Merry Christmas!

Our family christmas picture!

Giving Tina a inside joke cake for her birthday!

Analise loving on Grandpa's new dog and as she enjoys the the snow.

The girls sledding in the snow in their pajamas - They couldn't wait...

The girls going out in their jammies in the snow! Seriously they couldn't wait!

Life flies by! We are loving this Christmas as we are able to spend it with family! What a treat. We are loving the snow and all that comes with it. We have been able to sled and play. The girls have loved experiencing snow for the first time. Tina has too. We so blessed and grateful for the simple gifts that a Holiday season is. Wishing you all an amazing Christmas! Love- all of us!

Update on cute Tina!

Well- It has been 6 months since Malawi ( Tina!) landed unto American soil. I love hearing as she processes life here in America! In September, she began for her MBA! - She is getting A's and doing amazing. Amazing. She has been staying with my parents and loving it. I am so proud of her and she has really done well! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

International Dinner with my parents

Displaying her Malawian Pride!

With her fellow African girls at Whitworth.

She loves the snow!

Dancing in the snow!

Hmmm- eating snow! Cute girl!

Here is some snippets of her latest update.

Dear family and friends,

It is almost December and i will be half a year old in the States, unbelievable!

I hope this email finds you well. I am doing great and thank God for the good health.

The snow is finally here. I could not believe how beautiful and quiet it looks when it snows. It is a very amazing experience for me and i am so excited. I dont mind the cold weather right now, i am just thrilled by God's wonderful creation. How did God make snow? It is so amazing for me. I am looking forward to learn some outdoor sports in this kind of weather. I have also decided to open a restaurant and make snow pizzas, i hope i will work. My grandparent (Gary and Barb Warrick) are keeping me warm. Their house is so cozy. Thank the Lord for His provision.

I miss friends back in Malawi. I keep in touch with them online but it was great having one MalawianAmerican friend visit us at the beginning of this month. Her name is Michelle Halemeier, she is a missionary in Malawi also serving at ABC (African Bible CollegeChristian Academy). She is on ferlough and she will be heading back to Malawi in January. I also went with her at Susie's house (my new aunt) to carve an orange pumpkin. In Malawi, pumpkins are green. It was great catching up with her and reminding each other of the great times we had in Malawi.

God has also been faithful in bringing new friends in my life. I have met a couple of girls who are dear to me now. I also had a chance to start going to a college ladies Bible study group. I met new friends there as well. I hope to go again soon.

We finally had our international banquet. It was on friday the 19th. I was able to participate in the fashion show and i also carried my Malawian flag. We had food from different parts of the world. It was fun to try new things. Gary and Barb came with me. They enjoyed the banquet and some amazing performances.

The adventure of seeing and experiencing new things in America continues. There is thanksgiving coming up this week. I am so excited. People keep on talking about the turkey and foods i have never eaten before. This week, I am trying to keep myself hungry so that i can eat and try everything on Thursday. I am also looking forward to Christmas. It will be my first white Christmas and also my first white birthday. My family (The Stauffachers) is also coming on the 16th of December. It will be great to spend some good time with them.

God bless you so much for all your prayers and support.

Love-Christina (Tina)

Have a fun preparing for the holidays! Lots of Love- amy louise

hope in tradedy...

My girls! Nya Elise and Analise Hope

Today I celebrate life! My kid's lives! Nya, Will (we lost him in 7 years ago this month), and Analise and 3 other children that we lost prematurely and that we didn't get to name. I celebrate hope! Hope that tomorrow brings healing and a new day. I never knew what kind of journey in life I was in for. When I started this journey- I didn't think about the prospect of having any deep heart ache. You just know you are just living. Then the tragedy strikes, that is when I stood at the crossroads - while I lost my son - I didn't get to be my baby boy's earthly mama. I didn't get rock, feed, change, bathe, love with kisses and snuggles and all the other things that mama's do in the beginning stages of life. I didn't get to see his first steps, his first words, his first tantrum, and his first owie. I didn't get to tell him to settle down, don't talk back, be nice to his sister or don't be sassy to his mama! I didn't get to tell him how proud of him I am, how I love him so and that he is so cherished and loved for who he is! But as I focused on what I wouldn't have with Will, I had a choice at that moment! A choice to choose to trust in the sovereignty of God. To know the things I don't understand - He did. I had to chose Him and not the confusion that surrounded me. There were days I thought the tears would never cease. But I can tell you today I have hope through the tears. Joy through the pain. Hope of eternal life and that the heartache will be gone one day. Having the Rock as my salvation - (Jesus - my hope) is what I stand on. Most days I am reminded I don't have all my stuff together but I love that have I have a God that I can turn to that is bigger than me! That sees things in a whole different scheme of things than me. I am thankful.

