Dzaleka Refugee Camp – Final Stop in Lilongwe

Pastor Nkosi was very excited that we were able to stay through Sunday and attend the church service at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp about 30 minutes outside of Lilongwe. He has been working with some of the refugees and the congregation there since 2003; we’ve had an official GCI congregation there since 2007. These refugees mostly come from the Congo and most have been there at least 6 years; the camp itself has been there for more than 10 years.

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but whenever we experience something new, Kayla and I try our best not to have any expectations because things are always so different. This visit was the same; I tried to prepare myself for what it would be like to visit a refugee camp, but it was still different than what I thought it would be like. I was expected makeshift homes, tents and other things set up, but what we actually saw was more like a rural village. They had a primary and secondary school with classrooms for each Standard. One of the classrooms was our meeting place for services. The congregation had a keyboard and speaker to use as well. Pastor Nkosi did tell us that even though everyone looked nice for church and were dressed up; those were the only nice clothes that they have. If we were to visit on any other day, they would be in very worn and ragged clothing.

It was also sad to hear that some of the people at the camp were opportunists, rather than refugees. There are some who come to the refugee camp in hopes of being sent to Australia, UK and other wealthy countries. Some of the young adult members of the church approached Kayla and I after services and were talking about wanting to come to visit and joke with people in America or Australia and I didn’t really understand why until the Pastor explained it to us. One gentleman actually wanted to marry Kayla and said he would learn English and she could learn French. When Kayla told him she was attached, he asked about me. That was definitely an interesting part of the day, but overall, it was another wonderful worship service – similar to my experience at the Lilongwe service, it was beautiful to see and experience their worship of God. The children’s choir (about 30 children) got up and sang a few songs; the adult choir sang a few as well as the women’s choir. It was fun to worship as a whole congregation as well because we all got to dance & sing together.

It never ceases to amaze me how often it is people who society looks down upon as having nothing can worship and give the most of their lives and possessions to God. I have been so humbled by the faith and positive attitude of all those I have met who seem to have so little, but who worship God and trust in His faithfulness; wherever they are at and through whatever comes their way.

We were only able to stay for a couple of hours with the congregation before heading back to Lilongwe to catch our bus. We enjoyed a nice lunch with Pastor Nkosi and the youth leaders; getting to share our highlights from the weekend and do some more planning for the youth camp. When they took us to the bus station, they waited with us to make sure we departed safely which was very nice of them. They had to wait an extra hour with us as the bus was delayed, which meant that we didn’t get back home until after midnight on Monday morning. It made for a very long day, but overall, we had a wonderful weekend and we were glad to be able to get to know more of the youth leaders and share some time and ideas with them.

Prayers & Praises:

-       Please pray for the Youth Camp. They did receive some funding from the JWF to help support the fees for some campers, but this weekend, Kayla and I realized that there is still a LOT that needs to be done before the 16^th of December gets here and we’re not so sure it’s going to happen. I know that we have our ‘American’ timelines of when things should happen & get done and that is often very different from Malawi’s timeline, but even still, some of the things that need to happen are making Kayla and I a little anxious about whether the camp will actually take place or not. I think part of the reason is because this is the first time that they have let the young adult leaders plan the camp; many of whom are inexperienced with all of the planning & background info that goes into making camp happen. I am still hopeful and Kayla & I are both doing all that we can to help them make this a wonderful camp experience for everyone! J

-       I’ll write more about it in my next post, but it has been fun to be back in the classroom this week with the kids – it seems like it has been longer than a week since we’ve seen them & it was great to be with them again

-       We are still looking into a couple other internet options for the rest of our stay here in Malawi. Please pray that we’re able to figure out whether they would be cost effective for us in the long run so that we’re not spending more than is needed just for a few more minutes of time online.

-       Thank you for the cool thoughts – it worked! J There is a wonderful breeze this evening (Tuesday) as I type this post and it is supposed to rain Wednesday & Thursday; cooling the temperature by almost 20 degrees! Here’s hoping that the warm thoughts I’m sending made it to you all as well.

-       I love the way God works and I am so thankful His plans are so much higher than mine! I have had the opportunity to take an online course while I’m here in Malawi and I have learned a lot about myself and how I can better serve God and His people. I almost didn’t sign up to take a class this semester because I didn’t know if it was going to work or not, but I think I have actually grown more because of taking the class here in Malawi. I have had more time to read, study and process the lectures, assignments & readings than I probably would have allowed if I were taking the class in the US.

Church in Lilongwe

The GCI congregation in Malawi meets on Saturday mornings, similar to Blantyre’s congregation. Originally, Pastor Nkosi had wanted Kayla and I to give our presentations in the morning before services, but due to fuel issues and transport for some of the youth leaders, we waited until after services. The congregation is about 35 members and they meet in a classroom at a Vocational Training Center for the handicapped. They have been using the facility for many years and I was glad to know that even though Malawi is still a developing country, they have at least recognized the importance of helping those less fortunate. The slogan for the Center is “Disability doesn’t mean Inability”.

I don’t know if I’ve talked much about the church services for this trip, but I was again awed by the worship of these members. They do not hesitate to begin singing a song or chorus and it is easy to see that they love to praise God and worship him with their songs. It was such a blessing to be a part of their worship – even though I didn’t understand the words, I knew that they were praising the same God I do and so my heart worshipped with them. Kayla and I do have a Chichewa song book that they’ve given to us, so we are able to sing the songs in Chichewa even when we don’t know exactly what we’re singing.

After services, Kayla and I both gave about 40 minutes presentations to the four youth leaders, Pastor Nkosi, Bongani and the deacon (he was introduced during the church service, but I didn’t write his name down, sorry!). We had both prepared Power point slides and just used my computer to show it since it was such a small group. Kayla talked about early childhood development and teaching strategies for Children’s ministry because the youth leaders also teach Sunday school for the younger children. Kayla did such a great job that they wanted her to record her presentation! J I shared a little bit about adolescent development and talked about what to expect from the campers when they arrive at camp and how we can best support them during our time with them.

We were a little worried that what we shared wasn’t going to connect with them, but Kayla and I were both encouraged by the youth leaders’ responses to our presentations. They said it was ‘eye-opening’ and they could really see some things that they needed to change or could do differently in their lessons with the children. Anthony also told us later that he enjoyed our presentations because we spoke with passion about our topics; such a wonderful compliment! I know it did my heart good to know that my passion was seen and understood in what I was able to share with them.

