Feeling More Like Our Home

We've been busy trying to unpack and make this place more like OUR home. The other day as I walked home from my English class I really felt like I was coming home. That's a nice feeling. We were so sad when we found out we'd have to move from our old place and had only two weeks to find something else. It was a mad dash of looking and we chose this place mainly for its location (right around the corner from the church). When our old landlady told us we'd have to move, we walked around the neighborhood and asked the Lord to let us stay close to the church so when this place was available, we felt we should take it. We didn't particularly like it but also knew it "could work" for us. Now that we are moved in, I have to admit, I love the place. It's a house, not a flat so it is nice to have an upstairs. Our living room is smaller but actually has the feeling of being cozier. Our dining room is a definite improvement over using the entryway of our old place and although I loved my old kitchen, this one is more than adequate. So I'm adding a few pictures of the place with our things in it to give you a little feel of how it is now.

The upstairs has three "bedrooms" although one of them couldn't even fit Paul's desk in it. So, I am using it for my study. I'm so excited to have my own space since I have always worked out of our bedroom. It can also be used for any grandkids who may come to visit (like Eliana who is coming in July!!!!). We're still working on the guest room. Right now it has boxes of books and other stuff in it.

Paul's office has been the hardest part of this house. It has a room added on in the back of the house. Here they call it a "conservatory". He trying to fit into it what he needs and the rest, mainly books, spill over into the rest of the house, here and there. It's been hard getting it organized because his work goes on and there things he really needs to work on and attend too while trying to settle. So it is a work in progress but when it is finished, it should be very adequate for what he needs. So we are almost ready for guests! Please come see us if you can.

We are moving to a new place, not that far from our old place. This is a "terrace house" on two floors instead of our former "flat" on the ground floor only. It has a "through lounge", that is the living room and dining room together go from the front to back of the house. The kitchen should give us adequate space and both of us will have an office space for our work.


For more pictures go to Liz' Face Book page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150564567267565.434366.624702564&type=1&l=1ce72da371

Recent trips and visits

Paul and I enjoyed a great time in Bulgaria with the team there. It was wonderful seeing old friends and getting to know some new ones. The retreat went well, at least that's what we heard from the team, so that was encouraging. Paul spoke about Abraham, the Father of Missions and we also had messages from I Peter that were excellent. We went to the town of Philippi and saw the ancient ruins. Seeing stuff like where Lydia may have been baptized, the jail and market place makes the book of Philippians so much more real to us.

In September we had a wonderful visit from our oldest daughter, Rinnie and her family. Erik and Rinnie live in Nairobi where Erik works with a NGO called Ushahidi. Don't ask me the particulars of what he does but his heart is in improving African technology and promoting entrepreneurism (is that a word???) among Africans. Their three girls, Lauren (9), Meredith (7) and Coriena (5) are a delight to us. The two weeks went by entirely too fast for all of us. But we had a lot of fun going to Windsor Castle, Kew Gardens, "high tea" at the Maids of Honour, and the Tower of London. The rest of our time was spent in playgrounds, walks in the park, cooking, reading and just being together.

Amidst our responsibilities with MTW and the English language class, we were able to take a couple of days and go the Lake District. We'd never been before and after watching Miss Potter, it has been on our bucket list of must do's while living in England. The scenery was indescribable and the time together very special. We've been reading through II Chronicles and had some sweet times of prayer together as we brought before the Lord the needs of our children and ourselves. God really spoke to us through this book of the Bible and we are thankful to Him although many times times "we don't know what to do we can keep our eyes on Him". II Chron. 20:12

Summer 2011

We headed for the US the end of June. First stop, some helpful and encouraging meetings at Mission to the World and a few doctors appointments. Next, a wonderful week in Pensalcola, FL with Anna, Wil and Amy and Eliana, Kirk and Sarah and Joanna and Sam. A friend kindly offered us their beach house and it was perfect. We enjoyed the waves, built castles, went for walks, ate pop-cycles, played cards and had a great time just being together. Here we are: Sam, Kirk, Sarah, Anna, Paul, Liz, Joanna, Eliana, Amy and Wil.

After a few days in Chattanooga, we headed for New York City and MTW's Cross-Cultural Missions Internship. It's a month long training for new missionary candidates that we've helped with the last four years. We have the privilege of mentoring a group of these folks throughout the month. This summer I spent time with a couple and single gal going to Thailand and a family and single gal going to India. Paul's group was made up of four families going to Cyprus, Greece, Cambodia and Ethiopia. We're really grateful to be a part of this great training that MTW offers.

