Finding Faith in the Battle

We traveled 3 hours north to the small town of Mzimba the last weekend of September. The Robertsons and Rudds, fellow IMB missionaries, are there doing evangelism, community development, and leadership training with 2 of Malawi’s 14 Bible schools. Once a year the students' wives travel to the Bible schools to attend class, and this year I was invited to teach health education. I readily accepted, but I was shaking in my flip-flops before I began. How was I going to connect with semi-literate village women on matters of health and wellness!?! After working with migrant farmers in Yakima, Washington, I've been used to suggesting the inexpensive home remadies whenever available. But it's a whole new level when you're talking to people who can't afford to heat water because firewood is so expensive, or who don't always have the means to buy salt for gargling or who have never even seen a band-aid. But God was present, and God was glorified! The 14 women were att

I'm convinced that The Ohio State Buckeye's cheering squad will be a little quieter this year. Not that they aren't as awesome as ever (one of these days they'll pull through in the big game), or that we love our Jim Tressel any less than before. It's just that Mary Pumpelly , affectionately known as Gert to many of us, has passed away, and the loss of her voice, hoarse from yelling at the TV screen, is significant. She will be deeply missed, for she cheered for us all as emphatically as she cheered for her Bucks. She spoiled our children, and cooked us endless meals, and made a heavenly cheesecake (as long as Jordan was there for dinner). And oh, how she prayed for us, getting us through more trials of life than we even give her credit for, despite arthritic knees! She was godly, and she was fun--a perfectly wonderful combination. Who will ever forget the way she made the poor young airport guard blush, when, after a particularly thorough search of her titanium kn