THE BLOG

In this space I will post stories, events, photos, during the time I live in Malawi, Africa working with Adventist Health International. Please come back often (or subscribe) and comment frequently so that we can be connected.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

On A Personal Note...

Well I realize this blog is about "Missions in Malawi" but it's also wrapped around my life so as you know my writings have been fairly slanted towards my viewpoint on everything (since I write them, what do you expect?) and my experiences. Mostly though, I haven't delved too deeply into my personal joys or struggles in order to avoid unnecessary worrying or misunderstandings or other things that may come from sharing my frustrations. This time, though, I want to share some personal news that is GOOD!!

So if any of you are on Facebook you will have seen a recent photo album and have asked yourself (or me) "who is that guy?"... well I'll introduce you - his name is Drew Rogers from Walla Walla, WA and to answer your next question, yes, we are dating. (Here is a link to the photo album in case you haven't seen it yet: PHOTOS ) So to give you some background - we met in October of 2009 here in Malawi. He is working as the Director of Finance for Maranatha building churches in Mozambique (about a 24 hr drive from me). At the end of 2009 Maranatha moved their headquarters to Malawi and he was here to set things up. He went back to Mozambique to continue the project there. After seeing him briefly again at Thanksgiving 2009 I didn't see, hear, or think of him until a phone call out of the blue in May when he was back in Malawi for a week or two. Since then we've realized that the distance of one country isn't too much - phones work (sometimes) and email works (more often) and after he moved about 10 hrs away he came to Malawi every month or so.

One of the things that we have in common is loving to travel especially road trips. We had a long conversation one time about all the places we wanted to visit in the world - Greece, Alaska, Italy, Switzerland, Zanzibar, and others. One of those on the African continent was Cape Town, South Africa. So with some planning it worked out for him to meet me in Johannesburg when I flew back from the US just after Christmas and we drove to Cape Town, then back along the Garden Route and north to Johannesburg in 10 days and over 1,800 miles. This was a good chance to spend some time together and see an amazing country! It was a lovely trip - we got along well and had lots of fun - exploring little towns, taking pictures, getting lost, Drew went bungee jumping, learning history, shopping, hiking, and looking at the amazing stars in the African sky. So after such a trip - what is the consensus and what's next?

Hout Bay, South Africa (on the Cape)
As for what's next - only God knows and He's in control so we'll see. Drew is headed back to the US in February and will settle back in Walla Walla for now. I have not fully decided, but it looks like I will be back in the US for good by September so for now it looks like it will be a very long distance relationship. Neither one of us came to Africa expecting to meet someone special so this is all an amazing gift that we will see what God has in store!

This development sort of adds another dimension to "mission in malawi" but it wasn't part of my original plan. I've always been of the opinion that God knows wherever I am and if I'm meant to meet someone it doesn't matter where I am in the world - I guess this is true! Most of all it's important to be doing what I feel like God wants me to do and be doing it the best that I can. It's exciting to see what God is doing and be open to his plan so I continue to trust Him to guide my life in every area.

P.S. I am back in Malawi now - glad to be back after 6 weeks vacation. Things at the hospital are still challenging. We continue to face many financial challenges and staff seem to be unhappy right now (also due to financial problems). Please continue to pray for wisdom and guidance for our hospital so that we can make the best decisions for the future as possible. We are thankful to have many volunteers here right now... next post will be about them.