Just wanted to give you one last update.
We've had a good week here in South Africa, debriefing our time, enjoying each other and learning a little more about what God is doing here as well. Thank you for your prayers.
We leave for home this evening, departing for Frankfurt at 6:55 pm. Our flight info is as follows:
A SA 25JUL LV JOHANNESBURG 655P LUFTHANSA 573S OK
26JUL AR FRANKFURT 525A
A SU 26JUL LV FRANKFURT 1035A LUFTHANSA 430S OK
AR CHICAGO-OHARE 1230P
We look forward to seeing friends and family on Sunday afternoon and letting you know all our stories and how we saw God at work in many ways during our trip.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Safe Arrival!
Yesterday, on schedule, we arrived safely at our destination in South Africa. We will spend some time retreating, sharing with each other and preparing for our arrival in the states. We will also be spending time together enjoying some of what South Africa has to offer (this morning there was great rejoicing when we had some roughage for breakfast!). We welcome your prayers for us as we debrief our experiences and plan for reentry into the US.
Monday, July 20, 2009
While in South Africa
Internet access isn't easy for us where we are staying in SA. So we will try to get on the blog to update you on our safe arrival but please be patient.
God bless and please pray for our processing all that God has done while w2e prepare for home in these next days.
God bless and please pray for our processing all that God has done while w2e prepare for home in these next days.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Starry, Sandy, Salima!!
On Friday we had lunch at Duncan and Linda's house with the Swiney family. Arica, Greg, and Spencer tried a Malawian dish called Mbewa, it's prepared by being boiled in salt and water, it's then dried and eaten whole. Apparently it has a slightly furry taste and is a little crunchy due to the bones. (Mbewa (m-bay-wa) means mice in Chichewa). Luckily we had some Sobo for our fearless members to wash this culturally unique dish down with! : ). After the Mbewa experience we had an announcement from Duncan. As the adorable couple of Duncan and Linda stood in the doorway they announced that they had news to share; being the American team that we are, all of us assumed that Linda was pregnant. Duncan went on to say that the students from Mzuzu, whom we stayed with our first full week in Malawi, had gotten us each an Independence Day Chitenje.
After lunch we picked up students and after waiting, and waiting, and waiting on the bus we made a 1.5 hour bus ride in 4 hours getting 3 times stuck in sand dunes before we reached the lodge/conference center that was our destination for the weekend. Pushing the bus out of the sand was interesting but we amused ourselves and our Malawian friends by singing in both Chichewa and English for the last hour or so. While we were waiting for the bus to be unstuck we got a magnificent glance of the night sky including the Milky Way. After arriving at the Conference Center several hours late the decision was made to cut our evening session, have supper at ten and retire for the evening. The Lodge was very near Lake Malawi and it was very windy but the sand was soft and the accommodations were comfortable.
Friday night several students accepted responsibilities for the weekend from our team Spencer was appointed time keeper by virtue of having a watch and being an American, Linda (Duncan's wife), and Greg were appointed security team, Sarah was put in charge of recreation activities, and Irena was put in charge of meals.
Weekend Menu
Breakfast: eggs, chips, sandwiches (butter, peanut butter, jam, honey (not Saturday morning)
Lunch: Chicken, rice/nsima, vegetables
Supper: (Friday): Stew, rice/nsima, cabbage (Saturday): Fish (chambo), rice/nsima, vegetables
Since mosquitoes abound near the lake we were instructed to make use of the mosquito nets, while some of us were grateful and slept wonderfully, other members of the team became entangled with the net and had odd dreams about strangers standing over them in the night. While some were entangled in the net others poked the person sleeping with them unsure who was beside them. This was a nightly occurrence for the duration of the weekend.
Saturday morning we commenced our Bible Study, a manuscript study on Genesis 12-17. Chris and Craig led while we helped teach some of the Malawian student leaders how to do manuscript study. We had good discussions and finished chapter 12 Saturday morning. The afternoon we had free, other than studying chapters 13 and 14 on our own. We napped, swam in the Lake, built sand castles with the kids, jumped on sand dunes and walked on the beach, enjoyed the hammocks and Spencer championed our team by winning the high jumping contest. After our evening session covering chapter 15 we had supper supper, (see menu). Then we played cards, went star tripping, and star gazing, and had some engaging discussions, and decided on a brief sunrise service for Sunday morning. While star gazing we learned some new Chichewa words (Nyenyezi – stars, Mwezi – moon, and Dzuwa – sun).
Sunday morning we got up at 6 to see the sunrise over the lake and learned some new Chichewa songs. After breakfast at 7 (see menu) and quiet time, we began our morning session at 8 and covered chapters 16-17, then embarked on a wrap up session, before lunch. Lunch was at 11, then we packed and disembarked after group pictures around noon. This time we took precautions against getting stuck in the sand by having everyone disembark and driving through the sand at a high rate of speed. We dropped off some students before returning to the house and preparing to host the SCOM staff for a thank you/send off celebration.
We did some unpacking and some packing before the SCOM staff in Lilongwe arrived for a send off party of hamburgers, steak, and chicken on the grill. Only meat, which for some of us was quite alright =P. There was quite the spectacle as the team attempted to open the pop bottle Malawian style. Great rejoicing took place when Arica succeeded in opening one at the end of the evening. There was some good discussion and encouragement as well as some pretty speeches by Brian, the chair person of the SCOM board of directors, and Craig, our fearless leader. We said most of our good byes and settled in for our last team meeting in Malawi and some packing as we're to leave for South Africa tomorrow at 11. That being the case this is our last blog from Malawi. : (. As such we would like to say thank you for all the email, and especially for the prayer.
Prayer Requests: Safe Travel (tomorrow and Saturday), Closure during the Team Debriefing, The SCOM secondary school conferences at the end of this month (next weekend), and the Swiney's finding a child
I hope you're prepared to see us, hear our stories, and (to our parents) smell us and put up with our laundry.
From: Arita (Arica) and Maddie (Maggie) as Grace named us.
Ndpita (Good-bye)
After lunch we picked up students and after waiting, and waiting, and waiting on the bus we made a 1.5 hour bus ride in 4 hours getting 3 times stuck in sand dunes before we reached the lodge/conference center that was our destination for the weekend. Pushing the bus out of the sand was interesting but we amused ourselves and our Malawian friends by singing in both Chichewa and English for the last hour or so. While we were waiting for the bus to be unstuck we got a magnificent glance of the night sky including the Milky Way. After arriving at the Conference Center several hours late the decision was made to cut our evening session, have supper at ten and retire for the evening. The Lodge was very near Lake Malawi and it was very windy but the sand was soft and the accommodations were comfortable.
Friday night several students accepted responsibilities for the weekend from our team Spencer was appointed time keeper by virtue of having a watch and being an American, Linda (Duncan's wife), and Greg were appointed security team, Sarah was put in charge of recreation activities, and Irena was put in charge of meals.
Weekend Menu
Breakfast: eggs, chips, sandwiches (butter, peanut butter, jam, honey (not Saturday morning)
Lunch: Chicken, rice/nsima, vegetables
Supper: (Friday): Stew, rice/nsima, cabbage (Saturday): Fish (chambo), rice/nsima, vegetables
Since mosquitoes abound near the lake we were instructed to make use of the mosquito nets, while some of us were grateful and slept wonderfully, other members of the team became entangled with the net and had odd dreams about strangers standing over them in the night. While some were entangled in the net others poked the person sleeping with them unsure who was beside them. This was a nightly occurrence for the duration of the weekend.
Saturday morning we commenced our Bible Study, a manuscript study on Genesis 12-17. Chris and Craig led while we helped teach some of the Malawian student leaders how to do manuscript study. We had good discussions and finished chapter 12 Saturday morning. The afternoon we had free, other than studying chapters 13 and 14 on our own. We napped, swam in the Lake, built sand castles with the kids, jumped on sand dunes and walked on the beach, enjoyed the hammocks and Spencer championed our team by winning the high jumping contest. After our evening session covering chapter 15 we had supper supper, (see menu). Then we played cards, went star tripping, and star gazing, and had some engaging discussions, and decided on a brief sunrise service for Sunday morning. While star gazing we learned some new Chichewa words (Nyenyezi – stars, Mwezi – moon, and Dzuwa – sun).
