Final Blog (written from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport)

As we sit here contemplating the past few weeks we’d like to share with you some of our thoughts.

Highlights:

• The warmth of the Malawians. They are kindhearted, smile quickly, and are warm to each other even as strangers.
• Their faith and joy - “God is good!”
• The dancing “Gogos” (Grandmothers!)

Favourite Signs:

• Hot Ladies Salon
• Wits End Internet
• Hair “Saloons”
• Welcome to Golden Dish Catering Service
• No Farming No Life Shop
• Heaven Bound Funeral Parlour
• Double Vision Private School - The Will of God
• Catch Them While They’re Young Primary School

Favourite People

• Issah, our skilled driver whom we treated like our son. By the end of our trip he called us his 4 mothers
• The staff of Somebody Cares - they work so hard in work that is hard dealing with grief, death and dying (often 6 days a week and some of them with Christmas Day being their only holiday) And yet, they remain compassionate, filled with joy, and continue to trust God
• Bishop Stephen, his wife Bernadette & Pastor Kelvin (Biwi & Kawale Orphan Care) - “God is good!”

Memorable Sights and Sounds

• singing and dancing women with babies on their backs, greeting us as we arrive at their village
• children running alongside our vehicle yelling “Azungu!!!” (white foreigner) then bursting out with laughter when we shouted back “Wakuda!!!” (black person - let us reassure you we only did this upon much prompting by the locals. Should we be worried that these were the same people who called some of us North Americans “FAT” and thought this was a compliment?

Favourite Sayings

• “Sure Sure” - “sure” meant maybe, but “sure, sure” was definetly
• “Yes, thank you! EXACTLY” (Pastor Kelvin)
• “I’ll flash you” when they mean “I’ll text you”
• Knock off at 5 - meaning they close shop at this time

Favourite Foods

• NOT chambo fish from Lake Malawi with its presentation on your plate complete with a tail, head, eyes, and fins (not to mention it smelled worse than last weeks cat food)
• NOT nsima but tolerated it well especially with cooked and seasoned mustard greens
• Chapman

Most Surprising

• the extreme poverty
• that most people in the country live in a brick mud with mud floors and no windows (remember, this is Malaria country)
• the number of people who live day to day on a subsistence income ($1./day)
• mouse on a stick - it will be a LONG time before we are interested in kabobs!

Summary

Despite all the challenges the people of Malawi face on a daily basis they are a people who consistently express joy and deep faith. A people that warm your hearts with smiles that are never ending. A people that care for you and share with you even if they can barely feed themselves.

We go home now with hearts that are full, minds that are stretched, souls that are enriched, bodies that are tired. We now await what God has planned for us. Each of us will certainly have a different path set before us. We pray that we will keep our hearts and minds open to recognize this journey that we hope to walk hand in hand with God. And who knows maybe some of you that have faithfully read our blogs and prayed for us will also walk hand in hand with one of us.

God bless all of you and thank you for your prayers.

Tionanna......See you later.....

The Team!

"Debriefing" Safari at Mvuu

After we said our farewells to the staff of Somebody Cares, we left on the 3.5 hr journey southeast of Lilongwe to Mvuu which is located in Liwonde National Park.

In our three weeks here we have become quite accustomed to poor road conditions but we again reached a new low. In our last ½ hour we literally crawled along pothole filled dirt roads most of the time at 5 – 15km/hr. Simone, Nettie and I sat in the back and are comparing bruises from being banged and jostled about! The track was popular with locals either walking or on bikes, carrying huge loads of wood, straw, etc. At one point we also saw a bike being pushed along with two 45 gallon barrels!

At our arrival at the parking lot for Mvuu, we were greeted by 100’s of White Breasted Cormorants perching in the trees and calling rather loudly. It was reminiscent of arriving at the Malawian communities we have visited! We were picked up by boat and crossed the Shire River which drains Lake Malawi.

“Mvuu” means hippo and we were about to discover that it was very appropriately named as we saw our first hippo within minutes on the boat. Upon our arrival at the resort, the first thing they did was give us a talk on safety issues around the “camp” i.e. you must be escorted to your chalet by a staff member after dark. Lunch was served after this on a covered but open air terrace in the main building and then we were shown to our rooms. While it was rustic, it seemed luxurious and charming after our two week stay in Lilongwe. Our “chalet” was a few feet from the banks of this river that is teeming with crocodiles and hippos. As we stood overlooking the river, I pointed out to Simone that there was an enormous lizard on the bank directly below us only to have her laugh at me and inform me that this was a baby crocodile…

Tea was served in the main lodge at 3:15 and then we were off on our first game drive. It did not take us long to find herds of elephants. One large matriarch claimed the road. The park is also filled with impala, warthogs, Kudu, waterbuck, and an exotic assortment of birds. The game drive eventually turned into a night drive where the assistant to the guide sat in the front of the jeep with a red torch that he shone into the bush at the side of the road, looking for game. We were mildly concerned that he might turn into dinner for some wild animal but there are no lions in this park.

As we crawled into our beds that night I jokingly said to Simone that I’d like to sleep with one ear open and not miss out on any of the sounds of wildlife that night. I’m not sure if it was that comment or my excitement of being at a safari camp, but all night long I heard the bellowing of hippos in the muddy river in front of our chalet. Another special memory of Malawi I will carry with me forever.

Debbie

Our last day in Lilongwe!

Well, time has flown as we knew it would. Suddenly it is Sunday and our last day in Lilongwe.

We are amazed at how much and how little we have done. An oxymoron I know. We have been so busy everyday but the need here is so huge we have often felt we have accomplished so, so, little.

However, what has amazed us so much has been the response of the people here--over and over they say "thank-you for just coming to see!" That is truly humbling. What do you say when you have done little more than give a bar of soap or hand over a cup of porridge.

Today we were invited to a local multi-denominational type church. Not a huge church, and not a church in the slums but a church that used a school for its facility.

Let me say that you may want to skip your aerobics class before you attend here--the fervor used in their song makes a work-out seem rather low key! The song and dance is very much Africa. They pour heart, soul, and body into their praise and worship. After this the minister spoke for almost an hour without a note in front of him. His message seemed strangely written to us volunteers today. He stressed the fact that all need to look for our gifts and use them when little hints are given to us in our everyday lives. "The minister's gift of speech is as important as the job of the floor sweeper". We should not "sit on our assets!"

