2012 is on a roll!!!!

How quickly these first few weeks of 2012 went!! As of last Saturday (Jan. 21), Kayla and I have been in Malawi for exactly four months and have just over one month to go before we’re heading back to the United States. It is with mixed emotions that I think of returning home. I feel like we’ve just gotten started with these students, and now I have to begin transferring their learning back to their main teacher – we’ve only got about two weeks left of actual teaching left because they have their mid-term tests and holiday break coming up.

I’ve already started to miss them – I find myself spending more time with them in the afternoons after school and sometimes at lunch time if it isn’t too hot or raining. I bring my camera out with me as well – wanting to capture as many memories, smiles and laughter as I can. I know as I get closer to going home, I will get more excited about seeing my family and friends again because I have missed them a lot, but I also know that I am leaving pieces of my heart in Malawi and will miss the children very much!

I think that some of the older children are also beginning to realize that we are leaving very soon. We have had a lot of the Standard 6 learners asking us about when we’re leaving and asking us questions about home & our families – they also ask us when we’re coming back and it is hard to not have a definite answer for them. On our last trip, Kayla and I were both certain that we would return to the school in a year, so it wasn’t as bad to say goodbye, knowing we would see many of them again. This time I don’t know when I will return (though I have a strong feeling that I will) and it is hard to tell the kids that I don’t know when I’ll see them again.

Prayers & Praises:

-       My cough is gone – thank you so much for your prayers!!! It has been wonderful to breath normally again. I still have a random cough once or twice every couple of days, but even those are dwindling

-       This afternoon (Friday), one of our students in Standard 1 slipped in front of the minibus and was partially run over – the Deputy took him to the hospital and as of right now, we don’t know much more than that; his face, hand and arm were injured and they said he lost a lot of blood – neither Kayla or I saw it, but the kids came down to tell us about it

-    Dorothy says thank you for the prayers!! She has been able to repair her house for now and she almost has enough funds to build a new house (which she has been planning to do for a long time anyway); She’ll have to wait until May (I think that’s what she said) when the rainy season is over to start building her new house, but her current house should hold up until then – at least that’s what we’re praying for!

And then there were two... Kayla's dad is back in the US

It felt a little surreal to be taking Rick to the airport on Wednesday, Jan. 19^th. It seemed as if he had just arrived. We enjoyed a lovely meal with Pastor Nihaka and his wife on Tuesday evening. As we were loading the minibus to head to the airport, many of our students came up to Kayla and I to ask if we were leaving. We explained that we were just escorting her dad to the airport because he was going back to America and that we would be back & teaching them the next morning.
I had one little girl, Mirriam, from Standard 5 who almost broke my heart. She asked if I was leaving and I told her no and that I would be back to teach her, but she started crying anyway! L I gave her a hug and told her again that I would be in class the next morning and that I would not leave without saying goodbye.

We made it the airport without incident and waited for Rick to get checked in. We started to get a little worried because it seemed to be taking a lot longer than normal for him to get his ticket processed. When he came to say one last goodbye, we found out why the wait – there wasn’t any room on the plane. Thankfully, the person at the counter knew Pastor Nihaka and made sure to get Rick processed, but not everyone was so lucky. Some people were going to have to wait until the next day or even Friday to catch the plane that they needed. Yikes!

It was a sad ride home as we didn’t have Rick with us anymore and I realized that my next trip to the airport would be when Kayla and I leave Malawi in a little over a month. Our house was very quiet when we returned from the airport. We could feel his absence and even Dorothy wasn’t near as talkative as she normally is. Kayla and I got a small taste of what it must have been like for them when we left last year: quiet, lonely and empty.