Edith, Monica and Anthony wanted to take Kayla and I out for lunch after church so we went to the shopping center to buy food & drinks before finding a place to eat. We had pizza for lunch! J They had planned to take us to the dam, which has a lot of green grass and beautiful landscape, but it just wasn’t meant to be. As we were driving on the dirt road (all you ‘off-roading’ fans would have LOVED these roads, especially during the rainy season! J), they couldn’t remember how far away the dam was, so we stopped to ask someone how far it was. The first person told us about 15 minutes. Once 15 minutes passed and there was no dam in site, we asked another person and they told us an hour from where we were right then. We went a little further and asked one more person and they said two hours! We decided then to turn around; by that time it was already almost 4:00 and none of us had eaten since early that morning.

A little tidbit here for all you STEELER FANS – I have discovered that you really can find a Steeler fan anywhere in the world! On our way back to Lilongwe, I saw a boy wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers t-shirt and I’ve also seen someone wearing a Steelers’ Jersey (I think that was on our way back from Mombezi). I mean, it really isn’t a surprise to me that the 6 time World Champion Steelers would be known all the way over here in Malawi. J

We ended up going to a botanical garden to eat our lunch (which was more like dinner by the time we ate) and it was a really enjoyable evening. We talked a little bit about camp and some things that still needed to be done (see my prayer request in the next post for more info). It was nice to get to know them a little better and answer some of their questions about America. It is very interesting to hear what ‘news’ stories get circulated to other countries; though it works both ways because what we’ve heard about Malawi isn’t necessarily all accurate either.

Weekend Travels in Lilongwe (Malawi’s Capital City)

Morning people, I applaud you. Kayla & I thought that we would have a fairly easy week since it was a break from school, but that didn’t quite happen. We were able to confirm plans to go to Lilongwe for the weekend; but they included getting up at 5 in the morning to catch the bus on time. I can hear some of you groaning right along with me. You morning people, though, you’re probably like, “That’s the best time to be awake!”

We tried to get to bed early Wednesday night because we had to be up so early Thursday morning. We had no electricity so the coffee we had hoped to drink to wake us up didn’t happen. We loaded up around 6 and went to the bus station. It was running a little late and didn’t arrive until 6:40; but we got moving fairly quickly once we loaded up. Kayla and I were glad to be taking a coach bus rather than a minibus or taxi. There were only about 10 people, though, and I wondered at why they would still go with such a small group of people; especially with the fuel shortages lately. I didn’t have to wonder for long because we had a second stop in Blantyre where the rest of the passengers got on. We didn’t realize that there were 2 stops before heading out of town, but I was glad that the bus was actually full for the trip.

We were told that it should only take about 4 hours to get from Blantyre to Lilongwe, but I don’t really know where they came up with that number. Once we actually got going, it was about 7am and we didn’t pull into our stop until a little after 12pm. Overall, it was a nice ride – we got snacks & drinks (always nice to get unexpected treats!) – and they had a movie and music videos to watch if you wanted.

We were picked up by Edith Kunje, the daughter to Pastor Kunje. She works in a building next to where we were dropped off and we were able to have lunch with her and her sister, Monica, before going to check-in at our lodge. Kayla & I were surprised to end up in a shopping center very similar to what we would find at home with eateries, clothing stores, groceries and other local businesses all in one place. I was also entertained by the sports channel in the restaurant where we ate – they were showing NASCAR races – definitely not something I expected to see in Malawi!

In the US, all the areas, towns, suburbs, etc. have names, but in Lilongwe it is a little bit different. Each area just has a number. I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie as we headed to ‘Area 18’ to go to our lodge; I’m just glad it wasn’t ‘Area 51’. J We asked how many areas there were but the only answer we received was, “There are many”. Some areas are even divided into ‘Sectors’, which are also numbered; oh yeah, most of their roads don’t have names either. Let’s just say I’m glad it wasn’t up to me to figure out where we were going cause I would’ve probably gotten us lost!

When we arrived at our lodge, a gentleman came out to help us with our bag and Kayla and I both thought he was a worker at the lodge. It wasn’t until we were in our room and Edith introduced us to him that we realized he, Bongani, was one of the church members! (oops!) He was our guide for the weekend and we had a lot of fun getting to know him and asking him questions about Lilongwe & Malawi. It was also nice to have someone with us that spoke Chichewa so he could keep the random people from following & bothering us as we walked around the city. J

After we were settled into our room, Bongani took us to meet Pastor Nkosi in town before taking us on a walking tour of Lilongwe’s ‘Old Town’ (which, to us, isn’t all that old; it’s been around since the 1940s). Bongani is in his early thirties, but he definitely knows a lot of people throughout the city. There wasn’t an area we walked to all weekend that he didn’t stop and greet someone that he knew, whether from childhood, school or work. Though I didn’t mind walking, I was definitely glad when we caught a minibus home (well, really 3 minibuses by the time we actually got to the lodge).

It had been a long day of traveling & sight-seeing, so Kayla and I went straight to the restaurant to order some dinner before turning in for the night. I should be used to it by now, but I always seem to be surprised that when we go to order something off the menu, they are usually out of it. I really wish they would just tell us beforehand what they had available, rather than show us a menu where most of the items aren’t even available. I finally settled on a salad and some fruit salad; which took almost an hour to prepare because they had to go to the market to get the fruit! I felt a little bad, but the waiter said it was fine and no trouble to go to the market for fruit. It was definitely worth the wait because the fruit salad was delicious and it was nice to know that it was fresh.

We started off bright & early Friday morning at 8:15 – which is actually earlier than Bongani told us to be ready (which is an abnormal occurrence for us here in Malawi, usually we are waiting around at least 15-30 minutes after the time we are given to meet or start off going somewhere). We did a lot more walking so that we saved on transport costs; other than the mid-90 degree weather, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking through the city. As you can see in my pictures on Facebook (hopefully they’ve uploaded alright), we saw the statute of their first president and a memorial tower for the soldiers who fought in both WWI and WWII. From there, we went to Capitol Hill (which is named for our Capitol Hill in Washington, DC) and saw the various government offices, including the president’s office in the center. As we left Capitol Hill, we came to the memorial burial site for the first president of Malawi. There was a guide working there who gave us some background, which was interesting to know. This first president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, had declared himself ‘Life President’ of Malawi and was the president from 1966-1993 (give or take a few years at the end). From our trip last year, I had remembered hearing only negative things about this president because he was a dictator and did not like opposition. But, from our visit to his statue and memorial burial site, you would have thought he was a great president. He is known as the ‘Founder and Father of Malawi’ because he helped it to gain its independence in 1964. His four principles for the foundation of Malawi were unity, loyalty, obedience and discipline; which sound nice at first, until you read more about what he did to make sure the people stayed obedient and loyal to him. I was glad for the history from the guide, but I am definitely intrigued to research more about Kamuzu Banda and what his presidency really looked like during his time in office.