Thank you for reading my deep thoughts. - Amy Louise

Faith...

Look at Nya Above! She has faith she can make it to the top...

Faith is a daily battle with me. Somedays I am great with choosing that He is control and other days I can't see past my problem. Somedays it is even moment by moment!

So today I am choosing to tell myself- He is bigger than the problem. Here are a couple scriptures I am turning to as my faith is being tested...

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

" But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed."(James 1:6)

Trusting beyond what I see and what I think that I have to offer to make what I want to happen happen... Having faith. Has He ever failed me yet? No- so I must stand on The Rock!

Psalm 40:2 (New International Version)

² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

Thanks for loving us and praying for us as we daily choose to follow Christ!

amy louise

Simple things to enjoy!

Date with Dada!

Seeing the Airshow for the first time

going to my first ever women's retreat!

sliding down a cotton hill because that is how we sled with no snow here in southern Cali...

Date with Dada

field trip with class to the pumpkin patch!

Simple normalish everyday life here in this land we call home. Well- yesterday Analise asked me how many more day until we fly home! Ok so not home for her yet. We are not counting the days yet, but we are thinking about that we leave again.

here is the update that I sent out for this month.... Thanks for reading and praying and loving us! the Stauffy family!

Hello sweet friends and family-

A vivid memory that I have from my time in Africa... one day, I met a woman that had 3 children and was living in a room that was as small as my bathroom (made out of mud). I was shocked and really was wondering - how could she believe in this God - when she had so little. Through an interpreter I asked in some form this question - is it hard to trust in God, when you have just this... But her response shocked me. I have thought about it often. She said God is all she has and then she asked me in return- What about you? When you have everything and you still trust in God. Is that hard?

Such a notion to think that I have everything! I want to choose to trust in God for my everyday life. Well- many days I don't feel like I have everything and many days I don't choose to trust Him. Many days I am not thankful in the ways I should be. Many days I am focused of my wants, my selfish desires, and my need for more shoes and maybe a new shirt! So today- I am reminded that I am to be thankful for all that I have. I don't live in room that it is as small as my bathroom. Today - I have been given the gift of life and enjoy it throughly! Today I can be thankful that I have an Amazing God that I can find my source of strength to live and give!

Today I am thankful all that God has provided for our family.

As we go into this wonderful month of November- Things to be thankful-

• We are blessed with so many wonderful friends and family!
• We have been blessed by many of you supporting us as we are here in San Diego and gear up to go to Africa in this coming July!
• We have been blessed to live in our house during this time.
• We have been able to connect and share our lives with so many.
• We have healthy and really been able to have some down time.
• We have every need met and we really are not in want. ( it is a matter of perspective that I have to keep)
• We are alive and able to enjoy our days- thoroughly!

Thanks for loving and being apart of our journey! Love- Amy Louise for the Stauffacher family

quietly living in the routine...

Is that an expression? Well- that is what we are doing - routine! I have dreamt of routine for along time and this month it came. Quiet normal routine. Breakfast, School, Lunch, Homework, Dinner and then Bed. Simple! This week- Every night we had someone over for dinner or lunch- it is still is full of people but routineish! I love it- But this week I started thinking as I was standing in the wal-mart line... 8 months until we leave back to Africa. I better buy that extra chap stick while I am thinking about it. Crazy thought I know. I will remember later. Then again I might not, might as well get it while the thought in my brain is still active. Time is Flying for me. Really it's almost November, then it Christmas and then it's January and its starting to be only 6 months and the time flies. Ok I know that I might be extreme, But it flies by! I can't believe it's already the weekend. Wasn't it just Monday? So as I subconsciously countdown, thank you for loving us and praying for us. I haven't post as much as I wanted to lately- I find that it all seems so normal to share. But I will do more normalish things soon.

