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Beautiful Days
of Waiting
With
our departure for Malawi postponed, we’ve
gained many lessons about faith,
faithfulness, and waiting on the Lord.
We
wrote last time that we are staying in
the States a bit longer until the Lord
provides more financial supporters.
It wasn’t our original plan to be here
now, but it was God’s good and perfect
plan for us. We’re eager to share
some glimpses of why His plan is better!
 A
good friend told us that he believes that
God often provides a missionary’s final
training through the process of
support-raising. For us, those
lessons haven’t been about speaking in
front of people or living out of
suitcases, (though we’ve been doing those
a lot), but rather about disciplining our
minds and actions, trusting the Lord in
complete dependance, and seizing even the
uncertain moments for ministry.
But
one of our favorite lessons has been how
good and gracious God is in growing our
faith. On many recent days, our
faith has been stretched nearly to
its limit. But God has never
required more than the faith He’s given
us. We’ve gotten close to
doubting. We’ve even been close to
asking whether the Lord wants us to go to
Malawi at all. We’ve cried out for
God to make things clear to
us.
Every
single time we get to that point, God in
His extreme grace has reassured us He is
in control. Sometimes He’s used a
donation from someone with great
faith. Sometimes it’s encouragement
from Scripture or a godly friend.
But we’ve never had a chance to doubt
that He is still leading us.
We
know God is actively growing our faith in
Him, and He will stretch us more.
We know that this faith is not something
that we have conjured up, as though it is
courage with a new name. Rather,
this faith is based on God’s dependable
goodness. As we see more of His
plans and more of His goodness, our faith
is strengthened. It is a gift from
God, and that is one of the most
important lessons we have learned.
Throughout all of
these changes and lessons, we are still
confident that the Lord would have us
minister in Malawi. If anything,
this delay has strengthened our desire to
be there. As soon as the Lord
provides, we’ll be on our way
there. But until then, we’re
striving to make every day here count.
Meanwhile, in
Africa... 
There’s a lot
happening in Malawi right now.
First of all, the Biedebachs are
expecting baby #4 in June. Anita
had a serious illness, so the family all
went to South Africa a few weeks ago for
medical attention. She’s doing well
now, and she and the kids will stay in
South Africa until the baby is
born. Brian has responsibilities in
both places now: caring for his family in
South Africa; and preaching at the church
in Malawi and hosting a short-term team
from Grace Community Church. He’ll
be making a few trips back and forth in
the coming weeks.
 Please
pray for the Biedebach family as they are
apart and for the healthy delivery of
this new little one. Please also
pray for International Bible Fellowship,
that they would continue to grow in their
knowledge and love, and that the Lord
would continue to work salvation and
sanctification in their midst!
Home in a Box
(Some Assembly Required)
 Remember
this picture? That container of all
our possessions left our apartment in
Newhall in January and started its trip
towards Malawi. We just got word
that it was unloaded from the container
ship in Beira, Mozambique, on March 27th
(which means the Somali pirates didn’t
get it!) Its next journey will be
by truck, across notorious Mozambican
roads, to Lilongwe.
At
this point, we are thankful that Matt
probably won’t have to fly to Malawi to
sign for the container (as we were
originally told.) However, please
be praying that the Malawian government
will give Brian the paperwork he needs
this week, before he flies to South
Africa again, so that all our documents
are in order. Also, pray that we
won’t have to pay an unreasonable amount
of duty fees. We look forward to
making Malawi our home, and having our
furniture and clothes there is
exciting!
Thanks!
We
are so thankful for your support and
encouragement, and especially for the
stories we hear of your love for
missions, ministry, and the Lord!
And as always, we love to share with you
what we’re thinking about and what we’re
up to. Check it out on
the blog!
-
Matt and Rachel
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Floreen
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