Long Weekend = Trip to Zomba

We left Mwanza on Sunday morning, around 11:30am and enjoyed a cool and rainy trip back to Blantyre. It was a much quieter ride going than coming, no singing and not even much talking. Kayla and I both napped in the back seat of the minibus. J When we got back to Blantyre, I was able to continue my journey and head to Zomba with Pastor William and Chrissy (that is where they live). Zuriel was going to Zomba to see his friend Samuel, so I met them for dinner Sunday night. I had planned to return to Blantyre that evening, but Zuriel & Samuel didn’t want to send me on a minibus by myself in the dark, so I stayed at a lodge in Zomba. Monday was a holiday so I didn’t have to worry about school. It turned out to be a beautiful day in Zomba – not too hot, though I did get burnt – and I enjoyed the time I got to spend with Zuriel and Samuel. We walked to Zuriel’s aunt’s house – it was up a very steep hill (it reminded me of a hill by my friend’s house in Ohiopyle, PA – only a lot longer & steeper!). I was just glad that we walked up it first, because that meant we got to walk down it on the way back. J Sarah (Zuriel’s aunt) prepared a lovely lunch for us and we enjoyed resting in her living room after our long hike.

As we headed to the bus depot, we got caught in a rainstorm. Thankfully, we were close to a house with a porch, so we stayed dry. It was an awesome sight to see, though. We could tell that it was raining in the distance, but I didn’t notice that it was coming towards us fairly quickly. Seemingly out of nowhere, Zuriel said that we need to find shelter & Sam found the house – I didn’t realize how close the rain was until I heard it coming up the mountain towards us. I tried to take a picture of it coming, but a video would have been better. We heard it before we saw it – it kind of reminded of the movie ‘The Happening’ when the wind would start to blow & you could hear it coming closer to you – and then all the sudden we were in the middle of a downpour. It was nice to just sit and watch the rain, until it started to get kind of late and I thought I was going to get stuck in Zomba again…

It finally stopped, though, and we made it to the bus depot in plenty of time. I was glad to have Zuriel & Sam with me so I wasn’t charged too much for the minibus and so I got on the correct one. I even got to ride up front – which was an interesting experience. I don’t know that I liked seeing all the potholes and obstacles that the driver swerved & curved around so quickly. J It was a quick trip, which I was glad for because it was almost dark – and I had a nice conversation with the other passenger riding in the front. He even helped me find my connecting minibus to get home once we were in Limbe (near Blantyre).

It was nice to get back home and swap adventure stories with Kayla and her dad.

Pastor's Meeting/Conference

After lunch at the lodge, we went to a conference room and Pastor Kunje started the meeting. And so began a few hours’ long meeting/discussion between the pastors. We sat in a circle and the pastors immediately had questions for Rick. None of us were quite sure how well it would go, but it was an energizing meeting. At first, I wasn’t sure if they wanted Kayla and I there, since it was only pastors present, but they didn’t seem to mind and I really enjoyed being there. It was wonderful to see the light bulbs go off and the ‘ah ha!’ moments happen for the pastors when Rick would explain or demonstrate his point. Though the meeting finished late, we were excited by the questions and discussions between the pastors and the work that God is doing here in Africa – and that He is asking/letting us participate is awesome!!

The Chairman had given Rick one of the deluxe rooms at the lodge, so Kayla and I joined him for a nightcap (a couple of Carlsberg’s and some cookies) before heading to our room next door. We both slept wonderfully and had an amazing breakfast the next morning.

After breakfast, we went back to the conference room and had another couple of hours of discussion. We ended our time together taking communion and it was another precious ‘God-moment’. More than once throughout their discussions, my eyes filled with tears and I was humbled and overwhelmed by all God is doing in my life, in the lives of these pastors and with GCI. That we can come together, despite our culture differences, and see one another as fellow brothers and sisters - children of the King is powerful! I look forward to the continued growth and understanding for these pastors and in my life as well.

This short post doesn’t quite do justice to this experience, but if I were to try and capture all that went on, all that I felt and saw; it would be pages instead of paragraphs.

Mercenary Drivers

I’ve mentioned before the fuel crisis that Malawi is currently suffering. Pastor Kunje, his wife and Pastor Nkosi missed the Naminjale church service because they couldn’t find fuel. They were thankfully able to join us at the lodge and we were able to hear the story of his trouble in getting fuel.