Sunday morning we got up at 6 to see the sunrise over the lake and learned some new Chichewa songs. After breakfast at 7 (see menu) and quiet time, we began our morning session at 8 and covered chapters 16-17, then embarked on a wrap up session, before lunch. Lunch was at 11, then we packed and disembarked after group pictures around noon. This time we took precautions against getting stuck in the sand by having everyone disembark and driving through the sand at a high rate of speed. We dropped off some students before returning to the house and preparing to host the SCOM staff for a thank you/send off celebration.
We did some unpacking and some packing before the SCOM staff in Lilongwe arrived for a send off party of hamburgers, steak, and chicken on the grill. Only meat, which for some of us was quite alright =P. There was quite the spectacle as the team attempted to open the pop bottle Malawian style. Great rejoicing took place when Arica succeeded in opening one at the end of the evening. There was some good discussion and encouragement as well as some pretty speeches by Brian, the chair person of the SCOM board of directors, and Craig, our fearless leader. We said most of our good byes and settled in for our last team meeting in Malawi and some packing as we're to leave for South Africa tomorrow at 11. That being the case this is our last blog from Malawi. : (. As such we would like to say thank you for all the email, and especially for the prayer.
Prayer Requests: Safe Travel (tomorrow and Saturday), Closure during the Team Debriefing, The SCOM secondary school conferences at the end of this month (next weekend), and the Swiney's finding a child
I hope you're prepared to see us, hear our stories, and (to our parents) smell us and put up with our laundry.
From: Arita (Arica) and Maddie (Maggie) as Grace named us.
Ndpita (Good-bye)
Friday, July 17, 2009
Refugee Camp
Hey yall!!
As Lydia told you in the last update Delour is from the DRC and he is living with us, so today we went to the refuge camp that he lived in when he first came to Malawi. It was a very bumpy ride for the last 20 min to the camp. If you can picture a road made of dust leading to a camp that is built from the dust then that is what the camp looked like. There were some nice buildings when you first approached the camp, those were the hospital, the UN building, and a school. We drove in and parked next to the house Delour lived in, from there we walked to the church. We were warmly welcomed by the church members, and ushered to the front of the sanctuary. The service then proceeded with the the pastor welcoming us, Chris thanking them for having us, a praise song or two from the AMAZING choir. Then our very own Amanda preached from God's word, with Chris following after her. Did I mention that the entire service was translated by three different people, including the service (one of them was Duncan!).
After the service and the usual round of photo's and handshakes the team of students ended up in two groups, while Chris and family and Craig were taken to another area. The students were lead around the camp and taken past several of the other churches, having been united as a team during the walk. At one point the students were surrounded by a crowd of Ethiopian refugees who broke into song about Jesus being King. Some of the bracelets that the girls have been making were passed out to the children, who followed us around through different parts of the camp.
When the team went back to the church to meet up with the staff, but they were gone! After a little bit of confusion the students went to the Pastor's church to hang out. It was nice to be in somebody's home, and see how they live, it was also a major blessing to hold the Pastor's second born- Habakkuk (he was an amazing little boy, very happy). When we did finally re-unite it was to get back on the bus and do the bumpy ride home- to our very late lunch of whatever was around.
The rest of the afternoon was hanging out, doing loads of wash, and “trinket” shopping, where I must say some of us have figured out the art of bartering!!
The service and time we spent at the refugee camp gave our team a lot to think about and process. The team spent over an hour discussing what we saw, and getting some clarification from Chris about what the UN is doing for the people. It was hard to think about how individuals survive on the meager existence that the UN provides, and not being able to legally work also makes it very hard. The picture that was painted about the refugee's existence was one of hardship, not knowing what will happen next, lots of moving around, and for many great joy in their relationship with God. It gave team members personal challenges as they took in the enormity of the situation for refugee's world wide and some of the hopelessness the people experience.
On another note, as was mentioned previously, we are heading to a weekend conference this weekend!! Ten Malawian students, four teaching sessions, and lots of beautiful lake. We are excited, all be it a little bit nervous about our bus ride tomorrow (26 people, 26 seats on the bus, second van, 32 people's worth of luggage, food for the weekend= fun 1.5 hour car ride).
Please pray
-For the ride to the lake- it could be very interesting :)
- The time that we spend with the Malawian students- both in teaching and social time
- A good last few days in Malawi
Much Love- DNB
As Lydia told you in the last update Delour is from the DRC and he is living with us, so today we went to the refuge camp that he lived in when he first came to Malawi. It was a very bumpy ride for the last 20 min to the camp. If you can picture a road made of dust leading to a camp that is built from the dust then that is what the camp looked like. There were some nice buildings when you first approached the camp, those were the hospital, the UN building, and a school. We drove in and parked next to the house Delour lived in, from there we walked to the church. We were warmly welcomed by the church members, and ushered to the front of the sanctuary. The service then proceeded with the the pastor welcoming us, Chris thanking them for having us, a praise song or two from the AMAZING choir. Then our very own Amanda preached from God's word, with Chris following after her. Did I mention that the entire service was translated by three different people, including the service (one of them was Duncan!).
After the service and the usual round of photo's and handshakes the team of students ended up in two groups, while Chris and family and Craig were taken to another area. The students were lead around the camp and taken past several of the other churches, having been united as a team during the walk. At one point the students were surrounded by a crowd of Ethiopian refugees who broke into song about Jesus being King. Some of the bracelets that the girls have been making were passed out to the children, who followed us around through different parts of the camp.
When the team went back to the church to meet up with the staff, but they were gone! After a little bit of confusion the students went to the Pastor's church to hang out. It was nice to be in somebody's home, and see how they live, it was also a major blessing to hold the Pastor's second born- Habakkuk (he was an amazing little boy, very happy). When we did finally re-unite it was to get back on the bus and do the bumpy ride home- to our very late lunch of whatever was around.
The rest of the afternoon was hanging out, doing loads of wash, and “trinket” shopping, where I must say some of us have figured out the art of bartering!!
The service and time we spent at the refugee camp gave our team a lot to think about and process. The team spent over an hour discussing what we saw, and getting some clarification from Chris about what the UN is doing for the people. It was hard to think about how individuals survive on the meager existence that the UN provides, and not being able to legally work also makes it very hard. The picture that was painted about the refugee's existence was one of hardship, not knowing what will happen next, lots of moving around, and for many great joy in their relationship with God. It gave team members personal challenges as they took in the enormity of the situation for refugee's world wide and some of the hopelessness the people experience.
On another note, as was mentioned previously, we are heading to a weekend conference this weekend!! Ten Malawian students, four teaching sessions, and lots of beautiful lake. We are excited, all be it a little bit nervous about our bus ride tomorrow (26 people, 26 seats on the bus, second van, 32 people's worth of luggage, food for the weekend= fun 1.5 hour car ride).
Please pray
-For the ride to the lake- it could be very interesting :)
- The time that we spend with the Malawian students- both in teaching and social time
- A good last few days in Malawi
Much Love- DNB
Thursday, July 16, 2009
We've got some new transpo!
Hello Pals!
I have sad news to relate to you this evening...today we laid to rest our dear friend, the last jar of peanut butter. We are all still grieving this loss and all of us are left wondering: what will we eat for lunch tomorrow?!?!
It's been a pretty uneventful few days since you were last updated (very thoroughly) by Spencer and Kate. Monday was a day of rest, which a few of us spent not resting by going on a morning expedition for cheese. Due to our quickly dwindling supply of peanut butter, the plan was to eat grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch instead of our usual PBJs.
Aside: I don't think you have yet been told about Delor! Delor is originally from the DRC, but was forced to flee his war-torn country as a child after his village was attacked. He made his way to Malawi and did work around the house (cleaning, doing laundry, washing windows, etc) for last year's team, and Chris has stayed in contact with him since. Delor is now staying with us as Chris helps him to obtain his refugee passport and travel papers in order to possibly immigrate to the US.
