NEWSLETTER 1 - 2011

Dear Friends and family,
"...My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46,47

GREETINGS
A very warm greeting to you all and celebration in the commencement of a new year under God's sovereign plan and grace! It is indeed such a privilege to be serving such a wonderful and awesome God!
I bring you the M’rs hearty greetings and praise to the Lord for His grace and kindness directed towards them for the safe delivery and peaceful disposition of little K Mr.
I want to thank everyone for all your amazing support and partnership in this ministry. The Lord's blessing has been remarkable; after only appealing once at church for the support required for me to go, all the amount and more came in by the following Sunday (pledged for the entire year)! This is just one of many examples of the Lord's provision and grace in amazing ways.
RE-CAP
Well it has been a very busy but blessed time since my return to S.A in October after my 3 months stint in Malawi;
I remember the rapturous joy of returning to my local congregation on that first Sunday back and to be able to participate in the corporate worship of God Almighty...and the fellowship of my  brethren...
How my work received me back so heartily was also a blessing and so too was their sad reluctance to see me go at the end of the year when we closed in Mid December...
Then there was the welcoming enjoyment of quality time spent catching up with my family, and the acceptance and understanding from them all regarding my call to the field, especially from my dear Mother, which was a great blessing to me.
I also really appreciated the opportunity to give a couple of addresses to the church on what I had experienced under God over those several months building up to me going and also whilst being there, and especially the privilege of speaking at our church missions conference at  the end of November 2010. All of these 3 months back I was so blessed to also be under the kind hospitality and home of the Gillon's.
RECENT  DEVELOPMENTS
Apart from these tremendous blessings above-mentioned, the Lord has added another one which has over-arched them all, to my mind by its beauty, wonder and delight! Namely, a lady by the name of Natashia Nicola.
I spoke at an earlier address of my 'wife' called ‘the fear of the Lord'. Well the Lord in His grace and perfect timing has brought 'another' and this time she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!, and how we came together has been an amazing display of God's wisdom, love and  providence! I won’t go into much detail now but to mention that many friends and family have been integrally involved in this relationship of ours who I'm sure could testify to this wonderful working of our God in bringing us together. A huge thank you I owe to all who have been a part of, and witness to our relationship. After coming up to Johannesburg and meeting Natashia's family and churches; their pastors and several friends who have walked the road with Natashia and after some meaningful discussions with some of them, and in particular, her pastor Chris Woolley and his wife, I proposed to Natashia on Sunday the 9th January, sometime around midnight (after our car had broken down). She said YES! And so now we are officially engaged.
We rejoice in the Lord's bountiful grace in keeping our relationship pure and righteous in our dealings with one-another and trust that His faithfulness will strengthen us to remain this way until we are married.
I understand this has developed rather quickly and that some of you may not have been aware of our relationship at all until now. Please know that it has never been our desire to keep anything hidden, and those who were watching and involved can testify to the transparency of courtship before all. Also realising that some key people in my life were not a part of this relationship at all until now (due to their being far away), does not make me glad, but I do trust they will soon  become involved in this exciting new chapter of our lives together as one from here on!
GOING FORWARD
Looking ahead now we realize that some plans have to change somewhat, and rather quickly at that.
We would like to get married, if the Lord will's, around mid April to early May. This should allow for Natashia to finish up her year of study and for me to get my work permit granted and return to S.A in time to make final arrangements for the wedding, and honeymoon there-after.  Then we plan to return up to Malawi as husband and wife to slot back into my existing routine, more or less.

REQUESTS
This brings me to some important considerations...

• We have some plans and some idea's about the type of wedding, location and honeymoon but will be open to some suggestions from the 'Hillcrest' side as well. Natashia will be predominantly responsible for the wedding planning as I will be in Malawi most of the time, but her and I will be in regular conference over the various decisions needing to be made. Your understanding and assistance in this regard will be greatly appreciated. At the end of the day we want as many as who know and love us to share with us in this celebration and union to the glory of God and delight of men and woman.
• 4 by 4! An urgent request to look out for a reliable 4 by 4 vehicle for our use on the field and to ask the Lord to provide one at the right time (which would be hopefully by May.)
• Pray for wisdom, and the means to provide for accommodation for Natashia and myself on our return to Malawi.
• Pray also for the means to provide for us as a couple going forward into missions together as one family unit.

IN CLOSING
In closing I would like to say that I will be leaving for Malawi on Sunday the 16th, or Monday the 17th of January.
Once in Malawi, we will spend approximately one week in Blantyre before heading up to 'base'.

Thank you again for your faithful support and participation in this ministry, your participation is invaluable!

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be  steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that  your toil is not in vain in the Lord." 1Cor.15:58 

Dave Olds.