Living on spiritual bread

With everything still being so new here, one of my prayers has been that I would have more of an attitude of living on "spiritual bread." What do I mean by that? I guess because I tend to get so caught up in details that I can control, I'm trying to have more of an attitude of expectancy and looking to God for what comes next. Well, this has been a big week for what comes next!

Tom started his classes this week! It was a great confirmation of why we came here in the first place, as he loves the classroom environment. He has 2 classes of freshmen working on basic academic reading and writing skills. These classes each have about 20 students each, most of which are Malay, and about 20% are international students--coming from Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia, and surrounding areas. Then he has a class of close to 50 on leadership, for students in their final year of study. Each class meets twice a week, so he will be busy preparing, teaching, and grading as he gets used to a full teaching schedule. His colleagues, some of whom are Christians, have been very welcoming, supportive, and encouraging as he gets started.

Janet has begun networking with people to find out more about Christian counseling that already exists in Malaysia, and begin exploring how CCEF can fit into the picture to serve Malaysia most effectively. A number of conferences and seminars are going on this last week of August and into September, where there are opportunities to interact with pastors, lay leaders, and Christian counselors. So Janet pulled together a brochure reflecting the information from CCEF's website, in order to have a platform for interacting with people effectively about CCEF and the resources it offers. It's been a great help to partner with Equip, an existing Malaysian ministry that provides access to courses to equip people with basic theological training through Australia's Moore College. So it's been a busy week of laying some groundwork.

We are very thankful for all these opportunities and people we're meeting. Not to mention great thanks for Jen, our daughter, finding a place to live, and getting moved in with the help of her brother Joel and others! So please continue praying for us as we begin to get pulled into more of the details of what we came out here for, that we would continue to have an attitude of expectancy and living on "spiritual bread" as we begin to get involved in more of the details.

Blessings,
Janet (and Tom)