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Malawi Christian MissionSteve and Vonnie Skaggs

3

FORWARDING AGENTS' ADDRESS

Arf & Ginny Liphard534 Swan Drive

Fortville, IN 46040(317) 485-6818

SKAGGS' FURLOUGH ADDRESS

Steve & Vonnie SkaggsM P.O. Box 742

Grayson, KY 41143(606) 474-3439

Our New Addition

Hitting theRoad Again

Plans for Return

Change inForwarding Agents

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992 NEWSLETTER

Greetings from the Skaggs family. As you can see from the enclosedbirth announcement, we have grown to a family of four since we wrote you atChristmas time! Sigrid Victoria Skaggs was born on 29 January 1992.Although the circumstances at this birth, like Graham's, were somewhatunusual, both Vonnie and Sigrid are doing very we!!!! We were so happy thatVonnie and Sigrid were able to come home from the hospital on 01 February.The transition from one child to two has gone really well so far. Sigrid seemsto be a good-natured baby . .. and we are thankful for that!!

Things are beginning to pick up once again in our traveling schedule.The first part of January was quite busy, as is the last part of February. As welook ahead, we anticipate our speaking schedule being quite full until ourdeparture for Malawi. Now that the baby has been born, we are free to finalizeall speaking plans. If you are a supporter and you have not heardfrom us about arranging a time for us to visit your church to reportabout the work in Malawi, please forgive the oversight and give usa call at the phone number listed above, if your church or churchgroup would like to have us share with you about the work in Malawi, speakfor a special gathering, or speak at a revival, faith promise, etc., please feelfree to contact us-but please do so ASAP as our schedule will fill up quicklynow.

As we look to the future and to our return to Malawi, we are beginning tomake tentative travel plans. We are anticipating a departure date during themonth of June 1992. During the months before our return to Malawi, we needto raise funds to go toward housing expenses in Malawi and funds to replaceour vehicle.

As we close our newsletter, we want to express our sincere thanks toJim and Bev Sivits, who have been our forwarding agents since we beganraising support to go to Malawi in 1988. They have done a fantastic job as ourforwarding agents. They have gone "above and beyond the call" in manyways, and they have sacrificed so much of their time and energy so that thework of Malawi Christian Mission could run smoothly . . . and all their work hasbeen volunteer!!. Due to the great time demands of being a forwarding agent,however, Jim and Bev are discontinuing their work as our forwarding agents.We are asking that all of our friends and supporters please consider sendingthe Sivits a note of appreciation for all of their hard work for MOM! As a resultof this change, please note that as of 01 February 1992 all correspondenceand contributions should be sent to our new forwarding agents, Art and GinnyLiphard. Their address is listed above.

MALAWI

THE WARM

HEART OF

AFRICA

FIELD ADDRESS

Steve and Vonnie Skaggs

P.O. Box 2500

Blantyre, MALAWI

AFRICA

(265) 635691

FORWARDING AgENTS

Art and Glnny LIphard

534 Swan Drive

Fortville. IN 46040

(317)485-6816

jQear Friends,

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSIONSteve and Vonnie Skaggs, Missionaries

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992 NEWSLETTER

(greetings from Malawi! We pray that all of you are doing well and that God Isblessing you in this new year. We certainly feel that this new year is going to be a yearof many challenges and opportunities, and we hope that you will be praying that God willstrengthen us to stand up to those challenges and make the best use of theopportunities He presents us.

:eve, along with Cash Lowe, successfully made the drive back from South Africawith the new Toyota Ventures (the Lowe's also purchased one). Wow, what a trip-about 1500 miles! We are really pleased with the Ventures so far. Although they arejust two-wheel drive, they seem to be doing very well . . . and we can finally all ridetogether comfortably as a family!!!! We praise the Lord that we were able to get thevehicle. Because the vehicles were ready to pick up at the factory a little earlier than weexpected, we secured a loan for the vehicles. We are planning on selling the old ToyotaHilux to cover the costs of the new Venture. We have been delaying selling the Hilux sothat the interns could have access to it while they were here In Malawi, but now we arepraying that It will sell quickly.

3ln late January a team of three intern families began arriving in Malawi. These threefamilies are all hoping to return to Africa In the near future to be a permanent part of ateam of missionaries reaching out to the Makua tribe in northern Mozambique andsouthern Tanzania. As we mentioned in our last newsletter, this tribe is regarded as thelargest unreached people group practicing animistic tribal religion in the world. We,along with Cash and Lisa Lowe, are hosting the interns. We are housing two familiesfor the six-week internship. Cash and Lisa Lowe are located here in Malawi and are thefirst permanent missionary family locating in Africa seeking to get this Makua team offthe ground. The intern families are Josh and Minda Kelsey, Jeff and LoisWhytsell, and Roger and Trena Leib. Please be praying for this new work as it is ofsuch importance to the Kingdom.

