June 21, 2007

Dear Ones,

Footlockers line the living room walls in our house at Mission Haven. What a “haven” it has been, as always, to have a place, fully furnished and ready for us to walk into, unpack, live for the months of our furlough and depart once more when the time comes. Thank you to the Presbyterian Women of the PC(USA) for your continuing care of us missionaries through the upkeep of Mission Haven!

We are only days away from our return to Africa, and we wanted to send a brief update before our departure. We have had a wonderful but challenging year, having spoken more than 180 times in 65 churches across 15 states. While the conservative/liberal divide seems to have widened since our last furlough, we still found a deep, abiding faith and a genuine interest in missions throughout the denomination, whether we were in “liberal” or “conservative” churches.

God continues to work His purposes out despite our sometimes mixed up priorities and our sin. He continues to call us into a deeper relationship with Himself and with each other. And we have His promise that He will not forsake us, nor will He fail in His purposes for us. Praise His name! We want you to know that we will pray for all of you who are called to love and serve God in this U.S. culture, which seems increasingly antagonistic to Him and His kingdom ways. Yours is the harder call than ours!

Our own call takes us back to Africa on June 25. We will begin a new assignment in the country of Lesotho, in South Africa. We served in that little mountain kingdom from 1985 to 1991, and it will be interesting to return. Much has changed in that part of the world since we lived there. Apartheid has been replaced by democracy in South Africa, and AIDS has found its devastating way into the migrant labor environment, with huge economic and social implications for the whole region. We will spend several months refreshing our knowledge of the language and listening and learning about the current challenges facing the church there.

Frank’s new job title is Africa Health Liaison for the PC(USA), and from our relatively close proximity to the Johannesburg airport, he will be able to travel throughout the continent, working with our partner churches on issues of HIV/AIDS, caring for orphaned and vulnerable children, responding to the “diseases of poverty,” and helping with more mundane things like administrative issues, strategic planning at health facilities, health financing, etc. We look forward to all that God has in store for us in this new assignment.

However, hard goodbyes are just days away. Our three older children are taking time off from their summer work, and will be joining us for a last weekend together. If the Lord brings us to your mind, please pray for us as we part. And pray for Nathan, Moses, and Jessie, as they remain behind—that they will seek and receive love and wise counsel, and that they will continue to grow in their faith and dependence on God.

God has shown Himself so caring and so able on their behalf (and ours) recently. About two months ago, it suddenly dawned on Frank and me that we would be leaving three children behind this time, with a fourth returning for college in a year. Their grandparents’ two-bedroom house in Black Mountain, N.C., could not accommodate them and all of their “stuff.”  So Frank took three days in mid April to look for a house in western North Carolina that we could afford. And he found one! It is a sturdy, brick, ranch-style house with three-bedrooms and it sits on 1.4 acres of land in Marion, N.C., just 25 minutes down the mountain from grandparents.  It has a huge open basement with potential for several more bedrooms downstairs. All of the details have fallen miraculously into place and we closed on the house on May 31. We have had fun over the past three weeks turning it into a functioning home for our kids and collecting all of our “stuff” into one place. Nathan, Moses, and Jessie have laid claimed to the three bedrooms upstairs and have already begun to “nest.” Katie is talking about living in the house full time next year and attending the nearby community college. We all love having a “home” for the first time and are so grateful to God for His loving provision.

During this next assignment we will be hosted by the Christian Health Association of Lesotho (CHAL), and for the short term can receive mail through their address: c/o CHAL, P.O. Box 1632, Maseru, 100, Lesotho, Southern Africa. The best way to stay in touch is through email at fdimmock@yahoo.com. We will write again when we get settled. Thank you for your love, interest, and support, which make it possible for us to go and serve faithfully where we have been called. May God bless you and keep you faithful in your place of witness and service, too!

With love,

Frank and Nancy Dimmock
Nathan, Moses, Jessie, Katie, Andrew, Alifa, Isaac, and Jackson

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 337