MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

2/h3

The Yates family

January, 1995

F amine Relief!

Unloading maize at Kadiere Christian Church.

MALAWI-What an

since we did not have a

experience! Ifyouwereto
have asked me in mid-November if I would be able to visit Malawi before

missionary in the country and the people were suffering. He immediately called me and
asked me to submit an

After just a few days at Dawn's parents house for Thanksgiving, we returned to
Tennessee to learn that IDES

had approved the project, and

in less than a week I would

the end of the year, I would have placed the chances at

slim to none. But the Lord

application to IDES for a temporary relief program in Malawi in which I would go

over to conduct.

be on my way back to
Malawi.

does work in mysterious

ways!

December 6th is when the

Dawn and I tried to

Just before Thanksgiving

was when I wrote Dick

Sprague, representative of
International Disaster

Emergency Service (IDES),

and told him of the letters I

maintain our composure as we thought about the opportunity to minister once again with the people we miss so dearly. Confidence was not appropriate, since the
decision was IDES' to make.

plane left out of Knoxville's McGhee Tyson airport. It

was a bitter-sweet moment
for me. I was anxious to

return to Malawi, but I would

be leaving my lovely bride

behind. Dawn was not able

had been receiving from Malawi describing severe drought and famine. I told Dick that I was looking for advice about what to do.

to go because she was in the

last trimester with our first
child.

We submitted our request and waited quietly for a

decision.

Off I went for what would become the most

memorable two weeks of my life; filled with happiness, sorrow, compassion, love, sadness, and humbleness.
From the time I landed

might be able to do it all. I definitely could not accomplish this in just two
weeks.

the wisdom and discernment

of the IDES committee, and

through the humble availability of God's people

both here and in Malawi, over

in Malawi I could tell that the

Lord had already been working. Instead of renting a

four-ton truck from a local

The Lord was clearing yet another path, though, and I found myself in the ofiBce of
the director of one of the

7,700 people received maize

in the name of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord for His abundance to us and our

businessman who is out to

make kwacha (Malawi

largest manufacturers of ufa (ground maize) in the country. I explained to Mr.

Piri what

ability to share that

abundance with those less

fortunate!

Budget Explained
There seems to be some interest in a further

explanation of the budget to

which we have committed for

- inir,

much ufa
we would
be

A 50 kilo bag will feed two families for a month interested in

currency), I was able to

borrow a truck fi-om a local

mission. In return, I was to

provide their people with

money for famine relief, the very reason why I was there in the first place! What a blessing it was to know that
the maximum amount of the

buying. Some thing about the figure changed his attitude very quickly, and he offered to deliver all that we care to buy for fi"ee - anywhere in the country we wanted it
delivered! What a miracle!

going to Malawi. I must admit, in past newsletters I failed to explain in detail how we arrived at the figures in our budget, mostly because I thought it would be boring to
most. However, there have

been quite a few questions about it. It's encouraging that

there are those who want to
be that involved! The first item that I

The Lord accomplished

in one week what would have taken Tim Yates six months to do on his own. How

should explain is the housing

situation. When Dawn and I

money was used toward

actual famine relief.

After I began to use the

truck, I realized that there

strong and mighty is our

God!

were in Malawi in 1993, the typical cost of a three

bedroom house was about

were just too many places to get to, and too much maize
that was needed at each

place. If I had six months, I

Through the donations of many churches to the IDES organization, through

$1000. Obviously, this is quite a bit more than we are used to seeing here in the
U.S.

Then there is the matter of

the initial start-up cost, a one-time cost of buying the equipment we need and shipping it and ourselves overseas. The most costly of
this area is the vehicle
expense.

Because of the terrain of

Afnca, you can imagine what type of vehicle is needed.

Most of the cars and some of the trucks we use here in the

when going overseas. We would much rather get hand-me-downs than to buy everything new, so please look over that list and pass it around so we can keep our start-up costs down. If you did not receive the list or you want to have more copies, please call or write to
the address found at the end

of this newsletter. We are confident that the Lord will

imagine having to buy everything we have been given. Thank you. It sure is nice to have my husband back after his trip to Malawi. He seems ready to pack us up and go back, so I guess I'll have to be ready to go at any time. I keep reminding him, however, that it still has not snowed yet and we certainly cannot go to
Malawi until we have one

S. may last as long as a yeai in Africa. For this

reason, it will take us several

work through His people!

thousand dollars to purchase

a vehicle that will last us our

more snow under our feet (ha ha).Anyway, we are all doing fine and we appreciate all of your prayers. We certainly
need them.

entire term. When I was in Malawi in

With less than four weeks

December, I found a well-kept, used four-wheel drive truck for $ 19,000. That is at least $10,000 less than

the original price and it is only a year old. There is also the price of shipping our stuff to Africa,
which is estimated to be about

to go until my due date, the "nesting" experience has begun. With the help of friends and family, we are pretty well set for our new arrival. We have certainly appreciated all the "hand-me-downs" and gifts that have been given for the baby. I cannot begin to

What are we doing?

There are those who might ask us what we are doing these days, since we are
unable to travel much with

the new baby on the way. Well, don't think that we are sitting back and eating

$6,500. This is a necessary expense since the same products overseas will still
cost more and be ofless

quality. As you can see, there are many details of missionary life which are quite a burden. I
write this brief note to

reassure you that we are doing our best in keeping

down the costs.

Keeping down the cost is exactly why we created the

list of items we will need

bon-bons all day long.

There are plenty of Kt things for us to take care of right here in r

Knoxville. There is a lot more

H items that we need Ir before we go over. J Again, if you did not

|l receive the list or want

; another copyJust write
I or call us at the mission.

paperwork in setting up
a mission than we

Praise the
Lord!
We have so much to

anticipated. Right now we are tiying to work our way through the
details that need to be in

place for us to make a

smooth transition to
Malawi.

be grateful for. We
thank the Lord for the

We are also able to

I life and example of Carl Vogt Wilson, a

fr
; wonderful man from

do some work around

the Gap Creek Christian

Church, of which we are members. Many members
of the church are unable to

h Replacing duct work at the Gap Creek finally gone home to be

Christian Church

Louisville, KY who has

with his Lord. We thank the Lord for the beautiful

need when we reach Malawi.

do much, since they are working all of the time, so we

privilege of having and raising

a child to know Him. We thank the Lord for wonderful

are happy to give of our time

when we are needed. I have also tried to check

into part-time work, but this is the slowest time of year for
most businesses. I would

We are trusting in the Lord and in His people to help us to reach our goals. For those of you who have already committed, whether in prayer or financially, keep in mind that we still have a long list of
35001)0

Christian people who are willing to open their homes

for us each time we visit with a church. We are thankful

most of all for Jesus Christ,

who is the reason that we

appreciate your prayers as I

continue to seek the Lord's
will in this situation.

struggle to reach Malawi in

the first place.

God bless you all!

WtltPf M WfP
We are always anxious to keep you informed on how things are shaping up for
Malawi Christian Mission.

Malawi Christian Mission P.O. Box 4186

IITOJIO

South Daytona, FL
32121

As of January 10, 1995, our

(904) 255-6960

monthly financial
commitments have increased to about 33% of what we

Home phone: (615) 573-4537

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

9
March, 1995 |

^h^Yties^^ly

Unto us a child
is bom!
L
a u
r

F
e

b
1
2 1

e
n

K
a

9 5

It was about 1:30 a.m. on

looking forward to the

inevitable result, it was

were introduced to our

the early Sunday morning of February 12th when Dawn

and I arrived at the emergency
entrance to the Fort Sanders

diflBcult to spend the next

fifteen hours in hard labor.

Hospital in Knoxville, TN.

To be honest, we were not

very nervous simply because

we had serious doubts that we

would be staying. So many

people had warned us about

false labor that we became

Yes, I am speaking of myself too. No matter what you women out there might say, it is very hard on the men that have to see their precious brides in so much pain without being able to do anything about it.
When we, especially Dawn, could stand it no

beautiful new baby girl. It was exactly 8:06 p.m. on Sunday, February 12th, 1995. As you can imagine,
our lives have not been the

convinced that it was a normal

part of pregnancy, even though Dawn's contractions

were the standard 4-5 minutes

same since. Long mghts,dirty diapers, trips that take twice as long to make, dirty diapers, spit-up on all of her clothes and half of ours, dirty diapers, hours of endless rocking and patting, and have I mentioned dirty diapers? All of this, and
we wouldn't trade her for the
world.

apart.