Next, Paul headed to New Mexico and our daughter Anna and I headed for Pennsylvania to visit our mothers. Earlier in July Paul and his siblings had been called home because hospice felt his Mom was very near to death. But Mom really rallied and that no longer seems to be a concern. Paul was able to have a good visit with her early August along with three of his siblings. Anna and I had a great time with my Mom.

This left us with a few days to spend with Anna in Chattanooga, getting a bit of work done on our house and then back to Atlanta for Paul to have some meetings with his boss and I got to spend a few wonderful days with my sister. We headed back to London on August 13th and Tuesday the 16th, started Holiday Bible Club. Another full but great week. We thank the Lord for all these events. He has protected us, guided us, loved us in so many ways and through so many people.

Now Monday, August 22 we go to Bulgaria for a team retreat but more on that later.........

But just wanted to add that while Anna and I were sitting in the airport waiting for Paul to come in from New Mexico we got a little bored....

Budapest, Kosice, Zakopane

Paul and I had a great time traveling to Budapest to see our niece, Heidi, who teaches in a Christian school there,then on to Kosice, Slovakia and Zakopane, Poland to be with the MTW team who works in Slovakia.

Budapest was so beautiful. Heidi took a day off from school and took us all over. We also got to go to her school and meet some of her friends. This is a picture of Paul and Heidi waiting for the oldest train/subway/tube (Iforget what they call it) in continental Europe.

From Budapest we went to Kosice, Slovakia where half of the MTW team lives and works. It was wonderful being there with our dear friends the Talleys and Lesondaks and renewing our friendship with the Gregoires. It was so good to see their homes, walk around the town square and eat some yummy food (spinach pancakes and goulash). Here is a picture of us and the Talleys and Lesondaks.

Then we headed for Zakopane, Poland where we had a retreat with the whole team. It snowed all the way there. We felt we were in Narnia. It was good to be with the team. Paul spoke from I and II Corinthians, Jeff Talley facilitated a Tim Keller series, we played some games, ate too much food, had good times of prayer, walked in the snow, and enjoyed the town. We are grateful for the opportunity to be with each of these team members and the Gregoires six kids! Here we are with Miriam, Paula and Kris, Jana, Jeff and Esther, John and Kathy, Dan and Rebecca. Much thanks to the team for inviting us!

Christmas in Kenya

We were able to go back to Kenya for the first time since we left in 2003. Our oldest daughter, Rinnie and family (Erik, Lauren, Meredith and Coriena) live there. Erik is involved in the tech. world, of which I understand little, but you can go to http://www.ushahidi.com/ and find out more about what he does. Rinnie homeschools her kids and generally keeps her family together. They are loving being back in Kenya. Erik also grew up in East Africa. He's parents were with Wycliffe in Sudan.

So we left London Christmas Day with Anna, our youngest, who had come from the US Christmas Eve. When she left Kenya in 2003 she was on her way to Covenant College. We all expected to see a lot of changes and wondered if we would fit back in again or feel really strange being there.

Meg, #4, came up from Tanzania to join us for a week. It had been over a year since we'd seen her so were thankful she could take the time to come up.

It was wonderful being there. We felt very much at home and, although there were lots of new buildings and shops, it still felt very much the same. We visited some old haunts, saw our dearest friends, Danieli and Lenah Katumu, went camping at Lake Naivasha, ate Ethiopian food and bajia. But mostly, we enjoyed Erik and Rinnie's hospitality, drinking tea, talking, crying, praying. God is teaching our family a lot these days so it was good to be together and be able to talk through some things together. We only wish Wil and Amy (and Eliana), Sarah and Kirk (Joanna and Sam) could have been there too. Skype certainly helped to bring them into the room with us.

There's a mosque near Rinnie's so the "call to prayer" is quite easily heard in her back garden. Their daughter, Meredith, has a real fascination for Islam and concern for those caught in that religion. She sees the women all covered walking down the street. So several times she would say, if she heard the "call" or saw a woman, "Mommy, I want to pray...Dear Jesus, help that woman to be able to hear about Jesus." It was a real testimony to me to remember Jesus loves to hear us speak his name and pray for those around us, no matter what.