Lots of love from the normalish routineish family here in San Diego!

P.S. those cute girls above are dressed up in their Harvest Party wear and that pumpkin is Bob's carving project. He is excited.

Moments

That is what is going on here. Living in the moments. Whether it is with people or ourselves we are just having moments.

These last few months have been moments of -

• New school for the girls
• New friends for all of us
• Processing the pace of the land that we call our "home cuture"
• Noticing that we drive alot in our cars
• Seeing that we have to be intentional to meet with people, they don't just show up at your door
• Explaining sports, bathrooms, why grocery stores have so much food and where it all goes if someone doesn't buy it
• realizing that there is really a gift of dishwashers
• reconnecting with friends
• loving the smell and sound of the ocean
• watching the girls process life in every angle - the simple and complex
• seeing God provide in all that we need through friends and family supporting us
• realizing how much we love Africa in light of America
• realizing how much we love America in the light of Africa
• Loving the mexican food available, target and dr pepper ( i know i say this often but it is true!)
• Loving living in our dream house
• loving meeting old friends and meeting new friends
• Watching the girls settle into routine and thrive
• watching Bob teach the girls baseball - it is very cute!

Living in the simple moments! Love them!

Lots of love- Amy Louise

Here is my last email update for those who didn't get that....

As we are settling into routine here in good old America, I am finding that life is full of choices. I already knew this but when we have not been exposed to so many choices for a long period of time it really impacts you. In Africa- when I wanted to get yogurt, there was only 2 brands and many times there was none. Yes- NONE! Strangely :) - I found myself a little bit crabby about that. But as I go to the grocery store here- I am quickly overwhelmed by choices I have of just the one brand that 27 different types. Thanks yoplait! Not to mention that there are 15 more brands to choose from. Strange to go from one or none to so many. Simple analogy but that is life. Choices- What we invest our time in, who we spend our time with, how we give out, and all that is in between that (ie food, clothes, the daily stuff of life). Daily we have to choose if we are living for ourselves or are we living for Christ. We are constantly choosing. When you living in this land of plenty you realize how big and many your choices are and really how they can impact you life even if they seem small. It is the daily choices that really is what God is interested in. We think that only the big choices matter but the little ones matter also. The little choices of our lives are what impacts the bigger picture of our lives.

This picture captures just the choices of cheese! In Africa I think I three choices of cheese.... Really!

We have a full month this October- So please pray as we are making right choices -

Bob- He will be helping out with the High School Group at our church, be hosting a small group, and as he is painting

Amy- I have about 4 different types of sharing times this month, Please pray as I share that it would be not me but Christ radiating through. I am just a broken person who needs to choose Jesus everyday.

Nya and Analise- That they would continue to do well in school and as they both are wishing they were home in Africa that they would continue to choose to enjoy their time here in America.

We would love to connect with many of you. As the holidays are fast approaching, please if you are interested in coming over for dinner we would love to have you. Please email me and we will schedule a date. We are also going to have an open house early November to connect with more of you. Thank you for loving and financially supporting us as we here in America making choices.

An update...

I sent this around via email. But wanted to share on my blog...

Giving beyond yourself...

Well- I am amazed by people. I love seeing people love on people. I have a friend here that gives herself out to people everyday. It is really inspiring to be around people like that. For this last week, Analisey has been sick with just some normal american virus. I have spent all week home and realized today that I have had no one knocking on my door needing anything from me. Only my cute little missy needing me. I never how much my house in Africa is a revolving door as people come and go all day long needing something from or of me, until I have had no knocks on my door. I really could exist not giving out. I could go all week long not giving beyond myself. We are so independent here and to be at a place in need is very humbling. We definitely see that as missionaries - personally (we are living on support) and as we can give daily in Africa to people in need. I don't want to be that way here! I want to give beyond myself. I want meet people in the time of need. It can't be just an emotion. But it has to be a way of life. I want to be that in everything that I do. Give beyond just my immediate needs. I want to give out my friendship, my stuff, and my love that God has placed in my life. But I won't be able to do that in my own strength. Only in HIS. That is where I stand on. His LIFE is my LIFE! Give out, live blessing others, and see God carry us through in all that we do. I love you people! Thank you for choosing to share your life with me. What a treat to have amazing people in my life...

