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Dear Friend,

In our last letter, we told you of rushing Becky's mom up to Washington DC when she got sick and we were taking care of our grandkids. Well, Mom stayed there and recuperated. With wedding plans in full swing down here, Mom told us that she would stay in Washington DC until after the April wedding. As we heard week after week of how well Mom was doing up there and all the fun she was having, we began to wonder if she might be able to think of staying there long term. So . . . we asked her, and she agreed to move there to live with Becky's sister!

Wow! That left us wondering: "Now, what do we do with our lives?" Well, the short version of the story is that we sent an e-mail to SIM Ethiopia saying that we are available to return and asking if they have any openings for us. Let us quote an excerpt of their reply:

"Yesterday at our weekly administration meeting, your letter was welcomed with joy - in fact, as a real answer to prayer, especially for Jimmy Cox. He has been carrying two jobs, both Theo Ed/Church Ministries and Outreach.
"We would like to invite you back, Harold, to be Theological Education and Church Ministries Director. …
"Becky, we would like you to be the SIM hostess at HQ, and your home would be there. …"

Well, it's nice to know we're welcome back in Ethiopia, but to carry such heavy responsibilities is very …, is very … Well, shall we say it leaves us speechless? Although we have many questions and feel very inadequate for the job, God encouraged us in many ways to accept the invitation. So we have.

Praise the Lord with us that we are already fully supported and thus do not need to raise any further monthly support. However, we do have to raise funds for travel and outfit expenses. Pray that God will provide these. (If God moves you to help with these one-time expenses, make your check payable to SIM USA, designate it for "Jongeward Ministry Account (030825-050)" and send it to the SIM USA address below on the right.)

Now what? At this moment, the plans look something like this. Yes, the wedding is still April 14. (12 out-of-town guests at our house and 29 at the SIM Guest House.) The end of April, we'll move Mom up to Washington DC. One weekend in May, we'll visit a supporting church in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. The end of May, Giovanni and Rachel will stop in on their trip back from India. Our grandkids and their other grandma will meet them here. During all of the above, Harold expects to be testing and installing a new version of donor and accounting software at work. We need to pack, store, sell, or give away everything then sell the house. The beginning of July, we'll drive west, visiting as many of you as possible. We'll visit supporting churches on the West Coast until September. Then we'll sell our van, fly back to Charlotte for a few days, and fly to Ethiopia the end of September.

Does this give you any ideas of how to pray for us? We surely need it. Also, praise the Lord with us for guiding our steps.

We are starting an e-mail distribution list giving more frequent prayer items and news updates. If you wish to be included and/or have questions, e-mail us at either of the addresses below. Also you "websters," note below our new website (thanks to Northlake Community Church in Bellingham, Washington.)

In Christ's love,

Harold & Becky Jongeward

home phone: (704) 588-8823 
home e-mail: jongeward@juno.com  
office phone: (704) 587-1462 
office e-mail: harold_j@simusa.sim.org
web site: www.solomonsporch.org/jongeward 

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