Welcome to mcmali.com's FAQs
Who (or what, or where) is mcmali?Where is Mali, and why haven't I heard of it before?
How long have you been in Mali?
What do you do there?
What's next for you?
How can I get in touch with you?
How can I support your work in Africa?
Would you like to share any useless trivia with me?
When will you be coming back to the US again?
Can I schedule you for a speaking engagement?
Who (or what, or where) is mcmali?
Mcmali is a website for information about Thom and Amanda McMurray and our twin daughters, Miriam & Hannah. We are missionaries serving with the Christian & Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in Mali. To learn more about Thom, click here. For more on Amanda, click here.
Where is Mali, and why haven't I heard of it before?Mali is in Western Africa. It borders Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Senegal. I'm not sure why you haven't heard of it before, but to be honest, before Thom went to Burkina Faso we hadn't heard of many of these countries, either.
How long have you been in Mali?We arrived in Mali on the first day of September, 2005.
We studied French outside of Paris for six months before
that.
We aren't sure how long we'll be here. Our best answer is: as
long
as the Lord purposes us here! Our current agreement is to
stay at
least through 2009.
That is sometimes a difficult question to answer. Today we're doing one thing and tomorrow it's something else! Officially, Thom is the bookkeeper for the C&MA fields in Mali, Senegal, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Amanda spends a lot of time being mom to our twins but also spends time each week with a ministry aimed at helping troubled women escape the imprisoning life of prostitution.
What's next for you?Of course, the answer to that could change daily. However, we're currently planning to live here in Mali until our furlough in early 2009. After that we'll be returning to Africa but living in Dakar, Senegal as we join the Africa Regional Office there.
How can I get in touch with you?We are available via several channels. The internet
has made the world shrink exponentially. We are available via
Instant Messenger, Skype, email, telephone, and postal mail.
To email us, our address is mcmali@gmail.com.
Our
post office address is:
Thom &
Amanda McMurray
s/c Mission Protestante
CMA
BP 2233
Bamako, Republique de Mali
Our Skype name is: mcmali.
As I mentioned, we also have a telephone number and Instant Messenger addresses, but we have chosen not to post those here. If you would like to use one of those channels with us, please contact us first via one of the other options.
How can I support your work in Africa?That's a good question! We see support coming in three forms: prayer, encouragement, and financial. Please hold us up in prayer. We have seen many answers to prayer in our brief time here, and God is active in Mali! We are also greatly encouraged when we receive emails or letters from people. See above for details on this. If you would like to support us financially, we would greatly appreciate it. Out living costs are covered by the C&MA, but our ministry costs must come from donors.
We've included more information on all three ways to support us at our "Support Us" page.
Would you like to share any useless trivia with me?We thought you'd never ask! Useless trivia is a
passion of Thom's. Where can we
start?
* Did you
know that the ancient city of Timbuktu is
located in Mali?
* In
Bambara (the dominant local language) the word for twin is "Filaniba"
and is pronounced fla-nee-ba
* Mali was
formerly known as French Sudan, and gained
independence from France June 20, 1960.
* In 2005,
Reporters Without Borders released
a study showing Mali as having the 37th most free press in
the world (out of 168). That tied it with Japan and was ahead
of the US by 6 places.
Our schedule is subject to change, but as we best know it, we will likely have a three month furlough in the US beginning February 1st, 2009. As we find out information, we'll pass it along both here and at our blog.
Can I schedule you for a speaking engagement?During our three months home in the US, we'd like to be available to share what the mission and the church are doing in Mali. We see so many things that we can't really express in print here, but we'd be passionate to bring the words to you. We'll likely be spending most of our home time in the Midwest, with some time in Utah, although we are open to whatever opportunities are presented. Please feel free to contact us if your church or organization is interested.
Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions not covered here, don't hesitate to email us !
~ Thom & Amanda McMurray
