"God be with you"... as He has with us. I'm amazed every day by how blessed we are. The Ministry of Hope (MoH) has been so good to us... specifically Daniel Moyo, Charles Gwengwe, Rollins Mtambo, Mr. Kamanga, Agnes Guta (who is leaving), Rowana (who is replacing Agnes), Kalvin Kalonga, & Mpho Lungu. Daniel, the Director of Education, Spiritual Development, and Volunteer Coordination (quite a mouthful), has been an incredible host and friend. We had met last year just after he graduated from African Bible College (ABC) and right before they brought him on full-time... a great move on their part.
A lot has happened since my last post including saying goodbye to our fellow North Carolinians as well as our new friend Brittany, a retreat at Lake Malawi of 120 youth (8-15 year olds) from the six MoH feeding centers,
lots of walking around the chaotic streets of Lilongwe, haggling with the women in the fabric area of the Old Market, a formal service at the neighborhood CCAP lasting 2 1/2 hours, a late therefore shortened recreational ministry workshop at ABC, feeding precious babies at the Crisis Nursery, leading a Bible Study about the
Dangerous Wonder of childlike faith, and a blessed afternoon with Youth Care Ministries filled with good people and games with urban youth of Lilongwe. Many, many blessings.
The youth retreat was an incredible experience filled with lots of dancing, playing, swimming at the beach, praying, inspiring talks with some translation, small group activities Malawian food, wonderful youth workers and ABC student/interns, and did I say dancing? Daniel had arranged for a Afro-reggae-gospel band from Scripture Union in Lilongwe to come out for the week. They kept us dancing until we headed to our tents and then woke us up to dance some more. That's where the video clip comes from (below). We had a different experience than the Lutheran High School group from CA (who helped facilitate the retreat) because we chose to camp with the kids at the "House of Joel Bible, Missionary, & Training Center" where the retreat was held. We could have taken the more comfortable route by checking into a room at the Chipoka Lodge. They would take off to the lodge around 8pm while Hope & I would continue on dancing with the kids. We were woken each morning around 5am to little voices speaking Chichewa all around us but we wouldn't straggle out of our tent until we heard the Afro-reggae-gospel vibes floating through the camp around 7am. Although the retreat was a bit exhausting, it was a huge blessing!
Saturday we spent with Daniel and my friend Yohane walking all around the city center of Lilongwe visiting markets, tailors, a community center, taking a minibus packed with 23 people (quite normal, actually), ending the day at the Area 47 (neighborhood) market to get fresh vegetables. It was an educational experience, perspective shifting.
We chose to get up early Sunday morning (6:15am) to join Daniel for the CCA Presbyterian church service. I was amazed at how formal the service was, not what I expected. We literally sat for 2 or the 2 1/2 hours... my butt was going numb! It's interesting how ceremonial the Malawian culture seems yet at the same time they are always late (hours) sometimes never even showing up. Seems to contradict itself.
Early Sunday evening we went down the street to the MoH Crisis Nursery to help with feeding time. I know we're there to help but I think we're the ones blessed. Mom, you would love it... 18 beautiful babies. They are there because they are either orphans or they have health issues that their parents need help with (including malnurishment and HIV/AIDS). Some will go back to their families (sometimes extended family), some will be adopted, and some will end up in orphanages. Hope & I both would love to adopt one but the Malawian government doesn't make the process easy. You must live in Malawi for 18 months before you can even start the application process, which takes another 18 months. Somehow Madonna bypassed this process last year.
So Monday we experienced Malawian culture quite vividly which ruffled our American perspectives. We showed up at the ABC gym (which we had rented) to find the leftover mess from a wedding from Saturday strewn all over the floor. Then over half the workshop participants showed up 2 hours late. It all worked out fine and it was still a blessed time but it was a gentle reminder of how clock-oriented our time perspective is in America... as opposed to event-oriented as is the perspective here in Malawi.
