. The next morning, Bentry and I took a walk through the village and saw a group sitting around drinking beer � before 7 AM. Pigs roam around leaving fecal material everywhere and children run around barefoot. Later that day I was sitting in Bentry�s house and saw his church through the window. It�s a grass roof stuck on poles with hardened mud benches. I saw goats jumping from bench to bench. That�s when I said, �Bentry, there are goats in your church.� To everyone else there, it was a matter of total indifference. The last day, Sunday, I preached in Bentry�s church. I was stuck by the warmth and genuine commitment of the people. Most of them are young. Most of them are recent converts, who actively share their newfound faith with friends, family, and neighbors. I�m sure that I will be back with another group of ABC students. |
| Larry & Janet's Lilongwe Letter... 2003 Christmas Edition |
| 2003 Christmas Edition |
| We want to take this time to wish you all a most Holy and Joyous Christmas holiday season. Even across the many miles, our thoughts and love go out to you during this special time as we joyfully celebrate the birth of our Savior. |
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| Wishing you every happiness During this holy season and throughout The coming Year. |
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