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The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his
steps.Proverbs 16:9
Dear Praying Friends,
It has been a busy time for us, and we are so thankful for your
prayers. As often happens, we did notanticipate all the
opportunities the Lord has given us in the last couple of months!
We will share a bitabout several happenings that will impact future
ministry for us and for the churches in our area.
At the end of August, Robin traveled to Harare to assist in the
training of facilitators in conjunction withHope Internationals
savings group project in Zimbabwe. Robin worked with Tom Rakabopa
to train 14new facilitators in that area. Earlier this year, Tom
had come to Bulawayo to help us train 14 facilitatorshere. It has
been a wonderful opportunity to meet people who have benefited both
materially andspiritually from their participation in
church-centered savings groups. Pray for Robin as she and Tom
andother local project staff follow up with these facilitators and
seek to help them promote savings groups intheir churches.
In September, Mike traveled with three elders from the
Presbytery of Bulawayo to MTWs LEADconference in Siem Riep,
Cambodia. Victor Nakah, an elder at City Presby and also Vice
President ofSpiritual Affairs for CURE International gave one of
three keynote addresses at the conference. All theguys returned
very excited about the possibility of beginning a new church plant
soon. On Friday, October
31, the Church Planting committee of the presbytery has invited
all of the elders of the presbytery to ameeting to discuss next
steps. Please pray for wisdom for these men as they move
forward.
Victor Nakah and John Stambolie in our tuk tuk.
In October, we traveled to the Dominican Republic for MTWs Latin
America/Africa Area Retreat. We had
the opportunity to meet Lloyd Kim, MTWs recently appointed
Coordinator and his family. He broughtseveral messages from the
book of Ruth. As a former missionary to the Philippines and
Cambodia, hereally spoke to the hearts of the missionaries. We
connected with missionaries in Africa who we had notpreviously met
and were able to catch up with a number of our friends from Latin
America as well. Inaddition, Vince and Robin Wood, who have
committed to support us as pastoral associate couple forZimbabwe,
were able to attend the first couple of days of the retreat. At the
retreat, Robin realized (withthe help of other missionary friends!)
that she has been affected by cultural fatigue, which was making
hertired all the time. We praise God that in simply recognizing it,
she is beginning to feel more rested.
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On the return trip, Robins parents flew the first leg of our
trip to London, which was fun! The plane wasnearly empty, so all
who desired to lie down were able to find room to do so. When we
boarded our planein London bound for Johannesburg, South Africa, we
had to wait for a slight delay while they removedsomeones bags. As
we taxied to the runway, we were then informed that our plane had a
flat tire!Another delay ensued while the pilots waited for a
vehicle to follow behind us as we returned to the gateto make sure
we did not litter the tarmac with tire tread. We were then informed
that it would take an houror so to change the tire, and later they
said they needed to change the companion tire. It soon becameclear
that we would not likely make our connection in Johannesburg, and
we had booked a separate flightfrom Joburg to Bulawayo. When we
arrived in Joburg, about 4 hours late, we had already missed
ourflight home. We passed through immigration and customs and began
to investigate whether either of theairlines would help us out. The
resounding answer was NO. We were so tired and frustrated, and
finallypurchased new tickets, but there is only one flight per day,
so we knew we needed to spend the night. Ayear and a half ago,
Barbara Wannamacher, an MTW missionary in Cape Town, South Africa,
gaveRobin the name and phone numbers of a guesthouse near the
airport owned by a Christian couple.Robin, who thought she had no
more cell phone minutes, was able to call the guesthouse. They
hadroom for us, picked us up, fed us and returned us to the airport
the next morning. Just when we weredesperate for mercy in a
difficult situation, they were Gods mercy to us!
Sometimes we wonder if God makes a mistake. On the flight home
the next day, we were seated next toa guy from Bulawayo who is also
a missionary and is very interested in business as mission. He
believes
a lot of the same things we do about dependency and development
and missions. We all decided thatGod divinely appointed for us to
be on the same plane. Had we flown the day before, we would not
havemet. God does not make mistakes!
We often think we know where we are going and what we are doing.
And God surprises us with slightlydifferent plans. We give Him
praise for His direction. We are probably the most excited about
the forwardmotion for church planting here in Bulawayo. We look
forward to see how God might use savings groups,business as mission
and especially mentoring as we move forward. We are so thankful to
be a part ofGods work in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. We are thankful for
your prayers. We feel them!
Blessings in Christ,Mike and Robin McMahan
Mike's email: [email protected]'s email:
[email protected]
U.S. phone that rings in Zimbabwe770-573-0586(6 hours ahead of
East Coast time)
U.S. AddressMike and Robin McMahan1600 N. Brown RdLawrenceville,
GA 30043
Zimbabwe AddressMike and Robin McMahan38 Clark Rd
Suburbs
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
New Giving for Mike and Robins support account:Mission to the
WorldPO Box 2589Suwanee, GA 30024-0982account #14781
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