Pastor Kunje had one of his workers go out Friday morning around 9am to get into a queue for fuel. He waited until 10pm that night and came up empty handed, the fuel was gone. The worker heard about another station that was going to get some fuel the next day, so Pastor Kunje went with his driver on Saturday morning, around 5am (if not earlier) to get into yet another fuel queue. As Pastor Kunje waited in the car, his driver went to see if he could figure out any way to get farther up in line (they were at least 50 cars back) or have someone buy fuel for them. The driver returned and said he found someone willing to sell his place in line for K3,000 (which is about $20). Pastor Kunje didn’t want to spend that much and told his driver to negotiate with the man, but when he returned, the man had already sold his spot to someone else. He told the driver though, that if they ‘topped up’ and gave him K500, he would let them both come and take his place. So when the line started moving, the man stayed in his car and Pastor Kunje and the other car came in to take his place and get fuel.

People were yelling and shouting at this man to move his car; that is when they realized that his car doesn’t even work. When the man hears that fuel will be arriving, he’ll push his car to the queue and sleep in it overnight so he is close, then he’ll sell his spot in line to make some quick money.

That story led to another one, this time by Pastor William and Chrissy. Though there are fuel queues that go on forever, once the pumps are open, many people just drive their vehicles into whatever space they can find, cutting in front whenever possible so that it looks like a giant vehicular ameba around the pumps rather than a line. This practice has created the need for driver’s that can take the offensive and squeeze into tight spaces: enter the ‘Mercenary Drivers’. These gentlemen will approach someone’s vehicle and tell them that they can get their car up closer to the pumps so they’ll be able to get fuel faster; of course there is a price for this as well. Both of these stories made me laugh, but I was also a little sad because these are desperate measures that people in Malawi have to resort to just to get some fuel. The best part about the Mercenary Drivers, though, was when Chrissy said the drivers were big men, like bouncers, and then she said, like Rick. Rick joked about coming back to Malawi to work as a mercenary driver – what an interesting sight that would be! J

Naminjale Church Service

What a wonderful visit we had with Kayla’s dad! We were excited to welcome Rick back last Thursday (Jan. 12^th) and have another week to spend with him in Malawi. On Saturday, we traveled to the Naminjale church, which Kayla and I hadn’t been to visit since our trip last year. The day started out a little hot, but that was just a precursor to the rain, which helped to cool it down a little bit. We piled into the minibus, having to leave a few people behind because we didn’t have room; and proceeded to Naminjale. Immediately, the women in the minibus started to sing some choruses. Just as I was thinking of ’99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall’, Kayla leaned over and said she was thinking of the same song. In talking with Rick later, we found out he had had the same thought! Great minds think alike (or we’ve just been on too many American road trips J). It is just over an hour ride to Naminjale and the ladies sang choruses the whole time. Kayla and I were impressed. We recognized a couple of the choruses and tried to sing along, but mostly we listened and enjoyed their singing. Last year, when we arrived, I remember thinking that this must be how it is to enter heaven: angels singing and welcoming you home. I had that same sensation once again, only it was stronger because this year, I recognized the ‘angels’ faces and was just as eager to greet and hug them as they were to greet us.

Having Rick as a guest speaker was not the only exciting thing happening during this service; TV Malawi (TVM) was present to videotape the service and it just aired in the morning on Jan. 21^st. The special music was wonderful as always – Kayla and I were once again included in the women’s choir, though we only knew one of the three songs that we sang. Pastor William translated once again for Rick as he shared a message about the story of the prodigal son – another powerful message that seemed to resonate with the congregation as they heard it. Pastor Nihaka said that he would get us a DVD of the taping and I am excited to see how it came out.