Now that we are nearing the end of our journey we will need to reassess our personal gift and assets and how we will use them in the future. Will we return? Will we go elsewhere? We don't know but... do we love Malawi--a resounding yes. The poverty, the red dust, the smoke ,

no...but the people are truly amazing.

Tomorrow very early we leave Lilongwe and head out for our two day safari at Mvuu (means hippo) in the southeastern side of the country. Elephants and hippos here we come. We are not sure of our internet access there so if you followers don't see a blog in the next day or so fear not we will be fine--just away from civilization!

So signing off for today.

Blessings to all and remember sit not on your assets!

Nettie

Pictures are worth a 1000 words...

Compassion extends beyond our comfort zone....

Remember we mentioned in a previous blog that this is the name of one of our devotional books we used some mornings? We have tried very hard in the last 2 weeks to extend compassion in many various forms and step out of our comfort zone. Looking back we certainly have been forced every day to take that step and as we are doing that we offer it all to the Lord and hope deep down in our heart that our prayer partners have been doing their duties! But today we didn't have to step out of our comfort zone - we went to Lake Malawi and it felt like being home. We we were on a sandy beach possibly Grand Beach with all the comforts of home. What a day full of beauty. Different beauty than what we usually experience - God's hand in the landscape as opposed to God's hand in the hearts and smiles of the Malawi people. I love it that He is ambidextrous and can easily use both hands and create such wonder in our world.

We left after our breakfast this morning and picked up 3 of the staff members from Somebody Cares and our new friend from Baltimore and headed for Lake Malawi. It is an hour and a half and 3 random police check road blocks from Lilongwe. These 3 ladies have definitely worked their way into our hearts and it was such a pleasure for us to be able to take them along. One of the ladies had never been to Lake Malawi and she was simply in awe of the beauty. It was like watching a little child seeing a new toy for the first time - wonder and smiles! These ladies are such dedicated workers. Here is a typical day for them during the week. They wake up at 4 AM and then work around their house before leaving for work. One of them has to bike for 1.5 hours to work. They get to work for 7:15 and then they are lucky to finish before 6PM. They make their trek home - and yes the lady on the bike still has that 1.5 hour ride home. Then comes making supper which starts with getting a fire going and they try and spend time with their children (they all have orphans living with them) and then most of them have another little side job on weekends to help supplement their full time income because they need to do that to make ends meet. So by 9PM they are asleep. And so the cycle continues day in and day out. 4AM is the middle of the night for most of us. Will we remember them next time our alarm clocks rings early in the morning and we don't want to get out of bed to the comforts of our home. We occasionally may think of them but unfortunately being humans we will forget. But the times we do remember those precious ladies that know nothing but love for the oppressed we will hopefully say a prayer for them and their families.

Our drive home from the lake was uneventful. But then I started thinking about how uneventful our drives to Winnipeg will be upon our return. Our roads are so wide compared to the roads here. We won't have to try to dodge multitudes of people walking along the side of the road, bicycles carrying huge loads of wood or sugar cane or woven baskets or charcoal or maybe 3 people. We won't have to be on the look out for goats, cows, chickens and vendors waving their kebabs of sundried mice hoping we will stop to buy an appetizer. Nor will the sides of the roads have markets, small villages with brick huts that never have windows and almost never a door but alway somewhat of a roof; whether it is thatched grass, tin, plastic or clothing held down by bricks. It will take time to get used to those long stretches of nothing for us.

Some of the signs we have seen on buildings these past 2 weeks have made us chuckle. For example today we saw on a store, Truth Shall Prevail Tuckshop. Yesterday a school was called, Catch Them While They are Young School! And here is a cute one, Glad Tidings Orphan Care. And one sign that struck us today was: Stop Early Marriages - every girl has a right to complete her education. That was a bit of a thinker for us.

So, I end this by quoting our devotional, "Simple compassion begins with paying attention, noticing opportunities to share love with those who have less."

P.S. Did you know that if you laugh and talk a whole lot it is equivalent to exercise. That is what one of the ladies told us today. Well, I think that we will be going home with pants that are 2 sizes too big especially if you add crying to that diet.

Thanks again for all your love and prayers.

Grace and peace to you, Simone

You have to listen to the Holy Spirit to come....

Those were the words of Bishop Stephen Chatepa to our group as we gave them funds for 100 mosquito nets and for purchasing food for their feeding program. It was in response to my question: " What is your greatest need?" Our hearts would not let us just provide funds for nets because the children were going hungry... and since we made an amazing discovery yesterday re nets because of our driver's ingenuity .... we could do both.

Now let me start at the beginning of the day. We were to arrive at Kawale at 9 am SHARP pastor Kelvin had told us. We arrived before him (: Anyway, as Debbie said yesterday, “my” little 4 year old Wisdom who stole my heart 2 years ago was there to greet us. We spent time taking pictures, getting acquainted with the women who were preparing the lunch for the children, and also speaking with the chairman of the board. Wisdom hung out with me as we met with the widows to hear their problems and also as we were helping cut the greens for the lunch meal. He showed me how he could count to 10, printed our names, and we sang songs...

Oops... I got distracted...

After meeting with the widows to learn about their challenges of beginning a small IGA (Income Generating Activity) so they could be self sustaining to feed themselves and the orphans in their care, we met with two women who were HIV positive and therefore beneficiaries of the HBC or Home Based Care program. They receive fortified porridge, soap, weekly visits and spiritual nurture.

We also met Mr. Charles Chitepa for whom my team had made a scrapbook 2 years ago. At that time he was blind and his children/grandchildren were caring for him. He had prayed for 5 years to be healed of his blindness. Some time ago, he went to the hospital where they put some meds into his eyes and then he could see - at least in one eye. He walked a long way to bring the scrapbook to show us and praise God for healing him.

The next meeting was to discuss some achievements and problems which Kawale Orphan Care is facing. As all faith based organizations, there are always challenges. Other than a few individual donations resulting from visits to Kawale, they only have one base support group WOW - based out of Toronto and the organization I joined for my previous two trips to Malawi. (www.wowmission.com). The programming is facilitated by 28 churches that collaborated to begin KOCARECO (Kawale Orphan Care Religious Organization Committee). The board chair explained that their goal is to not only feed the children. Their hope is to complete the vocational school. This will break the cycle of prostitution which will lead to HIV infection which will lead to orphans. It will also break the cycle of alcohol and drug abuse.

They have many challenges and hopes:

* to complete their office . I can certainly understand why because the smoke from the “kitchen” beside them filtered into the “office” and we had to move our meetings into the hallway between the showers and the toilets. We Canadians could hardly breathe or see.

