Tionana

"See you" -a common farewell in Chichewa We left Malawi yesterday with mixed feelings: sad to say goodbye once again yet gratitude for our friends there and the sense of fruitfulness in our work through the Ministry of Hope (MoH). These last 10 days have been full. I appreciated returning to Matapila, the village I stayed in last year with the Montreat Pres. summer mission project. This visit differed from last years in that we were hosted by Gift (the MoH Feeding Center Director for the nearby village Katonda and interim Director for the Matapila Feeding Center) and his beautiful wife-Esnart, daughter-Tawina, and son-Takodwa. Unfortunately we didn’t get out to Matapila until mid-afternoon... once again leaving after lunch when we thought we would be leaving first thing in the morning. African time. We did get to catch the Matapila market day in full throttle, the busiest day of the week. It’s a bit uncomfortable to be starred at constantly by hundreds of people but after a while you get used to it. They rarely see azungus (white people) out in their villages. The highlights flourished throughout our time in Matapila. One blessing entailed spending evenings with Tawina and Takodwa. It took a short while for them to check us out but it didn’t take long for them to melt our hearts. Another blessing involved visiting Selengo, a village about a 30 minute walk away, where we spent 3 days in ministry last year. The changes amazed me: finished goat pin with 2 male goats & 8 females, finished maze mill in action, and the mini-market formed next to the mill bringing support to the local economy. With the help of Mavuto & Wiseman (African Bible College students/MoH interns), we played Red Rover with the kids and led a devotion. Unfortunately the last child to make a run got “clothes-lined” when he chose to try to break through 2 bigger kids’ arms. He fell back on the ground hitting his head on a rock. It reminded why we never played Red Rover at the Boys & Girls Club. But it all worked out… Jimmy (the Director) told me Monday that he healed alright. Another highlight consisted of a very successful workshop on recreational evangelism: using games as an experiential way to share Scripture lessons. The morning filled with smiles and laughter from a diverse age-group of youth and youth workers (more than 40 all together). After lunch (of nsema & soy- common protein source here, not just for vegetarians) we met with just the youth workers. I wanted to make sure that they grasped the concept. They did! We ended the session brainstorming scripture lessons for a Malawian hide-and-seek game. I was so excited! Then the youth leaders decided, of their own initiative, that they should meet once a month to share ideas and encourage each other. Dean Borgman (of GCTS & Center for Youth Studies) said this might happen and I’m so thankful it did. This week we were blessed to go out to Mponela, a village in the north. Actually, it’s much bigger than what you would think of as a village, something like 11,000 in the surrounding area. Our new, good friend William directs the Feeding Center and goes beyond the normal programing with hundreds of orphans by doing some amazing things in the community. He developed a support program for widows and he’s now beginning a job skills training program. As we walked into the city center we observed his connection with the community by all the kids running up and people calling out "uncle". He’s doing great work while giving God all the glory. Tuesday evening we were called to spend some time with an encouraging, generous woman, Enala, who has supported William like a mother. She treated us to coffee, tea, croissants, and mandasi (Malawian doughnuts) while she prepared a dinner for us to take back to Williams. We invited Violet & Felocia (2 young ladies MoH is supporting through textile school) and the 3 guards for the Center to join us for dinner and we still didn’t manage to finish all the food! I must admit that I’m glad we didn’t eat with Enala otherwise I would have felt obligated to eat the goats’ intestines that were one part of the meal. (Hope tried some anyway.) When we got up the next morning we found Enala sitting in William’s living room waiting to visit with us and she brought a breakfast which ended up feeding 7 people! In addition, Enala sent over some medicine and leamons to help Hope fight the infection which had set in. And before we left she sent over 4 nsomba (fish) and 2 big bags of teza (peanuts) to take with us. Enala radiated generousity. A huge highlight to our time in Mponela involved the workshop we facilitated with almost 50 youth workers. William recruited at a number of churches in the Mponela area and various ministries. Unfortunately we experienced the coldest day yet but that didn’t hurt the turn out too much. I took the workshop further by teaching 5 games and connecting them to scripture lessons, then teaching a couple more games but having the youth workers brainstorm scripture for them, and finishing out by inviting them to share Malawian games to link to lessons. It intrigued me to find that not many people could remember games youth played. I observed that in Malawian culture there lies a distinct division between youth and adulthood. Youth ends in marriage which most often happens fairly young, especially in the villages. It seems like a lot of adults forget how to play. I engage them in play and it reminded them of childlikeness of faith. Christ encouraged this quality in Matthew 18 & 19. I’m so thankful He is calling me to facilitate childlikeness in His people. We ended our visit to Mponela by listening to the beautiful harmonies of well over a hundred youth. As I stood there I made a conscious effort to hold on to this memory as it would probably be a long time before I hear such sweet sounds from African youth again. Although our new friend Felocia and her brother gifted us with a demo of their families' new album which they will produce as soon as they raise enough money. Unfortunately Hope’s infection didn’t get better so we visited the African Bible College clinic where she received the diagnosis of a sinus infection. She tried to take it easy for the rest of our stay only venturing out to the pharmacy, to pick up our new, beautifully-tailored African outfits from the talented and fair tailor, Ishmael, and to walk down to the neighborhood market one last time. Our final evening in Malawi entailed hours of no power, wonderful company (Daniel & William), and the simple delicacies of sandwiches instead of the italian meal we planned for. God designed this so we would bask in the fellowship of our brothers in Christ, which I thanked God for as I drifted off to sleep very late in the night. We safely rested our heads at the home of Cecile, Andries, and Anelia again here in Johannesburg. As will be the case throughout the next almost 11 months, the direction of our next steps aren't confirmed yet. We might make our way up to Pretoria next to visit ministries there. Keep us in your prayers as we pursue connections throughout South Africa. We'll keep you posted as the events unfold.