Enough about history – now it’s time to tell you about the most fun part of our morning… Kayla and I got to visit our US Embassy! Woot! J For some reason, we were both really excited to go visit the Embassy and see what we could see. We had to sign into a book just to go to the front building, which also had us sign in a book and turn in all electronics before entering. We didn’t have a specific reason to go in, so the guard called the Consular Office to make sure we could enter. We are used to seeing pictures of the current Malawi president in every school and store that we enter; we were happy to walk into the US Embassy and see our president’s picture hanging on the wall.

They escorted us to the Consular Office and it was nice to be in familiar surroundings. There were leather couches and magazines set out in a little waiting area, a computer for public use in the corner, restrooms and a water cooler. I did ask the Consular about the issue with my Visa and he said I would have to apply for it as they said (which didn’t surprise me). We got to see our constitution, a picture of George Washington and other ‘US’ items that helped us feel a little more connected to our homes in the US. It was really nice – the only thing that threw us off was the Consular’s accent. He spoke English, but definitely had a foreign accent (not just Southern, Brooklyn or Pittsburghese, but ‘non-American’ accent). That made us both a little sad at first, but he was very nice and seemed genuinely interested in helping us with anything we needed. We didn’t stay long because Bongani had to wait outside for us.

After the Embassy, we went to the Civic Center Complex, which had a variety of government offices, college buildings, library, clothing stores and eateries. We got to go into the library and that was the most awkward I think we’ve felt since we’ve been in Malawi. Everyone, and I mean everyone, that was inside the library stared at us as we walked through. And I don’t mean the quick glance-up when someone walks in a room, but a full on ‘I’ll-keep-staring-at-you-even-when-you-see-me-staring-at-you’ stare. Thankfully, we didn’t stay long and we went to an outdoor eatery to take a break before going to a Wildlife Sanctuary.

When we first sat down, Kayla and I thought we were just resting before walking some more, but that wasn’t the case. Bongani got up and said, “I am coming” (which really means that he is going and he’ll be coming back; a phrase that used to confuse us when we first heard it because they always use it when they are leaving) and he walked away. He was gone for almost 30 minutes – long enough for Kayla and I to wonder if we had been abandoned or not. It also didn’t help that we’ve been watching the series ‘24’ recently and seen people getting kidnapped & sold, etc. We had a few different conspiracy theories in our heads, but then Bongani returned, as he had said and he brought one of the other youth leaders from church, Anthony, with him. We felt a lot better having Bongani back and knowing we had not been forgotten or abandoned. Monica also ended up joining us and we had lunch there (it turned out to be a longer break than either of us thought).

Monica dropped us off at the Wildlife Center before returning to work and we took about a 30 minute walking tour of the sanctuary area. We didn’t see any big animals, but there was one crocodile barely peeking out of the water, some monkeys playing in & around the trees and various birds as well. Oh yeah, remember it is still high 90s and it was about 2 in the afternoon – so our walk was nice & hot. J

That stop was the last on our journey for the day, which we were all 3 glad for; now we just had the adventure of taking the minibus(es) home to the lodge.

We had to take a minibus to get to the ‘minibus depot’ area in order to find a minibus that was going to Area 18 and could drop us at our lodge.

When we got into the minibus to go home, we had to wait a few minutes for it to fill up, and it certainly was full. I wish I had taken a picture so you could better understand, but I’ll try to describe it. Imagine a vehicle the size of a minivan, but instead of 2 rows of seats, there are 3. Now imagine that there are 4 people sitting in each of those 3 rows and 3 people sitting up front (one of which is the driver). That’s right, we fit (just barely) 15 people in one minibus. There was also a random animal that someone had with them. We couldn’t see it, but every now and then we heard some noises coming from one of the seats near the front (we were in the back). It sounded like it could’ve been a chicken, but possibly also a small puppy; I know those animals don’t really sound similar, but it was really hard to tell.

'Holiday' Week = No School!

First, they call it a holiday, but it is really just a break in the middle of the term – they are not off for anything special except that they are celebrating no school for a week. If you read my last post, you know that the week didn’t start off well; Kayla and I attended our first (and hopefully only) Malawi funeral service. So, Tuesday comes and we enjoy sleeping in, though we only really sleep until 8:00 instead of 6 because the sunlight wakes us up enough so that we can’t go back to sleep. We have to walk to the TNM (that’s our cell phone service provider) office to check on the internet dongle that we had purchased the week before. We had purchased a bundle that should have lasted us 3-4 days, but it lasted 40 minutes (GRR!!). Before we tried to return it, though, we wanted to make sure that there wasn’t something wrong with the dongle and that we had purchased the bundle correctly. When we got there Tuesday, though, they couldn’t get a hold of the technicians who could verify the MBs we had used, so they told us to come back tomorrow. Not really a big deal, but did I mention the weather? It is the hot season – mid- to high 90s every day without a cloud in the sky. Not great weather for walking back & forth, up & down hills multiple times a day (though I don’t want to complain too much because I am VERY grateful that there is not a lot of humidity with the heat).

We return from our unproductive trip to TNM and go talk with Pastor Nihaka about the weekend and when/if we’ll be heading to Lilongwe. He says we’ll leave Friday and so we go to talk with the Deputy Headmaster to find out what we need to do with all the test scores for the students in Standard 6. We have to put the students in order based on their total percentage scores for all the exams, while still including each individual score on the sheet. I have always enjoyed and appreciated using Excel for tables and quick sorting of data; but I didn’t realize just how nice it was until I had to write out all the students’ information by hand. Kayla had at least already put the information into a spreadsheet on her computer, so I just had to copy the information, but it was still tedious & time consuming. Why didn’t we just print out our spreadsheet, you ask? Because we don’t have regular access to a printer and we wanted to turn it in as they asked for it. We didn’t get started on this until Wednesday afternoon because we were waiting on their Chichewa scores (that’s the only test we didn’t mark) which would enable us to put them in order based on every test score. We ended up having to do it without the Chichewa scores because we found out we’d be leaving Thursday instead of Friday and wouldn’t have time to turn it before Monday.

So, along with writing out the test scores, Kayla and I had to walk to TNM again. This time, they were able to get a hold of the technician and he confirmed that we purchased the bundle correctly and that we used the MBs. We asked if we could return the dongle and get our money back which almost went smoothly. What happens is that they’ll take the dongle from us and sell it to someone then they can give us our money back. We left the dongle with them, took the name & number of the representative who helped us as well as the supervisor who’s in charge of authorizing the resale. They told us that it would probably be sold by the end of the week and that they would call us when we could come and receive our money.