Anyway, Monday: after dropping Delor off at the immigration office, we went to a grocery store, then picked up Delor and took him to the UN building, went to 2 more grocery stores and did some curio shopping, then picked up Delor, took him BACK to immigration, and visited 2 more grocery stores before finally returning home! We returned victorious, bearing several packages of cheddar as well as a special treat of Triple Cheese Doritos and Chutney Baked Simba Puffs.....at 2:00pm. Of course by this point our mission had been in vain, since everyone had gotten hungry and ate peanut butter sandwiches anyway!! Oh, the irony.
Apparently on Monday afternoon there occurred a walk into a “fancy neighborhood.” Otherwise, it was a pretty chill day.
On Tuesday, we went out to see the sights of Malawi!! Some of you may know that Malawi has had 3 presidents during its 45 years of independence: a dictator, a Muslim (whom they blame for the drought or unseasonable rain), and the current president, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, who is featured on most signs around town (there was a country had a president, and Bingu was his name-oo...). The founding president, Dr. H. K. Banda, was the feature of our sightseeing. We started at a memorial to the men who died fighting for Malawi's independence, situated directly behind a large statue of Dr. Banda. Our second stop was the president's grave, a large masoleum where they hope to soon be able to display the embalmed body of Dr. Banda. An information centre including a library and musem dedicated to the president are being erected nearby. If nothing else, we know that Malawians are fiercely loyal!! Our final stop was as a cloth shop where several of us bought material and t-shirts or bags. We also spent some time getting to know our new bus and driver, Jimmy, and missing our beloved Victor.
On Tuesday afternoon, most of the team headed to African Bible College to play some basketball. Joe and Jacob Swiney were captains, and after a trying battle involving at least one head injury, Jacob's team pulled ahead and won by TWO WHOLE POINTS! What excitement!
Today (Wednesday) Jimmy picked us up to go to the SCOM office. We stopped first at the International Bible Society to buy Bibles for the secondary school students we have been interacting with who don't have them. We watched our last jar of peanut butter being consumed before our very eyes during lunch and then had our last service with the students. They taught us several of their songs and thanked us for their New Testaments in Chichewa, and it was somewhat less awkward than all of our previous interactions! YAY!
Soon after ending our time with the students, we all headed to Lilongwe Teacher's College, where they train primary school teachers, for their weekly service. Greg gave a very nice sermon from 1 Samuel – we've now given talks about Ananias and Sapphira AND Eli's evil sons! The students had truly embraced their training by decorating their classrooms with arts and crafts – newspaper chains and toilet paper garlands!
This evening we fired up the new braai stand and had some steak! YES! It's nice to have a meal that doesn't consist of some kind of stew served over rice, although everyone has been doing a very admirable job of cooking! Tomorrow we leave the house at 8am (uuugggghh) to visit the refugee camp with Delor. Our time here is winding down very busily – Friday we leave for a student leadership conference at Lake Malawi, where we will be until Sunday. When we return, we'll be hosting yet another braai for the SCOM staff, and then we fly to South Africa on Monday!
Prayer requests:
For the conference this weekend as we help to train the student and fellowship with them.
For continued team unity as we finished out our last few days living in close community.
For safe travel during our bus rides as well as flying out of Lilongwe in just a few short days!
Thank you so much for your prayers and emails!! This marks the end of our blog post time together. :)
- Lydia Anderson
I have sad news to relate to you this evening...today we laid to rest our dear friend, the last jar of peanut butter. We are all still grieving this loss and all of us are left wondering: what will we eat for lunch tomorrow?!?!
It's been a pretty uneventful few days since you were last updated (very thoroughly) by Spencer and Kate. Monday was a day of rest, which a few of us spent not resting by going on a morning expedition for cheese. Due to our quickly dwindling supply of peanut butter, the plan was to eat grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch instead of our usual PBJs.
Aside: I don't think you have yet been told about Delor! Delor is originally from the DRC, but was forced to flee his war-torn country as a child after his village was attacked. He made his way to Malawi and did work around the house (cleaning, doing laundry, washing windows, etc) for last year's team, and Chris has stayed in contact with him since. Delor is now staying with us as Chris helps him to obtain his refugee passport and travel papers in order to possibly immigrate to the US.
Anyway, Monday: after dropping Delor off at the immigration office, we went to a grocery store, then picked up Delor and took him to the UN building, went to 2 more grocery stores and did some curio shopping, then picked up Delor, took him BACK to immigration, and visited 2 more grocery stores before finally returning home! We returned victorious, bearing several packages of cheddar as well as a special treat of Triple Cheese Doritos and Chutney Baked Simba Puffs.....at 2:00pm. Of course by this point our mission had been in vain, since everyone had gotten hungry and ate peanut butter sandwiches anyway!! Oh, the irony.
Apparently on Monday afternoon there occurred a walk into a “fancy neighborhood.” Otherwise, it was a pretty chill day.
On Tuesday, we went out to see the sights of Malawi!! Some of you may know that Malawi has had 3 presidents during its 45 years of independence: a dictator, a Muslim (whom they blame for the drought or unseasonable rain), and the current president, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, who is featured on most signs around town (there was a country had a president, and Bingu was his name-oo...). The founding president, Dr. H. K. Banda, was the feature of our sightseeing. We started at a memorial to the men who died fighting for Malawi's independence, situated directly behind a large statue of Dr. Banda. Our second stop was the president's grave, a large masoleum where they hope to soon be able to display the embalmed body of Dr. Banda. An information centre including a library and musem dedicated to the president are being erected nearby. If nothing else, we know that Malawians are fiercely loyal!! Our final stop was as a cloth shop where several of us bought material and t-shirts or bags. We also spent some time getting to know our new bus and driver, Jimmy, and missing our beloved Victor.
On Tuesday afternoon, most of the team headed to African Bible College to play some basketball. Joe and Jacob Swiney were captains, and after a trying battle involving at least one head injury, Jacob's team pulled ahead and won by TWO WHOLE POINTS! What excitement!
Today (Wednesday) Jimmy picked us up to go to the SCOM office. We stopped first at the International Bible Society to buy Bibles for the secondary school students we have been interacting with who don't have them. We watched our last jar of peanut butter being consumed before our very eyes during lunch and then had our last service with the students. They taught us several of their songs and thanked us for their New Testaments in Chichewa, and it was somewhat less awkward than all of our previous interactions! YAY!
Soon after ending our time with the students, we all headed to Lilongwe Teacher's College, where they train primary school teachers, for their weekly service. Greg gave a very nice sermon from 1 Samuel – we've now given talks about Ananias and Sapphira AND Eli's evil sons! The students had truly embraced their training by decorating their classrooms with arts and crafts – newspaper chains and toilet paper garlands!
This evening we fired up the new braai stand and had some steak! YES! It's nice to have a meal that doesn't consist of some kind of stew served over rice, although everyone has been doing a very admirable job of cooking! Tomorrow we leave the house at 8am (uuugggghh) to visit the refugee camp with Delor. Our time here is winding down very busily – Friday we leave for a student leadership conference at Lake Malawi, where we will be until Sunday. When we return, we'll be hosting yet another braai for the SCOM staff, and then we fly to South Africa on Monday!
Prayer requests:
For the conference this weekend as we help to train the student and fellowship with them.
For continued team unity as we finished out our last few days living in close community.
For safe travel during our bus rides as well as flying out of Lilongwe in just a few short days!
Thank you so much for your prayers and emails!! This marks the end of our blog post time together. :)
- Lydia Anderson
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Grass is Always Greener in Zomba!!
For the first time we began a weekend adventure punctually. We left on a sunny Friday morning at 10 a.m. to stop by a variety of stores in Lilongwe and pick up mass quantities of green soap and kilogram packages of brown sugar to give to the prisoners we were about to visit on Saturday (more on that later). And then we headed south to Zomba in our van accompanied by Linda (Duncan’s wife), Duncan (SCOM Staff), Irena (SCOM Intern), and our fearless driver Victor.
The drive was full of bumps but had a view of beautiful GREEN mountains (They had tall trees in comparison to Lilongwe. This time of year Lilongwe appears very dry and dusty.) The drive was approximately 4 hours long and Victor even got to stop by his father-in-law’s place to drop off some food. (It was cute, says Kate.)
