The Mallaris - Fall 2018

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4.4)

It took us forever but finally we came up with this update! We hope you will be blessed reading as we were blessed writing and sharing our testimony with you. Praying you are all doing well in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are about to complete 2 full years of Seminary this November, we're already half way done! Much has happened since our departure from Doha last December 2016. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness in sustaining our family, which in the last 2 years has literally grown. I have been intending to keep up with you regularly but I guess that’s what 48 kids do to you! (I mean 6😬)

The latest addition to our family (and the last!) is Calista Piper, born on May 13th. Such a beautiful blessing from the Lord, finally a girl, and she definitely completed the family.

The twins Andrew and Nate are 19 months now. They were born preemies at 27 weeks (in an intense and dramatic dawn trip to the hospital) but they have caught up, praise the Lord!

Yael is now 3 years old, very active and smart like his kuyas. Boo and Rafa go to Gorman Learning Center once a week for 3rd grade and kindergarten, respectively, for enrichment day, and I’m blessed (and challenged) to homeschool them the rest of the week. They also have violin and piano lessons once a week. All free! Glory to God!

Teacher is the newest position in my stay at home mom description, along with caregiver, chef, cleaner, dishwasher, launderer, doctor, handyman, bartender, police officer, peacemaker, and solicitor general. Oh and graveyard shift is not so terrible anymore, thank God!

I am overwhelmed and humbled, my soul finds rest in God alone (Psalm 62.1). And the Lord has been extending his hands through family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers to help out. Mama Di would come and stay for a couple of weeks to spoil the kids and take over the kitchen! A really huge blessing. We are also blessed to have a neighbor, also a seminary family, who would offer to look after the kids, pick up some groceries, give us a ride, or even share some potatoes if I ran out!

I am also blessed to participate in Seminary Wives trainings. I have the opportunity to sit with godly women from around the globe sharing at least one thing in common. It hasn't sunk in yet that I would be a Pastor's wife soon, and such meetings are a great encouragement and preparation for the future. And by the way, these women brought my family dinner during my last pregnancy and after I gave birth to Cali. Indeed God‘s children look after one another in love.

Bryan has been in full speed at The Master's Seminary for his Master of Divinity Program with his classes from Greek to Hebrew, Apologetics to Hermeneutics, Old to New Testament Studies, Evangelism To Expository Preaching. (I pretend to understand him when he talks to me about these.) He only goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays but he is loaded with books to read and to review, papers and sermons to write, exams to prepare for, and deadlines to beat. I can't even comprehend how he gets it all in his head (with the distractions and interruptions living in a daycare-like home), but we know God's grace is sufficient to teach and train these men to be Godly leaders. He would sometimes feel like drowning and need to take a breather to stay sane. And he always finds time to play with the boys, read to them and lead our family devotion.

Bryan is also blessed to work part time at the Master’s University, less than 2 miles from our place. He reports MWF for 14 hours a week. He has a very considerate boss, also a member of Grace Church, and has been helping seminarians for sometime now. 

On Sundays, we go to Grace Community Church (where the  Master’s Seminary is also) where the kids are checked in to Sunday school classes (BR) and nurseries (YANC), while husband and wife enjoy their date along with 6,000 other people! at the Worship Center. We are blessed to hear in depth preaching every week, I have been taking notes trying to digest every word.

Though not regularly, we also go in the evening for the kids’ Adventure Club where they have a curriculum for the whole year to memorize one verse each week, while husband and wife enjoy another kid-free date at The evening service! The Lord's day is definitely the family's favorite day of the week. Last summer, Boo and Rafa had a blast in their first ever VBS at Grace too.

We are first hand witnesses of God doing amazing things providing our needs. The kids have free medical insurance, and they get monthly food vouchers and food stamps. There is also an FB page for the Church and Seminary community where items like furniture, clothing, household items, toys etc. are donated for free. We got everything we needed from this page when we moved in. Just recently our rice cooker broke so I posted that we are in search of one and somebody blessed us with one! Financially you have been supporting us with joy and always remembering us in your prayers. We are blessed immensely. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

God has also wonderfully provided for Bryan’s schooling. His applications for tuition fee discount, Seminary based financial aid, and scholarship have all been approved and granted for this semester! And he will apply every semester for the next 2 years praying they will be granted again so we don’t have to worry about this part. We can then focus our resources to our living expenses which include rent, utilities, transportation and groceries. 

As we look ahead to two more years of seminary, we surrender everything to the Lord to enable us to stay here together with the finances we have left. With Bryan only working part time and attending school full time, expenses are beyond our means. The Lord has been faithful thus far with the savings we have from Qatar and your love gifts, but our money is going down the drain. When we look at our bank accounts, we are tempted to panic and worry. But we hold fast on His word and we draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16). We know that without your prayers, financial support and friendship, we wouldn't have even made it for 2 years here. We believe that God will provide in his time and we are excited waiting to see how! We rest in his divine providence and sovereignty.

We are sincerely grateful for each of you and the role you play in our lives. We hope to be more diligent at keeping up with you, and we would love to hear from you as well. Please let us know how you are all doing and how we can be praying for you!

rachelleannc@gmail.com | bryanjohnmallari@gmail.com | 24933 Walnut St. Apt. 34, Newhall, CA 91321 USA