What a bitter-sweet night it was. Though we were

longer the doctor ordered a pitocin drip to increase the intensity of the contractions. In just a few short hours, we

So, may this be a gentle reminder to you to treasure the time you have with your

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

family. Take time to remember the joyous time you've had with your
children, and watch out
because Lauren wants to

doing all of the cooking, laundry, and especially the

dishes!! Thanks Mom and Dad. Tim's mom and

Thank you and we hope to be able to see all of you again before we depart for Malawi.

meet you face to face. We will be in your area soon!

grandmother came down for Lauren's first Sunday in church at Gap Creek. Of
course we underestimated the

Truck Tolk
I would like to take a

Dawn's Dlcrec.
Well, I guess Tim about summed up our past two
weeks here with our new

addition. It sure has been an

adjustment, and I am sure we will continue to adjust for the next twenty years! One thing
Tim did not mention is the

amount of time it takes to get ready with a little one in the house. Sure enough, both sets of Lauren's grandparents and her great grandma were already seated in church when
we walked in ten minutes
late. We could hear the

moment to talk to you about an opportunity that has come up for the mission. When I was finishing up the relief program in Malawi in the month of December, I
came across a fellow

time that my parents spent

with us the first week home

fi-om the hosphal. It sure was nice to have my mom and dad

Bforus, ent
the aisle.

chuckles as we walked down

missionary fi"om Germany who is planning to return home some time in late July. This was an unexpected
return and the vehicle he had

Once again I want to thank every one of you who have prayed
us gifl;s, cards, and
notes, and
have called

bought not even a year earlier

needed to be sold.
I was able to test drive

the vehicle while I was there and found it to be in excellent

or stopped by to visit.
You have all

^
^ ^

made Lauren's first

weeks of life memorable
and

rewarding.
encourage
ment means

condition. The owner just happened to be a mechanic. Through recent negotiations, we have been able to discuss a very reasonable price on the vehicle. He has given us the option for first chance and we were given 4-6 weeks to make a decision, after which he will offer it to the general
public if we do not want it.
I must admit that his

price of $20,000 is a fraction

^
^

and it would
be very hard to get by
without it.

a lot to us,

of what it would cost to buy this vehicle new and get it into the country. That is precisely why I am informing you of this. We desperately
need your prayers for this

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

particular situation within the

next few months. Pray that
we would make wise

June 12-16...

and try to schedule a visit!

We would love to show you our new baby girl and share a
little bit about what we are

Wilmington, OH
June 26-30... Kokomo,
IN

decisions about such a

purchase. Pray also that no matter what we may decide, that the money might be provided through God's people. We obviously do not have
$20,000 at this time. But we

planningto do in Malawi.

July 10-14... Pendleton,

IN

AN ADJUSTMENT^
We reluctantly announce
that we have had to move our

trust in the Lord to provide what we need. If you would like to support this cause financially or know someone or some group who would like to financially support this project, please write or call
the mission.

July 16-20...
NMC/NACC

Indianapolis, IN

target date of May 23rd back

to sometime afl;er the North

!H

I have often told people that in a country like Malawi, if you do not have a dependable vehicle, you do
not have a mission. This is

one part of the mission that we cannot afford to skimp on!

/Calender

of Events
March 9-20... Florida March 26... Crab

The Mitsubishi Pajero we are negotiating for in Malawi

We hope that you see some very definite holes in
our schedule. This is an American Christian Convention/National

Orchard, TN

excellent time for you to

schedule Malawi Christian

Missionary Convention in Indianapolis on July 16-20.

We have not been able to

March 30... Morristown,

TN

Mission for you VBS, your camps, your youth meetings, and of course, your church
services.

raise the support we need quite yet, but are thankful the Lord has allowed us to stay
for the conventions! We can

If we are near your area, please do not hesitate to call

only believe that the Lord has some interesting plans!

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

POSITION
FILLED!
In the last MCM

are attempting to accomplish for the Lord's Kingdom in

Malawi.

Newsletter, I told you that I was looking for a job. Well, the proof that there are people who read this publication is that I now have a job through one of our
readers!

Many of you have called or written asking what you can do to help. First, we ask you to continue to pray. Pray
that the remainder of the

mission. Many of you have made decisions to support the mission on a regular basis and we thank you for your
commitment.

Many of you, however, are still considering whether or not to support the mission
or are not sure of an amount.

Jennifer Watt, a professor at Johnson Bible College,

read the article and referred

monthly support we need will come in quickly. Pray also that the initial start-up funds will be raised. Pray mostly for the people of Malawi. May the Lord continue to be with them as they continue to worship the Lord without a
missionary.

Let us assure you that every dollar goes a long way and we are looking forward to your commitment.
There are others that have

intended to commit, but it has continued to slip your mind

and is not remembered at the

me to her husband, David.

David Watt is the owner of a

delivery company called Cafe

Courier. David and I met and I

Secondly, we ask that you continue to encourage us.

While we cherish the time we

almost immediately began to work for the company. I now have a job that is as flexible
as I need it to be. Praise the

are able to spend with our supporting churches here in

the States, we are still

right time. To you, we would say that we appreciate your intentions, and we encourage you to commit. Time is quickly slipping away for us
to reach Malawi!

burdened with the people of Malawi and long to return to

our work there soon.

