Showing posts with label #FAMANEWSLETTER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #FAMANEWSLETTER. Show all posts

Saturday, July 9, 2016

FAMA Newsletter v10 n5 July 2016 -- New Editor

NEW EDITOR
Please welcome Lorna Dever as our new FAMA Newsletter editor and communications director. She was elected to this post during our FAMA meetings on the first weekend of June in Fletcher, NC. Lorna has experience running the Tryon SDA Church newsletter, also a newsletter for their Thrift Store, and creating their church bulletin. Lorna was a missionary to Malamulo in Malawi some years ago and is a member of FAMA. Please send all Newsletter items to her at the email address she provides you.

Wil Clarke, President of FAMA.

EDITOR'S NOTES
I feel it an honor to follow Rose in providing a Newsletter for each of you. My e-mail address isserendipitykids@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible and learning stories of your time in Africa that we can share with each other. I plan to stay with the same sections as Rose had, but would love to add a section on MY STORY as you each share fascinating stories from your time as a missionary in Africa. If you have a section you would like to see included feel free to suggest it. Also, with this issue I have created a mailing service through Mail Chimp in order to send a mass e-mail without having to just do a few e-mail addresses at a time to avoid landing e-mails in spam folders. I have never used this particular service, but it came with good remarks. I will be learning their design formats in the next few weeks! I wish you each God's blessing wherever you are still serving Him. Prayers, Lorna

WE HEARD FROM YOU
Thank you for another interesting FAMA newsletter.  I am delighted to read about Doctors Tom and Alice Nkungula, retired, but willing to work at Matandani in Malawi.  I have now known them for nearly 50 years since they were students at Avondale College in Australia with us - Bob and Joy Butler.  Tom has some wonderful entertaining stories to tell of his cultural adjustments in Australia at that time. Then my husband Bob and myself worked with them in Harare from 1982-1993.  They have been precious and special friends.  God bless them in this new venture and we will be praying for them.  Can someone please share their email address.  Thank you. Joy Butler, 4th Vice President - World WCTU, Coordinator - Joy Safaris, Facebook - Women of Faith and Excellence

FAMA BUSINESS

Business meeting of the FAMA get together June 2 to 5 in Fletcher. North Carolina.
Between 35 and 40 FAMA members met in the Fetcher SDA Church June 2 to 5 in Fletcher, North Carolina USA. We wish to thank The Fletcher Church and Pastor Ivan Blake for their generous and gracious hosting of our meetings.
Decisions voted during the Saturday evening business meeting are the following:
·         Next Meeting: We’ll meet in 2018 somewhere in the central part of the U.S.A. Members suggested Centralia, Missouri or Indianapolis, Indiana.
·         Special thanks to Herb Stickle for Supporting Rose Stickle as the long time editor of the FAMA Newsletter. Thanks also for collecting and forwarding the membership email addresses so we could continuing distributing the Newsletter.
·         Officers for the next biennium
o   President: Wil Clarke
o   Vice President: Charles Schlunt
o   Treasurer: Bruce Harvey
o   Communications Director: Lorna Dever
There was a discussion about the possibility of sending the Newsletter by U.S. Mail to members who don’t have email. We would really appreciate your contribution to this discussion! In times past there was a member who voluntarily sent copies of the Newsletter to these members and paid for it out of his/her own pocket. The name of this volunteer was not available during the discussion. Postage for the Newsletter may run as high as $1.15 per item. We currently do not have an estimate as to the number of members who would need a paper copy of the Newsletter.
Wil Clarke< wil.FAMA2016@gmail.com>
Copyright © 2016, FAMA, All rights reserved.

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Monday, May 16, 2016

FAMA Newsletter v10 n04 - June 2016


 FAMA NEWSLETTER
Volume 10    May 2016   Number 4

SEE YOU AT FAMA MEETING IN FLETCHER!


A. Program at Fletcher

B. Letters to the Editor

C. We Remember
1.  Anna Houmann
2.  Harold Sheffield

D.  Reports
1.  Fred Wilson - Matandani

E.  FAMA NL e-mail address:  wil.FAMA2016@gmail.com
       FAMA NL member’s e-addresses

G.  Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa Get Together
1.  FAMA Meetings 2016
2.  New meal arrangements in Fletcher, NC

* * * * *


A.  FAMA Proposed Program. The contents of this program are still in process of being assembled and adjusted, so please expect changes. Bring along pictures and other contributions that you are willing to share with the group. There will be place for you to share in one of the “and …” or “& …” in the program below, please mention your desire to share with us to Wil Clarke.