After services, Kayla and I were able to talk with two boys who had been at camp in December, Misheck (who we found out was the pastor’s son) and Ganagazi. They were both a lot of fun at camp and it was wonderful to see their familiar faces at church! Kayla and I also appreciated that they came to find us after services – it seems they were just as excited to say hi to us as we were to see them again. The other children present at the service were also a lot more engaged with us this year. Last year, it was all we could do to coax a little smile out of them. This year, they couldn’t stop smiling and they loved having us twirl them and show them the pictures we took of them. I have a precious picture of one infant on his mother’s back. I tickled his leg to get him to smile and he has his head leaning against his mother’s back – priceless!! I’ll try to be sure and post that on Facebook next time I’m online.

As we said goodbye to the members at Naminjale, we headed on to Mwanza, where we were going to stay for the night at the Chairman’s lodge. We ate lunch at the Chairman’s home last year and during the very first weekend with the teachers this year. We were excited to finally be able to stay at his lodge because we knew he was glad to have us stay. An added surprise was realizing that the other pastors were also going to stay with us; they wanted to have a meeting/discussion with Rick. So we had Pastor Nihaka, Pastor William & his wife, Chrissy, Pastor Weyja (Naminjale pastor), Pastor Nkosi and Pastor Kunje & his wife together with us for the weekend. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and fun conversation at the lodge’s restaurant before going to a conference room for the meeting.

Funny story about lunch: I had mentioned in my previous post that we went to an Indian restaurant for lunch in Blantyre. I had some left overs that I was excited to eat later, but when we got home, I saw that I had been given the chicken that came from the Chairman’s meal and he was already back in Mwanza with my left overs. I was a little sad at first, but Kayla and I both gave our left overs to Dorothy to take to her children and I didn’t think much else about it. When we got to Naminjale, the Chairman and I had a good laugh over the mistake and he said he still had it in his fridge! That made me smile, but I didn’t realize that he had intentionally kept it for me until he had his cook bring it out for me to eat at lunch – nice and hot! I was so happy and humbled that he would save that for me – I felt a little bad for not saving his chicken, but at least I had given it to children and not just eaten it myself. He is such a kind and thoughtful man; wanting to share in the blessings God has given him with others.

We heard some other funny stories at lunch – I’ll save those for another post though. J

First Church Service of the New Year

Saturday was an awesome church service. Kayla and I were excited for it because we knew it would be a special service for her dad – and it was! J There were 101 church members in attendance and some came from the surrounding congregations: Minimini, Mombezi, Mpanda, Mbulumbuzi, Naminjale (yeah, try to say those names five times fast! J). We also had some special music – which is always a treat. We had a ‘barbershop quartet’ from Minimini who sang two songs. Then the women’s choir got up to sing, and of course they asked Kayla & I to join them (we had on our green & white choir uniforms for the service) and it turned out to be fun because we actually knew one of the songs that they sang.

I get so energized when I worship with the members here. Even though I don’t always sing the right words or know what I’m singing when I do say the right ones, I know that our voices are praising God and giving honor & glory to Him; and that is a beautiful thing in every language!

Kayla and I had a surprise for her dad & the congregation – we wanted to sing a song in Chichewa for special music and we got Dorothy to help us learn it. It was a song that we learned at camp and I really enjoyed it – I’m hoping to also teach it to others back in the US too because it is an easy one to learn. When Pastor William introduced us, he called us the ‘Spice Girls’, which I thought was hilarious! J We stood up and I said “Tikofuna kuyemba nyimbo ya Chichewa’, which means ‘We would like to sing a song in Chichewa’ and that got some laughs. Before we started the song, there were some youth in the audience that had attended camp, so we asked them to come up on stage and join us; they took a little coaxing, but once one started coming up, others joined in. The song is called ‘Mulungu Ndiwabwino’ which means ‘The Lord is Good’ and there is a dance to go with it. It was so much fun and we even got the audience to start singing & dancing with us!! J

The Ambassador Choir from Blantyre was the last group for special music – they always bring a smile to my face with their singing because they are so heartfelt in their worship. Kayla and I do find it a little funny that they have all the men stand in the back, but they’re all shorter than the women so you can’t really see them all that well. J

Now it was time for Rick to speak. Dorothy had taught him some Chichewa phrases to say when he first got up to the podium. One of which was ‘I’d like to speak today in Chichewa’ – when he said that every laughed, then he said, ‘Okay, maybe not’. J Pastor William was his translator and it was great to watch the two of them up front. Rick gave a powerful message about the story of Jacob and God asking him who he was – many members responding to the message and I was excited to see Dorothy hearing and responding to the story as well (she had some happy tears at the end of the service – please pray that God will continue to open up her heart to His love for her!).