• to help finish the vocational school in Area 44 with some concrete floors (in the nursery the children sit on mats on the sand), and the tools for the various trades.

Their dreams and plans are very realistic. Their true hope is to be self sustaining because they know that outside funding is fickle.

Two highlights culminated our day in Kawale. Many of you, our readers, participated in gifting funds for mosquito nets. Due to our resourcefulness and the amazing assistance of our driver, we were able to purchase not only 188 nets but also blankets for these children for the same amount of money. Pastor Kelvin and the board chair continued reinforcing what a gift of health and education you provided for all the Kawale orphans.

The second amazing moment was when Nettie presented pastor Kelvin with a laptop. Upon receiving this gift, the women observing began to dance and ulele. How poignant a moment. Pastor Kelvin explained that he had been praying hard for a laptop and here he was blessed by Nettie and Gary’s generosity. He responded by saying : ” May God bless the father that gave this to me.”

Our last stop of the day was in Biwi. Bishop Stephen Chatepa and his wife were so gracious. They have 2 locations outside of Lilongwe where they grow vegetables to feed the children, but at their church in Lilongwe they don’t have the resources to feed the 100 children in their program. The only resources at their disposal is what their church members donate. Here too, due to the resources many of you contributed toward nets, we were able to donate funds for 100 nets as well as funds to supply food for 2 meals a week that will last until Christmas. They were extremely grateful to receive the funds now because this allows them to purchase the food at reasonable cost rather than in December when food costs increase.

Bernadette, pastor Stephen’s wife had so much richness in her soul. There was something about her demeanor that made us feel united as sisters. She thanked us so much just for coming to see. She said “ this is very, very important. Even just to come and see.” No strings attached.

The richness, warmth, graciousness, and appreciation are all sentiments that have truly impacted us forever.

Once again... there is so much to ponder...

Gloriously ruined,

Kawale Orphan Care

At our devotional time this morning, our discussion focused on the importance of our souls being fed, being engaged in things that feed our inner soul.

Today we met Pastor Kelvin and the Rufai Nachamba, the Director of the Board of Kawale Orphan Care. In the 2hrs we spent with them our souls sure gained a lot of weight and our hearts were full to the bursting point. While we were not met with the typical dancing, singing and jubilation of a village of women, the warmth expressed by these two leaders blessed us greatly.

Kawale Orphan Care focuses on caring for vulnerable children in their communities. There are 27 churches with 62 community leaders that have joined together in this effort. KOC has 18 volunteers in their downtown Lilongwe location, and 7 out of their Area 44 location. It is these volunteers that are responsible for going into the community (Home Based Care workers) to support people with HIV/AIDS and in the process become aware of the vulnerable. The city of Lilongwe is divided up into several different areas. Kawale, as mentioned, is located in the centre of the city and much of it is a slum. Area 44 is about a 15-20 min. drive away (much of it again quite slowly due to the condition of the roads). KOC is a much smaller organization than Somebody Cares and has only one organization funding it (Visionledd/WOW). They used to have a major contributor from Malawi but they went bankrupt a few years ago. As a result of that and political changes resulting in a cut of funding, their projects are now on hold. In spite of this, they continue to use the buildings as is and plan for the future. Once they have completed the building of their main centre, they hope to build a barn on a 3.5 hectare piece of land they own just outside the city. They are currently using this land to grow their own maize and other vegetables but hope to raise hogs, cattle and chickens in order to be more self sufficient.

They gave us a tour of their Area 44 project which is currently being run as a primary school with a feeding program but the intention was for this to be a vocational school for orphaned children who graduated to learn vocational skills that would allow them to obtain employment. We found it quite interesting to learn that they run this partly as a private school (thus charging fees to those families that can afford it) but provide free education to the orphans. The reason behind this is that they want to integrate these kids and avoid the school being labeled in a negative way as only being for orphans. While in Malawi, we have also learned that they have 3 categories of orphans: those with only one parent, those without any parent, and child headed homes. So, we hear terms like "single orphan" or "double orphan".

A few things impressed and blessed us in this short meeting with these two leaders. One, they had their mission statement and objectives on large posters on the walls. Two, Pastor Kelvin and Mr. Nachamba are very passionate about their ministry and have a real vision for the future. Three, they gave us a printed schedule for tomorrow's activities. Four, they requested that we be punctual as they had much they wished to discuss with us. Five, they requested if we had any specific information or topics that we would like to talk about tomorrow. It became quite obvious that they had put much effort into planning our visit.

In our discussions along the way, we again heard that to visit them, see and experience what they are doing is more important than sending money. Yes, they need funds but we were told that they feel it is very important for people who partner with them, to come and see if the funds that being donated are being used appropriately.

At the beginning of our meeting with them today, Lydia was blessed beyond belief to meet Wisdom, one of the orphans she met on her previous trip that holds a special place in her heart. She will tell you more about this in her blog tomorrow but I've posted a picture of the two of them that I hope will make it into this blog!

We continually process the things that we are experiencing, wondering what God is telling us, wondering where He is leading us. Our time with Kawale was short today, but again we are inspired. We have much to ponder...

Debbie

Green pastures

Well we got to sleep in today -what a treat--trouble with that it is hard to find something left for breakfast. We were having trouble even getting some coffee so we have learned something about indulging in a luxury here! Early birds get the coffee, hot milk, omelettes, etc!

We spent our luxurious morning finishing the compilation of the 6 memory books for the 6 families that were selected by Somebody Cares staff. We packed up some little packets of donated clothing for them as well. At noon we set out on our way to do the deliveries in the slum of Mtandilie. With the help of our interpreter and our entourage of at least six Home Based Care Volunteers we set off on our walking trek to deliver the books and packets. What a wonderful fun bunch of women.

We delivered our packets and books to the very humble and grateful families. The pictures on there facesThey talked and laughed with us as we made our circuitous route through the huts (homes). They laughed with us as they taught us to so "wakuda"(black) to the young children after they would point and yell "azungoo" (whites). All involved in the exchanges would laugh & smile & wave hellos as the red dust and acrid smoke of the cooking fires would billow around. Walks anywhere else will not be ever so memorable -especially with our leader Agnes dancing along the way. The happiness that permeated through these women is mind boggling to us westerners. We all thoroughly enjoyed each others company exchanging conversation of origins, families, and silly joking. hat makes these women so happy?

