Lunch Time!



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On Friday's the kids are served a protein and during our visit it was a boiled egg. Lots and lots of boiled eggs!

The center has recently been able to add 50 children to their program and they currently can feed 150 children 5 days a week (Mon - Fri).  The children at the center are orphans and are taken care of by extended family.  It was my understanding that the meals served here are the only reliable meals these kids receive.   They use wood to cook under the large pots and it is not well ventilated.  Right before our visit, they were able to put a ceiling on the kitchen area to keep the smoke from going all of the center.  They are looking for a way to get the smoke routed outside.

We were able to help serve while we visited.  Kenneth is on the right (red) and William is on the left (black).

This was on our last day at the mission.  Many of the kids bowed when they received their meals and several of the younger ones (3-5 yr. olds) bowed down on their knees.  It was very humbling to see such gratitude and respect.

The white food which resembles mashed potatoes is a staple food for them and they are eat it each day.  It some type of "meal or bread" if I understood correctly.  They pick up some and roll it between their fingers and then they pick up their beans or other foods with it.  They do not use utensils.  One of the children asked one of our team members about eating the "potatoes" and when they responded they had never eaten it before the child did not believe the translator was asking the right question.  The kids eat it every day and couldn't imagine that we didn't also.

On our last day at the mission, we had a party and the kids had to eat in a smaller area.  This is most of the 150 kids.  They eat on woven mats and each day the kids rotate cleaning up and sweeping.

Also, they hope to soon have a garden to reduce the cost of buying food.  The children will help work in the garden.

Music & Worship

Each day we opened with praise and worship!  The kids learned our songs very quickly.  Above we are singing "J-O-Y Down In My Heart".  It was so sweet to hear them singing the songs to themselves later in the week.  They also lead worship in Chichewa and one of the teenage girls would translate for me.  I loved hearing God being praised in another language half way around the world!

This is one of the songs they performed for us on the first day.  The boys are in the middle of the circle are playing the drums.  The girls voices were beautiful!

They danced for us again on the last day and even the little ones joined in the fun.  Did you notice the little girl on the right in the plaid skirt is only wearing one shoe?  We acutally saw several of them like that and some wearing sandals that were broken.  They would have the part that buckles around the ankle but the part that fastens over their toes was missing.  We take so many little things for granted.

Bible Games w/ the Kids

The kids had a great time with the games!  They are so competitive, but they also encouraged and cheered for one another.  And they LAUGHED all the time!  I enjoyed watching and listening to them more than they could have possibly enjoyed playing!

Bible Verse Bean Bag Toss
They stayed in line but wanted to lean over to watch their peers play & cheer them on.
In their dialect it sounds like "EE", "EE"!!!

Bible Verse Fishing Game
This is the youngest group (3-8 yr olds) and there must have been 30+.
EVERY time one of the kids caught a fish w/ the magnet all the kids erupted in applause - it was adorable!

A Wonderful Expereince!

William playing with the younger boys at lunch break!



They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I hope that is true! I'm going to post a few pics and post WORDS over the next week or so.  We are trying to get over the time change and trying to catch up with bills, school, etc.  We could barely stay up last night until 8 pm & William woke up at 2:30 am and I woke up at 4:30 am ready to start the day !
(Of course, that was 9:30 am and 11:30 am Malawi time.)

Here are a few of the kids from the youngest age group. The kids were so affectionate and loving!
They also loved to play with my hair!

The first morning meeting everyone and distributing 150 name tags!

A Funny!

The kids and I had to run errands A LOT this past week, in the unbearable heat, and we all got whiny. On Thursday, we were at the end of ourselves and in an attempt to motivate them, I told them we would have a “fun” day on Saturday, since it was our last full day together! They both were excited and starting making suggestions, Lauren said, "We can have a PARTY!" (Imagine that comment from my child :o) She quickly suggested a theme, a LOVE party! Then quite unbelievably, I responded, "I’m to tired for a party!" (I was REALLY tired!)

So we are about to start our LOVE party … a picnic on the floor …pizza, brownies, a movie…..????

More Shoes

I never updated after I bought and collected from friends that I collected approx. 70 pairs of shoes.  I actually got to overwhelmed with everything to keep count!  Maybe when we unpack them I can get the count.

1 WEEK & COUNTING - PRAYER PLEASE!!

O.K., I finally feel like I'm going on a mission trip and that's good and it's bad!  We had our last team meeting and finished dividing up the supplies and went over more of the details of our duties and what to expect on the trip.  William and I went home and started an extensive check list for us and one for the kids and then a long "to do" list.  Then it was time to go to sleep and my mind started racing - I'm going half way around the world and leaving my kids for 2 weeks!!  So on that note, I would really appreciate your prayers that we would completely trust God and have his perfect peace.  I'm really excited about going and I can't wait to serve the kids in Malawi and I don't want fear and anxiety to steal any of my joy or energy!

The kids just finished an abbreviated day of school and now we on our way for a 2 - 3 hour shopping trip for groceries, malaria meds and hopefully the rest of the items we will need for our trip.