%OD'S PEOPLE HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR AFRICA!!! We can really tell. So manypeople have been praying about the drought situation here ... and the Lord is answeringthose prayers. We have had what seems to be an excellent rainy season here. We arehearing reports from all over that the rains were good and that the crops were alsogood. Praise the Lord for this big answer to prayer.

JVlthough the crops are looking good, we haven't quite come to the time of harvestyet. Therefore, we have still been having a lot of requests for food assistance.Although we have had no special funds set aside for this, we have been trying to assistin some areas with maize. We anticipate that harvest time will come soon and there willbe adequate food for all.

3t has been an interesting January and February for the Skaggs family. Vonniedecided to celebrate her birthday in mid-February in a very unusual way—she had areoccurrence of MONO! The past few months have been very stressful and busy andthey Just took their toll on Vonnie. Vonnie started off with an ear and throat Infectionand Just got more fatigued from there. Vonnie is beginning to do much better, althoughshe still tires easily.

And in the "when it rains it pours" department about the same time Vonnie gotsick, Graham had a nasty fall of some steps at a playground and fractured his collarbone!!! I couldn't believe it! Perhaps the most interesting part of the incident was gettingan X-ray done. Graham and I made contact with a doctor friend of ours and went down tothe big public hospital in town. To be honest, the hospital was quite smelly and disgusting.There were so many people there to be treated. And when we got in to have the X-raydone, we discovered what seemed to be an old, not very well maintained machine. Afterlearning that his collar bone was indeed fractured, we were Instructed to keep Graham's armin a sling for three weeks . . . sure! I challenge anyone to try to get a two-year old to keephis arm in a sling for three weeks!! But we are trying and Graham seems to be doing verywell.

As for SIgrid and Steve, they seem to be doing very well. Sigrid is growing somuch, and getting a little cuter and a little sharper every day.

The financial report for 1992 is now available from our forwarding agent. It wasanother incredible year. Certainly we can rejoice at how the Lord provided for our needsduring 1992. If you would like to receive a copy, feel free to give him a call or write him.

33ffe ask that you really be praying for us and for our future work. The Lord isopening up new avenues of ministry for us. We feel quite humbled at some of the incrediblenew doors that the Lord is opening for us. Please be"praying for us as we seek His guidanceas to how we would be best used to serve in His Kingdom.

please be praying for the efforts of the Makua team as they share a few weekstogether here In Blantyre. Pray that the Lord will direct the team as they continue to seekout the best way in which to reach out to the Makua tribe.

Îffe pray that God will bless each of you as you seek to serve Him where you are.And as we look back of 1992, we wish to say thank you so much to those of you whocontributed financially to Malawi Christian Mission. So many of you have given so faithfully,and so many of you have sent special gifts for special needs, such as for the housing fund.Thank you so much for your confidence In us and in our ministry. God bless you all!

Yours in Him,

Steve, Vonnie, Graham, and Sigrid

//a 155

ANNOUNCING

THE BIRTH

OF OUR

DAUGHTER:

SIGRID

VICTORIA

SKAGGS

STEPHEN & VONNIE SKAGGS (and Graham)MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

P.O. BOX 742

GRAYSON, KY 41143(606) 474-3439

^ '^1..i. •

" I'i a!" t

^• i

w':.-".i.> '-^'i- \ ^ jr ^ t

Sigrid Victoria Skaggs

Name: Sigrid Victoria SkaggsWeight: 5 lbs. 9 oz.Length: 18.5 in.

Date of Birth: 29 January 1992Place of Birth: Huntington, WVA

We are so pleased to announce to you, ourfriends, the birth of our little girl. Thisannouncement comes to you a little earlier than wehad expected. Sigrid was born by Caesarean Sectionapproximately four weeks early. Vonnie hadexperienced leakage of the fluid around the babyand had been in the hospital for a week and a halfbefore the baby's birth. The doctors waited as longas possible to deliver Sigrid to insure that her lungswould be adequately developed, but on the 29th,they felt they could delay no longer.

We praise the Lord that both Vonnie and

Sigrid are doing GREAT!!! Sigrid's was perfectlyhealthy at birth and has continued to be a perfectlyhealthy baby. As you might guess, Vonnie has beenquite sore from the Caesarean, but is progressingrapidly.

As for Graham and Steve, they are just tooexcited to have another woman in the house!