Thursday June 2, 2016
Registration 3:00 to 7:30 with a break for dinner.
5:00  Dinner
7:30  Welcome Meeting with the FAMA President

Friday June 3, 2016
8:00  Breakfast
10:00  Fellowship with Jean Mabuto; Wil & Sylvia Clarke-Madagascar; and …..
12:30  Lunch
2:30   Informal Fellowship
5:00  Supper
8:00  Vespers and Fellowship with the FAMA Vice President
8:41  Sunset

Sabbath June 4, 2016
7:30  Breakfast
9:00  Mission Emphasis with Bruce Moyer: Muslims in East Africa; David Dobias: Evangelism in East Africa; & …
11:00  Worship with Barry Bacon- Setting a Place for Africa at Your Table
12:30-(after worship) Potluck Lunch
2:30-Fellowship with Karolyn Leonard and Pastor Ongasa and  …
5:00-Supper
8:00- Vespers and FAMA business including election of officers for 2016-2018

Sunday June 5, 2016
8:00-Worshipwith the FAMA president
11:00-Brunch at Park Ridge Café
* * * * *


B.  Letters to the Editor
1.  Thanks for the invite but my wife Kathy & I are not able to attend.  Blessings to you and all former Africa missionaries at the meeting. Robert Sundin <Robert.Sundin@nw.npuc.org>


2.  Thank you again for the FAMA newsletter. It is good that you continue this communication for all the ex-missionaries to Africa.  I looked through your names whose emails you have had returned. I know many of the names but can’t help you with many details.  ... And just to tell you that I am organizing my 9th JOY SAFARI to Kenya in July, and I only have a few travelers.  If you know of anyone interested - please share this with them.  I am attaching the information. Blessings on you. Joy Marie Butler <joymariebutler@gmail.com>


3.  I will be unable to come to Fletcher next month. I would like to, but I just had my 90th birthday and my children have asked me not to travel any more. I am living with my daughter and her husband in Nashville, TN. 
My husband and I worked in Ethiopia from 1973-1976 and spent the year 1984 in Rwanda as volunteers at the university there. Our daughter and son-in-law (Lars and Janiel Gustavsson) were missionaries there at the time. Ruby Sorenson <nielruby@gmail.com>

* * * * *
C.  We Remember
1.  Anna Houmann I want to let you know that my mother, Anna M. Houmann died March 17, 2016. She served in Ethiopia 1957-1962. Her husband, Dr. Carl J. Houmann, was at the SDA hospital in Addis Ababa. My dad is, at 97, doing quite well. His hearing and eyesight are poor, but he stays connected via his computer. Annette Houmann Grant <revkevfl@bellsouth.net>

2. Harold Sheffield Dr. Harold Sheffield died about 2008 in Madera, CA.  He was a nephew of Elder Robert Pearson.  He served in several places in North Africa in the early 1960s. I last saw him in Madera in 2007 at the funeral of his partner in the Madera Medical Group.  He was an avid golfer and had a house right on the golf course. His big plate glass window facing the greens was broken out by stray golf balls at least 6 to 8 times starting in 1975. None of the people in the room were ever hurt, but they had some close calls. He was a financial contributor to many mission projects during his later years. Marland Hansen <marlandhansen@gmail.com>

* * * * *


D.    Reports
Please send any news or reports to wil.FAMA2016@gmail.com
We rely on your input for the FAMA Newsletter.

1.      February 2016. From Fred Wilson.
   To our faithful 'Prayers' and Supporters; our humble thanks! ! !
  
   Without you, our efforts to bring Matandani back from the dead would have been severely hindered!!! We thank our Merciful Heavenly Father for blessing you so you could assist our efforts!
  
   This pictorial book* that we are sending will give you an idea of what has been accomplished up to 2015 when we left In August. The work continues through the efforts of John and Lori (our adopted kids) from Romania. God has moved on hearts in Romania, and without their interest, efforts, and prayers and without John and Lori, we would not be where we are now. I also want to pay tribute to the Matandani staff and our leaders, both in the Union and the Field. We thank God for His help in all efforts and acknowledge that without Him nothing could have been done. We also know that without your help and prayers we could not have done what has been done.
  