To all of you who have remembered us, prayed for us

and believed in us and the

Lord! (and if you're ever in

Knoxville, order from Cafe

Lastly, we ask that you

continue to consider the

cause of Malawi Christian

Courier!)

financial needs of the

mmt flPf wfP

As you can see on our thermometer, we are at about
half of what we need for

Mission, we praise God for you. We would not be where we are today without your continued support!

ioo%-|

r3500.00 God bless all of you!!

75%-

monthly support in Malawi. While this is an encouraging

milestone, we must realize

50%-

Malawi Christian Mission

1B00.00

P.O. Box 4186

that we still have half-way to

go.

South Daytona, FL
32121

Thank you to the individuals

and churches that are so

(904) 255-6960

faithfully supporting us. We ask only that you continue to

spread the word of what we

Tempovarxj Home phone: (615) 573-4537

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

May/June

f
Praise the Lord! We are

scheduled

number

of

happy to announce that we will. Lord willing, be leaving for Malawi in August. We are very close to our projected budget, and our initial start-up costs should be in by the end of the summer.

Vacation Bible Schools, and

We do not want you to get the impression that you

from us

we hope to have the will not hear opportunity to visit many of anymore, though. our supporters one more time have one farewell
before we leave.

We still
newsletter

that is scheduled to come out

We are also moving out of right before we leave in the apartment we have been August. We will save all of It has been a tremendous living in for the past year. our tearfiil good-byes for that blessing to meet all of you Since we are so busy with time. After we arrive in Malawi, who have so faithfully VBS programs, we will not supported the mission. have time to live here in our newsletters will probably Although we may not have Knoxville. As you can see, start to come about every the chance to see all of you we are doing all we can to three months. This will give before we leave, we can save money. Please pray for us more opportunity to
assure you that you have
made a difference! us as we make all of these
concentrate on the tasks at

arrangements
summertime.

for

the

hand.

We look forward to

Right now we are gearing up for our summer. We have

seeing how this whole process

will work from overseas!

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

please make your check out
to MCM and write Tntck

Ides to help,
AGAIN!
We are so thankful to

IDES for approving yet another project with MCM. We have decided to purchase the vehicle we spoke to you
about in the last newsletter.

Project in the memo portion of the check. Thank you again, IDES, for helping us reach Malawi with the good
news of Jesus Christ!

of our needs; from the rent that needed to be paid to the groceries that needed to be

bought to the diapers that needed to be bought months later. We can not help but give God the glory for all He
has done.

This

leaves us with

about

$20,000 to raise by the first week of July!

IDES has decided to

match funds on the vehicle up

to $5000! That means that

for every dollar we raise for

the vehicle, IDES will double

that amount up to $5000! If you would like to contribute to this project.

eawgH

lillWl.. JiWill!

*.v,;awss;nrrj.. *. -rnmm

Sdidnot ake
with Tim.

What seemed like a long road ahead is now a reality at our doorstep. Although I do As I sit here thinking not look forward to selling all about what to say to all of of our things and moving out you, my mind wanders over of our home where we have all of the events of the past become a family, I have faith year. It seems like just that the Lord will not yesterday that Tim was abandon us when he has traveling over the summer brought us this far. We know raising support while I that we will begin our new worked during the week. home once we get to Malawi. Later in the summer, after I know many of you ask, finding out we had a child on "How can you take your the way, I precious baby to a place like began Africa?" All I can say is that traveling

Dawn's Decrll

It

we made the commitment to

long to get

go on the mission field before we had a baby, and we cannot

hold back on God's will for our lives because of fear. We trust that the Lord will

our

weekends
filled

with

travel

protect us as well as Lauren

while we serve overseas.

engagements
We were

Through everything we
have done we can see the

living with no money in our pockets and totally trusting the

Lord to

Lord's timing in it all. After

all. He knows what is best for
all of us.

provide for us through His people.

Bciby Tcilk
Well, I'm three months

old already and growing like He sure has a weed. I still haven't quite provided all figured out this language

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

thing yet. I try to tell mom June 18-23... and dad stories, but they just Rest in ICnoxville, TN laugh at me. I sing sometimes
when they have the stereo on. They like that a lot. Most people say I'm going to play the piano... something about my fingers. I guess that would be fine, when I get big enough. I try to walk a lot, but mom and dad say I'm too little. So, I just kick my feet when I'm in my walker or standing on their legs. Mom and Dad say we are moving into the our car for a while. I guess that is o.k. It is a good time to get my nappies in. I'm also sure I v^dll enjoy meeting all of the new people I will be seeing. I like smiling at new faces. Well, mom says it's tune for my cereal so I have to go.
June 26-30...

needs to go to Malawi. For all of you who have so generously responded, thank you very much for what, in
some cases, was a sacrifice. We have good news,

Kokomo, IN

July 3-7. .. Sullivan, IN

though, when we say that we have changed plans slightly. Because of the expense involved in sending a
container to Malawi, we were

July 10-14... Pendleton, IN

having a difficult time raising our initial start-up costs. We finally decided that we would

^^Calender
of Events
May 28... Crab Orchard, IN
June 5-11...

