There is a flurry of activity at the Brown house. Our departure for Malawi is approaching so quickly!

I want to share some of the answers to prayer that God has already sent our way, many of them before we even asked or knew that we needed them.

Some, seem minuscule and inconsequential, but added all together it just shows how awesome our God is - interested in the little and the big things alike.

Luggage: My Mom mentioned that she knew someone who manufactures rolling duffel bags and had worked with some other mission groups to supply luggage at a discount. She went to purchase a few, but after hearing about our family’s venture, he pulled some off the shelf and said they had been specially ordered for another group but had never been picked up - and gave them to her – no charge!

Grant Seminar: Almost a year ago an email came across my desk from the school district I worked for. The city of Silverton was sponsoring a Grant Writing seminar at the Oregon Gardens. They were reserving one position for someone from the school district to attend free of charge. I put my name in the hat and was able to spend 2 days in a top- quality training seminar with 40 other folks from three states. It was a $400 conference that God provided a way for me to attend. Guess what was very prominent when I read through the job description needs for Malamulo College? Yup, grant writing and managing! God knew before I ever had a clue!

EMT: Several years ago I trained as an EMT basic through the Silverton Volunteer Fire District where I’m a firefighter. It is rewarding to help my community in this capacity. When sending my professional certification to Malawi for consideration for this position at Malamulo College, I was asked if I had any medical training. I mentioned that I was an EMT and included my certification. I’ve already heard several comments about having an educator who is medically trained being just the right fit! The experience I’ve gained assisting my community will continue to assist on a world-wide scale! Exciting!!

Teaching Transition: My teaching position at Bethany Charter School was one of our most major concerns in considering a move to Malawi. The school year was looming large and I was to report for duty in two weeks or get out of the way for a new teacher to take over. It was a very difficult decision to pack up and leave the classroom, school family, and job I’ve loved for the past 5 years. I went forward with the attitude that this would be an answer to prayer for a teacher that was praying and searching for a teaching position. It took about 1 week to open the position, interview, and hire. It has been a real answer to prayer to see that transition go so smoothly.

Finances: Part of the paperwork and preparation for this trip involved getting recommendations and speaking to our pastor in advance of taking this position. While talking to Pastor Jones I shared with him our greatest challenge of finances. This whole undertaking had caught us unprepared, especially financially. Immediately, Pastor Jones asked if we could use $1000 to assist in the launch of our family. If so, there was a board meeting that night and he would present it for us. Ten-o’clock that night he called to say that $1000 was approved and that 50% of an upcoming rummage sale would be dedicated toward our trip. I just received word today that the sale raised $2200 which means the Lord added 10% to what the church offered. God can work through any means if we allow him!!

Tickets: The largest single outlay for our family is the purchase of tickets. One of the biggest hurdles to getting there is the 2 days of solid travel that it takes from our house to Malamulo. The travel agent that many Adventist mission organizations use happens to also be a personal friend that spent time in Africa with her family as missionaries. We’ve been able to find very favorable routing with no layovers and no airline changes into Blantyre. The bonus is that all this was found at a very good price. I’m thankful for the little things like good routings.