Once all that was sorted, we started to pack for our trip. I also forgot to mention an early morning phone call Wednesday from Pastor Nkosi in Lilongwe. He wanted to let us know that he was looking forward to our trip and asked if Kayla and I could prepare some presentations for the youth leaders at church on Saturday. Of course, we agreed to do that because we knew that it would be helpful and beneficial to them for us to share our resources with them. But that just added to our ‘to-do’ list for the trip.

Celebration and mourning

2 Bic Brand Red pens - $1.00
2 Notebooks - $2.00
Stickers - $1.00
Marking over 420 exams in four days – Priceless

That’s right, you read correctly; between the two of us, Kayla and I checked over 420 exams covering the following subjects in Standard 6: English (also for Standard 5), Math, Agriculture, Science, Bible Knowledge, Social & Environmental Sciences and Life Skills. The blessing of the week is that we were done teaching (or as they say here in Malawi, we “knocked off”) at noon every day so we could come back and spend the first part of our afternoon marking the tests for that day.

Since we had the holiday on Monday, the students started with 2 exams on Tuesday and were supposed to take two each day for the rest of the week. We found out at the end of the day Wednesday, though that their Friday schedule was going to change. ISAMA (Independent Schools Association of Malawi) was going to be holding their meeting at the school beginning at 9:00 am, which meant that the students had to be gone by then. So, we started school at 7am on Friday and finished around 8:30am (why we even had school, I don’t really know) and the students just had to take three exams on Thursday so that they only had to do one on Friday.

Making the students sit in their desks and just take tests all morning reminds me of my ‘CAT test’ days in middle school – taking various subjects throughout the day and reading or doing homework at my desk when I had finished a section and had to wait to continue. It is a little different when the students sit 3 to a desk and we have to constantly monitor for ‘peeping’ (which we did catch a couple of students doing), but having two of us in the classroom helped a lot. There were only a few time that I had to go down to cover Standard 5 while they took their tests and Mr. Nychenche had to be somewhere else.

Other than the normal frustrations of giving exams to 61 students, Kayla and I both got a little frustrated with the teachers as well. They just do not communicate very well with us. We try to ask questions when we are confused; but sometimes we do not know what to ask because we don’t know what is going on. I am hoping that this week off will give Kayla and I some perspective and confidence in knowing how to best work with the teachers in the coming weeks.

As you may know, October is ‘Pastor Appreciation Month’ in America. We asked Pastor Nihaka if they have anything like that here in Malawi, but they don’t; so Kayla and I decided to do something for him and Pastor Mankhoma at church on Saturday. We printed out a picture of the whole congregation from our trip last year and had the congregation sign a card. We wrote a little note of thanks in each one and presented it to them at the end of services. It was really neat because we had Dorothy’s help in explaining in Chichewa to people why we needed their signatures and Pastor Nihaka had no idea what we were doing. Pastor Mankhoma saw the cards, but he didn’t know what they were for.

Kayla and I were also able to take the pastors to lunch after church and it was a wonderful meal. We learned a little more about some of the things that the congregations here are struggling with and also how they are thriving. They both told us how much they appreciated what we did and for taking them to lunch, which led Pastor Mankhoma to say how much he likes that Americans take a day to say ‘Thank you’ and celebrate gratitude. I didn’t mention to him that it is also a day to eat a lot of food. J Their gratitude to us, though, brought tears of joy to my eyes and made me so very thankful for the connections and relationships that we have been able to build here in Malawi. It is such a blessing to be a part of an international congregation of believers – not just GCI, but all followers of Christ. I know that I often feel insignificant or that I cannot really make a difference, but then I get a little nudge, a little reminder that I am significant because I am a child of God; I can make a difference because God is using me to show His light to the world.

On Friday, Pastor Nihaka came and gave us t-shirts and ‘ntchenge’ (which is fabric that wraps around as a makeshift skirt) for an event called ‘Mulhako wa Alhomwe’ (The Gateway to the Alhomwe Culture & Tradition). We didn’t know much about it except that it was an annual event happening on Sunday that included cultural dances of the Alhomwe tribes. Kayla & I were definitely looking forward to the trip!

We left Sunday morning around 8:30 to get to Mulanje, where the event was being held. Pastor Nihaka, Chisomo (his son), Peter (his grandson), Henry (foreman for the school grounds), Andy (our driver) and one older woman from church (I don’t know her name because she only speaks Chichewa and I forgot to ask Chisomo her name) were our companions to Mulanje. We had our t-shirts and ntchenges on (we really looked like twins, not just sisters, with our matching outfits! J) and we were ready to dance, or at least see some dancing!

We arrived around 10:00 am and saw a huge line to get into the event. It reminded me of a huge outdoor concert that we would have back in America. Various tents were set up around – some for food, some for seating, a first aid station, etc. Now, back to the dancing: the President, Mingu wa Mutarika, was in attendance with us – he seems to be following us! J He even got up and danced with one of the children’s group – I got a couple pictures of him on the stage with them. We think it was free to get into the event and we were glad to find that the security checking people at the front were gender appropriate – meaning the females checked the females and the males checked the males. We didn’t have to wait in the long lines that we saw either – at first, we thought maybe it was because we were white, but then Pastor Nihaka told us that it was because we had the uniforms on (our t-shirt & fabric). Then, as we went to find some seats, Pastor Nihaka was talking with some of the ushers and they took us to seats only 3 rows back from the front, right next to the stage! It was a great view to see all the dancing – only a few guards & a cameraman blocking part of our view.

We learned that when someone says “Alhomwe Alhomwe” to you, you should say “Noopiya” back to them. The best I could understand is that ‘noopiya’ means ‘you have arrived’ and this event is to celebrate and commemorate the traditions and culture of the Alhomwe tribes. “Mulhako” means ‘door’, hence the name of the event ‘Mulhako wa Alhomwe’. The beginning of the event made Kayla & I think of the graduation because it included some long speeches, but once the dancing started, it was very enjoyable.