Then we arrived at The Lodge. (The name had something to do with fishing …said Craig). We were the only people staying at the lodge and they provided delicious meals consisting of:
Breakfast: Over-hard egg on top of chips (fries)! With four pieces of bread, butter and coffee.
Lunch: Rice/Nsima with chicken
Dinner: Rice/Nsima Chomba (fish-native to Malawi mind you) or Chicken
Dinner also consisted of beef and Nsima/Rice one night. Ooh with delicious red tomato salad-ish substance.
The meals were all served by one very friendly lady, also named Linda!!, who also provided some rooms with hot buckets of water each morning to bathe/bucket shower.
The lodge was surrounded by dirt paths and square fish ponds which we explored on the first evening. The atmosphere was very serene. Then a group of kids began following us all the way home and we could not invite them in (sad).
We only had a few hours after we arrived in Zomba to prepare for a large group at Dumasi College of Education. Maggie stepped up to the plate by preparing a sermon and even sacrificed being late to dinner to complete her wonderful feat (“It was all God,” said Maggie.) In completion of her sermon, like Spencer before, she was served with a beverage, only this time Fanta! The moral of the story is that if you preach the word, you’ll get served with a tasty drink at a large group. The large group began by candlelight because the school had no power (This is Malawi – it’s like butter on toast). But the worship was exciting and people even danced around the room during one particular song, it kind of looked like a conga line.
Also at the large group, three people gave their testimonies and we sang Palibe during which the students joined in, we think that’s a good sign. Maggie’s sermon was about works and faith and how we cannot have one without the other. Then as it is always Malawian style to introduce oneself … people went around saying their names, grade, major and ….. relationship status? It was Duncan’s fault because he introduced Linda as his beautiful wife at the beginning. We were all almost single, Greg had zero kids. It was awkward, but still not as awkward as that one bible study with the secondary students.
Day 2 Saturday … Zomba!!
Supply’s were low …morale was lower … just kidding! >:o)
At 7am we woke up to the melody of rain on a tin roof. “It never rains in the winter season of Malawi,” Duncan said. He was wrong though –oh how wrong he was - it seemed like the Lodge was receiving a power car wash.
After a lovely breakfast (see meal plan above) we went out to visit Chancellor College, the premier college of Malawi with approximately 3,500 students. Although it had many wonderful buildings with floral landscape, the best part of it were the mountainous views in its backyard. One area was called Jerusalem, which is an area overlooking the vast scenery and specifically set aside for students to get away and pray.
Afterwards we stopped by the Botanical Gardens and encountered an invasion of little grey monkeys. The scenery was nice, filled with all the shades of green and a clear waterfall rushing along boulders and smaller rocks, but let’s face it – the monkeys were the highlight.
We stopped briefly at the lodge to eat lunch but as we are so commonly late – we stuffed our mouths and bolted to meet with the Dumasi students and partner with them in their prison ministry around 2pm. The students kindly carried our brown sugar and soap supplies as we walked to the prison through a large field which was approximately a 10 minute walk from the school.
The prison had approximately 200 inmates and they all gathered in the center outdoor area for the students’ ministry. The prison security was really lax and the only precaution for us to enter was to turn off our cell-phones, which none of us had so we were good! Some of the prisoners are responsible to grow their own crops for food and are able to sell the surplus. The presentation of the ministry included a skit by three students, singing, and some drum banging. The whole service was in Chichewa and therefore we didn’t even know when to stand up and sing, until prompted by others, then we shared two songs. (They were extremely impressed when we sang a song in Chichewa and pronounced “nazunga lira” correctly) After a message was spoken from the word the leader told the prisoners that we had brought them soap and brown sugar. The prisoners got riled up when they heard the brown sugar was going straight to the kitchen and wanted the tastiness to go straight to them. So, after much deliberation, the SCOM leaders worked with the prison guards to distribute the sugar and soap equally amongst each individual group cell. The prisoners’ ages ranged from very young to very old. Almost all of the prisoners who attended the program seemed very familiar with Christianity already. They knew the song lyrics, they knew the call and responses, and many of them responded to the speaker’s call for prayer. The Domasi students will continue their ministry once a month to that specific prison. We were very happy to be able to partner with the students with the ministry, although it definitely took us out of our comfort zone, and we were in constant need of translators throughout the program.
Little did we know, Saturday’s adventure did not end at the prison. While walking back, we encountered a lively game of football (that’s soccer for all of you back home) between two colleges. Although we may not understand why people enjoy football (soccer) so much, the spectators in attendance were very passionate about the game. We saw bicycle kicks, slidetackles, and much rejoicing when the home team scored. The spectators surrounded the field on all sides, and many viewed the game from a nearby hillside. It was quite an experience! Nature made for a good venue.
Saturday night at the lodge was rather uneventful, a couple of girls did get their hair done in cornrows by talented hairstylists (aka Linda and Irena!). Sleep was met with plenty of dreams that night. People woke up confusing mosquito nets as intruders.
I (Spencer) was awakened on Sunday morning to the jovial sounds of Victor singing in the bath. It was hilarious! After a punctual breakfast (hooray! See meal plan above) we packed our bags in preparation for our loooooong bus journey back to Lilongwe. But before leaving Zomba and the southern region (that’s right, there’s more! Much more!) we drove up, up , and up the Zomba plateau. Although some members of our team might have been a bit worried by the mountainous drop-offs , hidden turns, and lack of side rails, I (Spencer) had every confidence in Victor’s driving ability, and he skillfully got us to the mountain’s summit.
Our first stop involved picking up a “tour” guide for 1500 kwacha. He led us to another extraordinary sight of William’s Waterfalls. I (Kate) slipped but only got dirty and surprisingly no one got unintentionally wet. “Don’t go chasing waterfalls …” Spencer has an amazing ability to provide musical accompaniment to our adventures. And Kate has an amazing ability to annoy Spencer by typing everything that he says out loud. (In case you haven’t noticed, this post is written by more than one person, and is consequently not as smooth as past posts.) Hiking in the midst of the forest next to the raging stream of water we reached a dilemma of facing a tree with vicious bees. This is where the sense of self-preservation made us turn around. All-in-all it was a good hike.
Then our “tour” guide, oh oh! He has a name, Daniel, took us to a great view of Zomba city called Queen’s Point because Queen Elizabeth visited that location from Britain. Lots of the Malawi sights have British names because of their presence before Malawi’s independence. Then we also went to Emperor’s point a little farther down, and as Greg pointed out, they really need to decide on their monarchical structure here In Malawi. Duncan carried a big stick with him for some reason… it was a good pole vaulting size.
Then we went to a bunch of shops to purchase curios (for some of you folks) ..sshhh we didn’t tell you. But bargaining is hard so value your gifts well. Greg was a pro at it. He made the rest of us look like we got ripped off. He was also described as “driving a hard bargain” by the sellers on multiple occasions. And then, after experiencing the mountain to our satisfaction, we made our descent back down to the town of Zomba, where we ate at a restaurant called Tasty Bites. It was much faster service than our last two restaurant experiences, but if you’re ever there, don’t get the pizza. A large is the size of your face, says Kate who didn’t even get the pizza.
On the drive back we picked up two HUGE bundles of charcoal (which successfully got past the check points because I guess some forest police like to take the charcoal for themselves if found) and lots of vegetables when we drove by markets. The loooooong drive seemed shorter due to the good times we had singing many, many songs, despite their lack of musical pleasantness. What Spencer means, is that we frequently switched pitch in the middle of a song and liked to use the different sounds of our voices to produce unique melodies.
All in all, we learned a lot during this weekend, and Kate and I definitely learned that a history major and a journalism major should not be paired to write a blog entry, at least not this late at night…
Arica just won at hand solitaire! A rare feat. Arica and Sarah also accomplished doing the dirty work of four people’s laundry by flashlight in the dark after our long trip! (Again, as I said, not as smooth as some entries…)
Thank you for your patience and readership! Our last request is for prayers: Please pray that God blesses our last week in Malawi together as we visit our last time at the SCOM office in Lilongwe and venture off to Lake Malawi for a leadership conference.
