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2 Little Bugs Graphic Floreen Newsletter Update
January 2009

 


Our New Address until 

March 20, 2009:

 

Matt and Rachel Floreen

852 Sun Grove Drive

Camarillo CA 93010

 

 

www.AfricaStories.com

info@africastories.com

 

 

January 2009

Issue #3

 

 

Please direct all 

financial support to: 

Grace Ministries Int’l
Grace Community Church
13248 Roscoe Blvd.

Sun Valley, CA 91352  

(818) 909-5700

 

 

www.gracechurch.org/ma

gmi@gracechurch.org


Prayer Requests

We know that prayer is an essential part of joining the ministry in Malawi and faithfully pursing the gifts, talents, and opportunities the Lord has given us.  Please pray with us!  

 

- Praise the Lord for giving us such a wonderful opportunity to serve Him and love the church!

- Please pray that we would love Jesus more every day.  This is critical to everything that we hope to be involved with in Malawi and the USA.

- Pray that we would be able to raise all the financial support we would need to be able to depart in March.

- Pray for safety as we travel over the next couple of months.

- Pray for rest!  We’ll be busy, but we want to be effective and useful to the Lord, both as we meet with people and churches here in the States, and as we transition to life in Malawi.  

- Pray for our time with family and friends in these months, that we can ministry to them and enjoy the great opportunities to be loved by them!  



 

Preparation for Ministry - Sitting under the Preaching of the Word

In the last couple weeks, the brevity of our time here in the States has fueled our grateful hearts to soak up every opportunity to sit under the teaching of God’s Word and to enjoy the fellowship of the Church.  We will be able to sit under the teaching of God’s Word and enjoy fellowship while we’re in Malawi, but the opportunities here are countless and the relationships here are deep and of long-standing.  

 

This past Sunday we were encouraged in Sunday School to strive for unity by following Christ’s example in Philippians 2, and then in main service we were reminded from Matthew 7 that the evidence of true conversion is a life of obedience.  These were powerful messages and good reminders to us as we look forward to striving for unity within the body of Christ, living a life of obedience, and spurring others on to obedience.  We are so blessed to receive this training and encouragement as we prepare to go to Malawi! 



 

 

 

The Great Floreen Roadtrips!

The time has come - as of today, January 21st, we’re on the road and want to see you!  We’re driving north along the coast all the way to the Canadian boarder and will be back in the Santa Clarita area on Wednesday, February 4th.  After a few days to catch our breath - and catch up with a couple churches in the area - we’ll be back on the road on Tuesday, February 10th, when we’ll drive as far east as Kansas, to return on Thursday, February 26th.  Along the way we’ll be connecting with as many people as we can and speaking at a few churches.  If you’re in the area, please come and say Hi! or send us an email and we’ll do our best to find a time to connect with you!

 

January 25

Grace Baptist Fellowship - Lynden, WA

6-9pm

 

February 1

First Baptist Church of San Lorenzo Valley - Felton, CA

1-3pm

 

February 8

Grace Community Church (Foundry Fellowship Group) - Sun Valley, CA

8:30-10:00am

 

Placerita Baptist Church (Missions Committee) - Newhall, CA

1-3pm

 

February 15

Girard Bible Church - Girard, KS

9:30-10:30

 

February 22

Austin Bluffs Evangelical Free Church - Colorado Springs, CO

6-8pm

 

We are so excited to share with these churches, and look forward to seeing many of you!

Support

We’ve finished our 

jobs here in California, and are now “full time missionary candidates.”  Our salary is coming from the support we’ve raised, but we still have a significant amount to raise in the next couple months.  We have already seen the Lord provide in amazing ways through many of you, and it’s been such a blessing to see His provision over the last couple months.  Between our outgoing (one-time) costs and making sure we have the monthly support we’ll need, we’re raising close to $48,000 before we leave.  We’re about 25 to 35% of the way there, and so excited to see how the Lord provides the remainder! 

 

Want to jump in and partner with us!?  Our greatest need financially is monthly support.  Join us in taking a step of faith that the Lord will provide.  You can get started by clicking here to visit the Support page on our website.  

 

Shipping Containers and All Our Earthly Possessions

There is something about shipping all of your earthly possessions to Africa that suddenly makes an upcoming move much more real.  Over the last couple days, we have had packers putting all of our stuff in boxes, wrapping items with large sheets of paper, and trying to get as much in the boxes as possible and as many boxes in the container as possible.  It’s an amazing process!  

 

We have received a lot of counsel on this move to Malawi, and everyone has said: ship all your household goods. It’s very difficult to get household items in Malawi, and our next best option was to purchase these things in South Africa and ship them to Malawi.  With purchase prices, shipping fees, and duty on all new items, that option is cost-prohibitive.  

 

So, we’ve spent the last couple weeks making sure we have everything we’ll need in Malawi.  We’ve bought a few things - an extra filing cabinet, a new desk chair, a safe, lots of laundry detergent, extra toothpaste, new shoes... Just imagine trying to move to a place that you knew didn’t have most of the items you are used to, and the items you can find there are only found intermittently.  Now imagine trying to pack for that move.  That’s what our life has been like for the past couple weeks.  “Do they have dishwashing soap?  Will it work well, or will that be one of the items I ask short-term groups to bring every summer?  Will I get used to soap that doesn’t work well?”   All that thinking goes into the simple decision of whether or not I should buy a large bottle of dishwashing soap!

 

But the decisions are made, the boxes are packed, the container is on its way!  We’re homeless for now, but so loved by friends and family who are opening up their homes over the next couple months.  Now off on the Great Floreen Roadtrips! 

 

Want to Know More?

We’re keeping up with the blog series on our website.  To see more packing pictures, read about the funny things that happen to us along the way and the deeper theological things we’re thinking about, and hear about the Great Floreen Roadtrips, keep an eye on our blog!

 

 

- Matt and Rachel