One of the traditions of the Alhomwe people is to wear an animal skin on their back or head as they dance. You can check out my Facebook group (‘Malawi, Here I Come’) for pictures, and maybe some video if they uploaded, from Sunday. We saw crocodiles, large rodents (they made me think of the ‘R.O.U.S.’ in the movie, The Princess Bride J), as well as some stuffed animals. That really made us smile – some women had stuffed bunnies and teddy bears – one even had a small stuffed lion on her back. Each group that danced had at least 2 or 3 people playing drums and sometimes had singers. They mostly danced in a circle, with some of the dances included pairing up or dancing in a line. We saw a couple ‘initiation’ dances for girls and boys. One of these made Kayla and I a little uncomfortable because all the females were topless as they danced. The boys had one eye covered and had sticks that they used to give a beat for the dance. Chisomo told me the names of the dances, but I didn’t write them down, so I don’t remember all their names. He told us about one that used to break up marriages because it required males and females to pair up in the dance and they wouldn’t always pair up with their husband or wife. Towards the end of our time there, they had one dance when random people started going up on the stage – Chisomo said anyone could go up and if Kayla & I had figured that out in time, we would’ve tried to go up and dance. As it worked out, though, we just tapped our feet in our chairs and enjoyed watching all the dances by all ages. Most of the day, there was a breeze so the weather wasn’t unbearable. We left around 2pm and enjoyed a quick ride back to Blantyre.

Kayla & I very much enjoyed the event and getting to share it with others. Though the dancing was fun, when we had first arrived and parked, Pastor Nihaka gave us some bad news. He had just received a phone call that Mr. Maniya, the Standard 6 Teacher who has been sick for the past few weeks, had passed away that morning (Sunday). Once we got inside and were seated, Pastor Nihaka had to leave and find transport to get back to Blantyre and take the body to the mortuary. Here in Malawi, a person’s employer is responsible for the coffin and funeral costs (at least that is what Kayla and I have gathered from today’s event and one death when we had first arrived last year). This news definitely put a damper on our initial excitement for the day. The last report we had gotten about Mr. Maniya on Friday was that he would be well enough to return to teach when classes resumed on October 31^st. Even though we hadn’t really been able to work with him on this trip, Mr. Maniya was the teacher that I had worked with the most during my time here last year. He is going to be greatly missed by all of us at the school and he leaves behind a wife and six children. Please pray for his family and friends during this difficult time.

The funeral was Monday morning; well, actually it was more like all day Monday. Pastor Nihaka had told us on Sunday afternoon that the teachers would gather here at the school around 8:00 am and then go to Mr. Maniya’s home area, Mpemba. Though Kayla and I have tried not to have any expectations when we go to different events (usually because it is nothing like what we expect), we both definitely assumed that we would go to the service and then be home by lunch time or early afternoon at the latest. When we got up to the school area, Pastor Nihaka came over to us and told us that it is a long time and it is hot out so we could remain behind. We told him, though, that if there was room for us in the minibuses, we would like to attend. He said alright and then we sat with the other women until about 9:30 am. Dorothy came by and told us to bring water, which we were glad that she insisted on (we didn’t think we would need it) because we didn’t get home until 5:00pm.

Once we started off, the minibus we were in stopped once to pick up a flower arrangement & some roses for the grave site and then we stopped at a Maize Mill. This was an interesting stop – even though Kayla & I didn’t know what we were doing at first. Isaac, the Standard 5 teacher, showed Kayla and I the process of shelling the maize kernels and then turning them into flour; it was neat to be able to see the process, especially because I had just been teaching the Standard 6 class about the equipment used. I even tried to help with the sifting out of unused grains (Kayla took a picture), though I know I was a lot slower at it than the other women. Once we got back into the minibus, we were on our way, only picking up one more person before arriving at Mr. Maniya’s home.

As soon as we arrived, Kayla and I went with the other female teachers and sat in a room with some other woman and the coffin. It was on the floor and closed, and each person just found a spot on the floor to sit as well. We only sat for a few minutes before we went back out to sit behind another house on a straw mat. The main frustration for us throughout the day is that no one really explained what was going to happen to us, we just kind of followed along and did what they told us to do. It was very hard for Kayla and I to just sit and listen to them speak in Chichewa and wonder what was going on. We got a little better as the afternoon wore on at asking them when we had questions, but it still made for a long day.

Shortly after we sat down on the mat, we got up and went back to the house for the viewing. We entered the same room we had been in a few minutes before, only this time the coffin was open. Each person walked past the coffin to pay their respects to Mr. Maniya. There were still some women who were seated in the room, I’m guessing it was his wife, mother and other relatives. Once we left the viewing, we went back to the mat and sat until it was time to eat lunch (which was about 2 hours).

We offered to help make the nsima for lunch, but there were already too many women and so we just sat on the mat and waited.

After lunch, I was able to hold Mr. Maniya’s youngest child for a bit. The baby is only 3 weeks old. It was heartbreaking to see this precious child and know that he would not know his father. We sat around for about an hour after lunch and then they had the funeral service in front of his house. We just gathered around and sat anywhere on the ground. We aren’t sure who all got up to speak, but we are guessing it was the pastor from Mr. Maniya’s church, possibly some other relatives and Pastor Nihaka said a few things as well. We didn’t want to ask someone what was being said during the service, but Kayla & I plan to talk with Pastor Nihaka this week to ask him about the service.

When the service was over, we followed the coffin to the burial site, which wasn’t far away, but it was up a hill in the middle of the afternoon so it was a hot walk. It was a beautiful, clear blue sky for most of the day; thankfully it wasn’t too humid, but it was in the low 90s. Once we got to the burial site, there was some more speaking, singing and then different groups got up to place their flowers and arrangements on the grave.

We went up with the teachers and after we placed the flowers, we sang ‘God Be With You Till We Meet Again’. I felt honored that the teachers let us join them and one of the Reception teachers thanked us for coming at the end of the service; something neither of us expected but greatly appreciated.

As I mentioned above, it was about 5:00pm by the time we arrived back at our house and we were exhausted – I forgot how much the sun can wear you out when you’re not properly hydrated. It helped knowing that we didn’t have to prepare for school the next day and that we could take the evening to relax and re-energize for the week.

May you know that you are also a child of God and He is calling you to Him to share His light, His love, with others. Blessings to you this week as the end of October draws near.

Praises & Prayers for the week:

-       Please keep Mr. Maniya’s family & friends in your thoughts and prayers.

-       Kayla and I were able to get our visas extended for the next 60 days – not just 30! J Continued prayers on my behalf, though because I may have to end up paying a lot more than anticipated the next time I visit the immigration office. Since I am staying longer than 90 days, I have to apply for a Temporary Residency Visa, which is double the cost of extending my visa till the end of my time here in February. The official that we spoke with said that I can write a letter explaining why I don’t need the Temporary Residency Visa and that may help me just get it extended another 60 days (which is a third of the cost of the Temporary Residency Visa).