Please keep us in prayer as we...

- live life - girls going to school, family time, connect with friends and family or as we just go to grocery store. Simple things!!!!

- continue to raise support and use this home assignment wisely. That we may rest and be renewed - so that we can do that revolving door thing in Africa.

- As our girlies process life here in the states and as they grieve missing home "africa"

Praises!

- we are truly blessed to settled into our home in lovely San Diego... we had it rented out as we were in Africa and our renters moved the same time we came back from Malawi... yay for God's planning!

- Life is a blessing and we are mostly healthy (just a little virus thing) :)

- that we have an amazing team of people praying for us. we truly feel loved and cherished...

Keep loving on people and giving out more than you have... Give out of Christ... it is a deep cavern that you tap into when you are dependent on Him!

Love the Stauffachers- Bob, Amy Louise, Nya and Analisey (aka - little missy)

P.S. I attached my door here in america and my door there in Malawi

Here the girls hanging out in that little window box when we got home!

Here are the girlies when we first moved to Malawi! - 3 years ago!

When my home is not their home anymore...

My girls- I love them so much. We are processing living in this land I call home... But they are officially "Third Culture Kids" ( that is a term that is used to describe someone who has lived in another culture and is not apart of that culture or their parents culture.) After a month long journey to Spokane and back... I quickly announced as we came upon San Diego that "we are home" Analise quickly responded back- "We are in Africa?" No I said and she said to me that was home not San Diego... As I quietly try and figure out what to say next... I realize that is true to her. That is all she has ever known. That is what she knows. AFRICA is home for them. Nya told me tonight... "Does my teacher know that I am from Africa?" I say probably and her response is that it is important for her teacher and the kids in her new class to know that. I find it easy to understand this land called America and they are struggling to find their place in this foreign land called America... Amazing to see them process... How does it work for them in the big picture we don't know yet, but for now they struggling to find foods they like... ( they don't like the stuff they used to like when they were little here...like yogurt, certain cereal...cheerios - what? who doesn't like cheerios- Nya never had heard of bagel before - even though she had- she didn't remember the word...) So as they find their footing... This week they start school. Please pray as their little worlds are rocked that they would find friends and personally see God carry them through.

Who knew that we are from 2 different worlds now. People of one family! Thanks- Amy louise

Still busy loving on people...

Hi! I know it has been a quiet month from me as it goes for blogging but I have only been able to access the internet via phone not computer. ( little phones don't work to write a paragraph. The letters always get mixed up and i write even worse on them. I already have grammar issues , you don't need it worse due to my cell phone's little keyboard.. You all know what I am talking about too... Those keyboards take a while to get used to...)

So here I have a quiet moment as we travel back to San Diego from Spokane at 11pm. I can blog as my cute family sleeps - to share really quick snippet of our month... I definitely have lots to share but I will do that in another blog soon. For now I will leave you with a one on one session with our church in Spokane. Life Center with our fun pastor - Pastor Joe- whom we all love and have known for 20 years now. (Wow that is a long time...I am starting to feel a little bit old!) Anyways enjoy- it starts in about 3 :27 min or so...

THE INTERVIEW

Lots of deep thoughts and pictures to come. Love- amy louise for the stauffy family

The thankful heart...

Hello friends and family

We have seen God be so faithful. It is so very humbling to see God provide through our churches, friends and family. God has provided abundantly in ways we can always point it back to Him. You know you are blessed when He meets your needs even before it is a "need" . He has provided schooling for the girls, a second car, painting jobs for Bob, a house to live in the year, wonderful friends to share life with and many more small blessing that just add up to Yay! He is doing it and we get to be at the point of just depending on Him. Thank you to the many people that are apart of those blessings. Thank you for loving us in Christ and blessing us! We are humbled daily...

We have been through a huge journey. It is a huge journey living in Africa but now settling home for a year is a big journey too. You think as you come home - subconsciously you think that it will all be the same as what ever was before. It is definitely the same and definitely different. Things that are the same- those are simple comforts of home. But as we journey along we see we have had our thought processes have changed and we are not the same. It is ok to be at a different spot, but realizing that we need to apply what we have learned. We need to realize what we learned is important to us and it is now apart of our deep inner core of who we are. It is an amazing journey. Let me tell you- Humbled Daily is my saying for now. Asking God to fill the parts that are confusing - that is exactly where I am.

