We want to start off by thanking you all for your prayers for us personally and for Village of Hope! The month of April has been very different than we anticipated, but through it all we have clearly seen God`s hand at work!

Although we had not planned on making a trip to Canada until the fall, we are sitting here, writing to you from Waterloo, ON. At the beginning of this month, it was determined that a lesion on Connie`s leg was cancerous. Simply receiving this diagnosis in Malawi was a miracle as there are only 1 or 2 pathologists in the whole country. The biopsy that was performed in Malawi showed that it was a squamous cell carcinoma (not the most serious type of skin cancer, but not the most benign), and it was recommended to us by our American doctor friend (another blessing) to return to Canada as soon as possible to have it removed (and reduce the risk of spread). So on April 13 we flew into Toronto, on that Monday Connie was seen by our family doctor and by the specialist, and the next Friday the lesion was removed. Connie is recovering well and we are planning on returning to Malawi at the end of May, after we receive confirmation that all of the cancerous tissue has been removed. Please join us in praying that the doctors were successful in removing all the cancer the first time around!

(read more of our newsletter in the .pdf below)

March has been a month of welcoming many visitors to Village of Hope! A special thank you to Rev. Clarence Buckle, his wife Wanda, and to Junior & Ivy Andrews (all from the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland and Labrador), who visited VOH this month. The Andrews served in Malawi as the directors of Village of Hope before us, and this was an exciting opportunity for Junior and Ivy to see the growth of the children and the ministry that they started. They also saw their vision of a nursery school as a reality! [read more via the .pdf below]

February has been a month filled with many challenges! However, God is with us and His blessings are abundant. A team from our home church, Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly, came for 2 weeks and painted Waterloo House. One of the team members, Ted, a farmer from Southern Ontario, taught Frances (one of the VOH employees) how to drive and care for our new tractor! What a huge blessing! WPA also sent a container with various supplies, including all the furnishings for the house. The container is still en-route but when it arrives the Waterloo House will be ready to open! Thank you, WPA!  (read more via the included .pdf below)

GOD IS FAITHFUL!!! The last few months have been quite the journey, as we have been going through the process of applying to have our TEP (Temporary Employment Permit) renewed. It seems that  everything that could have possibly gone “off the rails” in the process of applying for this permit, did in fact go off the rails (from hold ups with David’s passport renewal to new forms and processes on the Malawian side that suddenly appeared overnight). But despite it all, our God has shown Himself faithful, and in the end it has all worked out!… (read more in the .pdf below)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are very thankful for God’s love and strength during 2011 and we are looking forward to great things in 2012. New Year’s Day we worshipped at Capital City Pentecostal Church and were challenged to step out and do what seems impossible!

December has been a great month! We missed our family, but we are thankful for good friends, the Purdy’s (PAOC missionaries running the Bible College in Lilongwe) and Leuw’s (new missionaries working with Lifeline Malawi) who joined us for Christmas day!

…read more via the .pdf below