The Maxson Family

Trip to Lilongwe and Hannah in Pigtails...

2009-11-03T09:25:00.000-05:00

Here are a few somewhat recent pictures of the Victor Maxson Family... Some are from our trip to Lilongwe to get Sarah a passport and make her an American citizen (officially, as she already was one). We stopped at Dedza pottery on our way and had lunch. That's where most of the pictures came from.

Then there are some pictures of Hannah that I took today with her hair in pigtails. Her hair is growing quite a bit and I'm finally able to put it in pigtails!! It's so cute!

Then of course, Sarah didn't want to be left out of the photo shoot so I got a few cute pics of her as well...

One last bit of news... we are planning to go to America as a family in the end of November through December. A pastor in the states has invited us to come for a conference and is paying the way for Victor and Mala (a young man who is an elder in the church here) to go and the rest of us are taken care of as well. We're very excited as we'll be able to attend this conference, see lots of old friends, see my family and also visit Ben and the church in Williston. It will be a nice trip. I'm hoping to post about it while we're in the states.

Till later...

Bethany

(Blog Post sent from email)

Recent pictures from the Maxsons ...

2009-10-05T05:54:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pictures from the Maxson family here in Malawi.

1. Hannah likes to carry Sarah on her shoulders, and Sarah likes it just as much! (Of course we have to hold on to her!)

2. Here's a really recent family picture (we took it yesterday at the baptism)

3.The church had a baptism yesterday and Victor baptized three guys. Charles was first.

4.Jonathan was second.

5. And Mike was third. (as you can see, they had not treated the pool even though the guy told us that the green was from chimicals.)

6.Hannah after the baptism.

7.Mada holding Sarah. The girls at the church love to hold her.

8.Hannah and Sarah in matching outfits. I made Sarah's and Aunt Joy made Hannah's. I also made myself a purple jumper in the same basic pattern (you can see it in the family picture).

9.Two little sisters that really love each other!

10.Sarah's rolling and pushing up and wanting to crawl anytime. She can also sit up by herself some, but she's not real stable. She's working on getting her third tooth as well.

11. Our beautiful daughter is growing up quite quickly. She loves to run and play and read books and wash dishes and play in the dirt:P What a joy she is to us!

I'll try to write some more about what we're up to soon!

Bethany

Homemade salsa...

2009-09-28T10:20:00.000-04:00

One thing I have enjoyed about being here in Malawi, is that I've learned to make things from scratch that I never would have even tried in the states because it's so easily available. One of those things was Homemade salsa. I've included the recipe below and hope to include more recipes soon.

Homemade Salsa

3 onions - diced

4 cloves garlic - crushed

4 sm green peppers - diced

6 small tomatoes - diced

1 tsp. salt

1-3 tsps. Peri-Peri or Cayenne (depending on how hot you like things)

2 tsps. fresh cilantro crushed

Cook onions, garlic and green peppers in about 1 TBSP oil until clearish but not fully browned. Add the diced tomatoes, salt, Peri-Peri (or cayenne) and cilantro. Simmer for 30 minutes over med low heat. Place in a container in the fridge and use as needed.

Picture titles

2009-08-25T08:21:00.001-04:00

Here are the proper titles for the pictures. Sorry about the mix-up.

Bethany

1-3. Some of Sarah's adorable faces.

4. Hannah in her princess dress that daddy bought her.

5. Daddy with his girls having morning devotions.

6. Hannah feeding herself (a new favorite activity!)

7. Mommy and Sarah out in front of the house with our front yard in the background.

Pictures

2009-08-25T08:09:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pictures of us! As requested I've included some of the old folks as well as the girls!

Bethany

1. Mommy carrying Sarah on her back Malawian style.

2-6. Some of Sarah's adorable faces.

7. Hannah in her princess dress that daddy bought her.

8-9. Daddy with his girls having morning devotions.

10. Hannah feeding herself (a new favorite activity!)

11. Mommy and Sarah out in front of the house with our front yard in the background.

Purity

2009-08-16T15:47:00.000-04:00

What does the bible have to say about a pure heart?

Psalm 24:3-5

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place?

He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall recieve blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

1 Timothy 1:5

Now the end of the comandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good consience and of faith unfeigned...

2 Timothy 2:22

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

1 Peter 1:22

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Pictures of the girls...

2009-08-15T04:26:00.000-04:00

Sorry for my lack of communication lately. Life's been busy with moving into town, ongoing sickness and water and power outages fairly often. We still love everybody and think of you often. I wanted to send some quick pics of the girls that I got yesterday. As you can see, Hannah and Sarah are both growing quickly. Sarah's shirt is wet in the pictures due to getting teeth numbers 2 and 3. She surprised us with number one:) It's hard to believe how fast they're growing up!