Through that journey on this side of the world we have had Analisey's party - A tuck shop birthday party... Her idea! A tuck shop is a little store they have at their school that sells food and drinks. Below are some picutures of that day... also below are some pictures of Tina as she sees the sights of San Diego!

Analisey's friends in front of the tuck shop....

Time for buying sweets!

The big 5 year old- my sweet friend Tammy did face painting. She is so great!

Downtown San Diego - Seaport Village with Tina! So glad that she is here. She starts school at Whitworth on Aug 25th. So we will take her Spokane this next week!

She is a little bit scared can't you tell!

Her first carousel ride.

Oh boy Nya is silly!

Well - just wanted to connect and tell you our story as it happens here. Thank you again for loving and praying for us. We love you all for that! Love all of us!

We made it to the land of seriously... PLENTY!

WoW! This beautiful land that we call Home in Delicious Sunny San Diego! Just today- Analise just asked if even the spoon (as she was eating breakfast) was ours - her then statement was "We have a lot of stuff mom!" Well- it is true all around. We are so tremendously blessed to move back into our home! We are so tremendously blessed to have an abundance of friends who spoil us rotten! We are so tremendously blessed to go into ONE grocery store and get all the things we want or need! We are living with a huge shift in our perspective. We live with that understanding that in other parts of the world ( especially where we live in Malawi ) don't have what we have here. We live blessed, blessed and amazingly blessed. In other words- We have all that we would ever want or need in a car ride away or a click a away (since everyone has internet on their phone). We live blessed and definitely don't take it for granted. We love being home! It is so familiar and so cozy! It is a daily treat to wake up in our home. Seriously scrumptious!

Here are the girls reading books from the local library!

The house we are so very blessed to live in! Seriously!

So as we continue on here in land of AMAZING! We remember the Land we just came from. We want live balanced but it is hard to do. To live with continual perspective is hard when it is not in our face daily. It will wear off. We love that land called Africa. It has left the biggest imprint in our lives. That amazing land, the amazing people and the amazing sunsets! We already miss it. But this is a time to rest and connect with our people! We will be headed to Spokane in 21 days and would love to see alot of you. Connect with me if you want to see us!

Thank you again for loving us, encouraging us and blessing us! We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives. Love- all of us!

Teachers Needed

An international christian school here where we serve is looking for teachers. ABC Christian Academy is looking to have teachers. They would have to raise their support to live here in Malawi. It is about 1500 dollars a month to live here as a single teacher. For a married couple it is about 2500 dollars a month. Let me know if you are interested. This is a journey that has changed our lives. We do work with the college side of ABC - but Bob does work at the high School. Definetly it is challenging and hard at times, but we want to come back so that must say something big.

Going on a High School retreat to the mountains!

a prayer newsletter....

The family on Tina's Baccalaureate Service. She is absoutetly stunning...

Some of the girls of my senior ladies Bible Study. Love them.... These are the people that are changin Africa!

I love that this is where we are and this is where we are making a difference. For now over 3 years we have been able to change and impact lives here in Africa. What a privilege. Definitely our lives have been changed forever and impacted more than we can ever imagine. Thank you for being apart of it. Your prayers and financial support has carried us this far. We so appreciate it. Words seem so little when the appreciation goes so deep.

We have been so blessed to see God provide over these last 3 years for our every need. Physical and Spiritual. IT is humbling to be dependent on Him and see Him use people to impact our lives. HUMBLING!

Please continue to pray as we will travel on June 12th ( My 35th birthday! ) to head to San Diego. That is 38 hour flight. Oh Joy! We plan to live there for this next year while we are on home assignment (Which will be absolutely delicious). We then will be headed to Spokane in August to connect with family and friends. We are praying to be able to travel to east coast also via car. So more specific dates and places to come. We hope to meet with as many of our supporters and our churches as we can. Email me if you are interested in seeing us. We would love to connect...

Please continue to pray as our time here is winding down that we will not get sick and will be able to finish well.