Graham seems to especially enjoy his little sister,often giving her little kisses and gentle pats.

We say a special thanks to all of our friendsand relatives who were praying for all of us.Certainly, your prayers proved effective!!! Godbless you all!!

Malawi Christian MissionSteve and Vonnie SkagRS

FORWARDING AGENTS' ADDRESS

ART & GINNY LIPHARD

534 SWAN DRIVE

FORTVILLE, IN 46040(317) 485-6818

SKAGGS' FURLOUGH ADDRESS

STEVE & VONNIE SKAGGS

P.O. BOX 742

GRAYSON, KY 41143(606) 474-3439

Skaggs FamilyReturns to Malawi

in June

Buying Supplies

Funds UrgentlyNeeded For Housing

Introducing our NewForwarding Agents

1991 MCM

FinancialReport Available

MARCH/APRIL 1992 NEWSLETTER

Our return to Malawi is coming very quicklyI We are scheduled to depart forMalawi on June 10th. We are hoping to have a very exciting trip back as we stop tovisit one of Steve's good friends from back home in Kentucky who is working inGermany. Please beprayingfor us that it will bea safe journey and that Graham andSigrid will travel well

We have already begun preparing for our return for Malawi in many ways ...but there is so much more to do! At times we really feel overwhelmed. We have begunshopping for all of the personal and mission supplies to take back to Malawi.

There are many kinds of supplies we are buying to take back. Some of themajor ones are (1) clothes-the most challenging part of this is trying to guess whatsizes the kids will be wearing for the next two+ years!!, (2) office supplies, especiallycomputer needs, and (3) household needs.

Please be prayingfor us that our endurance and our funds will hold out!

Aswe prepare to gobackto Malawi, there is one areaofgreatneed that weighsvery heavily upon our minds: our housing situation. As we have shared with all ofourfriends and supporters during our mission presentations, the price of rental housing ismore than we can afford ($1400+/ month). If we are to be tihe best stewards of theLord's money, or in fact, if we are going to avoid financial crisis while we are on thefield, we must raise the funds to build or buy a house. We are estimating that wewill need approximately $35,000. We ask that you will keep this need in your prayersand that you will consider making a special donation toward the cost of a house. Ifyou wish to do this, pleasesend the donation to ourforwarding agent and designate it"house fund."

In our last newsletter, we shared with you that Art and Ginny Liphard tookover as our new forwarding agents starting in February. As we had expected, they aredoing a wonderful job. Art and Ginny are members of the Cumberland ChristianChurch in the Indianapolis area, where Art is an elder. They have been activelysupporting and encouraging the work of Malawi Christian Mission for several years.They have always expressed a great interest in the work and have kept abreast of ouractivities there. In November 1991 they were able to visit Malawi for about twoweeks. During that time. Art was able to travel quite broadly preaching among thechurches in each main area. They look forward to sharing their experiences in Malawiwith churches and groups. We pray that God will bless them as they further investtheir time and energies into the work of MCM. Welcomeaboard. Art and Ginny!!

We want to make a special note that our 1991 MCM Financial Report isavailable for anyone who wishes to receive one. You may obtain one by contacting usor our forwarding agents.

MALAWI

THE WARM

HEART OF

AFRICA

FIELD ADDRESS

P O Bo* 2500

Blanlyie, MalawiAiiica

Phona 635691

FORWARDING AGENTS

Artand Ginny Liphatd534 Swan Oiive

Foilvitio, IN 46040(317)485^18


JULY/AUGUST 1992 NEWSLETTER

BACK TO MALAWI

We had a great trip back to Malawi. We wereable to stop over in Frankfurt, Germany and visitwith John and Lesley Pendleton. John is Steve'shigh school buddy who is working with the U.S.government in Frankfurt. We were able to visitsome absolutely beautiful sites there. While wewere in Frankfurt, our friends loaned us their car sothat we could drive across the border to

Lichtenburg, France to see Jean Claude andGabrielle Schmidt and family. The Schmidts aremembers of First Christian Church in Russell,Kentucky. Since they were going to be in Francevisiting their family while we were passing throughEurope, we planned to get together. What anexciting time we had visiting with the Schmidts andJean Claude's brother's families. We had a greattime of fellowship as they are all Christians—a raretiling in France, where there are so few Christians.