The Mtsubishi truck we will purchase for Malawi.

July 16-20 ..
NMC/NACC

try to find another way to

move.

St. Joe, IN

The

Lord

quickly

Indianapolis, IN

June ll(a.m.)... Canton, OH

June 12-16...

Change of
P^ans
Many of you have been gracious to us by giving us
items that were on our list of

answered our prayers. We received a letter a couple of months ago fi"om some
fiiends we made in Malawi.

Wilmington, OH

They are preparing to come home for a year, and are interested in renting their
house in Malawi.

This is good news in that

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

their house would be fiiUy fLimished, something nearly
unheard of in Malawi. Also,
the rent for this house would be the same as a similar committed have not been

been able to give us in this

unfurnished house.

This opportunity allows us to be able to go over with significantly less than we had originally planned. We would
be able to live in the furnished

giving monthly. Please let us way. know if you would like to We do want you to know give quarterly, or in any other that our home phone number manner you would like to and address will no longer be give. This helps us when we valid after May 31st. We are budgeting. explained earlier in the
Believe it or not, there will be little money left over each month when we finally arrive overseas. Our goal is that every penny that is given
will be used. This should not newsletter that we would be

house

until

we

could

accumulate enough to move

into an unfurnished home for the rest of our term.

be a problem since there are so many things that need to

be done!

moving out of our apartment, and along with that goes our address and phone number. If you wish to write or call us at any time before we leave, please write or call us
at the MCM office in South

This not only saves us the cost of shipping all of our things, but it more than cuts in half the amount of money
that we will need at one time.

Daytona, FL.

They will be

able to forward our mail and

SPECIA

By being able to buy the items one at a time, it will be

NOTE
We want to make sure

take messages of callers so we may call you back fi"om wherever we might be. The address and phone
number for the MCM office is

more financially feasible for

the mission.

Of course, this does not make our wanted list totally obsolete. The majority of the things that were listed are small enough to be able to take with us on the airplane. So, if you were planning
to donate items that were on

you take note of a few things at the end of each newsletter. that are changing. Many of It is also located on the back you have been able to call or of all of our brochures.
write us at home. We
Please make a note of

appreciate all the encouragement that you have

100^-1

r350Q.00
3055.00

the list to the mission, please

continue to do so. Time is
75%-

these changes. We do not want to lose any of our faithfiil supporters just because of a change like this. Again, we thank you for all that you do for us and His Kingdom' God bless!

running short, however, so let us know when we can pick them up!

50%'

Malawi Christian Mission

P.O. Box 4186

mmt mt wfp
We have exactly $3055 committed in monthly support. We have noticed, however, that some that have

South Daytona, FL
25%-

32121

(904) 255-6960 No longer valid numben

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

The Yates family

July/Aug

Good-bye...

What a bitter-sweet time it is! We are so anxious to

get started on the work in Malawi, but yet it means saying good-bye to all of those that have helped us to achieve this dream. We hope that we have an adequate chance to say farewell to all of you. If we were not able to see you in person, please accept this newsletter as our personal good-bye. Everything has come together even better than we could have imagined. There are still many things to get done at the writing of this
newsletter, but rest assure that

by the time you read this, we will have already finished our business here and begun our
work in Malawi.

It is no small thanks to

you, our supporters, that we

are finally able to go to reach the people of Malawi with the

love of Jesus Christ. Please

As close as May, we were going to be satisfied with receiving just part of our budgeted monthly income. In
fact, we made a conscious

decision to try to scrape by on $1000 less per month than we had budgeted. Thanks to the Lord and His people, that is
not necessary now. We are

know that it is possible because of your many gifts. Some gave financially, some prayed, some encouraged. Some gave out of abundance,
some gave out of sacrifice. Some gave because we needed it, some gave because they needed to give. All gave
because of the tremendous

very close to our goal and will, Lord willing, reach that goal sometime after we arrive
in Malawi.

need of the people of Malawi,

and their own love for the

Lord.

Thank you, God's

blessed children!