Is it their comforts-ah no. Is it their new clothing --mm-no. The nice home they go home to --not! Their health..no. The warmth and caring and love for all just oozes from there pores. We have never felt unwelcome. When we left they made us dance with them and sang gospel songs as they dance.

Let me say to any christian, atheist, or agnostic you cannot help but feel the happiness in these people when they seem to have nothing..

The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want.

Azungu Aunt Jemima!

At our morning devotional this morning with the staff of Somebody Cares, Teresa said we should be clapping louder and shaking what our mama's gave us a little bit more! She said that she was going to make us Africans before we leave. So, we thought if we had the traditional head wrap and chitenje (skirt wrap) we could possibly be on our way to becoming wanna be Africans and it would improve our praise and worship! Well, that was not to be! Clapping, singing and shuffling the feet while shaking our bottoms is not something we Azungus can achieve all at once. And for that we are glad that God has a sense of humour!

So, what do you think of our team uniform? And take note it is even in the Manitoba colours - brown and gold! We just needed the bison emblem on our backs to be real provincial representatives. What was really fun is that wherever we went today the people of Malawi acknowledged us and were excited to see that we were dressed as one of them. Of course not all the women in Malawi go about their day dressed like this but in the communities in the slums and villages they all wear the chitenje and most have the head wrap. If you don't wear the chitenje you certainly must wear a skirt. In the city of Lilongwe women dress more like the western world.

We made layettes last night - not sure if we talked about layettes in a previous blog so I apologize for the repetition but here is what consists of the layettes we made now: a receiving blanket, 2 tuques, 1 onsie and a baby sleeper or outfit. We hauled all these supplies from home! With 50+ layettes in tow this morning we headed to the Bwaila Hospital. Something to remember next time we might have to wait at the walk in clinic or for our doctor because he/she is running late be thankful we have medicare and that we don't have to sit outside with 100's of other people to be seen by a doctor. At the hospital we were met by the matron and she brought us to the premature nursery. They have a sign on their doorway that says, Kangaroo Care. Our first nursery had 4 mothers and their tiny little babies. Oh, my it was like holding a Barbie doll. I held a little boy named Isaac that was 1.6 kgs = 3.5 lbs. He was incredibly precious. These 4 babies were kept in this room because they were more shall we say fragile than the other 45 premature babies that were all lined up in bassinet's in a big room. The 4 mothers had their babies snuggled between their breasts - skin on skin - and wrapped with blankets to hold the baby in snug against their mother. This mimics the kangaroo and their joey hence the name Kangaroo Care. There are no incubators in this hospital so this is there creative incubator.

After our visit there we went to the bigger nursery where the babies were sometimes 3 to a bassinet and their mothers were in the middle of the room sitting either on the floor or low lying benches. It was a peaceful moment to my heart to see the mothers there waiting to help care for their child. The mothers were asked to go stand by the bassinets that held their child for the gifting of the layettes. We were handing the layettes out and when it was my turn to give a layette to a mother my heart melted - she had twins! For those of you who don't know my family, we are the proud parents of bouncing twin boys too! Well they still bounce but they were babies 27 years ago and they were not premature and they did not weigh 2 lbs! I asked the nurse that was beside this mother to explain to her that I too was a mother of twins and what a smile she had for me! You know it is those moments that make the heartaches seem bearable.

So after many photos and thank yous we said farewell. As we drove away one couldn't help but have a feeling of thankfulness for our medical system, thankfulness that even in a developing country there are many who are in the profession of nursing and caring and thankfulness for all that we have and can have.

Our afternoon was spent working on the memory books for the 6 individuals we visited yesterday. After much grumbling about our printer and giggling we are almost done that project. Will report tomorrow on the reaction of the recipients.

Thank you again for all your prayers. We feel your presence in our hearts and know that without you to carry us through these 2 weeks we would be puddles on the floor. For that we are thankful too.

Here is a thought I leave you with....Teresa Malila today said to me - it is now time for all the churches across the world to get involved in the HIV/AIDS crisis....think about that......

A Momma of twins that cannot shake her booty very well, Simone

The faces of the kids receiving their packets

I will lift up your Name, higher... You are wonderful...

These are the words to the song we sing at devotions, enroute to our destinations, or while we are walking in the slums.... In the days we've been here, it is not hard to understand all the praise and worship happening because otherwise it would be difficult to emotionally take in all that transpires in a day.

After morning worship we packed 140 bags (to which we contributed the funds) for the preschool in Njewa. They included 2 bars of Life buoy(body soap), 2 bars of Sunlight (soap for clothes), and a 1 kg of sugar. It was to include salt also, but that was not available. I wish I could include a picture of the excited faces of the children. (Unfortunately our internet is too slow).

After handing out the packets we headed to another slum -Mtandile. I'm not sure how vehicles stay in tact here. Just the approach to the enclosed private school compound was so elevated and uneven that we lost the spare tire under our van.

After participating in the warm welcome the ladies had for us, we left to begin the interviews of 6 families - widows or HIV/AIDS patients. What a privilege to sit in their home, hear their story, and have the opportunity to create a scrapbook for them. After we finished interviewing and photographing, we prayed for them and tried to encourage them to call on Jesus and know He loves them and cares for them deeply. Upon our return 3 hours later, the ladies were still waiting for us with a lunch of nsima, okra, and eggs. Then they presented a program to show us what they did on a regular basis. I was also asked to share a word of encouragement with them.

Debbie, one of our team members chose to attend the funeral of one of the ladies in Mgona.

--Lydia--

I continue to process this afternoon. I went to attend the funeral of one of the widows of Mgona, the first place we went with Somebody Cares - a slum at the edge of Lilongwe. The woman had made quite an impression on her community and the staff of Somebody Cares with her encouragement, her sense of humor, sensitivity to others. She apparently attended many of the funerals in Mgona and I was told this was why her funeral was so well attended. It was hard to count the people as some sat a ways off around the huts, others behind some shrubs, but I would guess at the beginning there were approximately 100-150 people. There were 3 of us Azungus (whites) and 2 staff from SC. It was humbling and yet a privilege to be a part of their grief and sorrow. As I sat among the weeping widows, I could only pray that God would somehow comfort them. Never have I prayed more to convey love to the grieving around me through my presence. How do you comfort when you can't use words? A short time later, we learned there was another funeral happening at this very moment. One of the volunteers of SC at Mgona had lost her 13 year old grandson. So, we left the funeral of the widow to go and sit with this grieving family. It was rather shocking for me to see that there were less than 40 people present at this young boy's funeral. When asked why, I was told this was due to the popularity of the widow and how widely she was known. There were people present from surrounding communities as well. SC had taken a collection on our bus before we got to the slum which was divided and given to both of these families. I also learned that another funeral had taken place yesterday - the neighbor of the widow whose funeral we were attending today.

