Home  Newsletters Heather Heather's March 2006 newsletter
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Heather's March 2006 newsletter |
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Grant Proposal
It has been exciting and almost overwhelming to see my prayers for my
trip to Malawi being answered. I am realizing more and more that
it is no small thing to leave for six months to set up shop in another
country for 6 months. It seems a bit overwhelming to me at times,
I definitely feel challenged. A few weeks ago I felt like my
prayers about things being taken care of here while I am gone were
beginning to be answered: I found a friend to take care of house while
I am gone, I found people to take over FCI, my job even told me that I
could go back to work there again once I come back, everything here
would be covered. Then I realized that I will need tools and equipment
for this Blacksmith shop that I am going to start. What good is a
blacksmith without tools and equipment? Well, I have been a
member of a wonderful organization for 8 years called the Guild of
Metalsmiths. The very purpose of the Guild is to further the art
and profession of Blacksmithing. I didn’t even have to apply for
a grant but I got it anyways. God was taking care of things that
I hadn’t even thought of. You see, I have been in contact with
the president of the Guild about this quest for blacksmithing in Malawi
for the past few weeks. He called me last Wednesday to tell me
that he was going to board meeting and he was going to ask them for a
grant for me so he needed more details so he could relay the
information to them and the proposal was accepted! Now I have
money to buy the tools and equipment that I will need and have it ready
to be shipped by mid April when we load the container, which leads me
to another prayer answered…
The Container
I was concerned about the container and shipping everything over to
Malawi on time for when I get there in June. It has been
discouraging that free shipping through the military has not been
available; I guess there isn’t enough funding for it. The cost
for shipping a container to Malawi is between and $8,000 to
$10,000. I usually ask the organization who receives the food to
take care of all of that since we never have the funding for
that. However they did not have the money for this at first, but
thankfully they were able to raise the money. We have date set to
load the container on April 18!
I feel so privileged that God would want to use me in this amazing and
profound way. I know that I am not God’s gift to
blacksmithing. I am not a blacksmith by trade or profession, it
is only a hobby. Even though I used to work in a welding shop,
welding is actually much different than blacksmithing, most people
don’t know that. I know that this is what God wants for me and He
will provide everything that I need. I want everything I do to
glorify Him.
Please continue to pray for…
- The team going to Malawi this summer.
- Please pray that I will receive the support that I need to do this. I still need to raise about $4500.
- Please pray for me as I continue to prepare for this journey.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
Heather Young
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