Please pray as we will need a car when we get there. As we are living in San Diego, which is not the cheapest place to live and living on missionary support will not be enough. Bob will be painting some houses to help with finances as our support will not be enough to carry us through. We are asking God to provide and we know HE definitely can do it, but really would love your prayers... - that helps us through our human side that does the worrying. We still have to daily surrender our needs to Him. It definitely keeps us close to Him. He is the Big Banker and has the power to carry us through. We are so thankful for that.

thanks for loving, praying and interceding for us! love- amy louise for the family!

what i love about my girls...

I love to hear my girls as they process life and how they see it. Simply and beautifully. The other night analise went and slept with Tina in her college dorm and then the next day went into town to get extenstions for her hair to be braided in.

They took a minibus and hung out all day together. It is amazing that 2 people can be soul sisters instantly. That is what happened to Analise and Tina.
I love watching how they get along. Analise asks Tina honest questions about anything and Tina responds honestly. I love to hear what they process together. The other day Analise was saying how glad she was that they are the same people under the skin. As she said " we got the same blood so that makes us the sames and we have the same middle name so we are sisters! " Simple understanding and simple love. Please pray for Tina as she has her visa appointment on June 2nd to get into the states for school. We are so excited to share our new daughter with you all. She is simply delicious.

Who knew that God could give me a heart to love another person with the love I have for my girls. Amazing love! See you soon. Lots of love- from all of us...

What is next for us? Here is the Answer...

It is so amazing that 3 years have already gone by here in Malawi at the African Bible College, time has surely flown by. As most of you probably know, we are coming home to the U.S. for this next year to work for ABC on home assignment. We will be spending this time (1) sharing what we have done in Malawi to our supporting churches and our individual supporters, (2) volunteering our time at our home church, (3) working on projects for ABC, and (4)visiting and reconnecting with friends and family. We are so excited to be working stateside for this next year. We are also look forward to going back to Malawi the following year to carry out another 2-3 year term.


As we come home for this following year and share what we are doing at ABC, we would ask all our supporters to continue to support us financially through this time. This coming year is very important for us as we gear up and get ready for another term in Malawi. We have decided that being here in Malawi Africa is right where we are supposed to be. Across the continent, graduates of African Bible College are in demand. They are being placed in key leadership positions by evangelical denominations, para-church groups, mission organizations, and a host of other ministries. Graduates are involved in church planting, Christian radio production, school administration, Christian literature translation, and much more.

We covet your prayers and support during this time. Thank you all for your love and your willingness to be a part of our journey as we serve as missionaries with ABC. We look forward to connecting with all of you this coming year.

To continue supporting us as we serve in America and head back to African Bible College-

The address is:
African Bible College
Attn: Stauffacher Family
P.O. Box 103
Clinton, MS 39060



With love,
The Stauffacher Family

(we sent this out in snail mail but I also wanted to put it on our blog...)

The past is gone... the future is ahead of us.

Wow- we are going on our 3rd Graduation- here I am with my senior ladies at my first gradutation
in June 2008.

here is analisey with her cute baby on her back. Being a true Malawian woman. This was our first week in Malawi. Look at my baby she is just turned 3 there....

Bob teaching Inductive Bible Study for the Sophmore class so they can go out and do outreach ministry all around Lilongwe, Malawi.

Here is Tina with Analise when she was 3 years old. Time has flown by and this June she will be 5! My baby :( Tina has been accepted by Whitworth University. She has a heart to lead and help NGO's and mission organization with impacting Africa. She has hearing at the embassy to get her student visa on this coming Monday. Please pray that all goes well. She will doing her International MBA at Whitworth in Spokane. We are very proud of her.

Here is Bob taking his world religions class to a local Mosque. They were so stretched to see how Christ is so different than that religion.

Here is Nya when she was 5 years old with a local outreach that the college students do for our village that is near us weekly. Look how little she is....






Bob on his first day of classes in August 2007. Wow- Amazing to think that we have been here 3 years already. We are so fortunate to have such amazing team of people praying and finacially supporting us. We have been able to leave a small imprint in people's lives here... We are planning to come back to do another term and are privledged that ABC would want us apart of that. So we pray that we will be able to come and serve here again. Thanks again for all the love and emails that I get. They are such an encouragement. Love- the stauffy family