Then, we also learned that another man (relative again of a SC volunteer) had died this very afternoon while we were sitting and grieving these 2 deaths.

One picture kept coming to my mind that made me weep as I sat with them today. I kept seeing Jesus sitting in the middle of this crowd of mourners, weeping with them, sharing in their sorrow, and caring so deeply for the pain they experience.

Debbie

Sunday, July 18

I hope not all my dreams came true. Something about the incredible hospitality we enjoyed must have crept into my subconscious . During the night I dreamed that I gained 20 lbs. on this trip. When I saw what they had prepared for breakfast I wondered if this was a prophetic dream. They must have been up most of the night as we had fresh homemade doughnuts, an egg casserole, and fruit for breakfast. I shared my concerns regarding this dream (after indulging in 3 doughnuts) and the Barkman's charming 7 year old son Nicholas suggested we use a truck scale to weigh me after breakfast!

Church was approximately 10 minutes away down a winding dirt road, past the common brick huts with straw roofs. On the way, one of Tristen's friends (a very elderly woman by the looks of it - we are pretty bad at judging ages here) was standing at the side of the road, waiting. She had never attended church with them before but they picked her up. Well, they tried to pick her up but she was unable to really walk. She shuffled about 3 inches at a time. In the end, she simply crawled into their jeep with a bit of a push and pull. She seemed to be quite delighted with church, listening quietly for most of the time but a couple of times she became quite talkative. Tristen found her animated demeanor amusing and commented that she's never been here before but suddenly she's in charge! Her wrap fascinated us as all over it was printed "Pope John Paul II Visit to Malawi"! She was quite delightful but as we were leaving after church, she stated that she was going to die next week as she was very tired of life.

Lunch at the Barkman's was yet another feast! I do believe I won't be the only one who has gained 20 lbs. in 24 hours. Oh well, tomorrow it's back to peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and none of us are ever tempted to overeat...

On my way to Weight Watchers,

Debbie

July 17 - visit to Phalula

Our lovely trip to Phalula (pronounced with a silent H)---a 3 hour journey south east of Lilongwe.

We embarked on our trip to visit Tristan & Richard Barkman & family at the very late hour of 9:15 am! This is a very late start for us as our normal start is at 6am—trust me this is not natural for 3 of us except sargeant-major Lydia who thrives on sunrises!

Here is a little background on the Barkmans. They are from Steinbach and are at the end of their 2 year mission work in Malawi. They have 4 children and the connection is that Richard's father drove for Penner International for forty years so Simone suggested we go visit them. She also knows many of their relatives at home. The family was more than welcoming!

In our 3 hour drive here we saw many many markets along side the highway selling tomatoes, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, papaya, woven baskets, straw mats, mice on a skewer, and coffins!The most eye catching sign was for a funeral parlour called Heaven Bound which of course got me to thinking about how they guarantee that...

The highway is actually quite good, lets compare to Hwy 10 in Manitoba, and what was interesting was that for quite a few kilometres we drove with the Mozambique border on the west side of the road and the Malawi border on the east side! Talk about porous borders.

The countryside turned very hilly and the mountains were not far in the distance. We constantly passed many small villages with varying degrees of poverty.

We arrived on time due to the great driving skill of our driver Esau.

We were graciously welcomed into the Barkman home and treated to a scrumptious lunch with home made buns and salad (OUR FIRST SINCE OUR ARRIVAL fresh lettuce—yumm).

After lunch Tristan took us to see the local hospital which is just a short walk from their home. We were toured by the nurse/midwife on call for today. The clinic offers HIV/AIDS counselling and check ups, medications and a pharmacy that holds 2 small cupboards that contains all their medicines for dispensing. It has a laboratory with no fridge that we could see, and a labour and delivery room. Interestingly enough in Malawi a family member is required to stay with you to be your care giver while in hospital because there are so few nurses and rarely doctors.

The best part of the tour was that there were 5 newborns to peek at with their mom’s in the maternity ward!

A point of interest: there is a major measles outbreak in Malawi. This hospital can see up to 7 cases a day.

The facilities are very basic with laundry done all by hand and hung outdoors to dry. The autoclave appeared to be just a large pressure cooker from another era, and a hot plate from the time of the dinosaur.

We then took a short drive to see some falls on the only major river in Malawi, the Shire River. We took some lovely pics and our Esau seemed truly caught in the magic of the place. The falls were not very high but they were still a force to be reckoned with.

We returned to the Barkman household to a short game of soccer (known here as football) with the children —short would be the key word here with these 50+ year old women!Their 7 year old Nicholas seemed to enjoy winning! Another delicious meal, some sharing time of our trip photos so far and now early to bed.

We will join the family for a church service here in Phalula if they unlock our bedroom door from the outside! Simone and I get to share a room in the guest house and as the night guard's new baby was sick he got the night off thus necessitating Richard locking and barring the door for our safety –though we did get to keep the keys! just not sure we can reach the lock!. We hope someone remembers we are here in the morning!

A wonderful day—not only did our bodies get a rest but so did our hearts.

After seeing so much poverty during the week with endless broken families it was wonderful and heart warming to spend such a peaceful time with the warm and inviting Barkman family.

Blessings to all, Nettie

picture of the week

Here is a picture to give you a visual of the week. This was a fraction of the women greeting us at Chitemba yesterday. They greet us with singing and dancing and then we are drawn into the inner circle to shake our booties.

Jesus loves the little children......

And so we were privileged to another glorious day in Malawi. Our day started by having our own devotions over breakfast. Debbie read from, "Simple Compassion: devotions to make a difference in your neighbourhood and you world," by Keri Wyatt Kent. As a quick side note here if you are in need of a new devotions book, this is a great one. From a person who rates her books on a scale of one to ten this is a 9! She read about, "Seeing" and how easy it would be for us to stay blind and small. We so often don't realize how fulfilling being a difference maker can be. Jesus invites us to be people who see then act. And have you ever had a moment when those scales fell from your eyes and you saw truth in a way you had never seen it before? We see plenty of people here and at home in need and we know that we cannot meet their every need. But we can do this: we can listen to the voice of love and obey it. We can be willing to let God's love flow through us to even one person God brings across our path. We can truly see we can be a conduit of grace - willing not just to receive it but to let it flow through us.

