Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,
Sanibona! Ninjani? This means “Hello! How are you?” in siSwati, the native tongue of the
Swazis, and a language we hope to learn well!
Through your prayers, finances, and loving encouragement, and most of all by the grace and
provision of the Lord, we will leave for Swaziland on June 22! You have been incredibly
supportive through our long process of preparing to become full-time missionaries, and we are
so excited to get to share this long-awaited news with you.
So much has happened over the past three months! We are close to closing on the sale of the
house and will move out on June 1. We will stay with John’s mom and dad, Murv and Jane, until
the time we leave for Africa. Plans are not firm yet, but we’ll drive to San Diego to spend some
time with family there before heading to the airport in Los Angeles.
The family in San Diego will soon include our first-born son, Zack. In an amazing turn of events
as only God can orchestrate, two of our biggest concerns have been alleviated. Zack will move
in with my mother this month, and they will take care of each other—how beautiful is that? The
plan is for Zack to attend college in CA.
For those of you who know our dogs and who care, Boaz and Barnabas are going with us!
Our hearts are heavy as we have already begun the goodbyes, yet we are filled with joy
knowing we will soon be serving our beloved brothers and sisters in Swaziland; sharing the
hope of Jesus where things seem so hopeless and giving His love to those who may have never
known love at all. We just got news that money towards the first building of the children’s home
has been donated and is secure! There is so much work to be accomplished there and we can
hardly wait to get started.
Our email addresses will remain the same: john@swaziserve.com and kwest@swaziserve.com.
Once we get settled, we’ll send everyone phone numbers and a P.O. Box address. We really
hope you will stay in touch as I’m sure we’ll be lonely at times in our new home. I know we’ll
miss you all.
It will be a whirlwind time for us between now and when we leave. We’d truly appreciate your
prayers.
swaziserve.com
swazilandk.blogspot.com
Prayer Requests:
 Getting rid of 50+ years and a 5-bedroom houseful of stuff (garage sales, Craigslist,
donations)
 Choosing the bare minimum to take (2 suitcases each and 1 or 2 pallets to ship)
 Safe travel for Zack and for a good roommate relationship between his grandma, Bobbie,
and him
 Saying goodbye with grace—to family and friends—the tears are already flowing freely
 Attending to all the necessary details
 Safe travel for us and for our dogs
 Support-raising--we’ve almost reached our goal for the move, but still fall approximately
$1,000 short for minimum monthly support.
 Representing our Lord Jesus Christ well in all that we do, relying totally on Him
Other ways you can help:
 Let us know if your church or organization might be willing to allow us to come give a
presentation about the mission within the next month, or ask them to contact us.
 Share our brochure, website (swaziserve.com), blog site (swazilandk.blogspot.com),
and/or this letter with anyone you think might be interested.
Please send support checks payable to:
Bridgeway Community Church
c/o Margaret Reis
2420 E. Liberty Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85048
IMPORTANT: Subject line should read” Swaziland.”
Ngiyabonga, size sibonane futhi
(thank you, until we meet again),
John, Kay, and Jeremy West

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