   In order to maintain our focus and effort, I want to again state what we see as our goals and aims. I will list these as separate items for ease of focus,
  
   1. Continue Restoration of The Mission: a. There are 11 or 12 houses that need to be renovated, and two or three need to be torn down and replaced. b. The Secondary School Boys Dorm urgently needs to be renovated. c. The Primary School needs to be renovated. d. The Clinic needs 3 units for housing their staff.
  
   2. The development of the Trade or Skills School: a. This school needs to be the principle institution, and the Secondary School, an adjunct to it. Courses should be available for secondary school students to take to enrich their lives. The school needs to be on a work/study program so that a poor student can work and learn a trade or skill to enable him or her to be self-supporting, and enrich their communities and our churches.
  
   3. Income producing programs to enable Matandani to be Self-Supporting. a. Gardens. b. Farm. c. Furniture Making, etc.
  
   I bring this to a close by asking you to continue to pray that God will continue to bless, and that the right leaders can be found.
  
   Here is a list of prayer requests:
   
     a. Pray that the Romanian Union will be able to find a young person or a couple to replace John and Lori — their 5 year commitment will end in September.
     b. Pray that God will bless Drs. Tom and Alice. They will be moving to Matandani, where Dr. Tom will serve as Mission Station Director. They are retired but willing to be used by God. They will be the glue to bind all of our efforts together.
    c. Pray that God will continue to move on hearts to support Matandani with financial contributions.
    d. Pray for the Malawi Union and South Malawi Field as they support the efforts being made; through counsel, direction, and oversight so that the programs started can be the right ones and can be maintained.
  
   Thank you! May God bless you in a big way!
  
   Ongoing Needs at Matandani Mission
  
Renovate Farm Manager's house     $10,000
Renovation of Boy's dormitory     $25,000
Primary School renovation     $10,000
Small Industrial Building     $25,000
Deep Well water system for people consumption     $50,000
Duplex for clinic staff (Lab person and Midwife families)     $25,000
Renovate 11 staff houses at $8,000 each     $88,000
Another 4 wheel vehicle     $15,000
   Projected cost $248,000
  
   Send you check made out to the Hot Springs S.D.A. Church, marked for Matandani c/o Dr Rheta Stecker, 441 Weston Rd., Hot Springs, AR 71913.
  
   Thank You, Pastor Fred E. Wilson, and Marilyn.

*[The Pictorial Book will be at the Fetcher meeting in June. Please take a few moments to look at it. Ed.]




F.    FAMA News Letter e-mail address:  wil.FAMA2016@gmail.com   Wil Clarke

      Thank you for sending to FAMA Newsletter any email addresses for current or former missionaries to AFRICA (and their children) who might be interested in receiving this newsletter.  Any news on your present or past activities will help to make this newsletter interesting to others in the FAMA family.  It would be helpful if you include information on where and when you served in Africa. African mission stories would also be appreciated.    If you do not wish to receive the FAMA Newsletter, please let us know.                                    -   Wil Clarke

      FAMA News Letter e-mail Search:
                                                                                                
Each month we remove the email addresses that “bounce.” Then we add back in the new addresses of those you send to us. Please continue to send the email addresses of any of those below that you have. Also please send us addresses of those who would like to join our mailing list. For your information we currently send the Newsletter to 734 subscribers. 


  Newsletter v10 n01
Gilberto Araujo
Natanael Bernardo
Dilson & Lea Bezerra
Arnold & Marilyn Boram
Ian & Roger Bothwell
Fred D Brandt
Nick & Gail Brightman
Francis & Retta Chase
Nell Davies
Ken Flemmer
Walter Lacks
Helen & Bill Markin
Hermie and Daniela Munez
Goodwell Nthani
Cristine Orillosa
Bob Parsons
Thomas & Anita Riederer
Claude & Farida Sabot
Francis Slate
Sebastian Tirtirau
Jerald Whitehouse
  Newsletter v10 n02
Jerry & Helen Cullum
Ken Flemmer
Lisbeye Luchmun
Kevin Maupin'
Sharon Miller
Diane Mopelle
Antti Oksanen
Thor Pederson
Terry Phillips
Mark & Elbie Piotrowski
Shirley Pratt
Paulina and Usko Rinta-aho
Susan Williams
   