-       We are still struggling in our relationship with Dorothy. She is getting more bold in asking for things or money from us and doesn’t seem to understand that we do not have money to just give to her. I do realize that from her point of view (seeing our laptops, clothes and toiletries) we have what she considers to be a lot of expensive things. I can only imagine what it is like for her to see all that we have each day and wonder at why we cannot seem to share with her. At the same time, though, Kayla and I have explained to Dorothy (and she seemed to understand) that we did not get here on our own – it is only by the grace of God through the generosity of family, friends, church members and co-workers that either one of us were able to come. We have set a budget for ourselves each month and we are trying very hard to stay within that budget. We very much appreciate all that Dorothy does for us and helps us with – I cannot imagine being here without her, but we are also frustrated with the tension that has been created because of this issue. We do not want to be frustrated or upset with her and hope to figure out the best way to talk with her about it. Thank you for your prayers and any insight or advice is also appreciated!!

-       Our search for better, cheaper internet has not been going well so far – we purchased a ‘dongle’ last week, which would give us internet access in our home (so nice!) and we just prepay for the MBs that we want to use. The only problem is the cost of the MBs – it is ridiculously expensive compared to what we have been using up to this point. We are waiting to hear back from TNM to make sure that there wasn’t a problem with our dongle or sim card. Kayla and I realize that we are lucky to have any internet access and we know that we cannot accept convenience over budget so we hope to have this issue resolved soon.

-       It was a wonderful time at lunch with the Pastors on Saturday – what a blessing that we could honor them with an ‘American’ holiday and celebrate with them. We are so very thankful for all that they have done and continue to do for us. What a wonderful God we serve that we can all worship together and draw closer to Him as we draw closer to one another!

-       Sunday’s ‘Mulhako wa Alhomwe’ event was wonderful to attend – Kayla & I are continually humbled by all the opportunities that they want to make happen for us. We are privileged to be able to experience Malawian traditions as guests and look forward to all that we will encounter during the rest of our time here.

-       Our plans to travel to Lilongwe (Malawi’s capital) are still tentative for this coming week (leaving Thursday or Friday). The fuel shortage and the cost to get there are going to be the main factors of whether or not we’ll go this weekend.

-       Speaking of fuel shortage – that is definitely a prayer request for the whole country. People are not very happy with their president right now because for the past year or so, there has been a shortage of fuel. The past 2 weekends, Kayla and I have seen lines of cars, at least 10 cars deep, just waiting for fuel at some of the stations in town. We asked Pastor Nihaka how long some people wait and he said that they will sometimes stay overnight and sleep in their vehicles! We don’t go into town every day, so I don’t know if the lines are always there or if it only happens when they know that the station will be receiving a shipment of fuel.

-    As your weather is getting colder, ours is getting warmer… actually, it’s just plain hot. It has been in the upper 80s, low 90s this past week and the next few weeks are going to be similar. I don’t mind it too much because it is not a humid, sticky hot. The end of November will bring the rainy season, which I’m looking forward to. I will miss the snow though so send winter wonderland thoughts my way! J

Mid-terms & New friends! :)

Last week was a full one for Kayla & I. We continued our work in Standards 4, 5 & 6 on Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Maniya is still out sick and is back in the hospital with meningitis so your continued prayers on his behalf are greatly appreciated. The students have their mid-term exams beginning next week. Since we have been teaching English for the past 2 weeks, our teachers asked us to prepare some questions for the students’ exams. At first, Kayla & I both wanted to say no because we don’t know what their midterms look like. But, we made sure to tell our teachers that we would work with them to come up with the questions for English so that they could also include the information that they taught in the beginning of the school year. We also worked together to come up with questions for Standard 6 to help the Deputy Headmaster (who has to create the exams for Standards 6 & 7 since Mr. Maniya is out).

In Standard 6, Kayla had the idea to let them come up with a song to help them remember what they had been learning in their Social & Environmental Science lessons the past few days. We asked them if they knew what American Idol was and the majority of them raised their hands. We told them we were going to have the first ever ‘YAPPS IDOL’ and they all cheered. We put them into groups, gave them the information they needed to put to music, and then let them get creative. There were 8 groups total and they all seemed to have fun coming up with their songs. We then had each group perform their song, which we recorded. J I’ll have some of the group pictures posted on my Facebook group page & I’ll try to post one of the videos for you to enjoy – they were a lot of fun to watch and it was great to see just how creative some of the groups had been.

Wednesday was a full day. We had the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony for one of our friends, Mara Mankoma (daughter to Pastor William Mankoma), here in Malawi. She had completed her program last year, but due to issues with the University, they did not hold their yearly graduation ceremony until this year. It was weird to go to a ceremony in the middle of the week and we were told it was going to be long, but we figured it would still be a great experience.

While we did enjoy getting to participate in Mara’s special day, it was definitely a long day. We left our house around 7:45am to get to the ceremony (which we had thought started at 8). The ceremony was being held at the College of Medicine for the University of Malawi & there were 1,600 students graduating. We arrived a little after 8am and began walking to the many tents set-up outside. There were probably around 10 large white tents set up with plastic lawn chairs set up in rows, all facing the main stage area which was decorated with the Malawi colors (red, black & green). We were redirected to enter through another area and it wasn’t until we were walking there that I wondered if Kayla & I would even be allowed in because we didn’t have tickets. Mara’s mother was holding onto what looked like an invitation, but we didn’t know how many people that included. Our entire party included Mara’s parents, her grandmother, a cousin, Pastor Nihaka, Kayla & I. Sure enough, when we got to the entrance (after walking through muddy grass and stepping over some stone steps while being pushed on all sides by everyone else trying to get to the entrance), we saw Pastor William and his wife, Chrissy, talking with the guard and trying to convince him to let us in. Pastor Nihaka, Kayla & I were prepared to sit just outside the entrance on some large stone steps, but then Pastor William called to us and was waving for us to come on through – I think we were snuck into the graduation. J

Now came the fun time of finding seats. Kayla & I just kind of followed Pastor William & sat where they told us. We were seated by 8:30ish and the announcer on the speaker said the program should begin around 9:00. That didn’t happen. The president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutarika, was attending the ceremony and nothing could begin until he arrived. It was exciting to know that we would get to see the president! However, the wait for everything to begin was a little exhausting. The graduation ceremony didn’t begin until 9:30 with the arrival of the president. Once he arrived, we thought the ceremony may go by pretty quickly… we were wrong. By the time they had announced all the names (well, at least Mara’s group because we left after that), it was already 1:00pm.

