There and Back Again

Well, well – where do I start? I don't want to write a book here but it has been almost a month since I've written anything. The major reason is because I was gone for five days on an AMAZING road trip around the country of Malawi!! This was somewhat last minute and unplanned – thus being all the more exciting! As I've mentioned before there is a group of college students planning to come to Malawi in June. As part of the trip they will be doing evangelism/Bible teaching meetings for 7 nights in the respective locations. A volunteer evangelist, Jonathan Leonard, has agreed to work with the students and coordinate the evangelism and so to do a better job at that he came to do some site planning for two weeks. Jonathan was here last summer for 2 months and actually met me at the airport when I arrived and then left a week later. So it is nice to have someone I know to work together on preparations for this trip. So – a long story shorter – we met with the leaders of the fields (like conferences) in Blantyre and realized it was imperative not only for him to go but for me to go as well to arrange for accommodations, volunteer projects, get costs of things, take photos and make vital contacts for when the students come. We are hoping to have 60 students and sponsors spread around 5 sites in Malawi doing a simultaneous mission trip. (I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it!!) Thankfully we were able to take our new car (perfect timing on having wheels) and Blantyre Adventist Hospital fronted the money for fuel for the trip! Jonathan and I drove about 2,000 kilometers in 5 days and visited 3 of the sites that are in the Northern part of Malawi. It is a beautiful country – now I can say that officially since I've seen all but the very northern part that boarders Tanzania. Thankfully we were able to meet with many people, make good plans, and we had no mishaps with the car. It ran perfectly – even through the 20 kms of deep mud that I got to try the 4WD out on! While coming back we drove along Lake Malawi for about 200 kms and thoroughly enjoyed the view along the way. Unfortunately Jonathan didn't have his license so I ended up doing all of the driving! Needless to say I was exhausted by the end of the trip and ready to stay put for a while!

Overall it was a great trip and even better that we got along well and didn't drive each other crazy! Jonathan is doing a good job organizing and coordinating the evangelism part of the trip and it was helpful for me to go along for the other parts as well. God blessed and I'm thankful to have someone like Jonathan to work with on this project and to travel around the country with.

Here are some photos from the trip:

L to R: the man who owns the land where we are going to hold the meetings at Lakeview, the pastor, and Jonathan.

Every good trip needs a photo of the road…

We stopped to eat lunch near this field of sunflowers.

The trusty car with Lake Malawi in the background

In other news –

Cristy's parents, Steve & Donna Shank are here for a 2 week visit from West Virginia. It has been so nice to have them here! Not only for the wonderful treats they brought us – it was like Christmas when they came – but also for the time to chat, hugs, "mom" food, and the blessing of having a full house. Cristy has certainly enjoyed having her family here and this weekend they are getting away to Liwonde Game Park to stay in the lodge for a few nights. Cristy certainly deserves some days away for a rest.

Yesterday I went to the airport to pick up a group of 14 people from Loma Linda. They are eleven 4^th year med students along with an orthopedic surgeon and his wife – here for three weeks. It certainly is fun to have more "azungus" around (white people). They all seem excited to be here although last I saw them they were quite exhausted. They will be here for three weeks so they will have some good times I'm sure.

BUNKBEDS!!! We had planned to have bunkbeds made for the large group coming in June and so decided we would try to get them done for this group of 14 that just arrived. Well procrastination seemed to catch up with us and suddenly Mr. Santos, in the workshop, only had one week to make 6 sets of bunkbeds!! Needless to say he did it!! He welded 6 sets of bunkbeds which doubled our capacity in the guest house from 6 to 12 – four in each room. They were generously provided by the SIMS department at Loma Linda University who originally built the guest house many years ago. Thankfully Mr. Santos is very creative and did a WONDERFUL job in a short amount of time! They were putting together the beds and putting the new mattresses on when we got back from the airport last night.

So yes - *deep breath* - there has been a lot going on. I have to admit that I'm close to exhausted. Between not sleeping in my own bed (it's in use by the Shanks) and all of the traveling and "busy-ness" of each day I am tired! There is also turmoil continuing at the other facilities in Blantyre and Lilongwe and that worries me. I am striving for the "peace that passes understanding" but have had a hard time finding it lately. Realizing that some days are more than I can handle and being allowed to struggle through them with the support of Cristy and Don and others has been a blessing. Please pray for me here and for wisdom and patience to deal with the daily challenges that come.