  Newsletter v10 n03
David & Veronica Birkenstock
Kathleen Ellstrom



G.  Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa Get Together
1. FAMA meetings, June 2 – 5, 2016.
If you haven’t had a chance to register, come any way
What:       Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa (FAMA) Biannual Reunion
Where:      The Fellowship Hall of the Fletcher SDA Church in Fletcher, North Carolina.
Housing: In the Boys Dormitory at Fletcher Academy. Bring your own pillows and linen. Or check out hotels and RV parks in Hendersonville, NC.
Registration: Registration starts on Thursday afternoon about 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the Fletcher SDA Church fellowship hall. You can also register in the same place between 6:30 and 7:30 in the evening.
Meals: Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian are served in the Park Ridge Café in the Park Ridge Health hospital. Sabbath lunch will be potluck in the Fellowship Hall. Pay cash or credit card at each meal. Other meals are served at the following times.
       Weekdays:    Breakfast 6 to 10 am;     Lunch 11 am to 2 pm;    Dinner 4-6 pm
       Sabbath:        Breakfast 7 to 10 am;     Lunch 11 am to 2 pm;    Dinner 4-6 pm
       Sunday                        Brunch 11 am to 2 pm;     Dinner 4-6 pm


2. Registration Form for our June 2-5, 2016 Meetings in Fetcher, NC


Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa Retreat, June 2 to 5, 2016
Fletcher SDA Church in Fletcher, North Carolina

In July 2014, we had a wonderful time in our get together in Riverside, California. We enjoyed sharing experiences and fellowshipping together. We are looking forward to having a profitable time together in June 2016 and hope that you will be able to come and join us. We are all ambassadors for Christ and His missions, and there are still great needs in the mission field. Africa is dear to our hearts, and we must continue to keep the needs and victories of Africa before our friends. Let us pray earnestly and work diligently so that the missionary spirit never dies in our churches. Please plan to come and join us at this retreat in June 2016.

 Name_______________________________________________ Number in your party_______
Address_______________________________________________________________________
Home and Cell Phone Number(s)_________________________________________________
Email_________________________________________________________________________

Registration Fee: $10 single, or $15 per family. Registration starts at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, June 2, 2016. The first meeting is at 7:00 p.m. These will be in the fellowship hall of the Fletcher SDA Church in Fletcher, North Carolina.

Housing: At Fletcher Academy, next to the church, there will be dorm rooms available in the boys’ dormitory. They have beds and mattresses in them but no towels, pillows, or bedding. Fletcher Academy will let us use the dorm rooms without charge for the FAMA event. But they need to know early how many to plan for. Please plan to make a donation for the rooms. You may contact Marcella, (828)-209-6800, for reservations.

Meals: See the new arrangement described above. We will eat in the Hospital Cafeteria and pay as we go.

Please register as early as possible so we can give the academy a reasonable estimate of the number of rooms needed for their planning. This is important. 

Checks should be made payable to “Judy Harvey”. Please bring your cash or check with you and pay at registration.

If you have further questions, contact Judy at 541-772-0773.   You can leave your number for a call back.  Email her at  <brunju.harvey8@gmail.com>



  #AFRICA, #FAMANEWSLETTER, #FLETCHERNC, #MISSIONS, #MATANDANI, #HSHEFFIELD,# AHOUMAN, #KENYA, #ETHIOPIA, #AFRICA, #MALAWI


Sunday, April 24, 2016

FAMA Newsletter v10n03, April 2016

 FAMA NEWSLETTER
Volume 10    April 2016   Number 3


URGENT: Please let us know if you are planning to come June 2-5 or even just considering it.

URGENT: Please notify Wil as soon as possible if you have a report to present at our FAMA Reunion or know someone who does. Also notify Wil about any suggestions for vespers or other meetings.

URGENT: Please urge any of your missionary friends to come, too.


A. Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa Get Together
1.  FAMA Meetings 2016
2.  New meals arrangements in Fletcher NC
3.  Places to see

B. Letters to the Editor
 Letters

C. We Remember
1.  Rose Stickle
3.  Martha Toews

D.  Reports

E.  FAMA NL e-mail address:  wil.FAMA2016@gmail.com
       FAMA NL member’s e-addresses

F.  Registration Form for our Meetings in Fetcher, NC

* * * * *

A.   FAMA Matters.
1.    FAMA meetings, 2016.

Urgent: Please send an email to Judy Harvey <brunju.harvey8@gmail.com> telling us that you are planning to attend the June 2 to 5 FAMA Reunion in Fletcher, NC. Or even that you are hoping to attend. Do not mail a check for meals.

Urgent: We are starting to finalize the program for our Reunion in June. Do you have any recent experiences/news from Africa that you can share with the group at the Reunion?