As various schools & degrees were called, the graduates would come find their families and leave, so other people would move closer and take vacant seats. We were no different and slowly made our way towards the front of our tent in hopes to see Mara when she was called. It worked! We were only about 4 rows from the front and we waved & cheered as her name was called. Then came the fun of finding her. That didn’t take too long and we were able to get some nice pictures of her and her family and with some fellow graduates. (These should also be posted in my Malawi Facebook group)

We also thought that our day would be done once the pictures were taken, but again, we were mistaken. We met Pastor Nihaka at a gas station close by where he had a car waiting to take us home (or so we thought). Turns out, we were going to try and do lunch with Mara & her family. But, different things kept holding up Pastor William or Mara (she had to wait for her diploma) so we left around 2pm and went to get lunch. I didn’t think to bring any money with me and Kayla only had a little bit, so we ate light, but the Pastor ended up paying for us anyway.

We finally made it home around 3:30. Both of us were a little exhausted from such a long day, but overall, we were very glad to have had the experience.

October 15^th is Mother’s Day in Malawi and since it fell on a Saturday this year, they had a public holiday on Monday, October 17^th so we had a day off of school. That made for a lovely 3 day weekend for Kayla & I. We had our whole afternoon Saturday & all day Sunday to do with what we pleased – which was very nice. I got some of my class work done for the online course I’m taking; Kayla went for a run and we both got to visit with a friend who was visiting for the weekend.

On Monday, Kayla & I decided to walk to the orphanage, called Yamikani (which means ‘Thanks’ in Chichewa) House. I was very excited to see the kids and get to spend some time with them. One of the girls, Phyllis, met us out front and took us around the back of the house to see the others. It was a little awkward at first because they weren’t expecting us, so I don’t think they knew what to do or why we were there. We met another one of the mothers who helps to care for the children and then we sat on the porch for a bit. They said that there were some volunteers that we could meet & we thought they were just more of the mothers who helped care for the orphans. Much to our surprise, though, 2 ‘Azungu’ (means white, we get called this by all the little children who see us) females coming to meet us! Ashley (from UK) & Charlotte (from Scotland) are both working for an organization called Project Trust. They live in an apartment attached to the orphanage and they teach in the Nursery school that is on the grounds. They have been here since the beginning of September so Kayla & I were a little confused as to why the Pastor & the Chairman for the orphanage hadn’t mentioned them to us before.

After meeting Ashley & Charlotte, we went around the front of the house and saw 2 of the boys that live in the orphanage. We went & sat with them for a while; Kayla had brought some children’s books so we each read one to the boys. I was sitting with Archangel (that’s the boy’s name), who was maybe 2 years old, and he was able to count in English a little bit which was precious! After we read the books, I started asking them how to say some words in Chichewa – they had fun teaching us how to say and spell them & we enjoyed making them laugh as we tried to pronounce them. J

When we left Yamikani House, Ashley & Charlotte walked back with us part of the way home because they were also headed into town. It was interesting to hear their story and Kayla & I are even more thankful for all that we have been blessed with here. We are excited to have some new friends and we hope that as we continue our trips to Yamikani House (though probably not as often since the girls are already there) we will get to know the kids and the teachers better.

As you read above, we hear the word ‘azungu’ a lot, mostly from the children, but sometimes even from the adults that we pass. We have learned to just avoid making eye contact and then people usually don’t talk with us – I slip up with this more often than Kayla though because I like to say hi to people. As we were walking home from Yamikani House on Monday, there was a truck with some men standing in the back that pulled up to the T in the road we were walking on. One of them yelled out ‘Azungu’ & I hollered back ‘Okuda’ (which means black), but they didn’t hear me. Then, one of them yelled, ‘Hey Big Mama!’ and I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help but look & wave at them. They asked us where we were going & I responded in Chichewa that we were going home (they understood me, which means that some of what I’m learning is staying in my brain!). They said something else we couldn’t understand & as they got further away we heard another one say, “Bye, I love you!” which again made us both laugh. One thing is for sure, no matter where we’re headed, our walks will always be interesting. J

Prayers & Praises for the week:

-       Continued prayers for Mr. Maniya’s recovery & for his family during this tough time

-       It’s a 4 day work week with a holiday next week – woo hoo! Kayla & I hope to go visit some friends in Lilongwe (Malawi’s capital) during our time off

-       Wednesday we’re going to extend our visas (they’re only good for 30 days); we didn’t have any trouble last year, but prayers that we have no troubles this time are appreciated!

-       We are looking into a possibility to have better internet access while we’re here – it may be cost-prohibitive, but we are excited to check it out

Mombezi Adventure & Orphanage Visit

We were finally able to visit the orphanage on Friday afternoon! Some of the older girls were still in Secondary school, so we’ll have to go again to meet them, but we got to meet most of the younger children. They have a lovely compound, with a fairly nice yard in the front and back. They have a nursery school as well where some other younger children also attend. We met one of the 5 mothers who help to take care of the children throughout the day. The mothers each have their own homes and families, so they take turns in the orphanage.

This orphanage was started in 1998 by an American woman. When it first began, there were many people who responded with a desire to help and who seemed willing to be on the board; Pastor Nihaka being one of them. Unfortunately, Pastor Nihaka told us that many of them started asking for money for their services and so they left when they would not get paid. Now, the board consists of only 3 members: Pastor Nihaka and a Muslim man and woman. As I mentioned before, we met the chairman last week, but I don’t remember his name. Kayla and I are going to try to visit the children at least twice a week to help them with school work and just love on them and spend time with them while we are here. We are both very excited to be able to use our skills and experience on a more personal and 1-on-1 basis.

Saturday was a beautiful day! Our GCI congregation in Mombezi (about a 1½  hour drive from Blantyre) completed the construction of their church building and they had a commissioning service for their Prayer House. The Regional Missions Director/Coordinator (not sure if this is his exact title) for Southern Africa, Kalengule Kaoma, was able to attend. He lives in Zambia and had just returned from visiting Kenya (he’s a pretty busy man), but was able to come to Malawi Friday evening and left Sunday morning. We were able to meet Mr. Kaoma during our visit last summer, so it was nice to see him again and spend the day with him.

We were told to be ready by 8:00am because the program was to start at 9:00am. Kayla and I have figured out, though, that we usually have an extra 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, after the time they tell us to be ready before we actually leave. It was fun, though, to watch as everyone gathered at the church to wait for their transport to Mombezi. We were able to practice singing with one of the women’s choir and we were able to greet some of the members from the Naminjale congregation that we had met during our trip last year.

