August 11, 2009

This morning I led a devotion for like ten people from the Malawi partnership team. It was about Paul and Silas in prison praising God and saving the jailers life.

After that we went to an orphanage called Chifundo 3. It was sad to see them all (about 20-30 of them) but it was good to see all the hard work the volunteers were putting in to the children.

It was now finally time for me to go on my own for six days at Chilumba. I was nervous and excited. When I got to Chilumba, everyone was singing for me. Which is hard to get used to. I met Sydney and Joseph. They were in their 20s and were part of the youth there. I would be hanging out with them most of the time. They showed me around the village which had a lot of very poor sections. There was also some commotion at this Satanist house which had like killed some people. So we avoided that place.

After that we went to the church for a youth meeting. Andrew was there (the man I met at Grace Bandawe) He pulled me aside and asked if I could do him an honor. I said sure. He said that he had a baby girl 2 weeks ago and that he wanted me to name her. I was very shocked and after a little while I agreed and told him that I would think about the name.

We had a huge dinner where I was treated like royalty. It's a very strange feeling. Had some food, gave a speech, and met a lot of people.

That night I stayed with my first host family. The husband and wife were Amos and Ndiu (which she said was pronounced Deuce-a), their two kids Glady and Levi, and their nephew William.

August 10, 2009

Today we exchanged money in town and we saw the president of Malawi drive by. He waved at us. It was cool. After that, we went to the Nayala National Park. There were all kinds of animals there like zebra, giraffe, impala, monkees, wildebeasts, and a bunch of other deer like animals that I couldn't identify.

Next we went to see this village. It was a really poor village and they showed us how the Presbytery was helping them. They got them this pump to help with irrigation and farming. They were growing their own crops. I think it would be a good cause to donate the extra money I got from fundraising.

We also met a group of about ten people that were HIV positive and seeking whatever help they could get. It was good to see some people that had gotten diagnosed and were seeking help. Most people don't do that there I guess.

August 9, 2009

Today is Sunday and we are all supposed to go to a different church. Unfortunately my church, Mt. Pleasant, forgot about me so I went with Gary and Fletcher to St. Columba. But it was nice. We went to 2 services there. One in English and one in Chicheawa. (I'm sure I spelled that wrong)

There was gifts being exchanged there and one of the gifts given to the church was a live chicken. That was funny.

After church we walked around the Synod of Blantyre and then went to Kay Day's house for tea and cake.

Tonight was a big welcome dinner for all of us. I ate dinner with Ellen and we talked a lot about family and church and stuff.

Tonight I'm taking and Ambien because I slept horribly last night and I have like 9 of them. Let's hope it works.

August 8, 2009

We had a 2 hour flight to Malawi today which seemed like nothing to me because of my last flight of about 18 hours. When we landed was when it really hit me that I was in Africa. Lots of dirt with a few little houses and huts all spread out upon landing.

When we landed there were about 200 people or more there to greet us. Everybody was singing and dancing. It was crazy. I met Ellen who was from Chilumba (Heritage's sister church) and she said that I would be staying in her house and another families house for 3 days each.

We then went to Grace Bandawe, the hotel we were staying at for 3 days. It was pretty nice. Nicer accomodations than I thought I would be getting. I have my own room and I share a bathroom with whoever is staying on the other side.

August 7, 2009

We arrived in Johanesburg tonight with no major issues. Long flight but a lot to keep me entertained. Plus no one was sitting next to me so it was freakin amazing. We spend the night in Joburg at a hotel and then we fly to Malawi in the morning. Really excited to get there and meet all the people.

Guess who's back

Hey everybody! Well Malawi was an absolutely incredible experience! I'm so glad that God has blessed my life with that trip. There is sooooo much that happened and sooooo much that I would like to blog about. My plan is to go through my journal (which is enormous) day by day and slowly put everything online. It's gonna be a process, but I would really like to get it all on here. Even if it's only for myself.

Thanks again to everybody for supporting me financially and with your prayers as well. I know a lot of you were praying for me and that made the trip more of a success than we probably even realize. God bless you all and I look forward to seeing everybody and telling you all of my stories!!!

This is it

Well I leave tomorrow at 11:25AM. I have to finish packing because I'm changing bags and I'm 3 pounds over the limit. I'm really excited and a little nervous about the unknown. Please keep the Journey 2009 team and myself in your prayers.

I'll return on August 20th and I hope to start blogging again shortly after that. I'll be keeping a journal while I am in Malawi and I may just slowly transfer every journal entry to my blog posts.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this trip possible for me!!! It's not over so please please please be praying for us!!!