Our journey today took us to the village of Chitembe, where Teresa, the head of Somebody Cares is a chieftess. She has never lived there but her father was a chief in the area and because nobody in her family wanted to be the "big Kahuna" therefore chieftess became her role. So we arrived in our 12 seater van full to the brim with our team and Somebody Cares staff, the chieftess Teresa and boxes and suitcases of donated items for the children and expectant mothers in the village. Our contribution to the day here was 16 layettes for expectant mothers. A layette consisted of 2 receiving blankets, 2 sleepers, 3 onesies and a hand knitted tuque made with love by the generous ladies in Lydia's church and Winkler area. Picture this a soft pink tuque on this little curly black head with the most precious brown eyes that melts anybody's heart. And you tell me how we are not going to want to bring some of those babies home with us at the end of July?!? Being a GoGo (grandma) is fast approaching for me and I must say I can hardly wait after seeing all these babies.

We were greeted upon our arrival in the village by a group of young mothers with baby strapped on their backs and voices of angels and dancing that brought such joy to our hearts. They are such gracious people - opening their village to these Azungus! (white person) The babies heads were just like bobble heads as their mothers danced. It was quite funny. There was a young mother there who had a baby sitting on her shoulders that was no more than 1 year old and then one strapped to her back and that did not stop her from shaking! A different shaking than the shaking we were doing down those cow path roads yesterday. By the way today's roads were somewhat better plus we had a van that actually came with shocks today therefore the ride was a tad more comfortable. But as our motto is on this journey, "It's all good!"

After the warm hearted greeting we went to visit the school. And open sided centre that is approximately 14'x30' holding 360 angelic faces. No, I did not make a mistake in typing that number - there truly were 360 children there today and they actually have 700 registered for school in this area. One teacher who is 18 years old - he was amazing and a few volunteers to help. Those of you who are teachers have probably dropped your jaw by now! But there might as well have been 3 kids in that room because there was order and control it was amazing. They had a few children stand in front of the room and show us what they knew in English. How memorable to watch 2 little 4 year old girls shaking hands and asking each other with a loud high pitched little voice what their names are, where they live, how old they are and what is their favourite thing. I am still struggling with, "How are you?" in Chichewa! We then sang some action songs for them and they were so enthusiastic to repeat the motions and try to sing in English.

We then helped with the meal program. And again all in a controlled fashion. A lesson for us adults next time we stand in line at the grocery store and somebody tries cut in front of us.

Then came our meal program. We were hosted by the chief of this village to a traditional meal in Malawi - mustard greens, sema, and chicken and we got to eat with our fingers! It was simply scrumptious. Sema is made with maize flour and is their staple much like rice and potatoes are for us. The only difference is that we get to add a few more things to our plate to compliment those starches we so enjoy but they don't. Sema is more often than not the only food on their plate. And the drink of the meal was Fanta! Big expense for the chief to host us plus we were there with some of the team from Phoenix. But he was very proud to have been able to offer us this meal.

After lunch our team were able to hand out our layettes to the pregnant mothers. They all seemed so young. Well, they are - many of them marry at age 14 - the father might be 16 or 18. I thought of the African saying, "It takes a village to raise a child," because how else can a teenager be raising a child in this poverty without the help of many.

Our send off was just as grand as our welcome. Drums, dancing and singing. As our Zimbabwean daughter said this winter when she tried to go skating, "White people should stick to skating and black people should stick to dancing!" How true this is as they encouraged us to shake our booties with them. Despite the fact that we are not all flat footed Mennonites it still doesn't shake the way they would like to see it shake! Nonetheless they were excited that we had attempted the motions!

And there you have another day in the land of Malawi. A land that is the 7th poorest country in the world but only in material not in richness of faith and heart

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Wow! Good thing I didn't have any loose teeth today. They would surely have been shaken loose ...But first, I will tell you about how we got to this.

We began our morning at the Somebody Cares office for morning devotional with the staff. Today the theme was the importance of loving others, including those we perhaps don't like so much. Can we pray for those we don't love? Is it perhaps praying for others that helps us to love?

Our destination today was Mwawangwa, a village approximately 40min away. All was well for perhaps the first 15 min, then things i.e. the "road" began to deteriorate. Significantly. We had to slow down to a speed where even the cows were passing us. Those privileged to sit in the back needed to hang on to anything available to prevent their head from hitting the roof. At times we had to drive in the slope of the "ditch" that brought images of rolling to mind. Our "new" van started beautifully this morning (unlike the previous one that required frequent manual push starts). It was quite apparent that it was lacking in shocks as we drove down the dusty red country "roads" (tracks might be a better descriptor). Hence, there was a lot of shaking and rattling. The dust, shaking and rattling did nothing to deter our Malawian friends from singing all the way to the village.

Upon our arrival we were again greeted like royalty. Singing and dancing accompanied with handshakes, warm smiles and "Mulibwangi!" (Hi how are you?) It never ceases to amaze me how the young woman do all this with a young child strapped to their back.

Our team was responsible for teaching the Bible Study to the 140 widows that came to join us this morning. I discovered later that some of them had walked for hours with young children in tow to join us in the community centre today. Not surprising then that some of them fell asleep on the straw mats later while they were waiting for their "porridge". The children were also fed the same gruel. I had to contain myself not to be the paparazzi.

We then left on a visit with the Home Based Care workers to another village approximately 40 min. away from Mwangawanga. We were really out in the bush now. Upon our arrival at Chiwoko, were were again greeted warmly. The difference this time was that the men were also present. All the chiefs of the surrounding area and the head teacher. We were led into a very dark school house where I was fascinated with the tin roof that was punctured with hundreds of small holes that seemed wonderful for allowing in a trickle of light but I'm sure in the rainy season it would let in a torrent of rain. Several of the villagers then led us to the home of a man who was HIV positive and quite ill for the past 2 weeks. I have done many home visits and assessments of sick people in my lifetime but never like this. It was with some concern that I noticed Steve (staff of Somebody Cares) go into the man's hut, assist him into the "courtyard" to a straw mat, while other villagers at the same time found chairs for our team to sit on. All the while, other villagers were gathering around with one area full of children. Somebody Cares said a few words, turned things over to Lydia, who then turned things over to me. I was completely uncomfortable trying to assess him from 10 feet away while I was sitting on a chair and him on a mat so I asked for permission to go over and speak with him. Permission granted and I proceeded with my assessment. We found a few Tylenol but the most precious and probably most important thing was being able to pray for him. If there is one thing I am relearning in life it is the power and importance of prayer. I think he was crying through most of our visit.