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

IDES project
SUCCESSFUL!
Once again, IDES came

through for us in approving a "matching funds" project to help raise funds for our
vehicle.

promised! Praise the Lord for blessings beyond belief! Our vehicle project is still continuing. We have received nearly all we need to pay off the truck, but Again, if you would like to

have housed us, fed us,

clothed us, encouraged us, supported us, and prayed for us. You have helped us
make it to the fields of

Malawi.

To close, I would

there is still a little to go. just like to quote a passage

from Mark 10 that we have

Once again, God's people responded tremendously. By May of

1995, we were able to send

help with the project, just

write "vehicle tod" in the

records to IDES showing that we had already collected funds up to $5000, which was the project goal with
IDES.

memo of your check. Thank you to all of you who have helped!

found to be a great source of comfort. "I tell you the truth, " Jesus replied, "No one who
has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and

Dawn's Decree
Wow! It is believe that our We have said hard time all to to our

the gospel will fail to receive

a hundred times as much in

this present age... and in the

age to come, eternal life."

By July 6th, IDES sent a

check to MCM with the

depart has finally arrived.

good-byes, had all of
last

matching funds they had

our

shots, and worshipped in our

church
in service

Although we will miss all of you greatly, we know the Lord has another family
prepared for us in Malawi

that will help as we begin a

whole new part of our lives.

A,
;
=

the States. It
is hard not
to have

Boby Tolk
Hum! I really do not

mixed

know what is going on.

Mom and Dad seem to have

misplaced all of my things. They said my stuff is taking

up much more room than all

of their stuff put together. I just can not imagine how that
can be when I am not even 6
the Lord is

months old yet. They also told me I will be riding in an

airplane for the first time. I'm pretty excited about that.

v/ith us, so,

mm

who can be

against us.
I want to

I've been playing outside

quite a bit and swinmiing. I

love the water. Mom and

say

big

"Thank You" to all

Dad even got me my own float. They say it is good for

me to get used to the heat

of you who

IES.

Several people have asked us to make a list of those items that we are not able to get in MalawL If you are planning on sending a box of goodies, let us suggest the following items. Please... never send any money or
checks to us in Malawi. We will never see it! Send all financial support to the mission address in Soutii Daytona, FL. Also; please write on the

outside of the package what is contained inside. They are more likely not to open a package if it is clearly marked.
FAMILY ITEMS:

KITCHEN ITEMS:

Dial Soap Shampoo Anti-perspirant/deodorant Tartar control toothpaste Tylenol

Anti-diarrheal medicine Cold medicine
BABY ITEMS:

Spices/Seasonings Dream Whip Packets Tupperware Containers Plastic Wrap/Foil/Baggies Chocolate Chips
Cocoa

Active dry yeast packets Mustard/dressings

YUM Items:

Diapers (cloth & large disposable) Cloth Diaper Liners

Barrettes/Bows

M&Ms/Choc. Chips
Bubble Gum Crackers

Sandals/Shoes

Playdough Crayons/Coloring Books

Children's Videos

Kool-Aid packets

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

and the outdoors. This life

thing is pretty o.k. with me. I have really enjoyed meeting all of you. Although I must say, after waking up in a new place every time I open my eyes, it will sure be nice to get settled and have a place
to call home. That is what

fdm CentraCChristian Church (9(0

Sharp's ChapdChristian
Church litusviCle first Christian Church CFL)

Qap Cree/i Christian Church

(^<N)

QreenwoocfChristian Church
(OW

Mom says too. Thank you to all of you who have been so good to me. I hope to see you all again when I can talk to you and play with you. Bye bye.

9Aacc{enny TirstChristian
church fFL)

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in giving, and your belief in this ministry! We are excited to be your partners in Malawi!

Supporters
We thought that it would be nice to print a list of the churches that support Malawi
Christian Mission on a

monthly commitment. We are not listing individual supporters, both to reduce the
list and to maintain

v'

anonymity. listed are

order.

The churches in alphabetical

9^6ingdon ^irst Christian

Churcfi riW
^ozeM^eCCChristian Church (<riN) Ocata CentraCChristian

Interesting

9kCtoona first Churcfi of

Christ (^)

^aytona Christian Church

CFL)

Church (fL)

Birthdays:
Tim, October 8 Dawn, November 18

^ort[and!Ave, Church of
Christ

Lauren, February 12 Anniversary: May 23, 1992

buggerChurch of Christ
(m

^sweffChristian Church m)

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

mm AM wtp
We
announce

Our address in Malawi

will be the following:

Tim, Dawn, Lauren Yates
P.O. Box 2500

route is ground service, which usually takes 2-3

months to reach Malawi.

are

overjoyed
we

to

There is also air

service,

that

have

exactly $3,255 committed in monthly giving! That is just a tiny bit under what we budgeted for! We look forward to seeing that go up slightly once we reach
Malawi.