What:       Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa (FAMA) Biannual Reunion
Where:      The fellowship hall of the Fletcher SDA Church in Fletcher, North Carolina.
When:       June 2 – 5, 2016

Housing:
At Fletcher Academy, next to the church, there will be dorm rooms available in the boys’ dormitory. They have beds and mattresses in them but no towels or bedding. The cost is extremely nominal--and possibly free--for the FAMA event.

There are also many hotels/motels available in the nearby town of Hendersonville, NC. The manager of Mountain Inn and Suites-Airport gives a discount to people who have something to do with FAMA/Fletcher Academy. The cost will be around $80 to $90 per room with this discount. It includes a continental breakfast with waffles, cereal, boiled egg, yogurt, fruit, etc. We need to let the manager know by April how many rooms will be needed.

You can check at http://www.historichendersonville.org/ for other places to stay. If you wish to camp or park an RV see http://www.historichendersonville.org/campgrounds_rv_parks.htm

Meetings and registration: Registration will start on Thursday afternoon about 3 o’clock in the church fellowship hall. There will be a welcome meeting on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. Several meetings are planned for Friday and Saturday yet leaving time to meet and visit with other missionaries. We will choose new FAMA officers at the Saturday evening meeting. Sunday morning there will be a brief worship and farewell meeting.

2.  New Meal Arrangements:
We just got word that the Fletcher Academy cafeteria will be closed during the FAMA meetings.  They suggest we eat at the Park Ridge Cafe in the Park Ridge Health, a nine minute walk (0.5 miles) from the school, our Adventist hospital.  I spoke with Maegan Henson, manager of the cafĂ©, and they are fine with all of us eating there. We will try to arrange a car pool system to get everyone to the meals. We are still planning to have a potluck lunch on Sabbath.

Here are the details:

Thursday and Friday: Breakfast is served from 6-10 am
                                    Lunch is served from, 11 am to 2 pm
                                    Dinner is served from 4-6 pm
Sabbath:                      Breakfast is served from 7 to 10 am
Sunday                        Brunch is served from 11 am to 2 pm.

Each attendee will pay for his or her own meals in the cafe.  They accept VISA, Mastercard, American Express, and cash.  No checks. There is an ATM upstairs if needed. The meals are charged by weight: 32 cents per oz, so you can buy 1 pound of food for $5.62. Drinks and desserts are extra. If someone wanted a full meal plus drinks and desserts it could run $7.50-$8.00.

They have 2 vegetarian entrees and 1 meat entree for lunch and dinner. Two culinary trained executive chefs lead the cafe team. You can go online to parkridgehealth.org and click on Park Ridge Cafe to see weekly menus and more info. Apparently the Cafe gets a lot of local business as a great place to eat with delicious fresh food, so this should work out well.

We will be sending refund checks to those who have already paid for meals.

Bruce and Judy Harvey

3. Places to See 
The Blue Ridge parkway which is about 30 minutes from Fletcher and it’s a beautiful place to go on Sabbath afternoon or any other time, for hiking or just looking at the scenery.  At the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge is a restaurant where you can have a table so you can see the beauty of the mountains from the windows. 
Grove Park Inn is a historic hotel in Asheville which is nice to visit.  Biltmore House –the “castle” that was built by Vanderbilt--has tours and is worth seeing on a beautiful setting.  These are just a few things which come to mind that may interest attendees.
                                               Karolyn Leonard <kleon2893@bellsouth.net>

B.  Letters to the Editor
1.  Hi Wil,
You probably won't remember me, as you were just a young boy living with your parents at Helderberg College, but that was in the 50s and I graduated in 1953!   Thanks for the FAMA Newsletter. And I knew Herb and Rose Stickle well, as I was living in Harare when they were serving in the Division.   I now live in Modesto, California, with my daughter. 

Keep up the good work, Blessings, Wanda (duPlessis) Comins <comins34@gmail.com>


2. Dear Wil,
       
We regret that we shall be unable to be at Fletcher this year.  We no longer drive or move far from home (a senior residence in DC).

We remember with great fondness your father who, when we were on our way in 1954 to remote Barotseland (Western Province of Zambia today), gave us an electric charger to use, no strings attached!
       
We served in (then) Northern and Southern Rhodesia (and Bechuanaland) from 1954-1972 and saw the transition from British minority colonial rule to majority rule.
Only Ian Smith’s Rhodesia was still hanging on when we left in 1972.  (It became majority-rule independent in 1980).
        Regards to any who might remember.