After we left, his sadness permeated my soul. But, as I walked ahead of the team, I suddenly found myself surrounded by a crowd of laughing, bouncing children. Many, I'm sure were the same kids that sat at the feet of our patient. It struck me how while their lives are filled with hardship, they still have the ability to laugh and play. I decided to join them in this moment and started skipping down the dusty red road, clapping and singing along with them. I felt like the Pied Piper. Another memory I will treasure forever!

Coveting your prayers,

Debbie

"Poverty is a culture in itself" Nettie

When we arrived at Somebody Cares office for devotions at 7:30 am, our hearts were overwhelmed as we worshipped. Then, Fatimata, one of the staff who has lived with HIV/AIDS for 17 years, shared a devotional. Her life giving words included thoughts about: realizing that we could have gone to Miami rather than coming to Africa, that many people think of Africa as a dark country and it was good to have us here to see it is a country of joy also. She realized that many people we know may not understand the reasons for us coming and really wanted to affirm our presence here and that they as a staff truly appreciate what we are leaving behind (sacrificed leaving our families for 3 weeks) which really touched our hearts. She informed us that SC staff pray for their donors on a regular basis. Although there were 25 people present, we felt she was addressing each of us individually and personally. An amazing God focus at the beginning of a challenging day.

We have seen poverty in the "slum of slums" known as Mgona, in the village of Njewa and tomorrow we head to Mngwangwa. We've seen the children, young mothers, widows, and men in various stages of HIV/AIDS ; but today was the most heart wrenching. We were brought to a home to meet 13 year old Pampini. Her mother and father had died of AIDS and when she went to live with her aunt and uncle at age 10, she was raped repeatedly by her uncle while her aunt went to work in the garden. She was given strict orders not to tell or she would die. After awhile, she ran away and went to live with her grandmother. Her physical injuries were so severe that she is still healing from the rape. How do you pray for this girl when we have no clue as to how to relate? Debbie did an awesome job of assessing, distributing meds, and praying for her.

The Bible Study on Naiomi and Ruth went even better today. Our team of ladies plus a recruit from Baltimore portrayed this story in a very convincing fashion. (Only we were told that for a woman to sleep at a man's feet meant she's a prostitute-not so good).

Some of the experiences of this day, revealed the desperation poverty and disease create. And so we continue to pray about the effect this has on women and children.

Lydia

a day in our life in malawi

Well we have only been "working" here for a couple of days but what a lot we have seen and done though we seem to do a lot of waiting on "AFRICAN" time.

Our schedule is set day to day and then also changes ...day to day. We are a very flexible group of four though so it makes it rather exciting that we know not what is in store for us at any given time.

Today we were back in the slums of Mgona. By 9 am we were at the community centre which is just an open air shelter that doubles as a gathering place/school etc. We were to help cook and serve 'porridge' to about 140 2-6 year olds! Well, cooking the porridge was done in an enclosed hut over an open fire --with no chimney. When we asked why there was no chimney we were told because that is the way it is done here! Thus the answer why none us could tolerate the wood smoke to stir the pot except for one of the native women. We did get to wash the cups and serve the porridge in a rather orderly fashion to amazingly patient tiny hungry mouths after playing rounds of "ring around the rosie,"and blowing soap bubbles in the breeze.

The school house was a cement floor covered with straw mats, a ragged black board and the alphabet written on a piece of cardboard. That was it for supplies. We had been asked to provide slates for lessons but could not bring the poundage on our flight.

Striking to us all was how content these tiny souls seemed in this school though with so little.

Later Lydia did a wonderful bible study with the "widows' with the rest of us doing our "broadway" debuts as the characters. The widows loved it and with the help of our translator

truly got involved in the story of Naomi & Ruth identifying with the need for a redeemer in their lives.

Our afternoon was first a crash course in herbal medicine from a local trained herbal nutritionist who is also the chair for the AIDS support group. Gray was a wealth of information on how these natural foods and herbs helped the HIV positive clients. There was then a rather impromptu medical clinic in the same building when we were paired up with part of a medical team from Mesa. We saw and treated about 36 women 3 men and one child in about 2 hours. The team from Mesa had brought an amazing amount of basic drugs but considering the amount of people that were HIV positive - a drop in the bucket of the need.

An amazing day with the ride home always filled by the amazing singing of the Somebody Cares workers.

Jehovah...I will lift your name higher.....

And that was the song we sang as we headed towards the slums of Mgona this afternoon in the mini bus we have rented. Along with the 4 of us we had some of the staff members of Somebody Cares and 2 other ladies from the United States. Somebody Cares staff sang the song in Chichewa first and then we would sing it in English. What a momentous way set us in the right frame of mind for what we were about to see.

But before I tell you about the afternoon I will go back to that 6:00 wake up call. I am truly not a morning person so it was so hard to get up since the jet lag is still hanging on to the brain! At least I am not the only one of our team that is not a morning person, Debbie and Nettie are in my camp - early mornings are for the birds and Lydia! After breakfast we headed to the office of Somebody Cares to share devotional time with them and with a group of 19 other volunteers here from Phoenix. Sitting outside in the glorious sun made me realize to suck up the princess morning thing and embrace the wonder of God. The staff sang, danced a bit (kind of like morning aerobics!) and ministered the love and grace of God to us.

Chieftesse Teresa Malila, head of Somebody Cares gave us our orientation. She started by explaining to us that she set out to help those in need in the slums 12 years ago with a bottle of water and a Bible. And now her organization touches the people of Malawi in 22 communities in and around Lilongwe. They employ approximately 12 staff and use many many volunteers in the communities. Somebody Cares is a Christ centered organization that partners with other Christ centered organizations and has churches in various countries that help support their mission. CARES is the acronym for Caring, Advocating, Resourcing, Education, Serving & Supporting. Part of their goal to is empower communities around them with the resources and food to help sustain them. They have a program to empower widows with skills that can generate an income and Teresa tells us that there are now some men participating in that program. They have programs that enable the youth to do health evangelization to their peers covering subjects such as HIV/AIDS and the importance of mosquito nets to help prevent malaria. They have a childrens program that involves feeding, playing with the children and deworming them. These children have the weight of being an adult before being a child so the simple act of playing with them brings them brief moments of being the child they should be. And they have a program for those infected/affected with HIV/AIDS.