Until later,

Bethany

Some recent girl pics...

2009-07-26T14:49:00.000-04:00

I've been having fun doing lots of sewing lately. I try to squeeze it in whenever I can. I've been making stuff for the new house as well as clothes for the girls. I've posted some pictures of the girls in some matching skirts I made for them. The bonnets were made by a family in the states who help support us. Hannah LOVED matching with Sarah. They're so cute together. Hannah loves to ask to hold Sarah and give her big bear hugs and Sarah LOVES it! One of the pictures was a little blurry, but they were so cute I included it anyway.

Some recent pics...

2009-07-07T15:26:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pics!

1. Angie, your little niece takes after you... when mommy and daddy are busy, the best way to keep yourself happy is to find the baby powder and give your dolly a little powder bath:)

2. Here is a pic of the leadership training seminar that is hosted once a month.

3. Sarah loves to join us at the table, and Hannah loves for her to do that:) (Note daddy's arm behind Sarah:)

4.Here is our precious princess getting some beauty sleep. She is getting so big, and growing up so fast! We love her dearly...

5.And last but not least, here is our precious Hannah doing what she loves to do: copying mommy and pretending. Here she has set her "table" (the bottom step) and she's all ready to eat. One day last week, she and I had a "tea party lunch" at the coffee table since Victor wasn't able to come home for lunch. So was so grown up acting as she sat on a paint can at the coffee table and fed herself and drank a little every now and then, and then helped mommy clean the table afterwards. Such fun! And Sarah watched it all from the couch:)

Maxson Family Newsletter - July 2009

2009-07-05T15:16:00.000-04:00

Dear praying friends,

Greetings from chilly Africa! We're in our cold season, and experiencing temperatures down to 53 F.

This past month or so has been one of joy mixed with sadness. Beth's grandmother in Iowa passed away on May 25^th from cancer that she suffered from for quite a while. While we rejoice that she was a believer and is without pain with Christ, we also sorrow for ourselves as she was a dear grandmother.

The leadership training seminars on May 16^th and June 20^th went quite well. We had over twenty people show up for each. Dad finished the sufficiency of Scripture and then dealt with regenerate church membership. These are vital truths that are sorely lacking here. I taught on the early church and Middle Ages. Percy Chisenga is teaching on systematic theology, and gave an introduction in May. In June he dealt with the topic of Bibliology or the doctrine of the Scripture.

Dad and I both are involved in personal discipleship. We have decided to give one service per month to the Malawian brethren who are training for leadership. This has worked out quite well.

We also praise the Lord that the house in Williston has finally rented out beginning this month, which is a great blessing and answer to prayer.

Our girls continue to bring great joy to our hearts. Sarah is an adorable, smiley baby. Hannah is saying small words, and understands a lot of what we say!

Beth continues to love and encourage me. Her main ministry is supporting me and caring for our girls, but she also has a burden to be more involved in the lives of the young ladies in the church. Pray for her as it is not easy to be so far from family and friends.

Some Prayer Needs

We are still waiting on God for housing in town, so we can be more available for the people of the church.

Continue praying for revival and the full establishment of the church here. Pray for a permanent location for the church also. Our venue is suitable for the bookshop but will soon be outgrown by the church. The last two Sundays we had about 45 people, and only one or two empty chairs!

God has met our needs, over and above what we deserve. We praise Him for that. Pray for grace and wisdom to reach out and care for others in this needy land. Thank you for your prayers and generous support! God bless you!

In Christ,

Victor, Bethany, Hannah and Sarah Maxson

The ultimate healing...

2009-05-27T07:55:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

Many of you may remember that Grandma Gwinn was diagnosed with colon cancer a year ago this month. After one year of treatments, chemo, and a surgery, God gave her the ultimate healing on Monday and took her home to be with Him. She is now painfree and in a better place. We praise God for that, but also grieve for our loss. We all loved her dearly and will miss her SO much. It won't be quite the same now with her gone.

Please continue to keep my family in your prayers, especially my mom, as they seek to make the funeral arrangements and minister to others while greiving themselves.

In Christ,

Bethany

Victor and Bethany Maxson's Prayer Letter

2009-05-13T10:42:00.002-04:00

Dear praying friends,

How thankful we are to God for His goodness to us! Since we wrote last, we have seen God's hand in wonderful ways in our lives! Our praise fails to do justice to the greatness of God's mercy to us! We would like to praise God for the following blessings:

· Sarah Hope's birth - April 3rd

Praise God for adding Sarah Hope to our quiver! She is a sweetheart with long, dark hair, and beautiful blue eyes. She is growing well. Hannah likes to kiss her and hold her too! Pray with us for the salvation of our little ones, for wisdom in training them, and for their health and safety in this dangerous world. Beth has recovered well, and we are thankful!

