In The Office (by Thom)

We've talked some about our upcoming transition to Senegal and our transition to furlough, but I haven't mentioned much about the transition in the mission office, even though this has been a huge part of our lives recently.
Back in May I agreed to take over some other fields' bookkeeping. Since then I've been the bookkeeper for the C&MA missions in Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as Mali. The Mali field, however, didn't have a Business Agent so a lot of that responsibility fell on me as well. In our mission structure, a business agent takes care of a lot of administrative things like organizing shipping containers, missionary plane travel, payroll for mission employees, bill paying, maintaining insurance on mission vehicles, and the list goes on. This was quite overwhelming and for 5 or 6 months I was putting in 12-14 hours a day working, either at the mission office or at my home after everyone else had gone to sleep. This took quite a toll on me physically, which makes me so grateful for the changes we've had the last month here. In September a new couple arrived on the field, Keith & Krista Ellenberger, to take over the business agent role here. After spending some time settling in to their new home and doing some intensive language study Keith started working in the office at the beginning of December. It's difficult to say how much of a relief this has been for me. Keith has done a great job so far and seems to have all the qualities the job demands (something I lacked, I know) and I really enjoy this new dynamic. I've gotten more productive work, beyond the 'survival mode' I'd been in for the past half-year, accomplished this month than in the past 12 months combined. We're still working through the transition and both of us are still figuring out our various roles but I'm excited for the ways we can now better serve the other missionaries here in Mali as they preach, heal, and serve the Lord. Please keep the continuing transition in your prayers and for the Ellenbergers' adjustments to Mali.

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Furlough Calendar

OK, we know this might not be interesting to anyone that we don't call "Mom" or "Dad", but we've created a calendar here on mcmali.com to show where we will be during our upcoming furlough. The specific times are messed up since I entered the them based on Mali time (5 hours ahead of EST) but if you're curious as to what churches we'll be at or when we're traveling feel free to snoop on our lives. :)

Link: www.mcmali.com/calendar/

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Baptisms (by Thom)

One of the traditions here in Mali with the national church is to have all the baptisms for the whole year done at one time. Here in Bamako, where there are 32 C&MA churches, all the people gather together for a (very) large baptism service right after Christmas. We didn't make it to the service this year but at church yesterday they gave a report and over 300 people were baptized this year with 12 of them being from our church! Pray for those who have recently accepted Jesus into their lives as Savior and for the continuing growth of the church in Mali.

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My First Blog Post (by Miriam)

Miriam: Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane Iwannaflyaplane

Us: Only a few weeks, dear. Only a few weeks.....

(explanation: After our trip to Dakar, Senegal last month to apply for immigration visas Miriam is obsessed with airplanes. She loves pictures of them, toys, and every day we hear the above phrase at least 50 times. While we hope the long flight back to the US goes smoothly, we wouldn't mind one bit if she's sick and tired of airplanes after that.)

Practicing....

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Update On Our Request for Help (by Thom)

A couple of months ago I mentioned here that my bookkeeping computer had died and I was needing some help to raise funds for that. However, I didn't realize until today that I never followed up on that with the corresponding praise. After making the need known the two Alliance churches from Lima, OH helped out a lot raising more money that I originally asked for allowing me to get a better, faster, and (hopefully) more durable laptop to to mission business on. I don't even know how to thank the churches and their members enough for their generosity but I can say that this new machine has been a huge blessing to me and subsequently to all the missionaries that I serve by handling their finances.
Even though that need has been met I would like to mention our ongoing need to raise funds for our new car. When we move to Dakar, Senegal next year we'll have to buy a new car. Cars are much more expensive overseas than in the United States and we would like to raise $25,000. We are currently at about $3,300 and we are praying to get about $7,500 for our current car when we sell it in Mali. If you'd like to help with our car fund you may send your tax-deductible gift to:

The C&MA
Thom McMurray Vehicle Special
P. O. Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935

Or you can make your gift on-line here. As the disclaimer on-line says, there is no 15% administrative fee for donations to vehicle specials. Thanks for your prayer and financial support!

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Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

We've been busy in transitions lately - wrapping up our time in Mali, shifting to new responsibilities in parenting and ministry, and getting set to move to Dakar, Senegal (not to mention our furlough which starts in 42 days!). Honestly, it's very difficult to write with clarity about these transitions. We are very much looking forward to moving to Dakar and our new jobs there but we've made many wonderful friends amongst the missionaries and Malians here. Please keep us in your prayers as we get everything in order and say our 'goodbyes' here. In the meantime, I uploaded 51 (!) new pictures to the website this past weekend. Some are from Mali, others are from Dakar, where we spent last week working on some legal paperwork (and found time to go to the zoo). Check them all out here. This one is my favorite:

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Opportunities (by Thom)

Note: I don't like to write in generalities but sometimes missionary work is sensitive and I need to remember that this is a very public website so for the safety of several people I'll have to be intentionally vague in this post.

Yesterday I had the joy of speaking with a Malian pastor who has become a great friend to me. He had just returned from a trip to a small village far from any main road with wonderful news: they baptized 11 new believers in the church! This village isn't close to any other C&MA churches. 20 years ago my pastor friend started going there once a year on evangelism campaigns. The Bamako district of the church sponsored this after several years the fruit is really appearing. To me, the oddest part of the story was where this village is. It's completely in the desert. There is no farming, no fishing, none of the usual ways people live in Mali. The only industry there is commerce. The village is near the border of another country (one that is openly hostile to Christians and missionaries) so they have a lot of traders crossing back and forth. Ever since the civil war broke out a few years ago in the country to our south this other border has seen a marked increase in trading and thus exposure to the Gospel. When I heard this story I instantly thought about the Roman Empire shortly after the time of Christ. The Empire was cruel and openly persecuted Christians but at the same time it provided open routes for trade, a unified language, and so the Gospel spread quickly crossing cultures. We often think that if things are going well for people that they will be more open to hearing about Jesus but let's not forget that the ugly things of this world (like the civil war) may be opening other, far-flung doors.
Oh, and in addition to the joy of the eleven being baptized the town's mayor gifted two hectares to the church so they now will be able to build their very first permanent building! Praise the Lord!

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