By His grace, Warren and Shirley Zork <
swzork@sbcglobal.net>

3. THANK YOU FOR THE NEWSLETTER...I LOVE KEEPING UP WITH THE NEWS OF OUR CHURCH. JIM RUNKEL <jmrunkel@msn.com>

4. Hi Wil,

Please change my email address... I have officially retired!

I am sending this from my old address, but it will soon be taken over by someone else.  Here are my details, not intended for publication, but may be used if something is newsworthy (which I don't think any of it is, just boring personal stuff which might be needed for someone's archives) [Editor: I have a copy of his mission service that he included, Wil] Alvin Evert New email address: <
alvinjevert@gmail.com>
* * * * *
C.  We Remember
1.  Rose Stickle
 It's good to see the newsletter again. We had not heard of Rose's passing. Our condolences to and prayers for her family. Carolyn Sutton <csutton8848@att.net>

We hope you are well and will be able to put this into the next newsletter, which we enjoy receiving. God bless. Ria

If love and doing everything the eight doctors prescribe cheerfully, and then some, our dearest Rose should not have died! But in the end she succumbed and is awaiting the call of the Life-giver. What a magnificent life!
Somehow we started getting the FAMA newsletter, though we really were missionaries from Africa working for the black indigenous people of Africa from early in the 1980s. We first met Rose personally at the FAMA meeting held in Keene during 2012, and though ours was not a long association, her death left us feeling very painfully bereft.

Shortly after our first meeting at Keene, Edwin and I flew up to Amazing Discoveries in November 2012. Among other things, they recorded an advertisement of Edwin’s book on prophecy, The Truth About 666 and the Story of the Great Apostasy, plus some material for Enmity, the new series AD was making with Dr. Walter Veith. Lo and behold, Herb and Rose arrived towards evening with a warm cooked meal for four! She had become a friend for life and we the recipients of her frequent loving and chatty letters.

By the time we went up to AD again in May 2014, Herb and Rose had arranged for us to see their paradise home on Vancouver Island. They met us at the ferry, took us to see Butchart Gardens, which I had dreamed of seeing for a long time. First Rose fed us a picnic lunch under the gorgeous trees, and then Rose and I took pictures. Eventually Edwin, due to his leaking heart valve, became too tired to walk the steep trails. Herb cheerfully fetched a wheelchair and pushed Edwin around for a while! That night we slept in their cozy and hospitable home under the quilts that Herb’s mother, also a missionary, had made. Next day, we inspected their newly laid out vegetable garden, surrounded by the apple and other fruit trees they hoped to harvest in a number of years’ time. We then visited their famous Victorian museum and picnicked in a park once more. Rose had a cardboard box with everything necessary for a picnic neatly in its place, and the right, nourishing food, ending with nuts. Yummy! When our too short visit ended, they made sure we were on the right ferry back to Amazing Discoveries, Vancouver, from where we eventually took a red-eye flight back to Texas.

In all the time spent with Herb and Rose, we never got the impression of a woman desperately fighting for her life. She never mentioned pain, fear, or weariness in all our association together, nor even in her later letters. She was always bubbling over with joy in God’s creation great and small, sending pictures, telling of the tasty food she and her many visitors were preparing for Sabbath or the freezer, and how good God was to them. She and Herb were to us the embodiment of what a Christian should be like: totally humble, loving, giving of themselves without hesitation or hoping for a reward. She instinctively knew what was needed and supplied it!

A special photo she sent about a year ago was one of her and her siblings sitting together in the very pew they occupied as children in their home town. Does anybody perhaps have it saved on their computer? We would love a copy of it, please.

What we loved was how Rose and her twin sister sang together in their little church the very last Sabbath she was able to attend the Parksville Church. She was also planning to house the family for Thanksgiving! Edwin and I admire Herb for staying on to nurture that small church in spite of his loneliness. We look forward with him and their children to seeing Rose again soon.

Rose made FAMA the wonderful newsletter it was and we pray somebody will keep up that good work.

Edwin and Ria de Kock, <edwdekock@hotmail.com/propheticum.com>


2. Martha Toews
I am a niece to Martha Toews.  She passed away in November of 2015.   Served in Lesotho from 1973 - 1981 and in Zambia from 1983 - 1989.  Twyla Reimche Gimbel <twylag13@yahoo.com>


D.    Reports
1. News from Dietrich in Chad, received April 20, 2016. See Attached pdf document. Jonathan Dietrich <jonathan@deserttreeministry.org>

Please send any news or reports to wil.FAMA2016@gmail.com
We rely on your input for the FAMA Newsletter.