Graham and Sigrid traveled very wellconsidering the length of the journey. Our realdifficulty was juggling the kids and all of ourluggage while going through airports and gettingon and off of planes. Even though we wereshipping some boxes over, we were trying to take asmany things with us as possible. You should haveseen us! We were "wearing" the kids in childcarriers and carrying as much as we could (actuallymore!).*INSIDE THIS NEWSLETTER... Drought 3

Back to Malawi 1 New Family Coming 4Settling into the Work 2 A Note from Vonnie 5Housing Update 3 Prayer Needs 7

Our biggest shockwas when we were at the

airport in Europepreparing for our flighton to Malawi. Althoughwe had had no problemson our previous flights,the airline suddenly saidwe were overweight onour luggage. To say theleast, we were quite

'upset, but we had nooption but to pay theexorbitant cost of $500 toget our things on toMalawi.

We were met at the

airport in Lilongwe byfellow missionary JeffKennedy, who drove uson to Blantyre ... a fourhour drive. Needless to

say, we were exhaustedwhen we finally reachedhome, but we were veryglad to be back. Wepraise the Lord that Heanswered the prayers ofso many who werepraying for a safejourney for us.*

SETTLING INTO THE WORK

Since we have been

back in Malawi, we havebeen settling into thework again. Thingsstarted off very slowly asword spread among thechurches of our arrival,but they are picking upnow. Actually this was ablessing as it gave ustime to rest and unpack.Steve is in the processnow of havingdiscussions with JeffKennedy, the otherChristian Church/Church of Christ

missionary here, abouthow the work will be

handled between us. It is

great to have some helpwith the enormous work

here. One greatdisappointment on gur-return to Malawi,however, was thatBoniface Lapukeni, whowas working closelywith Steve as an

interpreter/ secretary,found other employmentwhile we were away.Steve has someone to

help out temporarily, butis looking for a qualityfellow to help out on apermanent basis. Wehope that you will bepraying that God willguide Jeff and Steve in

their discussions andthat He will help us find

a quality person to beinterpreter/ secretar\\ •

HOUSING FUND/HOUSING SITUATION UPDATEThe balance in the

housing fund currentlystands at just over 57000.U'e \vant to say a specialthanks to those of vouwho have sent specialdonations. The goal wehave set for the fund is535/000. We setthis amountthinking that if

they will be coming toMalawi to settle theiraffairs here before

returning to settle in the

USA. At that time, sincethe housing fund seemsto be off to a sluggishstart, we will have some

very difficultdecisions tomake

cerningfutureWill the

provide

housing funds?Will he provide us ahouse to rent at a pricethat is possible for us, toafford?

We ask all of you, ourfriends and supporters,to make this a matter of

urgent prayer. IVe alsoask that you prayerfullyconsider whether Godwants you or yourchurch to be part ofmeeting this urgent needby sending a donation.

we reached this

figure, it wouldbe possible tocome up withany additionalfunds needed to build orbuy without loo great ofa difficulty.

Since we are stillvery far from reachingthe goal, we are at thispoint watching andwaiting for the Lord toprovide and guide. Weare currently renting Billand Jackie Brant's houseand we will definitely beaê to rent it throughSeptember. At that time

We ask all ofyou, ourfriends andsupportei's, to makethis a matter ofurgent prayei'.

con

cur

here.

Lord

more

DROUGHTThe last rainy season in this part of Africa.

was a very poor one here The drought has made

life very hard for thesealready poor people.Across the border in

war-torn Mozambique,the situation is much

worse. Since

we are at peacehere in

Malawi,international

aid is able tobe received and

distributed easily, and itis much needed. JeffKennedy and I will behelping as much as

Another yearof drought wouldbe devastating ...

possible. Jeff has alreadybeen working withI.D.E.S., who have beensending in funds toprovide food for those in

need. Please

be praying forthis situation—

especially thiscoming rainyseason.

Another year of droughtwould be devastating tothis country that relies soheavily onagriculture.*

NEW FAMILY COM!NG TO MALAWI

We are very pleasedto share with you thatCash and Lisa Lowe,along with their new sonSawyer, will be comingto Malawi in the next few

months to be part of thework. Their emphasiswill be on the manyMozambican refugeeshere in Malawi (there areover one million of them

and more are coming asthe drought conditionsworsen in

Mozambique!). Theirintention is to focus on

church planting amongthe refugees and

hopefully enterMozambique when thesituation there becomes

peaceful enough to doso. We are very excitedabout their coming, asthe refugees are an areaof urgent need in a workthat is alreadyoverwhelming. Pleasepray for them as theyprepare to come and aswe work through gettingall of the properpaperwork run throughto get permission fromthe government for themto come.

A NOTE FROM VONNIE

I wanted to take a

moment to add a more

personal note to thisnewsletter. We want to

thank all of you whotouched our lives in verypersonal ways while wewere home. Thanks to

the many who openedtheir homes to us, andthose who took us out to

eat. Also thanks to the

many who sent lovelygifts not only for Sigridbut also for Graham.