The ride to Mombezi was an interesting one. The church is in one of the villages in Mombezi, so it is definitely in a more rural part of Malawi. I have never been off-roading back in the States, but I imagine it would’ve been very similar to most of the drive we experienced Saturday. After about 30 minutes of driving, we turned off the paved road onto a dirt road. A dirt road with lots of potholes (and I thought Pittsburgh had potholes!) and bumps along the way. It was another hour before we arrived at the church. One thing that made all the bumps & potholes bearable was having a skilled driver and sitting next to Mr. Nkosi, one of our members from Lilongwe (Malawi’s capital), who talked the whole time and asked Kayla & I a lot of questions. He was very excited to find out what skills and experiences Kayla and I possessed that could be shared with as many people here as possible. We talked about visiting Lilongwe, creating a Christmas program for the children at church (and maybe at the school), working with the youth leaders for the camp in December and a few other things. It was nice to know that there are others who are just as excited as Kayla and I to have us here. Though we felt like we were maybe being roped into more than we could do, even in 5 months here, we enjoyed brainstorming with Mr. Nkosi and talking about the possibilities of what we can do during our time here.

Once we arrived at the church, we got a sneak peek at the inside of the building and it was very nice. For the service on Saturday, they had tents set up outside (not the American rent-a-tents, but wooden poles holding up large pieces of fabric & blankets) for everyone to sit – If I heard correctly, we had about 200 people in attendance. We had a program outline of when people would speak and choirs would sing, but I don’t know that we always followed it exactly because there were a few times when Kayla & I weren’t sure what was going on. But it was still a wonderful experience. I was especially pleased when a gentleman got up to speak and he talked about the need to fight together in this spiritual battle. He was not only talking about the congregation working together, but also about how important it is to work together with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter their denomination. Invited, and a few in attendance, to this commissioning service were members from the following churches: CCAP (Church of Central Africa Presbyterian), Baptist, Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Church of Christ, multiple Pentecostal Churches and Anglican Church. Each group was asked to stand and were recognized. I absolutely loved the fact that they invited other denominations. It made me think of churches back home and whether they would think to invite other denominations to an opening of a new church building or not. They also went on to honor various Chiefs from the surrounding villages. Kayla & I aren’t sure exactly what roles the Chiefs still play in the government of Malawi, but we know they are in charge and the head of the villages in the rural parts of Malawi. There were 7 Chiefs (3 of them women) who were there and had consented that we are ready for the battle and one ‘Group Village Headman’ who was Chief of the Chiefs; he got up and spoke to the congregation. He said that he was very excited to have this church open and welcomed them warmly. He went on to explain that the church should be the foundation of success in life and that we should be encouraging to our fellow Christians and examples to those around us.

Pastor Nihaka was next to speak and gave a brief history of the congregation and how they came to be in Mombezi – all of this was in Chichewa, but Kayla & I didn’t mind since he had already shared with us some of the history before. The next part of the service was the cutting of the tape at the front of the building and letting everyone enter. Once inside the church, Mr. Kaoma gave a commissioning blessing from the pulpit with the other pastors by his side. We then headed back outside and enjoyed some songs by various congregations choirs and/or bands.

Pastor Kunje, from Lilongwe, then spoke and introduced Mr. Kaoma for the main message. It was a powerful and encouraging one! J His main text was in Luke 2:22-35, where Jesus was taken to the Temple to be dedicated for holy use. He spoke of this service today as dedicating this building for holy use. He said that the building is nothing without God the people He has called to proceed with His mission. Mr. Kaoma went on to say that this church is a symbol of (1) the power, glory and honor of God, (2) the presence of Christ’s disciples (Matt. 28:19-20, the Great Commission) and (3) God’s love (John 13:34-35). He challenged the congregation to not look at this church as a building, but as the presence of God and our mission to carry out. When we enter its walls, we must let go of our fears, anger with one another and sickness and come together and treat one another with love, just as Christ has loved us. It was a beautiful message and I was very glad to share in this celebration.

After the service, everyone gathered around the building, and some inside, to share a meal together. This got a little awkward because Kayla & I were given seats with the other Pastors and Mr. Kaoma. We would have much rather sat with some of our friends from the Blantyre congregation, but we recognized that we are their guests and they wanted to honor us as they were with all of their guests. We did get a chance to go over and greet the Chiefs. Pastor William Mankhomwa, from Zomba, helped us with some Chichewa phrases to say to them.

Unfortunately, once the meal was over, there wasn’t a lot of time for fellowshipping with everyone and we left pretty quickly. The ride home didn’t seem as bumpy, but it was definitely more dusty because we drove right behind another vehicle – I got dust in my eyes more than just a few times.

One thing we saw during the service that we never expected or would probably encounter in the US was cows. That’s right, I said cows. Since we were sitting outside, there were a good many people walking or riding bicycles along the road and at one point, there was a small herd of cattle being led down the road as well. It was great. J

I don’t know that I was adequately able to express the powerful emotions throughout the day. I am continually humbled by the opportunities that God has given to me, not just here, but throughout my life. So many things that I once thought unrelated are coming together in the work that I am doing here in Malawi and what I am preparing to do upon my return (I’ll be in the Pastoral Internship program with GCI). God is doing mighty things with His children all over the world; now if we could all join together and truly worship Him as one! As I listened to the Choirs sing in Chichewa, it made me think of the story of Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). Man was working together, with one language, to build himself up and honor each other rather than God; so God confused their tongues and made them speak in different languages so they would stop and were dispersed over the face of the earth. Though God chose then to confuse men’s speech, I felt on Saturday as if He was drawing us back together. As we chose to follow and honor God, no matter our tongue or understanding of another’s tongue, the praise given to God is evident and can be shared. I don’t know what all the words in the Chichewa hymns mean, but I know to Whom they give honor and glory, so I gratefully worship alongside them, offering my attempt at Chichewa and sharing in their love of God.

Prayers for the week:

-       Due to funding needs for the camp, we will not be having a retreat in Blantyre this coming weekend. I was sad to know that the retreat was cancelled, but I am very excited for the camp.

-       The fee that they have set for camp is 45 US dollars, which may not seem like much to us for a week of camp, but it is very expensive for them. They will also have to pay for their transportation to the camp site. Please pray that funds become available to those who are in need. There are youth planning to attend from various districts in Malawi, Zambia and possibly Zimbabwe.

-       Kayla & I have been asked to help with swimming and ballroom & swing dancing. I’m sure that we will be helping in other areas as well. We do not have a lot of materials here, but I know that as we put our heads together with the other leaders, we will be able to come up with some great things for the campers.

-       Please pray for the Young Adult leaders who are planning the camp. This is the first time that it is being led by the young adults and not older leaders within the church. I know that they are as excited as we are and want it to be a wonderful experience for the campers. They have not had camp for quite a few years & they want this to be the beginning of many camps to come.

-       As I shared with you last week, Mr. Maniya, the teacher for Standard 6, has been ill with malaria for the past few weeks. He was in the hospital for a few days last week, but he was discharged on Saturday. Please prayer for his quick and full recovery and for his family during this stressful time.

 As always, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. May you have a blessed week!! J