Blantyre, Malawi
AFRICA

It is pretty simple, so you

have no excuse for not

The other main goals are also doing well. We have already brought you up to
date about the vehicle

writing us! There is no worry in Malawi about what you write. We are in a politically-safe environment. Please, do not send money,
checks, etc. We will not be

which is quite a bit more expensive, but reaches Malawi in 2-3 weeks. If you really need something to reach us quickly, there is priority service, which takes about 5 days, and for which you pay considerably more. Whatever your method for keeping in contact, we trust that you will continue. We have only just begun in
our efforts to reach Malawi.

project. We are also looking forward to buying back some of the things that we had to
sell when we moved out of

able to get them. Please send all such things to MCM at the South Daytona address listed
at the end of each newsletter.

our apartment.

Please continue to pray for the monthly giving, the vehicle project, and the special offerings that will help us to be more at home in
Malawi.

Also, you may send packages, but be aware that they may take a while to
reach us. UPS and DHL

Let us quote this passage for all of you:

deliver to Malawi, though you might find the U.S.

Postal service the least

a/}id/oee^v
'ma/ce

expensive.
There are also different

ymc amd6e
tAe
C(Hoa/)td

^
Aid'

PECIAL NOT
H
Ji/

ways to mail. The cheapest

100^

3500.00
3255.00

There have been many

people ask for our address in
Malawi. There have also

75%

been

few

of

you

50%

Malawi Christian Mission

P.O. Box 4186

computer-crazy,

internet-browsing

people
25%

South Daytona, FL
32121

who want to know what our

E-mail address will be (It's OK, I'm computer-crazy too!)

(904] 255-6960 No longer valid number: (&15] 573-45^

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

afc7 &
4th Quarter

The Yates family

O^ewsCetter

Settling in.

Settling in has not been as easy as we would have liked,

but the Lord has still done

miraculous
Since we

things
lifted

for

us!

very uninterested in what we were bringing into the country. He did not open a single package!
After we arrived at the

Feeling a bit depressed, we agreed to see the only other

house available. We drove

through the gate only to see

that this was a house that was

off from

Knoxville's McGee-Tyson airport we have been amazed at how the Lord provides for
His children. We arrived
in Malawi

house we were renting temporarily, we began to look for permanent housing. We

checked v^dth all of the real

estate businesses in town only with all of our eight pieces of to find that there were only extra luggage. That was a three houses available. Not miracle in itself You can three agencies, mind you, but imagine our joy when the three houses available customs officer waved us between all of the agencies. through with all twelve large We visited two houses moving boxes! When he that we felt needed major
heard we were with the
renovations and were

obviously too expensive for us to afford. We were ready to leave immediately until the realtor gave us a monthly price well below our monthly budget for rental! The Lord blessed again in that the house was available exactly
when we needed it! There are hundreds of

different instances where the

Lord has obviously been at

work in the mission. It would

Church, he suddenly became

extremely

overpriced.

take too long to report all of

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

them

to

you

in

one

newsletter. We will save some of them for another

time. We can assure you, though, that we can see that you have been praying for
the mission. God is

answering your prayers and

we thank you for that.

biggest part to our adjusting It was during this time that I so well here. Thank you so realized how hard Malawian very much! women have worked just to One day, sitting in the survive in their culture. It small village home of Mayi was a humbling experience, Malungah, she and Mayi yet it was a learning Mahoney were teaching me experience. I have been to make Mandasi (a blessed to find such good
Malawian treat). As we sat
friends in these two women.

Dawns Decrll
I must begin my section by telling all of you how nice

there watching the dough fry We leam from each other as in the grease, Mayi we strive to please our Lord. Malungah got up suddenly
and took the pot off the small charcoal stove and began stirring the hot red coals with

Boby Tcilk

it is to finally be settled in a
house all our own.

Adjustment here in Malawi

has

been

going

pretty

smoothly for us. All of your prayers, packages, letters,

and cards have been the

Moni! Muli Bwanji? I Needless to say, my insides have been trying to figure out just turned upside down at what this greeting means the sight of it. Then she since we arrived here. Mama placed the pot back on the says it means Hello, how are you?, so I guess I'll take her coals and sat back down v^th
her hand to even out the heat.
us. must She have

word for it.

I sure do like

noticed

my

T expression 4 ' because her

this new place Mama and Dada have brought me to. I have my own room, my own puppy, and a nice big yard. I
can't wait until I can run.

Mama says it won't be long now since I'm standing on

my own now.

I even have new friends

here in this place. I have some American friends, but most of all I like my Malawian friends, Gerri and Irene. We play together once
and sometimes twice a week.