Most of all we

enjoyed thetimes when

we actuallygot to sit andvisit with

many who wehad corresponded with.Seeing and being withyou was such a blessing.A special thank you toeach of you whoremembered us in

prayer and with cardswhen Steve, and then I,was in the hospital. Ourfurlough was made extraspecial with manyreunions with our

supporting churches andsupporters. It was goodto see and be with you.

Well, now, we areback in Malawi. It is

good to be back. Ourfirst days here were verychilly, with lows in the40's, and we reallymissed central heat. But

we've been having muchwarmer days since.

Graham is delightedto be back in Malawi,and spends most of histime outdoors with "his"

dogs that he didn'trealize he had until our

return. Our

being unsettled while

in the States

took its toll on

the little

fellow and he

is really thriving well inhis newly settledenvironment.

Sigrid also seems tobe thriving. She hasstayed a relatively smallbaby—not abnormally,just in comparison withher brother when he was

at tliis age. She has a realdelight for life and smilesat anyone. She is veryeager to be up andabout—I think that comes

from watching her

We want to thankall of you whotouched our lives invery personal wayswhile we were home.

brother run about!! BothSigrid and Graham'sappetites have reallyincreased upon ourreturn to Malawi. Itcould be all the fresh air.The way thie houses arebuilt we are neverwithout fresh air!!

I'm readjusting to the"chore" of groceryshopping and mealplanning. There havebeen many days alreadyas we have been

unpackingthat I have

missed theavailabilitv^ of

McDonalds

and other fast

food places.With most

everything have to befixed from scratch, everymeal takes so muchthought. At the momentthere does seem to be alot to buy in the shops,but most of it is at ahigh price. Tinnedgoods and pre-processedgoods are veryexpensive. I didn'trealize how attached I'dbecome to frozenvegetables, and quiteoften go to the freezer

expecting to see a bag ofcom with the greengiantsmiling at me.

We are settling infairly well with fewerand fewer adjustments tomake each day. We areanxious to see how Godwill be using us thisterm. There are so manychallenges in this workand we are praying thatGod wiU use us and ourtalents in the way Ifesees best

I'd for

gotten in themonths we

were awayhow windybur winters

are here in

Malawi, somedays more than others.The other aftemoon I satlistening to the wind. Itwas such a sad and

mournful sound. Italmost sounded likesomeone crying andwailing. I thought tomyself, "it is someonecrying and wailing. It ismany broken, emptylives crying wordlesscries for help and forsome hope." "This is whatwe are here for . . . to

/ Wdnt to cfialCengeyou, our Cfiristianfriet^,to be azuare of tfie crying,empty, bro^pi Gzês aroundyou.

bring hope, to bringChrist and his promisesto fill these empty lives.It doesn't stop here,though, because I sawthe same needs for Christwhile in the States. I

want to challenge you,our Christian friends, tobe aware of the crying,empty, broken livesaround you. Those ofyou who are strong,strengthen the weak, sothat in turn they mighttouch the hearts of those

who know nothing of

Christ and the comfort

and hope He alonebrings. We are not justambassadors of you, oursupporters, but literallyco-workers on different

sides of the earth.

We are praying foryou, and you are neverfar from our thoughts.Thank you for yourprayers and for the waysthey are touching -ourlives. God be with each

of you, strengtheningyou daily! •

PRAYER NEEDS

We ask that you joinus in praising the Lordfor the safe journey thathe gave us to Malawi, aswell as continuing toprovide us with strengthduring our time ofreadjustment.

We also request thatyou join us praying for(1) Jeff Kennedy andSteve's discussions about

the work here, (2)finding God's man to beour interpreter/

secretary, (3) Cash andLisa Lowe, and Sawyer,as they prepare to jointhe work here and for

their paperwork to beprocessed by thegovernment quickly, and(4) we most urgentlyneed prayer concerningour housing situation—either that God would

provide the funds tobuy/build or open upanother housing optionfor us.*

MALAWITHE WARMHEART OF

AFRICA

HELD ADDRESS

Steve and VonnieSkaggsP.O. Box 2500

Blantyre, MALAWI

AFRICA

(265) 635691

FORWARDING AGENTS

Artand Ginny Uphard534 Swan Drive

Fortville, IN46040

(317)485-6818


SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1992 NEWSLETTER

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!As we send this newsletter out to you Christmas is fast approaching. We already have the

Christmas tree up at our house, and even though it is very hot, we are beginning to get into theChristmas spirit.

