Dear Friends,

As many of you may be wondering about our whereabouts, Hannah and I want to update you. Hannah had to come to the United States in late July to attend to her ailing mother. While Hannah's mother was staying with our daughter, Ruth, she was diagnosed with colon cancer, and had to have surgery. It was too much for Ruth to take care of her grandma when she was six-months pregnant herself with her second child. Upon her arrival, Hannah began to take care of her mother, taking her for daily radiation treatment. In late September her mother got sick again. Doctors found the start of a new—cancer in her stomach this time—and had to rush her in for a second surgery. Soon after the academic year ended at Zomba Theological College, about the time of Hannah's mother's re-hospitalization, Joe also came back and joined Hannah at the House of Rest, a residence in Pasadena, California, for returning missionaries. The surgery was gracefully and successfully done at the Alhambra Hospital in Alhambra, California.

It has been quite stressful for all of our family members, yet we are all grateful that we have now come out of the long tunnel. We were amazed to see Hannah's mother maintain her strong faith and recover enough to travel back to Korea, where one of her own sons is a medical doctor. She returned to Korea on October 29, three days after Ruth delivered her healthy baby girl, Sara, who brought tremendous joy to all of us. Hannah's mother was especially happy to see her second great-granddaughter. Many of you joined in our prayers for Hannah's mother when the news reached you. Hannah and I would like to express our sincere thanks for your prayers, spiritual care, and love given to us during this ordeal. Your love and support meant a lot to our family.

We will be staying in lovely Southern California until we go back to Malawi in January, 2000. This means that Hannah and I won't be able to see many of you again this time. During our two-week trip to the East coast in mid-October, we could see only a limited number of our friends. We had a wonderful time together, though it was too short. Time goes really fast, and the holiday season is just around the corner. It is our sincere prayer that this short letter finds all of our beloved friends in good health and having a fruitful and meaningful life.

The warm Southern California climate doesn't feel much different from weather in Malawi. The difference we experience is mainly cultural. Here we wake up in the morning to the noise from the nearby I-210 freeway and the timer-controlled sprinklers that water the beautiful apartment garden. In Malawi we get up with the birds' beautiful singing exactly at 5:30 every morning. Coming back to the States, we feel ourselves in a completely different world. Despite friendly greetings in the States—"hi" or "good morning "—people don't seem to know one another well. In Zomba, most people know who is who. Wherever we go—the market, post office, bank, gas station, or even in the street—we are greeted by name most of the time. Most people are seen as extended family. You can easily see that people take their time in greeting another person.

We are amazed by the super telephone and electricity service here in the States. Upon touching the numbers, the telephone makes an immediate connection. In Malawi, you have to be extremely patient to call someone because the dial tone itself takes many minutes, and most calls don't usually go through the first try. Several attempts at dialing are a normal practice for each call. In the United States, the power supply is never disrupted except by some natural disaster. Power-supply disruptions are a daily ritual back there. We have to keep charcoal always ready. We, as you can read, are a little culturally disarrayed here in America!

Back in Malawi, twenty-eight students graduated this year. As you may know, these young graduates will be immediately assigned to various local congregations during their six-month to one-year period of probation before their ordination. Students for the bachelor of divinity program will have their classes separate from the next academic year that will begin in January. Joe's teaching load for next year is going to be very heavy, as he will have to teach all New Testament courses for four different classes besides teaching New Testament Greek. Hannah has been keeping the college library in order with the help of her assistant, who took a year-long course for his license at the University of Malawi. Joe is still working toward restructuring the college. Early next year the task force Joe is chairing will facilitate a conference to sensitize church leaders to this major change in theological education. If church leaders support this move, a new board of trustees will be formed and a revision of the college constitution will have to take place. The main goal of the restructuring is to make the college self-supporting.

Your prayers and support for our ministry are always remembered not only by us but also by all of the college community. Once again, we deeply thank you all for keeping your faith in our ministry. May the good Lord keep all of you in much joy, peace and abundant blessings, especially during this season of hope and anticipation for a new millennium! Please join us in prayer and ministry for RESTORATION OF HUMANNESS in the forthcoming millennium.

Yours in the Service of our Redeemer,

Hannah and Joseph Kang

AOL Instant Messaging: zombakang

E-mail: jkang@malawi.net