Mostly we always want to play with the same toys or

climb on the furniture at the

same time, but we have fun.

My favorite thing to do is to
pull on their hair. I think that they will teach me how to speak Chichewa, so mom

will only have to worry about

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

teaching me English. I also

have four teeth now, which

the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Malawi.

mom seems to be very proud

of. I like to bite mama with

them, but I don't think she likes it very much. I also

Making
Confact
We have been amazed at how well all of our

the internet provides. This is by far the quickest and most economical way for us to keep in contact with you. Secondly, we have finally
received our fax machine.

enjoy playing copycat as well as sharing with others. I like to eat, especially Kamba puffs that are made here in Malawi. I try to eat like a lady with my thumb and forefinger, except if I'm having Jello, then it is a different story. Anyway, thank you to all of you who have sent me little goodies. I sure have fun with them. It is time to go now so bye bye and thank
you.

For a while, it will be at the

same number as our voice

supporters and fnends have kept such wonderful contact. start the fax machine It means much more than you immediately. If we are not at can imagine to talk to you on home, the fax machine

phone. If we are home, we will answer, but will recognize your fax tone and

Correction
In our last newsletter, we
decided to list the churches

who
Christian

support
Mission

Malawi
on a

monthly basis. The danger in doing something like that is that you have the risk of unintentionally forgetting
someone on the list.

Needless to say, we unintentionally did just that.

We want to apologize to the
Church of Christ

Wordwide
KY who

in

Lexington,
have been

the phone, through letters, through faxes, and through packages. Since you have done such a good job, we want to keep you informed of
those things that we are becoming aware of a little at
a time.

receives automatically after the fourth ring. As far as packages go, we have recieved may with
apparent ease. However,
after we have been in Malawi

supporting us so faithfully.
Please note that this

for six months, the rules

change a bit. we finally have

to electronic mail

Any package

congregation
together
churches

is
all

working
of the
in the

First,
access

we receive that has a value of

with

listed

previous newsletter to bring

service (e-mail). We have an internet address for you at the

end of the newsletter. Please

take advantage of the services

over 500 Kwacha (about $33 U.S.) is subject to duty tax, which is currently at 68% of the original cost. We just wanted you to be aware of

MALAWI CHRISTIAN MISSION

the rules and regulations. So
far, the customs office has

care

for

another

of

our

appreciate your prayers as we

deal with our first season

leaders,

and

have

done

been very gracious. All in all, we are happy to have so many alternatives for you to remain in contact. We appreciate you and look forward to hearing from you in one of these ways.

various other necessary have improvements that waited for so long. Please begin to pray for
the first national conference

away ft-om home. We certainly hope that you all have snow, as there is
no chance of it here in the 85

WtlflT 5 Qoino o\o

Previously called "Where
are we?", this section needed

that will be taking place here in April of 1996. We hope to have a joyous time with encouragement to all the
churches that are associated with the mission!

degree-or-more weather. We also hope that you take the

time to reflect on the reason

we celebrate. May we all strive to see the cross through

the manger scene. We want to say thank you

SPECIAL

a little change of name, thank

the Lord! About a month after we

GREETK!
We want to extend

arrived in Malawi, we had

the first leadership training conference here in Blantyre.

We brought in about 35 men from the Zomba area, about
an hours drive north of

special greetings to all of our supporting churches,

individuals, friends and

to all of you who have helped us to purchase our vehicle, especially all of the children at our VBS programs! The truck is running smoothly and has gotten us to places
we would have never been

families during this very

special season. This m\\ be the first holiday season that either of us have spent away from our family and friends. Needless to say, it will b

Blantyre.
We were able to share with these men about basic

able to get to. Thanks! Also, thank you to those who have prayed for us during our time of illness here. Everything is back to normal God bless you!

Bible

doctrine

such

as

baptism, prayer, giving, and qualifications for elders and deacons. It was a joyous time in the Lord, for many of
these men had not seen a

very

complicated
>tatside Address:s
Malawi Christian
Mission

Thanksgiving and Christmas for us this year and we would

100%

3500.00
3255.00

missionary in over two years.

It is obvious that we have

P.O. Box 4186

South Daytona, FL
32121

much to do here, but it is

75%-

rewarding to finally be able

to be here to do it! Thank

i904] 255-6960
50

you for your partnership in reaching our brothers and sisters in this part of the
world!

Field Address:

Yates Family
25%

P.O. Box 2500

We have also managed to

put a roof on two churches
and one leaders home. We

Blantyre, Malawi
Africa

(265) 623-536

have been able to get hospital

X

-ItttOTTgESccess: _

1:yates @iac.pix.za