Tuesday we began our day reconnecting with the ABC student/interns and William, the MoH feeding center director for the village of Mponela. He is an amazing "man after God's own heart." At the youth retreat he had shared with me his experience doing missions in Rwanda during the height of violence and turmoil. He has traveled all over central & southern Africa working with youth. He expressed his frustration with the church lacking any focus on youth. It seems like a common theme so far in my African experience: for youth to have no voice. It's frustrating. Jesus said, "when you did it to one the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me" (Matt 25:40). In Malawi (& Mozambique) you're considered a youth until you have your own family. Paul (writer of much of the New Testament) would have been treated as a youth... interesting.
Then we ate lunch with Lessie, a former MoH staff who I connected with last year. She's had a challenging year including losing her job at MoH, catching gastoral-malaria, and therefore losing a 7-week old baby she was carrying. She's an amazing woman, still showing kindness and contentment.
After helping with feeding time again, I drove Hope & I over to a Bible study with a "youth group" of 17-20 somethings. God placed
Dangerous Wonder by
Michael Yaconelli on my heart. I encouraged these "youth" to hold onto "the childlike attribute of our faith called dangerous wonder", "- a place landscaped by risky curiosity, wild abandon, daring playfulness, quiet listening, irresponsible passion, happy terror, and naive grace." If you haven't read it, you should.
Today we thoroughly enjoyed our visit with William Nyasulu and Youth Care Ministries. I met William last year, briefly, and caught a glimpse of his vision for urban youth in Lilongwe. Youth Care has two after-school programs and a "safe haven" housing 8 homeless youth. William gained perspective on effective, urban youth programming by taking part in
"Urban Promise" in Camden, New Jersey, a ministry supported and promoted by
Tony Campolo and EAPE . He now has a vision to build a 'campus' with a primary & secondary school, 8 'group homes' for homeless youth, resource center, technology center, library, guest house for missionary groups... and it goes on. They have acquired land and he hopes to make it to the States to raise support and research more urban programs.
We spent the afternoon with one of the After-school programs which they call "camp". I encouraged Mavuto (an ABC student/intern) to facilitate 2 games devotions he had learned with me on Monday (Red Light, Green Light and Elbow Tag). We met many volunteers including 4 ABC graduates who are heading to New Jersey in September to work with "Urban Promise". One, Robert, wanted to hear my perspective on American youth and how they differed from Malawian youth. One big difference is respect. In America, adults don't
get respect, they have to
earn it relationally. But here in Malawi, respecting your elders is a part of the culture. I've observed this in many ways, even in the handshake. I hope that the western culture doesn't dilute the Malawi traditions too much.
Tomorrow we go out to Matapila, a village to the south where MoH started. We will be staying with Gift and his family, helping with the feeding center programs, and facilitating a recreation workshop for youth workers. It should be another unique, perspective-shifting experience.
The youth retreat was an incredible experience filled with lots of dancing, playing, swimming at the beach, praying, inspiring talks with some translation, small group activities Malawian food, wonderful youth workers and ABC student/interns, and did I say dancing? Daniel had arranged for a Afro-reggae-gospel band from Scripture Union in Lilongwe to come out for the week. They kept us dancing until we headed to our tents and then woke us up to dance some more. That's where the video clip comes from (below). We had a different experience than the Lutheran High School group from CA (who helped facilitate the retreat) because we chose to camp with the kids at the "House of Joel Bible, Missionary, & Training Center" where the retreat was held. We could have taken the more comfortable route by checking into a room at the Chipoka Lodge. They would take off to the lodge around 8pm while Hope & I would continue on dancing with the kids. We were woken each morning around 5am to little voices speaking Chichewa all around us but we wouldn't straggle out of our tent until we heard the Afro-reggae-gospel vibes floating through the camp around 7am. Although the retreat was a bit exhausting, it was a huge blessing!
Saturday we spent with Daniel and my friend Yohane walking all around the city center of Lilongwe visiting markets, tailors, a community center, taking a minibus packed with 23 people (quite normal, actually), ending the day at the Area 47 (neighborhood) market to get fresh vegetables. It was an educational experience, perspective shifting.