Teresa is a very eloquent speaker with a heart that knows no boundaries for love.

After our orientation and a bit of lull time, we headed to the slums of Mgona. What is very interesting is that the meaning of Mgona is to sleep. Well there was nothing sleepy about our arrival. There were around 70 women smiling, singing, clapping and shaking our hands to welcome us and there was triple that amount of children. It was a bit overwhelming. It brought tears of joy and tears of awe. Our hearts could barely take this all in - all these smiling faces, the poverty around them and their joy at welcoming total strangers. We have much to learn from this moment.

We were then sent out to see what happens on a home based care visit to the HIV/AIDS people. After walking down many red soil paths that have tiny brick dwellings on both sides we reached the home of a young woman of 26 years who is infected with HIV. She was gracious enough to allow us into her home which she shares with her mother and daughter. Her mother is her main care giver. Somebody Cares comes once a month with a supplement of enriched porridge and twice a week they help with general cleaning duties. But first of all we prayed with her. Lydia led us with that prayer and it was another overwhelming moment. Between our team and the volunteers of Somebody Cares standing cheek to cheek we filled her house. That would be 8 people plus her and her mother. No natural daylight comes into the home, the floor is red soil sealed with black dirt so it isn't as dusty and she lays on a beach mat (for lack of a better way to describe her bed) But she still managed to sit up and smile to us and allow us to share these moments with her. We were then asked to help do her dishes. So, Nettie and I said we would do that. Out back of the hut was a tub of cold water and dishes and a bar of soap. And so we started to scrub. We were sure that they had collected some dishes from the neighbours for our benefit. At one point the staff member from Somebody Cares asked me if I did dishes at home - I guess I wasn't doing them up to their standards, I don't know....I told her no I don't - my husband and the dishwasher look after that.....that brought on a chuckle!

From there we went to a 39 year old man's home. He is alone...his wife and children have all died from AIDS. He too received porridge and there Debbie sealed his red soil floors with a black mud mixture. The life expectancy of a person is Malawi is 39. So here was another statistic. His home was much the same as the previous home but the difference here is he had only one friend to look after him. This gripped our hearts with such sadness. None of us can imagine being alone in our lives in moments of despair. I must remember though that the despair is but physical. Their faith and love for God is unbelievable. They have so little and yet they have so much to offer us. A lesson for the heart.

And then came all the little children that followed us around. Their curiosity, their smiles, their laughter, the want to hold hands with us and for me it was an instant joining of hearts with them. What beautiful children of God. How precious to share some time with them. One little boy walked with crutches because he had only one leg but did that stop him from jumping up and down for some of the games - not a chance.

We were limited with our photo taking today but tomorrow when we return into that community to work we will be allowed to take more photos.

"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.” ~ John Wesley

I leave you with a heart filled with awe and smiles and sadness but most of all love for all of you who care and for God.

Grace and peace,

Simone



/Users/lydia/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/July 12 Mgona/IMG_7752.JPG
/Users/lydia/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/July 12 Mgona/IMG_7776.JPG/Users/lydia/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/July 12 Mgona/IMG_7791.JPG/Users/lydia/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/July 12 Mgona/IMG_7827.jpg/Users/lydia/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/12-Jul-10/IMGP5941.JPG/Users/lydia/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/July 12 Mgona/IMG_7799.JPG

Hello from the beautiful land of Malawi! We, and all our luggage, arrived yesterday safely and in good shape. Weariness was great but so was our anticipation, especially after the ride into Lilongwe from the airport. After 46 hours of travel, it was SO refreshing to see a vibrant countryside with people biking, vendors at the side of the highway trying to sell us fresh roasted skewered mice, others waiting patiently for a bus to come along. By the time we reached our hotel, we were filled with expectations about what we would all experience in the next few weeks.
Sunday morning came a bit too early for some of us who would have liked to have slept another 8 hrs. After a quick breakfast our driver arrived to take us to Theresa's house and from there, she led us to her church. Well, actually that is what should have happened. Halfway enroute to her church and in the middle of the suburbs of Lilongwe we lost sight of her vehicle. This was not part of the plan otherwise we would have had her cell phone number or at the very least the name and address of her church. Hmmm after waiting at the side of the road for a bit, we got the brilliant idea of calling her daughter Keta, (whose number we did have) and eventually made it to our destination. Church supposedly started at 9:30 and I was beginning to wonder if we'd get there just in time for closing prayer. To our great relief, they hadn't even started yet! What a delight, what an absolute treat to spend a Sunday morning worship time with these people! Friendly, warm, and inviting are understatements. As it was a very small church our presence was quite noticed and so were asked to stand and introduce ourselves to all. Pastor Eugene began a series today on Servanthood which spoke to my heart. His main scripture was a verse from 2 Chronicles 25: "Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight but not wholeheartedly". Basically, his challenge was that doing something perfectly does not qualify you for a reward from God. The HEART is what matters to God. Is your service to God part-time or full-time? Obviously I can't relate everything the way he did, especially not the part where he imitated an American TV evangelist!
Lunch was another highlight, going to a fast food restaurant with Theresa and her grandkids. It was a good opportunity to chat, get to know her, and have her get to know us.
Like true North Americans, we could not pass up the opportunity for Sunday shopping so stopped in at the local market (the touristy kind with arts and crafts. We were very thankful for the watchful presence of our driver Issa. Being the only white women (and almost the only customers) in a market with approximately 30 men all highly anxious for a sale was a wee bit chaotic! This was Nettie's first experience in an African market setting and we were very proud of how she held her own! The
whole thing was quite an adventure.
We are having a marvellous time and look forward with expectation of what God has in store for us. Stay tuned!

Debbie

We are leaving on a jet plane....

What can i say? 2 years of planning, praying, preparing, and we are finally on our way. More than ever, I am acutely aware that we are all a team... anyone who knows Simone, Debbie, Nettie or myself and has had any involvement of encouraging, purchasing, supporting, praying, sewing, donating diapers, velcro, time, baby caps, Bible money, baked for the fundraising of the Bible $, Rachel in the office, Terry our GO pastor, etc.... is part of our team. We would not be here today without you. The 4 of us bring your support and blessing to the widows and orphans of Malawi.

Today we ask that you pray our planes and luggage will arrive without delay. We want to bless you as you have blessed us by being the hands and feet of Jesus for us all. Pray that we will adapt, be flexible, and be the aroma of Christ to all we meet.

May God bless everyone joining with us on this journey. Good night.