E.    FAMA News Letter e-mail address:  wil.FAMA2016@gmail.com   Wil Clarke

      Thank you for sending to FAMA Newsletter any email addresses for current or former missionaries to AFRICA (and their children) who might be interested in receiving this newsletter.  Any news on your present or past activities will help to make this newsletter interesting to others in the FAMA family.  It would be helpful if you include information on where and when you served in Africa. African mission stories would also be appreciated.    If you do not wish to receive the FAMA Newsletter, please let us know.                                    -   Wil Clarke

      FAMA News Letter e-mail Search:
                                                                                                
This time around, we have had a huge group of bounced e-mails.  Please help us find the correct e-mail address for the following names:




From Last Newsletter
New Names
Gilberto Araujo
Jerry & Helen Cullum
Victor and Tonya Awuor
Maureen & Raoul Fuss
Francis & Retta Chase
Ken Flemmer
Fred D Brandt
Lisbeye Luchmun
Nick & Gail Brightman
Kevin Maupin'
Ian & Roger Bothwell
Sharon Miller
Arnold & Marilyn Boram
Diane Mopelle
Natanael Bernardo
Antti Oksanen
Dilson & Lea Bezerra
W L & Jackie Parker
Nell Davies
Thor Pederson
Ken Flemmer
Terry Phillips
Walter Lacks
Mark & Elbie Piotrowski
Helen & Bill Markin
Norman & Beverly Pottle
Thomas & Anita Riederer
Terry & Shirley Pratt
Harold Sheffield
Paulina and Usko Rinta-aho
Cristine Orillosa

Bob Parsons

Hermie and Daniela Munez

Claude & Farida Sabot

Goodwell Nthani

Francis Slate

Sebastian Tirtirau

Robert & Lorilee Thomas

Gary VerStegg

Jerald Whitehouse




F.  Registration Form for our Meetings in Fetcher, NC


Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa Retreat, June 2 to 5, 2016
Fletcher SDA Church in Fletcher, North Carolina

In July 2014, we had a wonderful time in our get together in Riverside, California. We enjoyed sharing experiences and fellowshipping together. We are looking forward to having a profitable time together in June 2016 and hope that you will be able to come and join us. We are all ambassadors for Christ and His missions, and there are still great needs in the mission field. Africa is dear to our hearts, and we must continue to keep the needs and victories of Africa before our friends. Let us pray earnestly and work diligently so that the missionary spirit never dies in our churches. Please plan to come and join us at this retreat in June 2016.

 Name_______________________________________________ Number in your party_______
Address_______________________________________________________________________
Home and Cell Phone Number(s)_________________________________________________
Email_________________________________________________________________________

Registration Fee: $10 single, or $15 per family. Registration starts at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, June 2, 2016. The first meeting is at 7:00 p.m. These will be in the fellowship hall of the Fletcher SDA Church in Fletcher, North Carolina.

Housing: At Fletcher Academy, next to the church, there will be dorm rooms available in the boys’ dormitory. They have beds and mattresses in them but no towels, pillows, or bedding. Fletcher Academy will let us use the dorm rooms without charge for the FAMA event. But they need to know early how many to plan for. Please plan to make a donation for the rooms. You may contact Marcella, (828)-209-6800, for reservations.

Meals: See the new arrangement described above. We will eat in the Hospital Cafeteria and pay as we go.

Please register as early as possible so we can give the academy a reasonable estimate of the number of rooms needed for their planning. This is important. 

Checks should be made payable to “Judy Harvey”. Please send your information and check to the FAMA Treasurer:
*Judy Harvey
1242 Ruskin Drive
Medford, OR 97504-5213

If you have further questions, contact Judy at 541-772-0773.   You can leave your number for a call back.  Email her at <brunju.harvey8@gmail.com>

Registration Fee
$10 or $15

Room Donation*

Total Cost Estimate



 
*There are several hotels in nearby Hendersonville, NC.


News from Dietrich in Chad. Received April 20, 2016


Dear friends and family,

We are happy to write another report of how God is working here in Chad. This year we have faced many challenges, but God is faithful and has given us the strength and health to successfully complete the training program this year. Twenty-two full-time students graduated with an additional six who came late but benefited from most of the course.

Together, we studied the message of the Gospel--the problem of sin, Jesus the Solution for sin, and what that means to us practically in our every-day lives. We studied how the Bible and the Bible alone is our foundation of our faith. The students learned how to study the Bible and how to prepare and present Bible studies. We also studied end-time events and the prophecies that show that Jesus is truly returning soon. One of the special topics we studied was the Sabbath/Sunday question and its significance in end-time events. Throughout the training course, we stressed the importance of being loyal to God above any tradition of man.

I would like to share a few short experiences of several of our students.

Jacques is a newly baptized young man. He attended our training faithfully and was full of questions. At the end, he gave this testimony: "I want to first of all thank God for the opportunity to be a part of this Bible training, and I want to thank our director for the time he has spent teaching us. Before this training I called myself a Christian, but I really didn’t know much of anything. It is during this training that I began to really understand what is in the Bible. I have been changed in many ways. Before, I didn’t read the Bible and didn’t know the treasure it contained. Now, I can hardly sleep at night if the Bible is far from me! Before, I didn’t really know how to be a good husband. Nearly all of my time was spent away from home visiting with friends and wandering here and there. But now I see my responsibility to my family. When I return home, I am going to spend more time with my wife and child. My personal plan of evangelism is first of all to lead my wife to Jesus and to encourage her to follow my example and commit her life to Jesus and be baptized."

And sure enough, Jacques came to visit me yesterday. I asked him how his evangelism plan was coming along. He replied, "Thank God, it is going well. My wife doesn't know how to read or write, but now it is my wife who wakes me up at 5am to be sure we have worship together."

Let me also share about Yamat, the former chief of Dabgue. You may remember him as the chief who helped us get the land for the church. The drunk mob was opposed to the church and the chief was going to go out into the bush to fight with the leader of the drunk mob. My friend the peacemaker calmed the tension and God performed a miracle so that the church could be constructed.

Well, Yamat was well known in his village as a heavy drinker. In the past years, I can hardly remember a time where his eyes were not red. He seemed to always be near the alcohol vendors in the village. Last year, we held the Bible training program in his village, and he attended some of the classes. He also attended our two-week evangelistic campaign. Since then, he has been attending church regularly. And, now that I am thinking about it, I can’t remember the last time I saw him drunk! God has been working on his heart and he has been slowly changing. When he heard about our training this year, he volunteered to come even though he had not received an official invitation. He faithfully attended the training this year. When we gave an opportunity for the students to decide to be baptized, Yamat came forward!

Last week, Yamat gave a short testimony: “I used to drink any kind of alcohol, and I use to smoke and do other bad things. But Jesus has helped me and I am different now. I do not touch alcohol, and I do not smoke now. I am happy because I have given my heart to Jesus, and I am committed to Him. Please pray for me and my wife who is suffering from illness at home.” Please join me in prayer for him and us as we study with him and prepare him for baptism.

And here is the testimony of another student: "I want to thank my friend for telling me about this training program. I had no idea about it, but I thank God that I was able to attend the training. It is here that I have discovered the truth. In this training, you have taught what others have hidden and kept secret. I have learned so much that I didn’t know before, and I know clearly that it is the truth because you have shown it clearly from the Scriptures. Please pray for me that I will know how to practice the truth in my life and in my family."

We have several more stories to share later, but we know that God was at work during this training program and that He has great plans for us if we will be faithful to Him. Please be praying for all the students who graduated and for the people in the villages where they will be working.

Numerous requests have been streaming in. "Please come to our village and help us." "Please come and train our members to do evangelism." There is no practical way that we can respond personally to all the requests. But where we can, we send materials. Just today, we received several visitors asking for literature. One person is from near Lere, one person from near Pala, and another person from Bere. We are happy to be able to be providing people with literature. Our initial stock of 12,000 books is nearly finished and we are considering stocking up on those books, as they have been extremely popular. Hundreds of The Great Controversy books are being circulated and read. May God help us!

Thank you everybody for reading this far and for keeping us in your prayers. Please pray that as the results of the elections are about to be announced in this country, that there will be peace and that God's work may continue to go forward. In the next newsletter, we plan to discuss the literature work and plans for this year.

In His service, Jonathan, Melody, Gideon and Liliana Dietrich


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For more information, pictures, and stories, please visithttp://deserttreeministry.org/ If you would like to know how you can help with the work in Chad, click on the "How to Help" link on the left side of the page. Thank you. Our page on OCI:  http://www.outpostcenters.org/ministry/desert-tree

From Jonathan Dietrich <jonathan@deserttreeministry.org>