We are so thankful for this opportunity to be there. Being loved on by Rinnie's girls was so fun. We were there for Meredith losing her first tooth and Coriena learning to ride her bike without training wheels, very special occasions when you are six and four. Anna and I made gingerbread houses with the girls, another highlight. It was also warm and sunny!

So a big thank you to Rinnie and family for having us and to the Lord Jesus for loving our family enough to bring each one of us to Himself.

November, 2010

The first event of this month was the baptism of our newest grand-daughter, Eliana Dawn, Wil and Amy's daughter. She was born October 16th. Her name means "the Lord answered" and she is the answer to a six year long prayer. Paul used the baptism ceremony his Dad used and the questions my Dad would ask of the parents and church family. It was a great time of celebration.

We then spent a week with Anna, putting gutters on her/our house in Chattanooga and spending time together. At the end of the week was Mission to the World's Global Missions Conference. Paul lead two seminars on partnering with churches to care for missionaries and we were both on a panel talking about issues unique to missionary life. We saw many old friends and made new ones. Two of my sisters and my brother were also there so that was really special.

Time to go spend some time with Joanna and Sam Ward, two of our grandkids so will continue this later.

Our Oldest Granddaughter Comes to Visit

Our son-in-law, Erik, was asked by Nokia to come to help with some competition and said he'd come if they'd pay for a ticket for his daughter as well. And they did!!!!! So, although we didn't see a lot of him (he stayed on the other side of London) we got to have Lauren with us for three days. It was a ton of fun. Lauren is 8 years old, a great age for doing stuff. We went to the Tower of London (forgot the camera), to Kew Gardens (again, forgot the camera), to The Maids of Honor for "tea" (forgot the camera) to the Shalford Mill and Oakhurst Cottage and remembered the camera. Below are a few pictures from our time together.

With Wil and Amy

Ok, when it rains it pours...another post! After our time at CCMI we made a dash down to Annapolis, MD to see Wil and Amy and Amy's parents. We seldom get to see the Hendricks so that was a real treat. Amy's Mom was having a baby shower for her so it was great to get to be there for that. Amy's Grandmother and Aunt were there so it was nice to see them again since I don't think we have since Wil and Amy's wedding seven years ago. We basically just hung out and talked (did a little shopping), a well worth it quick trip down from NYC. Plus it is always nice to go to my home town and think about past years spent there.

Cross-Cultural Ministy Internship

From the sisters' reunion (Paul was in Chattanooga visiting Anna) we went to New York City. This is our third year to help with CCMI (formerly known as pre-field training). We stayed in the same little apartment in Upper Manhattan (Washington Heights) in a very Dominican neighborhood. I wish so much I knew Spanish since that is what we heard in the grocery stores, laundry mat, on the street, etc. There were 20 participants in the training, going to Australia, Colombia, Japan, India, Mexican Border, Cambodia, Honduas, and Spain and one couple with Enterprise. Paul and I each had a group of new candidates to mentor through the program. We helped in different churches with things like VBS, teaching SS, and other children's programs. The new candidates had some assignments to do that we would read and help them with, all geared towards giving them better eyes and ears for the culture they would be going too.
So we spent the mornings working in our churches when they needed us and the afternoons at another church for training classes. We spent time with the folks we were mentoring, over meals, fun outings, or just hanging out at their apartments. It was such a privilege to get to know these folks and see their heart for missions.

Below are some random shots from our time...Paul leading one of the sessions, Heather and I on the Brooklyn Bridge, Paul and Peter talking, Paul and I in Strawberry Fields...

Margie's Birthday Bash/Sisters' Reunion

The end of June my sister-in-law, Mary Lou, me, my three sisters, Sally, Louise, Margie and our cousin, Ceecy (order of photo) gathered in Quarryville, PA to celebrated Margie's 60th birthday and to see our Mom. It was a really fun time of just being together talking, laughing, remembering, and according to Mahlow tradition, crying. Our brother also came at the beginning and end. I think one of the most special times was reading Mom's letters to her Mom about Margie's birth and the story of her polio. Mom's faith was so strong, despite the challenges of what the polio was doing to Margie. I drove down with Margie from her home in Prospect Park, NJ and her car broke down twice. It was really God's gift to us since it allowed us to stay an extra day and for Margie to have an extra day off work to spend with me! She is my just older sister and we have been dearest friends since birth.

We did some fun stuff like go to Longwood Gardens, but also enjoyed a visit with my Mom and got to see our Aunt and Uncle and another cousin as well.