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