We chose to get up early Sunday morning (6:15am) to join Daniel for the CCA Presbyterian church service. I was amazed at how formal the service was, not what I expected. We literally sat for 2 or the 2 1/2 hours... my butt was going numb! It's interesting how ceremonial the Malawian culture seems yet at the same time they are always late (hours) sometimes never even showing up. Seems to contradict itself. 
Early Sunday evening we went down the street to the MoH Crisis Nursery to help with feeding time. I know we're there to help but I think we're the ones blessed. Mom, you would love it... 18 beautiful babies. They are there because they are either orphans or they have health issues that their parents need help with (including malnurishment and HIV/AIDS). Some will go back to their families (sometimes extended family), some will be adopted, and some will end up in orphanages. Hope & I both would love to adopt one but the Malawian government doesn't make the process easy. You must live in Malawi for 18 months before you can even start the application process, which takes another 18 months. Somehow Madonna bypassed this process last year.
So Monday we experienced Malawian culture quite vividly which ruffled our American perspectives. We showed up at the ABC gym (which we had rented) to find the leftover mess from a wedding from Saturday strewn all over the floor. Then over half the workshop participants showed up 2 hours late. It all worked out fine and it was still a blessed time but it was a gentle reminder of how clock-oriented our time perspective is in America... as opposed to event-oriented as is the perspective here in Malawi.
Tuesday we began our day reconnecting with the ABC student/interns and William, the MoH feeding center director for the village of Mponela. He is an amazing "man after God's own heart." At the youth retreat he had shared with me his experience doing missions in Rwanda during the height of violence and turmoil. He has traveled all over central & southern Africa working with youth. He expressed his frustration with the church lacking any focus on youth. It seems like a common theme so far in my African experience: for youth to have no voice. It's frustrating. Jesus said, "when you did it to one the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me" (Matt 25:40). In Malawi (& Mozambique) you're considered a youth until you have your own family. Paul (writer of much of the New Testament) would have been treated as a youth... interesting.
Then we ate lunch with Lessie, a former MoH staff who I connected with last year. She's had a challenging year including losing her job at MoH, catching gastoral-malaria, and therefore losing a 7-week old baby she was carrying. She's an amazing woman, still showing kindness and contentment.
After helping with feeding time again, I drove Hope & I over to a Bible study with a "youth group" of 17-20 somethings. God placed Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli on my heart. I encouraged these "youth" to hold onto "the childlike attribute of our faith called dangerous wonder", "- a place landscaped by risky curiosity, wild abandon, daring playfulness, quiet listening, irresponsible passion, happy terror, and naive grace." If you haven't read it, you should.
Today we thoroughly enjoyed our visit with William Nyasulu and Youth Care Ministries. I met William last year, briefly, and caught a glimpse of his vision for urban youth in Lilongwe. Youth Care has two after-school programs and a "safe haven" housing 8 homeless youth. William gained perspective on effective, urban youth programming by taking part in "Urban Promise" in Camden, New Jersey, a ministry supported and promoted by Tony Campolo and EAPE . He now has a vision to build a 'campus' with a primary & secondary school, 8 'group homes' for homeless youth, resource center, technology center, library, guest house for missionary groups... and it goes on. They have acquired land and he hopes to make it to the States to raise support and research more urban programs.
We spent the afternoon with one of the After-school programs which they call "camp". I encouraged Mavuto (an ABC student/intern) to facilitate 2 games devotions he had learned with me on Monday (Red Light, Green Light and Elbow Tag). We met many volunteers including 4 ABC graduates who are heading to New Jersey in September to work with "Urban Promise". One, Robert, wanted to hear my perspective on American youth and how they differed from Malawian youth. One big difference is respect. In America, adults don't get respect, they have to earn it relationally. But here in Malawi, respecting your elders is a part of the culture. I've observed this in many ways, even in the handshake. I hope that the western culture doesn't dilute the Malawi traditions too much.
Tomorrow we go out to Matapila, a village to the south where MoH started. We will be staying with Gift and his family, helping with the feeding center programs, and facilitating a recreation workshop for youth workers. It should be another unique, perspective-shifting experience.
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