Every year around Christmas, 1can't help but ponder with great awe the idea that God took onhuman flesh and became one of us. What must it have been like for the creator of the universe to

.experience life in this world from the human perspective? What an incredible thing it is to ponderthat God himselfknows my pains, sufferings,joys, triumphs, and trials from my perspective.

The most important aspect of this inci^ble event ofthe incarnation isthat God came to join usin our environment and culture so that we could know Him. In our efrorts to reach out to God toknow Him and to please Him we had failed, so God took on flesh and came to us so that we couldknow Him,so that, as John tells us, we could actually becomethe children of God.

As a Christian, 1am remindedat Christmastimeeachyear that my job is to continuallyrecreatethe awe of the moment of incarnation in that stable in Bethlehem. We are to be about the work offleshing out God Himself. As we model Godly lives before others and as we conununicate to themthe knowledge of God and His love, we allow others to see and experience God here in the worldwhere th^ are — God is fleshed out to them in a very real way. As we lead others to the faith inChrist, the miracle of Bethlehem occiusanew as Jesusis bom in theirheartsand as theSpiritofGodsets up residence in their lives.

As Christians, we must recognize that we are in the "fleshing out" business. We must seek tobring the realities of God and God's Wordalive to the peoplewe meetevery day, and we must dothis in ways in which they can understand. This is one of our main challenges in the work inMalavri: to seek to help the peopleseeJesusand understandhimfrom their perspective... for Jesusto berelevant to their world and to their culture. And this is a challenge for allof us. Whetherweare livingin Africa or in small town,USA, we must be about the workof making God real to people.Please pray forus here that we maysucceed in our efforts to bring peopleto thestable in Bethlehem... to bringthem toseeJesus... to help themexperience the aweof knowing Godin theirworld.

HOUSING UPDATEThe balance in our housing fund currently stands at $12,900. Again, we want to expressour

thanks to all ofyou who havesentdonations, fri our lastnewslettter, we tried to express to you theextreme urgency of our housing need here, and, as can be seen by the current balance, many of youresponded in a big wayi! Weso much appreciate your sensitivity to this need and your willingnessto help meet it.

We have some exciting news to pass on to you concerning our housing situationl! We havearranged to buy Vonnie's parent's house here in Blantyre! As we have looked around at housingpossibilities here in Blantyre, we have found that mosthousesare pricedquite high,and the costofbuildingis exaggerated the longconstruction times here forcing one to rent fora long^period. Sowe were very excited when we were able to agree to buy the house for a total of K200,000 ($50,0000).Two things have made it possible for us to take this great deal on a super house. First, the housingfund has received some very nice donations from our supporters in response to this great need,particularly, a pledge of $20,000 from one family!!! Second, the Brants have agreed to let us pay forthe house as funds come in to our housing fund.

The house is actually a very large one. The Brants had actually added a wing recently toaccomodate a printing ministry^ so the house has so much room! Actually, the house is probablyworth several times what we are to pay for it. We looked at a house nearby that was about half asbig, but the selling price was two times as much. Because of the size of the house, it can be veryuseful for the worL As Vonnie and I were considering whether to take the house, we felt that ifwetook the house, weshould really makeuse of all of the space. We haveplans to use a portionof thehouse for ofBces for the work, and use another portion of the house to accommodate interns andguests. Needless to say, we are excited that MCMcould acquire this house.

We have paid an initial payment of $10,000 (K40,000), and expect that when we receive the pledged moneymentioned above that we can pay an additional $22,000 (K88,000). This will leave us with a balance of $18,000(K72,000). We will seek to pav this as soon as possible as funds come into the housing fund, with a minimum of$5,000 (K20,000) per year being paid. Of course, we would like to pay it off as soon as possible, so we ask that youcontinue to pray that the Lord would provide the funds.

We really labored over the decision of whether to buy this house or not. But after much prayer, and afterdiscussing the opportunity with some of MCM's main contributors, we felt that it was the right decision and that theLord was really directing us to buy it. Again, we want to thank all of you who have been praying about this situationand who have made contributions toward the housing fund.

Busy, Busy

Thanksgiving

Arrival of

Lowes

Translator/Secretary

Interns forMozambiqueTeam Coming

in February

DroughtUpdate—Rains

Coming

NEWS .. • NEWS ... NEWSIt is an exciting time at the Skaggs' house in Blantyre right now! Cash,

Lisa, and Sawyer Lowe have been staying with us since their arrival in MalawLand Bill and Jackie Brant are also staying with us for a few weeks. Bill andJackie are back in Malawi for a short time to settle their affairs here as they areleaving the work in Malawi to resettle in the USA. Needless to say, it hasn'tbeen boring at our house!

Wehad a great thanksgiving together! We were able to buy a coupleofsmall turkeys, so we had "the works" for thanksgiving supper turkey, stuffing,potatoes, green beans, etc. We played an old video of a football game just tohelp create an authentic thanksgiving mood. And the weather cooperated aswell, with clouds filling the sky and fall-like temperatures. Phone calls fromfamily in the USA rounded out what was to be a thoroughly enjoyablethani<3giving!

We were so happy to travel to Lilongwe on 31 October to receive Cash,Lisa, and Sawyer Lowe into Malawi. After two days of solid travel, they werehappy to finally get to Malawiand rest. They are enjoyable people to be with,and we are really lookingforward to having a close working relationship withthem. Their plans are to target the largest unreached (unevangelized) peoplegroup in Mozambique, the Makua people. They plan to basetheir efforts fromMalawi, working in the refugee camps and making survey trips intoMozambique, until they deem it safe enough to relocate to Mozambique. Steveand Cash have already made several survey trips into the refugee campsseeking to locate groups of Makua people, and have been having discussionswith leaders of existing Christian churches to find information on this peoplegroup.

In our last newsletter we shared with you the need to find a qualit\'Malawian man to work with Steve as a translator/secretary. At this point,Fiddes Kumwembe is working in this capacity. Fiddes was working for BillBrant in the printing minstry before he began helping Steve. We have askedliim to consider staying on in this position, but we are still waiting for his reply.Be praying that the Lord will guide his decision.

As we have welcomed Cash and Lisa Lowe to Malawi, we are going tobe preparing with them to receive two (possibly three) families in early 1993 foran internship. The families that are coming will be coming to work with us inour research into planting a team of missionaries into Mozambique to workwith the Makua people there. It is the intention of the families coming thatthey might return to Malawi following their internship to join the teamentering Mozambique.

We have been blessed for the past few weeks with some very nicerains. Yes, it is really starting to get green again in the Blantyre area. Also thevisibility is getting betteras all of the dust and soot is gettingcleared out of theair. As one traveils around Malawi now, he sees that everyone has his fieldplowed and ready for planting maize, if he has not already planted. It seemseverywhere one looks, there is a maize field... on a hillside or mountain side,out in the villages, and even in town. Join us in praying that the rains continueand that there is a great harvest at the end of the season.

OlYV

IS^teinber-PecembeT 1992 Newsletter iBage^B.

TCtS**

Kafijll-UuJi

Toyota Venture 1800

NEW VEHICLE/TRIP TO SOUTH AFRICAWe are looking forward to making a journey to South Africa on 07 December 1992. There are several

purposes for our journey. The main purpose is to collecta new vehicle. We have really outgrown our midsize Toyotapickup that we bought when we arrived. With Graham and Sigrid both needing to be in car seats, we can't driveanywhere as a family unless one of the children rides on Vonnie's lap) So we have ordered a Toyota Venture 10-seater vehicle. The Venture is advertised as being a cross between a truck, a van, and a stationwagon. Although it isnot four wheel drive, it has good clearance and should serve us well in the bush while stiU providing us with roomfor the family. The cost of the new Venture is approximately $12,000.

Our trip is actually going to be earlier than we had planned. We were expecting to pick up the vehicles inJanuary or Februai}', but we were notified that the vehicleswere ready and needed to be coUerted in December. Thisalso caught us by surprise financially. Weare expecting that the sale of the pickup will cover most of the cost of theVenture, but since we thought we were going to be needing it for a while longer, we hadn't been trying to sell it.Because of this, we are probably going to have to borrow all of the funds for the truck, hoping that we can sell thepickup and repay the loan quicWy.

As we are in South Africa, we are going to take the opportunityto take the kidsinto a pediatrician for a goodcheckup, as well as go to the doctor ourselves. We are also going to try' to get some much-needed dental work donewhile we are there. In the midst of all of this we will be buying lots of supplies to bring back. Please be praying forour trip that God will provide us with all of the funds that we need for the new vehicle, supplies, etc. Alsoplease bepraying that God will grant us safety as we drive back to Malawi (a two and a half day drive!).

