Dear Friends,
It is the eleventh hour...both literally and figuratively...the clock is saying 11:00 PM and there are only a couple days left before I get on a plane to return home to Zambia. Of course there is way more than two day's worth of things to be done but somehow I will make it.
Home Assignment has been a great time of visiting churches and supporters, to say "Thank You" face-to-face and to tell the story of what God is doing in Zambia. I have travelled from Vancouver Island to Manitoba and the Northwest Territories and places between&many kilometers, many different beds, and much food! While in Edmonton, Dyllis and Wayne, my sister and brother-in-law welcomed me into their home and I am very pleased to announce that we are still friends. They've been great!
It has been a real privilege to be in Canada for a couple big family celebrations. In September we celebrated my Mom's 80th Birthday with a wonderful Open House at her Condo where we had about 90 friends and family members pass through. It is now a great memory for Mom. In October I was thrilled to be able to attend my niece's Convocation from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, where she is now continuing on with her PhD studies in psychology. Kristy graciously put up with Aunt Cheryl Ann in her home for a week and we too are still friends! Grandma Bea and I were privileged to visit Kristy for a day in Vancouver in her new condo on our way to Kelowna recently. What fun that was!
One of the sad things I did while in Canada was to attend the funeral of a friend. Yes, a funeral is always sad but this one was also uplifting for me. As I mingled with people after the funeral I was told two of the most favourite things I like to hear.
First, and my MOST favourite, I was told, "We have prayed for you every day." Second, I was told, "We have just sent a cheque to PAOC for your support." Those are the two things that help to keep me in Africa where God has called me. Therefore, truly, they are wonderful things to hear. It was the widow who told me the first. She said that she and her husband decided that they could not pray for all the missionaries that they knew so they choose two, Elmer and Sherry Komant (who are relatives) and me. How honoured I felt! Hazel assured me that she would continue and I am so grateful for that.
Thanks to each of you who pray for me every day( even every once in awhile&I need and appreciate all those prayers! Thanks also to those of you who send the finances so that I can continue my work in Zambia. You are all loved, needed, and appreciated so much! It is truly an honour having you on the team and the work in Zambia cannot be done without you. Hopefully when I get back to Zambia I will do better in the communication department than I have while I have been in Canada. I will really try! Please remember that I love to hear from you too!
This letter is actually going to be left for my mother to send out for me. The return address on the envelope will be a Canadian address but please don't use that one to reply to me. Please use the Zambian address below( better yet, send an email. Those on the email list do hear from me more often than those on the mailing list.
Included with this letter are a few treats for you&a picture with my thanks, in hopes it will remind you to continue praying for me and the work in Zambia and a brochure which SEEDS International produced with some of the letters to Twig written by Zambian school children and teachers. They truly are appreciating Seedlings and being changed by what they learn. Be sure to check out the Photos section of the website for pictures from the last few months in Canada...
Thanks for making it a great Home Assignment!
