Dear Friends,

Some of you may know that we are now out of Africa. We came back to the States on April 17 after bidding farewell to friends in Malawi. It was not at all easy for us to say goodbye to them after 10 years of working together.

Blantyre Synod invited Joe to speak to all the ministers in the synod at their biannual ministers conference. Joe spoke to them for four long hours about issues that churches in Malawi are currently facing and made a few suggestions for the future of the synod.

Zomba Theological College asked Joe to conduct the closing worship and Holy Communion for the first academic term. Right before the service we read John 13:1-21 and washed the feet of four students who were serving Communion with Joe. Since it had never been practiced at the college, many students were deeply touched. While we were washing their feet, students could not hold back their tears. After the service they were saying, "We have never seen this and will never see it again! Dr. Kang has made history at this college." It was not our own creation, though. We were simply following the example of what Jesus did to his beloved disciples! Yet we Christians, especially church leaders, have long forgotten to practice this humble act of service in our ministry! In his last sermon to the college community, Joe connected the foot-washing to our Christian discipleship using Mark 10:35-45 as the text to denounce the so-called "success ideology" that promotes self-advancement rather than imitating Christ, who emptied himself to be a servant.

Our new assignment will be Moscow Presbyterian Theological Academy in Moscow, Russia (2nd Pugachovskaya St. Dom 6, Moscow, Russia 107061). Joe will continue to teach New Testament, and Hannah will be working as a librarian at the academy, beginning in September of this year. On June 20, we’ll start an intensive nine-week Russian language course at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. We are both very excited about this new assignment, which we would never have dreamed of. God certainly does lead us into the unknown mysteriously! The first comment we hear from friends about this change is, "Wow! From hot weather to cold weather! What a change!" Yes, we have become used to warm weather in Malawi, and it is true that we don’t have any clothes for the cold Russian climate. There will also be great cultural differences, but we rely on nothing but "Immanuel."

Until the language study begins we will be staying here at the House of Rest in Pasadena, California. As our children are nearby we are having a wonderful time together. Our first grandson, Peter, is speaking in full sentences these days. Sometimes he makes his own description of what he sees, and we all burst into laughter. His younger sister Sara is six months old and very healthy. She started crawling and like to roam around the apartment. According to her mom and dad she is such an easy baby. Our son John has been quite busy at his law firm in Newport Beach, in southern California, but tries to see us as often as possible during weekends. His wife Agnes is three months pregnant, and we are all excited again by this blessing.

We want to extend our deepest gratitude to you all for the support and prayers you have rendered to us while we were serving in Malawi. Without your love and prayers we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we did. We trust that you will continue to support our new mission in Moscow. When we settle in we will bring more updated news to you. In the meantime may the Lord keep you, your family and your ministry, that you may be blessed and bear abundant fruit!

Love and Peace in Christ,

Joe & Hannah Kang
784 Santa Barbara St.
Pasadena, CA 91101

E-mail: jkang@malawi.net

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 40