Kayla, Rick & I were able to enjoy a lovely lunch at an Indian Restaurant in the Shoprite plaza with Pastor Nihaka, the pastor and chairman from Naminjale, Pastor William and his wife, Chrissy. Kayla, Rick and I were the only ones to order actual Indian food, the others ordered more traditional Malawian dishes. J Kayla and I enjoyed not feeling like we had to talk or say anything since the pastors were all talking together – it was lovely to just sit and listen.

I had to go to Shoprite to buy a couple items and on my way, I saw three people that I knew – not a typical occurrence here in Malawi! Two of Zuriel’s sisters were eating at Kips, which is near the restaurant we were at, and they called for me as I passed them. The other person was Ashley, one of the girls that work with Project Trust at Yamikani House (orphanage). I felt like I was back at home because I’m often running into people that I know when I’m out and about in the US. J

Rick left for the airport as soon as we returned from lunch. He’s headed to Zambia for a couple of days and then to Lilongwe for a couple of days. He’ll be back with us in Blantyre on Thursday. It was strange to say goodbye after just saying hello and welcoming him here, but I’m glad for these opportunities to visit with other congregations and members.

Prayers & Praises:

-       Thank you for the prayers for safe travels for Kayla and Rick – please continue to pray for Rick’s travels to and from Zambia & Lilongwe

-       Please prayer for my continued recovery from this cough. It seemed to be getting better, but it is still hanging on and I don’t like it. I’m hoping to be able to teach on Monday, but I may have to make another trip to the clinic and see if there is something more the doctor can do or maybe some stronger medicine that I can take

-       Please prayer for the children of YAPPS – they are getting back into the routine of school and I hope that this term will show some great improvements for many of them.

-       Please prayer for my attitude towards the teachers – even though I only taught for about an hour yesterday, I was already getting frustrated because Mr. Ntchentche was sleeping while I taught, right in front of the kids….

-       We have a holiday next Monday (Jan. 16^th) so the Youth Leaders are planning an outing to the lake similar to our trip last year. We’re hoping that all goes well because Rick is going to join us. We’ll be in Naminjale for church on Saturday, then hopefully traveling to Mangochi on Sunday and staying there through Monday – please pray that fuel and lodging won’t be issues for us as we finalize our plans! I am excited for this time with all the Youth Leaders, but especially excited because I’ll get to see Zuriel since he is now working in Mangochi J

-       Praise God for the rain – we had a lot of showers over the weekend and I am hopeful that we’ll continue to have many more. Their typical rainy season starts in November, but we have not had much rain at all, which is not good for their crops. Some people have had to replant their maize 3 times already because the first crops dried up. Pastor Nihaka was applying fertilizer all during the New Year weekend so pray for the rain to keep coming!! J

KAYLA’S BACK!!!! And she brought her dad with her! J

Wednesday was a special day, not because it was the second day of school, nor because it was the 5^th of January. No, Wednesday was special because Kayla came back to Malawi!!! And she brought her dad with her! J I’m sure you probably guessed that from the title of this post… hehe

As with the first day of school, I woke up excited and ready to go! Unfortunately, my body was not as excited or ready to go. I didn’t feel able to teach in the morning, so I gave my lessons to Mr. Ntchentche and told the Pastor I was going to rest. He said that was good and wanted to again take me to see the doctor at the clinic. I told him I would rest today and see how I felt and maybe go on Thursday (I’m stubborn, I know, I can’t help it sometimes).