A SHIFT IN EMPHASIS IN THE WORKWhen we were home in the USA on furlough we shared with many of you our excitement about the opening

doors for the gospel in neighboring Mozambique. Mozambique, which has had a communist government since itgained independence from Portugal, has been in a civil war that has raged for years, and the communist governmenthas greatly repressed the church. These factors have combined to make Mozambique the most needy countrj' bothspiritually and physically in this region of Africa. But recently things have been changing in Mozambique. The doorshave been opened for the gospel to enter Mozambique, and from the reports we have heard, the government thereseems to be welcoming missionaiy acivity. Although the country is still deeply divided, the warring parties inMozambique have recently signed a peace accord. When we were home we shared that when the war ended there,there would be unprecedented opportunities in Mozambique to flood that country with the gospel, and thoseopportunities are about to be upon us now.

Cash and Lisa Lowe are only the first couple of a four or five family team that is to be formed to enterMozambique targeting the Makua, who at 5.2 million people are regarded as the largest unreached people grouppracticing animistic tribal religion in the world. Because of this great opportunit)', Vonnie and I are going to beredirecting some of our efforts to aiding in getting this team's work off the ground. We are still going to be workingwith the churches in Malawi, but we want to aid the Lowes in every way possible in getting the team established andreaching out to the Makua.

tSeptember^Becember: 1:992: Neivsleirter Page 4

VONNIEbut in a matter of days it was dry again. ThenNovember came and along with it came rain. We arehaving a great rainy season so far, this past week it hasrained just about every day. It has brought so muchhope to so many people. Pray that we continue tohave a good rainy season, it is vitally important to thewell being of so many Malawians.

The first of November was an exciting day forus. Cash and Lisa Lowe arrived. Their main emphasisis to work with refugees from Mozambique keying inon a particular tribe, which is an unreached tribe(Steve can fill in the details). We are so thankful fortheir arrival No words can express the amont of workneeded among the refugees in Malawi and how undermanned we are. There are so many missionaries of alldenominations working with the Malawians, but fewkeying in on the spiritual needs of the refugees, andmany of the refugees come from parts of Mozmbiquewhere there have been no missionaries. Please bepraying for this area of our work. Cash and Lisa havea 5 month old baby. Sawyer. They are living with usat the moment while we look for a house for them. It

is fim to have another baby in the house.Mail has been a discouraging area in our lives.

Mail is coming so slowly. Last month we had only oneletter from our families. It isn't that they aren'twriting, it is just that we aren't getting our mailpromptly. So if you've written and are wonderingwhy you haven't had a reply, chances are that we'venot received your letter. We have had some veryencouraging phone calls from several of you and wethank you from the bottom of our hearts for yourencouraging words.

We so appreciate each of you for your supportand for your prayers. From the bits of news wereceive from the States, things don't sound veryencouraging and we know many of you must besuffering and going through difficult times, and thatmakes your prayers and support appreciated thatmuch more. Please know that we are praying for youand that we praise our gracious Lord for thetremendous part you play in our work. So until ournext newsletter I'll sign off. God be with and blesseach of you!

A NOTE FROMTime has flown by since our last newsletter.

Life has certainly been busy. It is hard to believe thatwe have been back in Malawi for 4 1/2 months. Weare feeling like we are back into the swing of things. 1have re-adjusted to the chore of grocery shopping andmeal planning in Malawi. I miss Krogers every timegrocery shopping day comes round. It takes me about5 stops before I've completed my list, if I've managedto find everything on my list. The latest challenge hasbeen to find ways to entertain Graham as we go fromshop to shop.

We returned to Malawi in the cold season, butas September approached it began to warm up. Theeffect of last year's drought was very apparent. In allthe years I lived in Malawi I never remember seeing asmuch haze as we saw this year. It was incredible.Because it was so dry and dusty the air was thick withdust and soot as fields were being burned off in hopesfor a good rainy season and preparing the fields forplanting. The haze was so thick some days that wecould hardly see the house across the road. In the coldseason we could cope with the haze, but as theweather warmed up and became hot and the windpicked up, many days were miserable. The wind wasa dry hot wind, and it blew so much dust into ourhouse that some days we were dusting twice a day outof necessity. Yet in the midst of all the brown, dry, hotugliness a beautiful thing happened. The jacarandatrees started to bloom. First it was a tiny purpleblossom, and then it was a gorgeous cluster of brightpurple blossoms. It was one of the most radiant thingsI've seen all year. It really bolstered our spirits andreminded us of God's awesomeness and grace. In themiddle of a dry, ugly season He caused the jacarandatrees to bloom their beautiful purple blossoms. I wishwe could've shared them with you in a visual way thatwould have done them justice.

By the first of October you could tell what wason every one's mind...RAIN. At every prayer groupand Church service we were at the need for a goodrainy season was the first prayer request. We had atypical October, hot and dry. Each day seemed hotterthan the previous one, and one day we measured 98degrees in the shade. Half way through October wehad an afternoon where we had a fantastic rain storm.