· Our Second Anniversary

Our second wedding anniversary came and went on April 7^th without a big to-do, since Sarah had just been born. However, we were able to go up to Kuchawe Inn in Zomba on April 21^st, for a special "vision" time of remembering where the Lord has taken us, and planning and dreaming together about the future. It was a priceless outing with the beautiful girl God has given me!

· Church Covenant and New Venue

Late March saw the church covenant, a joyous time of commitment by 18 people. In April we finally found a suitable location for the church to move to in Limbe, a small office room which we use in the week as a bookshop and Sundays for church. The bookshop has some great potential for ministry as well. Not only are we getting sound Reformed literature out at reasonable cost, but it also provides a meeting place in the week for those who want fellowship, counsel or prayer. Please pray for this ministry as well. May 3^rd the people corporately chose the name Antioch Baptist Church, as we are no longer in the Chichiri location. It is our desire that Antioch Baptist Church would be a training point and launch base for biblical truth and missions within Malawi like Antioch in the New Testament. Pray for us as we would like to move closer to town to provide more opportunities for hospitality and interaction.

· The First Leadership Training Seminar – April 18th

The first leadership seminar was a blast! Several from Grace Baptist in Zomba came with Pastor Chisenga. Also we had visitors from within Blantyre along with men from our church. We had glorious teaching on Zambian Reformed Baptist history, the sufficiency of Scripture, and early church martyrs. It was a joyful time of fellowship and study! Please pray for the next seminar on Saturday, May 16^th! Pray that these would help equip the men here to be ready and able to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). A dear church in NC has lovingly sent some study aids as gifts to the men here, for which we are very grateful.

Pray for us, dear ones! We are so thankful for your sacrificial giving and care in so many ways! Please feel free to contact us with any questions. We love to hear from each of you!

In Christ,

Victor, Bethany, Hannah, and Sarah

Hannah homemaker...

2009-04-30T09:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday while Victor was out doing ministry, Hannah and I set about to do some housework. First, we put on her "Keeper at home in Training" apron (mom made it for me when I was a little girl, and now my little girls are wearing it). Then we set about doing the dishes. I washed and Hannah rinsed (with a little help). Then we swept the floor. Then we made bread. Hannah's favorite part of that, was when I told her to Puuuush on the dough. She loved it. Then she made her own recipe while I cleaned up.

Now all we need to work on, is getting dressed for the day before coming to breakfast. (Actually, when mommy is responsible for getting three people ready in the morning, some things slip:)

More to come soon...

Bethany

Some sister pictures...

2009-04-28T03:54:00.000-04:00

Thought you all might like to see some pictures of the sisters (and mommy). Victor and I took these the other day!

Love,

Bethany

Our delightful 2nd anniversary celebration...

2009-04-23T09:04:00.000-04:00

This past Tuesday, we travelled to Zomba as a family to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. It's hard to believe that two years have already passed. And... that we have two little ones as well.

We spent most of the day up on Zomba Mtn. at Ku Chawe hotel. It was a wonderful day that we spent together with the girls. We ate at the restaurant with a beautiful view down on the city. Then we let Hannah run around in the grass some and then had a delightful time of talking together about goals, hopes, dreams and the way God has brought us thus far. After that, we had a sweet time of prayer together recomitting ourselves to one another and to the work God has called us to here. Victor did such a wonderful job of planning it and making it a special day for me. And the girls were wonderful!

I hope you all enjoy the pictures I've attached. I think most of them are self explanatory:) Sorry if they're not the highest quality, we have to lower the quality so we can send them with our connection here!!

With love,

Bethany

Announcing Sarah Hope Maxson

2009-04-12T04:57:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

"To God be the glory, great things He hath done!"

We praise God for the birth of a healthy Sarah Hope Maxson, on April 3rd, 2009, at about 12:00 noon at Blantyre Adventist Hospital. She was 20 in. long, and about 8 lbs. Praise the Lord for a shorter labor period (14 hours), for Beth's sake especially! Baby and Mommy are happy and healthy, and recovering well. How thankful we are! We are also thankful that we were able to get a needed Rhogam shot for Beth, though it took a trip to Lilongwe the day after the birth for Nate and I. God is good to His people!

Thank you for your prayers!

In Christ,

Victor, Bethany, Hannah and Sarah Maxson

Quick update...

2009-03-05T05:12:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick update. We're at the end of a long battle with chicken pox. It's run it's course through everyone here, and I was the last one to get it:( Right now I'm still recovering as is Hannah (Victor was earlier and is recovered).

Please pray for speedy recovery and a return to health and strength for me before the birth in a few weeks.

Thanks!

Bethany

Another quick update...

