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 =]

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.

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.

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!

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.

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