ZABOO (hi) Friends and Family,
I can’t even begin to tell you how great it is to be in communication with the world!
Malawi is absolutely wonderful! I’m in love! Lets start out with the travels.. Our travels took a little bit longer than we had hoped. After living on a plane and in airports for 2 days, our flight from London to Johannesberg was delayed. This then left us in Jo-berg for a night because we missed the ONLY flight to Malawi. Imagine this; 4 girls each with an oversized suitcase and a box running from the airport to the shuttle down a sidewalk that was a little under American standards…great first experience in Africa let me tell you!!
Once we arrived here in Liliongwe we were greeted by the Mtsilza Village kids. They came to the Njewa Mission center where we are staying and performed songs, sweet Malawi dances, recited bible verses and welcomed us with a “Shapo” (thumbs up)! Malawi in general is incredible and more than we could imagine. The kids cling to us and run to us wherever we go. “Azungu, Azungu” (white person) they scream with their high squeaky voices as they run towards us. Working with the Malawian interns as help and translators has helped us share the incredible news of God. They may have snot running down their noses, dirty hands, and cavity filled teeth, but the love and happiness they show is nothing that we have seen before!
The days vary, but are starting to become more scheduled (on Malawi time that runs at least ½ late to everything :). Every morning we break up into different “site projects.” Myself, and two other girls along with about 6 guys are working in a village that is new with COTN. We walk about 200 yards in our backyard and there the village is. The other day we sat and shucked corn with the women and had a time where they could ask us questions and we could ask them questions. Two of them were engaged to get married, one 16, one 18. One of them didn’t have parents and so the only way she could care for herself was to get married. The other one’s parents were pushing her out of the home. We asked them how they met their fiancés and they said, “We were walking through the fields and we just fell in love.” My heart just broke for them. Through the conversations with the women we identified the needs of the village and we are going to start tutoring 1st and 2nd graders. The school these kids attend is too far for them to walk to so they stay home. We also play to work with the women of the village teaching them basic care such as food preparation and hygiene care. The rest of our days are spent evangelizing or visiting the other villages.
The other day I had a God moment that was so sweet. We walked from the Mtsilza village to a nearby village about a 30-minute walk. There we began a typical evangelizing day. It starts off with games and songs to gather kids from the village in for about 20 minutes. Once those wind down we bring the kids all in and listen to a message by one of our fellow interns. As we were sitting there all I could think about was how my arms were too short. All I wanted was to have arms long enough to reach each one of the kids to know that they are special to me, and that I could feel each one of their hands. It isn’t possible though, I can only handle 3-4 at a time. That’s when I felt God say to me, “Hey Mindy, what do you think I’m for.” It was the first time I experienced God’s love around all of these children, and how he was using me to show them that….
It’s been very sweet being here. I am hopefully at the peak of my illness… I got well after my first bout of illness somewhere in the air between London and Johannesberg (I got sick the MORNING I was leaving). This week practically all of the interns have gotten sick, 6 of them went to the doctor the other day. My immune system was holding on strong until yesterday. I’m trying hard to prevent the part where I am on the toilet with something we have termed the big “hoosker doosker”. My 4 mile walk here to use the internet has helped a bit…we’ll see how the walk back will be…
Sorry I know this is VERY long, but I am wrapping it up. Prayers for health with my stomach and all of the interns, patience with the leadership, and continual prayer that we’re going in God’s direction through everything.
Thanks to all, I miss you! Sorry for misspelled words, time is ticking!
Love, Mindy
1 comment:
Good words.
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