2009-02-14T12:33:00.000-05:00

Looks like I might be able to update about once a month. We are adjusting well to most everything here. Right now, the power is out while I'm typing this, so it might take me a little while. We've been having seeming more power outages over the last week. It's usually not very long though (not like three days after we got here when the power and water were out for four or five days).

We had an interesting time adjusting when we first got here. Not only were we without power and water, but a week after we arrived Hannah and I came down with the measels. Then, as we were recovering, Victor got it for a week.

After we recovered, we settled down to adjusting to daily life. It wasn't very easy, but God's grace got us through those early days and we seem to be doing better now.

The "big thing" right now is the chicken pox. It's slowly moving through our two families. Right now, about half of the people have it, including Victor. Hannah and I haven't gotten it yet, but I'm assuming it's only a matter of time.

We have decided on a doctor and hospital here, and I've been going for pre-natal check-ups. It's a little different culture, but we're working through the differences:) My official due date is March 31st (about 6 weeks from now).

Hannah is doing well and growing up SO fast. She's walking and starting to try to talk. She seems much older than she is, and is always surprising us at how smart she is.

Victor is really doing well here and getting right into the ministry. So far, he's taught every Sunday since we got here, but I think tomorrow will be his first to miss because of the pox.

I'm going to try to post more later as well as try some pictures. We'll see though, because our connection here is REALLY slow. So please bear with me!

To those faithful few still here...

2009-01-27T02:15:00.000-05:00

Since we passed the two month mark of being here yesterday, I figured it was about time to come on here and post. It's taken us a while to settle down, and the internet doesn't always work right, so I haven't been able to post on here before now.

I have it set up now, where I can email posts to the blog, so hopefully I can post a little more. I'll try to post real soon and bring everybody up to date on what's been happening over the last few months. I will say... it's been exciting.

Till then...

Bethany

We're on our way...

2008-11-24T13:04:00.002-05:00

We're here at the Orlando Airport with all our luggage checked in! We'll be leaving soon for about 40 hours of traveling. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we travel and get settled in Malawi!

Bethany

A beautiful morning sunrise.

2008-11-15T08:15:00.001-05:00

One more update and some pictures...

2008-11-15T07:54:00.004-05:00

We're in the countdown now, getting ready to leave for Africa in about a week. Right now, though, we are up in Carrabelle visiting with Victor's Grandparents and Ben and Kim. Grandpa rented a cabin for us and Ben and Kim. It's a really cute cabin right across from the beach.

Yesterday when we got here, Grandma had cooked us an early Thanksgiving meal. It was DELICIOUS! After lunch, we all went walking on the beach together. What fun and special times. Hannah got to walk on the sand in her barefeet with mommy and daddy holding her hands. We didn't get any pictures of that though...

Victor walking along the beach talking with his Grandpa.

Grandma, Kim, Isaiah and Ben walking along the beach.

Standing around on the beach.

Ben with Isaiah and Victor with Hannah.

Grandma and Grandpa Maxson on the beach.

Hannah sitting on Great-Grandpa's lap.

Hannah (10 months) and Isaiah (almost a year). Cousins and friends.

Our beautiful new house - a gift from God!

2008-11-03T15:07:00.000-05:00

Our happy little girl!!!

2008-11-03T14:53:00.001-05:00

A quick update...

2008-11-03T14:49:00.001-05:00

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, as we’ve not had connection to the internet. A lot has transpired over the last few weeks. It’s been exciting to watch God work and orchestrate everything so beautifully. He always provides for our needs (and wants even) sometimes before we ask Him.

We are now in the house in Williston. We’re in the process of remodeling so the house is a little bit of a mess, but God is blessing and we are making progress. Right now, we’ve torn up the carpet and we’re working on painting, cleaning, etc. We’re also preparing for our big trip in about three weeks. We have tickets to leave on the 24th and arrive in Malawi on the 26th! There’s lots of packing and sorting to do. We’re trying to decide what to take and what to leave. Please pray for us on this, as it’s not easy!

Hannah is doing well. She’s been a real sweetheart through all of this. I’m sure it’s not easy for her, but she’s taking it pretty well. She has six teeth and is working on more. She also likes to say “Amen” when we finish praying!

Victor is doing well, and staying busy. He’s got a lot on his plate with working on the house and working out trip details. He’s doing a good job of it all though and also being sensitive to Hannah and I!

I’ve already reached 18 weeks (almost halfway) in my pregnancy. Sometimes we get so busy, that I even forget that I’m expecting. This time is VERY different from last timeJ. We’ll be getting a sonogram on the 20th of this month. I’m looking forward to seeing our little one (and possibly finding out whether it’s a boy or girl!).

We would appreciate your continued prayers on our behalf as we continue to plan, prepare and then leave!