It turns out the rest was good for me though. I had planned to greet Kayla and her dad at the airport, but I decided to stay home and relax. I was able to sleep some more in the morning and a shower when I woke up helped me to feel much better. I was also able to help Dorothy get the house ready – making the beds as she cleaned and prepared the food.

A repairman came Tuesday to work on fixing the air conditioner. I believe it got fixed and today he is working on moving it from the dining room to the bedroom. The hospitality of Pastor Nihaka never ceases to amaze me. They may cut it close to the wire time-wise, but he will do anything in his power to make sure someone is comfortable, taken care of and has everything that they need. He is such a blessing to us and all those who benefit from his generosity and giving heart!!

On Thursday morning, the school had an assembly to greet and welcome Rick to Malawi. It was so precious to see all the kids sitting in the hall and excited to see Kayla and her dad. I was also glad to see some of the children who had been absent on Tuesday from class – praise God! J I got some hugs from them as they left the assembly. I even had one girl, Viola, put her hands on her hips and ask me, ‘Where’s your ababa?’, which made me laugh. ‘Ababa’ means father and I told her that my dad is back in America and he wasn’t going to be coming to visit this time. J

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

It is 2012 – another day, another year! J Christmas came quickly since it was only two days after camp. We had a lovely Christmas Eve service at church – our decorations from the banquet were still up so the Church Hall looked very festive for the occasion. It was wonderful to see some of the young people from camp at church as well – they hadn’t been attending regularly prior to camp, but some of them were among the 10 baptized, so I think we’ll be seeing more of them in the weeks to come. Praise God!! J

Christmas day was spent with a good friend of mine, Zuriel Chirwa. I first met him last year at church; he was the worship leader. He is one of the many Youth Leaders that Kayla and I have come to know and befriend during our time in Malawi. Zuriel and I have decided to start dating, which is exciting and definitely something new for me.

I mentioned in my prayers on my last blog that I had a cough… Unfortunately, my cough decided to hang on during the week between Christmas & New Years – it is actually still around as I type this blog (Wednesday, 1/4). I had dinner with Pastor Nihaka, his wife, Chisomo and Peter on Monday evening; when they heard my cough, they said we should go to the clinic. At first, I said I would be fine, but I woke up Tuesday still not feeling well and figured it would be best to get some medicine to help me beat this illness. I finished my antibiotics on Monday night and they did help me to feel better; just not 100% yet.

My New Year’s celebration was a quiet one. Zuriel was out of town for work and since I was already not feeling well, I just stayed in my house. The church next door had a celebration of singing and dancing all night long – literally. It was wonderful to listen to them rejoice and watch some fireworks outside my windows as we rang in the New Year. I also got up around 7am to welcome the New Year to the US as well. J It was bittersweet to welcome in the New Year because this means that I have less than 2 months left in Malawi, which makes me sad, but I am excited for events and plans that I have upon my return to the US – if only I could be in two places at once!

I woke up with a smile and excitement on Tuesday – school was starting again! J I missed the laughter and chatter of all the children here. As of right now, I am still teaching in Standard 5 - Kayla and I will talk with the Headmaster & Deputy Headmaster to see if they would like us to change and to offer some suggestions of where else we would like to help. We had a good number of learners absent, which made me a little sad because many of them were those who had failed the first term. My hope is that they were just missing this first day and that they will be back to school soon. I also discovered a mistake that I made when totaling their scores; I was using Excel and forgot to add in one of their test scores – making all of their total scores wrong (which made it look like more failed than actually failed) and changed some of their class positions. Apparently, some parents had been calling last week and many were phoning Mr. Ntchentche to share their concern about this error. I felt so bad when I realized what happened! Thankfully, it was a quick and easy fix. I was able to give the teacher the correct total scores and I wrote a letter of apology to the parents. I think most of them will understand once they realize what happened and that we were able to correct it in a timely manner. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week & this second term with the children!! J