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{"id":2953,"date":"2012-06-25T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T10:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/?p=2953"},"modified":"2012-06-25T06:00:32","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T10:00:32","slug":"starting-a-new-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/06\/25\/starting-a-new-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting a New Chapter…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In some recent posts, I\u2019ve let slip a little bit of news that I have yet to make \u201cFacebook public\u201d\u2013<\/p>\n

my family and I are moving to Malawi.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Yes,Malawi\u2013the Warm Heart of Africa and one of the poorest countries in the world.<\/p>\n

My husband, Tim, and I\u2013along with our two sons, of course!\u2013will leave for Malawi sometime in the next six months or so. Next month, we\u2019ll be attending orientations and trainings with the Presbyterian Church (USA)\u2013whose mission arm, GAMC, is sending us\u2013to prepare.<\/p>\n

Why Malawi?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s like this.<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, a friend from college went to a country that was so beautiful despite its terrible poverty and found great satisfaction working there.<\/p>\n

Five years ago, I found myself bursting into tears one night after dinner telling Tim about a story I\u2019d read on a midwife\u2019s blog, where a woman had died giving birth because she hadn\u2019t had enough to eat during her pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, I read with interest about a boy who managed to build a working windmill out of scraps and provide electricity to his village.<\/p>\n

And a few months ago, a friend sent us the link to an advertisement asking for an Old Testament\/Hebrew Bible Ph.D. to teach at Zomba Theological College\u2026<\/em>inMalawi\u2013the place where the boy built a windmill, where the midwife blogged her stories, where our friend went almost on a whim.<\/p>\n

And so we applied\u2026and so we are going.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While in some ways I\u2019m beginning to feel all the mix of feelings anyone feels when facing transition, the truth is that I\u2019m really looking forward to going. I have loved<\/em> working with the folks at GAMC\/World Mission<\/a> and eagerly look forward to knowing them better, and to meeting our neighbors in Zomba.<\/p>\n

As for what I\u2019ll be doing in Malawi (besides all the same things I do right here, like write, take care of my kids, cook, garden, and eat\u2026), well, I\u2019d very much like to stretch my little doula<\/a> wings and attend as many births as possible,<\/strong> to learn what birth is like in that culture.<\/p>\n

I suspect I have much to learn. And I\u2019m looking forward to learning it.<\/em><\/p>\n

No<\/strong>w, dear regular readers, you probably have questions. Fire away!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"