That’s allll folks! We’re excited to see you all again soon (after South Africa)!
God Bless,
Spencer and Kate and the Malawi Team
P.S. We hope that someone edits this for us.
P.P.S. No worries Sarah, Arica and Maggie did the editing =P
The drive was full of bumps but had a view of beautiful GREEN mountains (They had tall trees in comparison to Lilongwe. This time of year Lilongwe appears very dry and dusty.) The drive was approximately 4 hours long and Victor even got to stop by his father-in-law’s place to drop off some food. (It was cute, says Kate.)
Then we arrived at The Lodge. (The name had something to do with fishing …said Craig). We were the only people staying at the lodge and they provided delicious meals consisting of:
Breakfast: Over-hard egg on top of chips (fries)! With four pieces of bread, butter and coffee.
Lunch: Rice/Nsima with chicken
Dinner: Rice/Nsima Chomba (fish-native to Malawi mind you) or Chicken
Dinner also consisted of beef and Nsima/Rice one night. Ooh with delicious red tomato salad-ish substance.
The meals were all served by one very friendly lady, also named Linda!!, who also provided some rooms with hot buckets of water each morning to bathe/bucket shower.
The lodge was surrounded by dirt paths and square fish ponds which we explored on the first evening. The atmosphere was very serene. Then a group of kids began following us all the way home and we could not invite them in (sad).
We only had a few hours after we arrived in Zomba to prepare for a large group at Dumasi College of Education. Maggie stepped up to the plate by preparing a sermon and even sacrificed being late to dinner to complete her wonderful feat (“It was all God,” said Maggie.) In completion of her sermon, like Spencer before, she was served with a beverage, only this time Fanta! The moral of the story is that if you preach the word, you’ll get served with a tasty drink at a large group. The large group began by candlelight because the school had no power (This is Malawi – it’s like butter on toast). But the worship was exciting and people even danced around the room during one particular song, it kind of looked like a conga line.
Also at the large group, three people gave their testimonies and we sang Palibe during which the students joined in, we think that’s a good sign. Maggie’s sermon was about works and faith and how we cannot have one without the other. Then as it is always Malawian style to introduce oneself … people went around saying their names, grade, major and ….. relationship status? It was Duncan’s fault because he introduced Linda as his beautiful wife at the beginning. We were all almost single, Greg had zero kids. It was awkward, but still not as awkward as that one bible study with the secondary students.
Day 2 Saturday … Zomba!!
Supply’s were low …morale was lower … just kidding! >:o)
At 7am we woke up to the melody of rain on a tin roof. “It never rains in the winter season of Malawi,” Duncan said. He was wrong though –oh how wrong he was - it seemed like the Lodge was receiving a power car wash.
After a lovely breakfast (see meal plan above) we went out to visit Chancellor College, the premier college of Malawi with approximately 3,500 students. Although it had many wonderful buildings with floral landscape, the best part of it were the mountainous views in its backyard. One area was called Jerusalem, which is an area overlooking the vast scenery and specifically set aside for students to get away and pray.
Afterwards we stopped by the Botanical Gardens and encountered an invasion of little grey monkeys. The scenery was nice, filled with all the shades of green and a clear waterfall rushing along boulders and smaller rocks, but let’s face it – the monkeys were the highlight.
We stopped briefly at the lodge to eat lunch but as we are so commonly late – we stuffed our mouths and bolted to meet with the Dumasi students and partner with them in their prison ministry around 2pm. The students kindly carried our brown sugar and soap supplies as we walked to the prison through a large field which was approximately a 10 minute walk from the school.
The prison had approximately 200 inmates and they all gathered in the center outdoor area for the students’ ministry. The prison security was really lax and the only precaution for us to enter was to turn off our cell-phones, which none of us had so we were good! Some of the prisoners are responsible to grow their own crops for food and are able to sell the surplus. The presentation of the ministry included a skit by three students, singing, and some drum banging. The whole service was in Chichewa and therefore we didn’t even know when to stand up and sing, until prompted by others, then we shared two songs. (They were extremely impressed when we sang a song in Chichewa and pronounced “nazunga lira” correctly) After a message was spoken from the word the leader told the prisoners that we had brought them soap and brown sugar. The prisoners got riled up when they heard the brown sugar was going straight to the kitchen and wanted the tastiness to go straight to them. So, after much deliberation, the SCOM leaders worked with the prison guards to distribute the sugar and soap equally amongst each individual group cell. The prisoners’ ages ranged from very young to very old. Almost all of the prisoners who attended the program seemed very familiar with Christianity already. They knew the song lyrics, they knew the call and responses, and many of them responded to the speaker’s call for prayer. The Domasi students will continue their ministry once a month to that specific prison. We were very happy to be able to partner with the students with the ministry, although it definitely took us out of our comfort zone, and we were in constant need of translators throughout the program.
Little did we know, Saturday’s adventure did not end at the prison. While walking back, we encountered a lively game of football (that’s soccer for all of you back home) between two colleges. Although we may not understand why people enjoy football (soccer) so much, the spectators in attendance were very passionate about the game. We saw bicycle kicks, slidetackles, and much rejoicing when the home team scored. The spectators surrounded the field on all sides, and many viewed the game from a nearby hillside. It was quite an experience! Nature made for a good venue.
Saturday night at the lodge was rather uneventful, a couple of girls did get their hair done in cornrows by talented hairstylists (aka Linda and Irena!). Sleep was met with plenty of dreams that night. People woke up confusing mosquito nets as intruders.
I (Spencer) was awakened on Sunday morning to the jovial sounds of Victor singing in the bath. It was hilarious! After a punctual breakfast (hooray! See meal plan above) we packed our bags in preparation for our loooooong bus journey back to Lilongwe. But before leaving Zomba and the southern region (that’s right, there’s more! Much more!) we drove up, up , and up the Zomba plateau. Although some members of our team might have been a bit worried by the mountainous drop-offs , hidden turns, and lack of side rails, I (Spencer) had every confidence in Victor’s driving ability, and he skillfully got us to the mountain’s summit.
Our first stop involved picking up a “tour” guide for 1500 kwacha. He led us to another extraordinary sight of William’s Waterfalls. I (Kate) slipped but only got dirty and surprisingly no one got unintentionally wet. “Don’t go chasing waterfalls …” Spencer has an amazing ability to provide musical accompaniment to our adventures. And Kate has an amazing ability to annoy Spencer by typing everything that he says out loud. (In case you haven’t noticed, this post is written by more than one person, and is consequently not as smooth as past posts.) Hiking in the midst of the forest next to the raging stream of water we reached a dilemma of facing a tree with vicious bees. This is where the sense of self-preservation made us turn around. All-in-all it was a good hike.
Then our “tour” guide, oh oh! He has a name, Daniel, took us to a great view of Zomba city called Queen’s Point because Queen Elizabeth visited that location from Britain. Lots of the Malawi sights have British names because of their presence before Malawi’s independence. Then we also went to Emperor’s point a little farther down, and as Greg pointed out, they really need to decide on their monarchical structure here In Malawi. Duncan carried a big stick with him for some reason… it was a good pole vaulting size.
Then we went to a bunch of shops to purchase curios (for some of you folks) ..sshhh we didn’t tell you. But bargaining is hard so value your gifts well. Greg was a pro at it. He made the rest of us look like we got ripped off. He was also described as “driving a hard bargain” by the sellers on multiple occasions. And then, after experiencing the mountain to our satisfaction, we made our descent back down to the town of Zomba, where we ate at a restaurant called Tasty Bites. It was much faster service than our last two restaurant experiences, but if you’re ever there, don’t get the pizza. A large is the size of your face, says Kate who didn’t even get the pizza.
On the drive back we picked up two HUGE bundles of charcoal (which successfully got past the check points because I guess some forest police like to take the charcoal for themselves if found) and lots of vegetables when we drove by markets. The loooooong drive seemed shorter due to the good times we had singing many, many songs, despite their lack of musical pleasantness. What Spencer means, is that we frequently switched pitch in the middle of a song and liked to use the different sounds of our voices to produce unique melodies.
All in all, we learned a lot during this weekend, and Kate and I definitely learned that a history major and a journalism major should not be paired to write a blog entry, at least not this late at night…
Arica just won at hand solitaire! A rare feat. Arica and Sarah also accomplished doing the dirty work of four people’s laundry by flashlight in the dark after our long trip! (Again, as I said, not as smooth as some entries…)
Thank you for your patience and readership! Our last request is for prayers: Please pray that God blesses our last week in Malawi together as we visit our last time at the SCOM office in Lilongwe and venture off to Lake Malawi for a leadership conference.
That’s allll folks! We’re excited to see you all again soon (after South Africa)!
God Bless,
Spencer and Kate and the Malawi Team
P.S. We hope that someone edits this for us.
P.P.S. No worries Sarah, Arica and Maggie did the editing =P
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Week in Review
Hello Friends
In Malawi we have been enjoying our time with SCOM students and staff since we have not had much going on this week. Malawi time is great for unexpected free time! Before heading to Zomba this weekend, we thought it would be awesome to update you on the goings here in Malawi.
Monday we had the day off as it was the independence day of Malawi: Republic Day as they call it here. Our team had a special treat of hotdogs and hamburgers. Very exciting! Sadly, there was no cheese, but having a traditional American meal was nice. Most of the businesses were closed, so our choices for fun and thrilling adventures were also limited. Some of us girls, however, decided to have a little adventure of our own by taking a walk just as the sun was setting. Thankfully, one of us was quick on her feet with directions to return to the house. There was a slight stir when we arrived calling back the brigade who had been dispatched to search for us.
The next day we were back to our less than busy activities. We visited another orphanage, called the House of Peace, sponsored by Children of the Nations. The orphanage had its own farm with rabbits, cows, and Guinea Fowl (a bird like a chicken native to Malawi: we’re not quite sure of the spelling, sorry). A crucial part of raising any children is feeding them! One of the regular food items for Malawians is Nsima, which is made from corn flour. Indirectly, we had an opportunity to feed the kids because some of our group carried corn kernels on their head half a mile to a granary to have the kernels turned into flour to carry back to the House of Peace. Seeing a piano after the hard work, Spencer and Sarah jumped at the chance to play, leading to a group singing while some of the children laughed at our poor musical skills in comparison to theirs.
After the excitement of playing with children, we had the extra pleasure of attending a Malawi national basketball game. Now, the basketball game was not your average NBA spectacle, but was instead more like an intense high school basketball game. The fans had Malawi flags and one dude had a horn. Malawi beat Mozambique 77 to 54.
Wednesday we visited the SCOM office once again meeting with the same secondary school students from last week. No awkward bible study this time (yay!), but we did have singing and a not so well prepared sermon from one of the students. The students have amazing range in their singing. We added to the range while one of the students led in a song we had learned previously in Mzuzu. A general way of praying in Malawi seems to start with singing then everyone breaks out into praying at once, concluded by more singing and one person praying. We very much got to experience the communal culture that day. Spencer and Greg tried to share some of our culture with the children by trying to get them to play American football. The kids could catch the ball well, but didn’t catch the concept of being on separate teams.
Wednesday evening was filled with more kid time as our team had offered our babysitting services to the Swiney family so that the couples could have a night out. Chris and Dudley, and Bonnie and Craig went out for dinner. Deciding on a movie for the kids to watch took years of their life. Two different movies ended up being shown for the indecisive children. Both movies were enjoyed by their counterparts so I would say it was indeed successful.
Moving on to Thursday, there is actually little to note except our dwindling precious store of peanut butter and better luck with exercise of the walking nature. We did however get a chance to visit a bible study with students from the Malawi College of Health Sciences: the same students who had visited our house this past Sunday. Love was the focus of the bible study, specifically loving our brothers and sisters in the Lord who we may not so easily mesh with. A perfect segue into the joys and perils of community living.
All in all this week we have experienced some ups and downs but we still continue to move forward in the love Christ has bestowed upon us. Please be praying for our close proximity and community interaction. We will be spending the weekend in the southern region in Zomba as mentioned earlier. Please be in prayer for that experience. We will be getting the chance once again to partner with students in their outreach ministry.
Thanks for reading and Praise God for his faith and grace,
Amanda Homce and Theresa Steiner
In Malawi we have been enjoying our time with SCOM students and staff since we have not had much going on this week. Malawi time is great for unexpected free time! Before heading to Zomba this weekend, we thought it would be awesome to update you on the goings here in Malawi.
Monday we had the day off as it was the independence day of Malawi: Republic Day as they call it here. Our team had a special treat of hotdogs and hamburgers. Very exciting! Sadly, there was no cheese, but having a traditional American meal was nice. Most of the businesses were closed, so our choices for fun and thrilling adventures were also limited. Some of us girls, however, decided to have a little adventure of our own by taking a walk just as the sun was setting. Thankfully, one of us was quick on her feet with directions to return to the house. There was a slight stir when we arrived calling back the brigade who had been dispatched to search for us.
The next day we were back to our less than busy activities. We visited another orphanage, called the House of Peace, sponsored by Children of the Nations. The orphanage had its own farm with rabbits, cows, and Guinea Fowl (a bird like a chicken native to Malawi: we’re not quite sure of the spelling, sorry). A crucial part of raising any children is feeding them! One of the regular food items for Malawians is Nsima, which is made from corn flour. Indirectly, we had an opportunity to feed the kids because some of our group carried corn kernels on their head half a mile to a granary to have the kernels turned into flour to carry back to the House of Peace. Seeing a piano after the hard work, Spencer and Sarah jumped at the chance to play, leading to a group singing while some of the children laughed at our poor musical skills in comparison to theirs.
After the excitement of playing with children, we had the extra pleasure of attending a Malawi national basketball game. Now, the basketball game was not your average NBA spectacle, but was instead more like an intense high school basketball game. The fans had Malawi flags and one dude had a horn. Malawi beat Mozambique 77 to 54.
Wednesday we visited the SCOM office once again meeting with the same secondary school students from last week. No awkward bible study this time (yay!), but we did have singing and a not so well prepared sermon from one of the students. The students have amazing range in their singing. We added to the range while one of the students led in a song we had learned previously in Mzuzu. A general way of praying in Malawi seems to start with singing then everyone breaks out into praying at once, concluded by more singing and one person praying. We very much got to experience the communal culture that day. Spencer and Greg tried to share some of our culture with the children by trying to get them to play American football. The kids could catch the ball well, but didn’t catch the concept of being on separate teams.
Wednesday evening was filled with more kid time as our team had offered our babysitting services to the Swiney family so that the couples could have a night out. Chris and Dudley, and Bonnie and Craig went out for dinner. Deciding on a movie for the kids to watch took years of their life. Two different movies ended up being shown for the indecisive children. Both movies were enjoyed by their counterparts so I would say it was indeed successful.
Moving on to Thursday, there is actually little to note except our dwindling precious store of peanut butter and better luck with exercise of the walking nature. We did however get a chance to visit a bible study with students from the Malawi College of Health Sciences: the same students who had visited our house this past Sunday. Love was the focus of the bible study, specifically loving our brothers and sisters in the Lord who we may not so easily mesh with. A perfect segue into the joys and perils of community living.
All in all this week we have experienced some ups and downs but we still continue to move forward in the love Christ has bestowed upon us. Please be praying for our close proximity and community interaction. We will be spending the weekend in the southern region in Zomba as mentioned earlier. Please be in prayer for that experience. We will be getting the chance once again to partner with students in their outreach ministry.
Thanks for reading and Praise God for his faith and grace,
Amanda Homce and Theresa Steiner
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
My Life as Inbetweendence Day
Hello friends! It has been quite some time since we last blogged, so I (Greg!) apologize for that and promise (hopefully) that more frequent, smaller updates will be coming for the duration of our time here. Speaking of that, as of today we are officially halfway through our time in Malawi and Africa! Wow.
So what have we been up to in the last week? We returned from Mzuzu on Sunday and spent Sunday night and Monday relaxing and recovering from our time up north. Tuesday night we went to a worship service at Lilongwe Technical College, where we were greeted enthusiastically. We sang a song and our very own Spencer Boren preached the word (Acts 5:1-11)! My personal favorite part of the night was after Spencer preached when they gave him Sobo (a concentrate juice you mix with water) and he had no idea what to do so sat there awkwardly with it. We eventually figured out he was supposed to drink it. Later that night Spencer and I heroically went to war with a large spider that had come into our room and was making its way towards us menacingly.
On Wednesday we spent the day at the SCOM office. We met some of the staff and did devotions with them. In the afternoon we spent a long time playing soccer with some local kids. This will probably not surprise you, but even young kids from Malawi are WAY better at soccer than us Americans. However, they could not figure out how to throw a frisbee correctly. So there. We also participated in another “secondary school” conference like the ones mentioned in last entry – the students asked us to return on Friday for Bible study with them.
Thursday we went to Children of the Nations, a feeding center and also orphanage operating in/near Lilongwe (city limits are not exactly clear here). They provide free breakfast and lunch to kids from the surrounding villages and also house teenagers who need it. We got a tour of the facility and to help with the feeding program (and play with the kids a little – again I was embarrassed by their soccer skills). On a personal note, though sad, it was encouraging to me on Thursday (as it has been all trip) to see the good works already going on in Malawi. As a team our desire is not to do a new, American thing but to “enter in” to what God is already doing in Malawi and humbly partner with his followers here. Thursday night we played an all-trip 15-person game of Mafia, which I colorfully narrated. The highlight of the game was when Lydia was the doctor and saved 4 people in one round (including 3 in a row).
Friday we returned to the SCOM offices and participated in Bible study with the same students from Wednesday. It was a little awkward because they were working through a booklet called “Sex and Sexuality” and we were expecting something in the book of Luke...silly us! But it was interesting to hear another culture's perspective on marriage and abstinence and share some of our own. I just asked if we did anything interesting Friday night, and Sarah wants me to mention that she went to bed at 8:00. That's about it. Malawi is an early-bed-early-rise culture. Sometimes I tell students that we stay up until 2 or 3 in the states “doing homework” and they are shocked!
Exciting story! Duncan's (the SCOM staff in charge of our time here. He is awesome) wife Linda had an abdomen lump which doctors had previously told her was a fat deposit and nothing serious. She went in to the African Bible College clinic to double check and the doctor there (volunteering from South Africa) suggested they pray for healing before starting the appointment. When they finished praying and checked on Linda, her lump was completely gone (confirmed by further testing)! Yay Jesus (or as we said in my youth group days, MAD PROPS!)!
Saturday was Independence Day! Though we didn't have fireworks we still celebrated with a very American day. After eating delicious chili for lunch we tried to play a game of Ultimate Frisbee. That lasted about 20 minutes and then ended after we threw the disc over a high wall of a neighbor...twice. We ended the day eating star marshmallows (provided by Lydia) and watching “Independence Day” with Will Smith. What a great movie. “Welcome to Earth!”
Monday is also Malawi's version of Independence Day so Craig coined Sunday “Inbetweendence Day.” We went to Duncan's church in the morning and in the afternoon had the pleasure of returning some of the Malawi hospitality we've enjoyed by having a bunch of students over to “our house” to barbecue. There was a ton of meat, potato salad, and fruit salad. Yum! We all ate very well and enjoyed a (long) time of talking to and/or playing Uno with the students. Now we are relaxing at night. Some of the girls are doing yoga and I believe practicing for the choir they've promised me and Spencer.
Since I know you're all anxious to hear: we DID get a fridge this week and are able to enjoy our first cold drinks in two weeks (longer for the Swineys). Also, the plumber came, and there have been varying reports about if the water is hot or not now. I honestly don't know who to believe. The boy house (the MANsion) has a shower that doesn't even have a hot water knob. So what do I know?
Some prayer requests!
-We're halfway through! Pray for continuing energy, enthusiasm, and a good time of reflection on what God has already been doing in our lives. Pray also for the next two weeks of our time here!
-Pray for the team – our unity, our team dynamics, our relationships, and our morning devotions/prayer times.
Alright, this is Gregory signing off! Hopefully future posts will be shorter as we update more regularly. God bless friends and families, and we will see you in three weeks.
-Greg Chimitris
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Braai
Here is a photo from our Braai today. (for those in the US its a barbeque)
More to come tomorrow.
Thank you for praying.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Mzuzu University Report
Mwadzuka Bwanji =P (Good morning!)
We have returned to Lilongwe and are enjoying being “home” with the Swiney's. We spent a week at Mzuzu University, which is in the Northern Region of Malawi. Our team stayed in the hostels and homes of SCOM Uni students. They were so welcoming, offering us their beds, sharing food with us, and teaching us about college life in Malawi.
It was their Evangelism week on campus, so we had the wonderful opportunity to participate in contact evangelism with SCOM students. It was a challenging experience for us- trying to overcome language barriers while immersing ourselves in a style of evangelism very foreign to us all. As the week went on, with encouragement from Duncan the SCOM-University and College Section Director, we learned how to better blend our style of evangelism with theirs.
Also, we were able to partner with the Northern Region SCOM Secondary Schools and their director Jacob. Each day we would visit one or two secondary schools (high schools with students ages 13-22) where we gave a one hour presentation. We would sing English and Chichewa songs, share the purpose and aims of SCOM, give personal testimonies, encourage the students in the studies, and share Scripture.
Along with evangelism, we joined in other weekly activities with the SCOM student. One of these was 5am devotionals and worship. Despite our sleepy eyes, we danced and sang out giving praise to God. At the end of singing, we would pray out loud in unison our petitions and thanks. It was uplifting to see the passion and love that each student has for Jesus.
Not only did we begin the day in prayer, but we also ended the day by coming together to offer up intercessions. It was very similar to morning prayer, but we were just more awake =P.
Their Large Group took place on Thursday evening. Our team was asked to sing, and thankfully they are a very hospitable and encouraging culture. Their Praise Choir lead group worship, individuals shared their voices for praise, and a group put on a dance. Duncan gave the message from John 5.
Even when a blackout occurred, it didn't prevent them from continuing. There is definitely something simple and beautiful about hearing the word of God in the dark while surrounded by brothers and sisters from another culture.
As with most Christian Fellowships, they have fun activities together. CHRISCO!! A Christ-centered disco that took place Friday night. We must have forgot our dancing shoes, because they were able to dance with energy and enthusiasm far longer than us. It was enjoyable to try dancing Malawian style as well as see them try our crazy dancing styles (dancing Cotton-eye Joe style and doing the hokey pokey for example). They also served Obama, which was very delicious...Obama is a type of bread. They also have Bin Laden. Hehe.
The week concluded with a Mock Wedding to raise money for worship equipment. The main hall was decked out and students were dressed in their best. They held the reception part of a Malawian Wedding , welcoming the bridal party and newly weds as they entered the hall. The enthusiastic MC would have “family” of the bride and groom stand up to speak in honor of the newly weds. BUT! Before they could speak, friends and guests had to dance up to the front and give money offerings that would bless the newlyweds. Money would fly as they showered the speakers. The “family” actually consisted of students who posed as mothers,father, uncles, and the pastor of the bride and groom.
It was a week full of surprises, both enjoyable and frustrating. We are all grateful for a day of rest – catching up on laundry, processing, and recuperating.
Some prayer requests!
Team Health and Unity (and that the plumber will come bearing hot water)
Mzuzu University SCOM: students as they prepare for upcoming finals, follow-up with individuals we met during evangelism, and their personal spiritual growth
Our visits to more schools in Lilongwe in the upcoming weeks
Zikomo! (Thank You) And God Bless!
-Sarah Fuller and Arica Baer =]
We have returned to Lilongwe and are enjoying being “home” with the Swiney's. We spent a week at Mzuzu University, which is in the Northern Region of Malawi. Our team stayed in the hostels and homes of SCOM Uni students. They were so welcoming, offering us their beds, sharing food with us, and teaching us about college life in Malawi.
It was their Evangelism week on campus, so we had the wonderful opportunity to participate in contact evangelism with SCOM students. It was a challenging experience for us- trying to overcome language barriers while immersing ourselves in a style of evangelism very foreign to us all. As the week went on, with encouragement from Duncan the SCOM-University and College Section Director, we learned how to better blend our style of evangelism with theirs.
Also, we were able to partner with the Northern Region SCOM Secondary Schools and their director Jacob. Each day we would visit one or two secondary schools (high schools with students ages 13-22) where we gave a one hour presentation. We would sing English and Chichewa songs, share the purpose and aims of SCOM, give personal testimonies, encourage the students in the studies, and share Scripture.
Along with evangelism, we joined in other weekly activities with the SCOM student. One of these was 5am devotionals and worship. Despite our sleepy eyes, we danced and sang out giving praise to God. At the end of singing, we would pray out loud in unison our petitions and thanks. It was uplifting to see the passion and love that each student has for Jesus.
Not only did we begin the day in prayer, but we also ended the day by coming together to offer up intercessions. It was very similar to morning prayer, but we were just more awake =P.
Their Large Group took place on Thursday evening. Our team was asked to sing, and thankfully they are a very hospitable and encouraging culture. Their Praise Choir lead group worship, individuals shared their voices for praise, and a group put on a dance. Duncan gave the message from John 5.
Even when a blackout occurred, it didn't prevent them from continuing. There is definitely something simple and beautiful about hearing the word of God in the dark while surrounded by brothers and sisters from another culture.
As with most Christian Fellowships, they have fun activities together. CHRISCO!! A Christ-centered disco that took place Friday night. We must have forgot our dancing shoes, because they were able to dance with energy and enthusiasm far longer than us. It was enjoyable to try dancing Malawian style as well as see them try our crazy dancing styles (dancing Cotton-eye Joe style and doing the hokey pokey for example). They also served Obama, which was very delicious...Obama is a type of bread. They also have Bin Laden. Hehe.
The week concluded with a Mock Wedding to raise money for worship equipment. The main hall was decked out and students were dressed in their best. They held the reception part of a Malawian Wedding , welcoming the bridal party and newly weds as they entered the hall. The enthusiastic MC would have “family” of the bride and groom stand up to speak in honor of the newly weds. BUT! Before they could speak, friends and guests had to dance up to the front and give money offerings that would bless the newlyweds. Money would fly as they showered the speakers. The “family” actually consisted of students who posed as mothers,father, uncles, and the pastor of the bride and groom.
It was a week full of surprises, both enjoyable and frustrating. We are all grateful for a day of rest – catching up on laundry, processing, and recuperating.
Some prayer requests!
Team Health and Unity (and that the plumber will come bearing hot water)
Mzuzu University SCOM: students as they prepare for upcoming finals, follow-up with individuals we met during evangelism, and their personal spiritual growth
Our visits to more schools in Lilongwe in the upcoming weeks
Zikomo! (Thank You) And God Bless!
-Sarah Fuller and Arica Baer =]
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Email Problems
Hi everyone,
As many of you know there has been a problem with the email subscription for our student blog. We believe it is fixed now yet you will have to sign up again, So if you would like to receive the blogs updates by email you can now put your email in the feed burner subscription and you should be set to go. We are sorry for the problems.
One brief note on the team, they arrived back in Lilongwe from Mzuzu late this afternoon and are settling in for the night. They had a great trip and will update the blog tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and support of the team.
God bless.
As many of you know there has been a problem with the email subscription for our student blog. We believe it is fixed now yet you will have to sign up again, So if you would like to receive the blogs updates by email you can now put your email in the feed burner subscription and you should be set to go. We are sorry for the problems.
One brief note on the team, they arrived back in Lilongwe from Mzuzu late this afternoon and are settling in for the night. They had a great trip and will update the blog tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and support of the team.
God bless.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
SCOM Awareness Day and next week
Greetings from all of us in Malawi. We had a very full day yesterday celebrating the work SCOM has been doing in the high schools here in Lilongwe. The team marched in a parade full of singing and dancing youth who were also sweeping the streets to show the local people and the government their care for the environment. Many of the team members ended up with one or two Malawian students with whom they spent most of the day. The parade was over a mile long with many pauses and regrouping along the way. At one point in the parade we all stood for 45 min waiting for the national television stations camera crews to show up. The truck that led the parade had speakers on it that played the Christian music the children were dancing to. The celebration lasted over four hours with different schools singing and three different speakers, including the Attorney General of Malawi and the president of SCOM. We left the house around 8:15 and did not return to the house until around 5, needless to say we were all pretty exhausted. Some of the exhausted-ness came from the culture shock that each of us is experiencing in our own way, along with working to hurtle the language barrier with the students who had a variety of English skills.
Tomorrow we head to Mzuzu university for a week of staying with students and celebrating their outreach week with them. Thanks for your continued prayer and thoughts. Please pray for safe travel (we have a 5 hour ride), that the Lord would be teaching us, and good relationships with the students we will be staying with. We'll be out of internet availability for the next week.
Tomorrow we head to Mzuzu university for a week of staying with students and celebrating their outreach week with them. Thanks for your continued prayer and thoughts. Please pray for safe travel (we have a 5 hour ride), that the Lord would be teaching us, and good relationships with the students we will be staying with. We'll be out of internet availability for the next week.
Friday, June 19, 2009
We have arrived
Craig is on his way to the internet café, so hopefully, this will get sent! We have arrived in Malawi safely. All our luggage made it and the flight was uneventful. We are excited to be here and were warmly welcomed by the SCOM staff. We will write more as we get settled and get our bearings! Everyone is healthy and morale is high. We are having a great time together and the students are enjoying getting to know one another. Thanks for praying and keep it up!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Malawi here we come!
We’re sorry to be so late in updating our blog. It has been difficult to find a reliable connection to the internet.
We have arrived safely in South Africa. We were about a half hour late, but all of our luggage arrived. That is a major miracle. We are now resting at a lovely retreat center near the people who are hosting us while we are in South Africa. Tuesday afternoon we picked up food at the grocery store and had pizza—South African style---for lunch! We have divided up into 4 cooking/cleaning teams for meals. Then, Maggie, Diane and Arica cooked stir-fry and Lydia, Greg and Amanda did all the dishes!
Wednesday we did some training on communication, bible study, and team-building. We have also built in some time for fun and recreation. Today we visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, and Craig and I will spend the evening with former colleagues.
We leave tomorrow morning just before noon and head to Malawi. After 18 plane hours, 2 hours is a mere pittance! Pray for safety and arrival of all our luggage. Pray for us as we get settled into our new setting in Malawi.
We have arrived safely in South Africa. We were about a half hour late, but all of our luggage arrived. That is a major miracle. We are now resting at a lovely retreat center near the people who are hosting us while we are in South Africa. Tuesday afternoon we picked up food at the grocery store and had pizza—South African style---for lunch! We have divided up into 4 cooking/cleaning teams for meals. Then, Maggie, Diane and Arica cooked stir-fry and Lydia, Greg and Amanda did all the dishes!
Wednesday we did some training on communication, bible study, and team-building. We have also built in some time for fun and recreation. Today we visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, and Craig and I will spend the evening with former colleagues.
We leave tomorrow morning just before noon and head to Malawi. After 18 plane hours, 2 hours is a mere pittance! Pray for safety and arrival of all our luggage. Pray for us as we get settled into our new setting in Malawi.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Departure
We are just about 24 hours away from departure!! We leave from O'Hare, Sunday night at 10:00 pm on Lufthansa. We will fly to Frankfurt Germany and spend the day with the brother of Spencer Boren, one of our teammates. We will leave Monday evening to fly to Johannesburg, South Africa. We will spend several days in Pretoria North with former colleagues of the directors; we'll be recovering from jet lag and preparing for Malawi. Then we leave on Thursday for Lilongwe Malawi. We will be there for 5 weeks, before returning to South Africa for our debrief.
Prayer Requests:
1) safe travel
2) good health
3) development of good team spirit
4) great partnership with SCOM---Student Christian Movement of Malawi
5) God's work to be accomplished in us
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