My ministry here in Bangula is expanding. God has been opening up more doors in the villages and I’m feeling energized and on fire!! I am visiting and aiding some widows and orphans on a regular basis. It refreshes my heart as I go into the villages and sit with them and listen to their stories. They greet me wearing tattered rags, but with smiles on their faces, knowing someone cares about them and is God’s hands and feet to them.

[Photo of Morrison Family, added June/08. Patrick (12), Kalina (8), Daniel (10), Mo & Joanna (youthful!)]

The “Mieze Model” we were developing throughout 2007 is now running wonderfully. Built around a vibrant Iris village church, this prototype includes aood program for orphans and vulnerable village children, on-going medical care for villagers, creation of a children’s playground and soccer field, provision of potable water, a program to get more village children into school, building an orphan-village (“Village of Love”), and development of chicken, goat and vegetable farming projects to help support the orphan village.

This last season included an extended visit 'home' to Canada. While I had planned to return to Mozambique at the beginning of October, due to visa issues I was not able to return until December 11, 2007. The good news is that I now have my residency visa - praise the Lord!! The wait in Canada was not easy for me, but I put my trust in the Lord's timing.

"God has been teaching me so much since I returned to Malawi in April/07. During my first year here, I thought I had learned all that I could about patience....and I was wrong! The pace is so very different here. As I spend time with the workers, make regular trips to the city, and sort container shipments from North America, I am continuously challenged to rest in peace!

The Morrison's are into Year 5 in the Lower Shire Valley. After a trip to Canada this past summer, they are settling back into home schooling, welcoming new children, and a myriad of other things. "Patrick's favourite pastimes includes killing rats, playing soccer and doing pull-ups in the backyard. Daniel can often be found surrounded in lego, or up a tree. Kalina is in high demand as a playmate, especially if she agrees to bring out her dolls! All three of our children are becoming more adept in Chichewa."

“Our annual Iris staff retreat in June was a big highlight for me. Iris staff members came from near and far and it was a great blessing for all of

"The past six months have been the most thrilling and stretching of times we have experienced since coming to Iris. The most faith expanding time in our lives started with the missile explosions in March, when our centre was showered down on for hours by the nearby military installation base. While we watched and prayed as missiles soared over us and even hit our centre several times, with shrapnel flying everywhere and explosions happening all around us - we experienced the most incredible miracle of divine protection.

"These last months have been ones of great suffering for many Mozambicans throughout the country. February brought severe flooding in the Zambezi area in the north of Mozambique, leaving thousands as refugees seeking shelter in camps in small grass huts. At the same time, a large cyclone seriously damaged the city of Vilanculos in central Mozambique. Ironically, while the north was flooded, the south saw crops fail due to severe drought.

During the past several months, Don and Elizabeth observed a couple of notable personal milestones. Don received his doctorate in leadership and renewal from Regent University in Virginia; and we celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary.