Schools

             Hey guys, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. But it is good to be back writing on the blog today. I know in the states that schools are out and everyone is enjoying summer break. Here in Malawi schools are winding down and this is the last week until September. So I wanted to share a little bit about the Primary ( Elementary) schools near our house. We have 77 students in our residential and community programs combined and the majority of our students attend one of two schools- Bangala or Madzanje. 

             The average classroom size is 100 students. This past year I have gotten to meet and watch many teachers. I am amazed at how well they control their classroom and how they teach the material with few resources. The teachers here are really incredible! 

             On July 15th, each school will host Closing Day. This is a really special event, each teacher will call the students in their class that pass and their guardians will cheer and bring them a gift, normally a sucker or a Fanta. It is so fun watching the kids beam as they find out that they have passed! It is also very hard to watch the faces of the kids who have not passed :(  

Please pray for the children as they finish exams this week!

Bangala Primary

Madzanje Primary ( yes that is a goat roaming the school grounds)

Inside a classroom

Gathered for an assembly

6 months

We have lived in Malawi for 6 months!It is crazy how it feels like we boarded a plane yesterday, but at the same time Madzanje village has become our home! We have fallen in love with the 82 children in our residential and community program at Esther's House, our widows, and our staff!  Monday was a perfect way to celebrate our 6 month anniversary! We are now serving lunch 6 days a week at Esther's House! Praise the Lord!  

Thank you for your prayers and support! 

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

1 John 3:1, ESV 

Love our Team!

Cross Church Team

Hello friends and family! We hope you are enjoying the fall weather! We are entering one of the hottest months here in Malawi! We had an amazing team here last week from Cross Church and a family from St. James Missionary Baptist from North West Arkansas. We were so sad to see them leave. They were very busy while they were here. The team painted 2 classrooms at a local primary school and handed out over 200 backpacks. They shared the gospel in a nearby village. Washed all of our widows and orphans feet ( over 100) and gave them new shoes. Taught spiritual development classes, played games, and painted. Then Sunday they led Bible study groups, shared the gospel and baptized many new believers. Their last days here we were able to go to the lake for a missionary meeting and a little R&R. This team was such an encouragement to us! Here are some pictures of their time here. We love having teams and interns at Esther's House! Hopefully you will be on the next team ! :) 

The Pure Mission website has had a makeover :) 

Go to www.puremission.org to check it out! 

Wow! How time flies! Can't believe we have lived in Malawi for almost 5 months. We are loving our new home! This month a team from East Paris Baptist in Texas came for a mission trip. We loved having them! While they were here we spent 4 days in Kachenga camping, sharing the gospel, and had a medical clinic. Here are some pictures from the trip. We spent the majority of the time going from home to home sharing about Christ and inviting everyone to come to see the Jesus film. One of my favorite memories was our "entourage". We had about 20 children following us wherever we went. The neatest part was they heard the gospel many times. Many of the children decided to follow Christ and get baptized! 

Another special moment- we divided up into three groups. Each group had 2 Malawians with them, one pastor/translator and the other was a member from the local church. One of the men who was with us, had recently become a christian. Previously he was a muslim. It was neat to hear him share his testimony how Christ has changed his life with Muslims and several decided to follow Jesus! 

Kachenga is in the Yao region of Malawi. The Yao people are 98.5% Muslim and only 1.5% is Christian. Please pray for this unreached people group, that they will come to know the love of Jesus Christ! 

School is out in Malawi, but we are still continuing our programs  at Esther's House. :) So, we kicked off "Winter Break"  with a reading program this week. Our goal is to make reading come alive. We want the kids to be working hard over the holiday while also enjoying learning. We are having a reading log competition, book buddies, mystery readers, movie nights, and story time. Here is a glimpse into our first week.



Day 1= Shaving cream fun

We started by reading books about snow and then the kids were able to play with "snow" even in Africa ( shaving cream). They had a blast! 

Not quite sure about the shaving cream, yet. ;)

The girls and boys touching shaving cream for the first time. Their faces are priceless!

Lots of giggles and excitement! 

All the kids were hesitant at first, but then they had a blast and wanted more!

Patuma creating a shaving cream master piece!

Day 2= Puppets

The kids enjoyed playing with puppets, listening to the 3 little pigs, and then acting the story out. 

Day 3 = Book Buddies

 It was sweet watching our older students read to their buddies! We will do this each week. 

The kids are taking our reading competition seriously.

It makes my heart happy that they love books!

Flood Relief Part 3

Thank you for returning to our blog for part 3 of our flood relief trip to Chisawa. We spent the day visiting more  families  and inviting them to the Jesus Film. We went to the school to meet with the headmaster and see where we would be showing the movie. While the men were in the meeting we had fun playing Duck Duck Goose with the village children! There is nothing better than children laughing! At night we showed the Jesus film to over 200 people. Even though I didn't understand the movie in Chichewa it was such a neat experience watching others hear the good news of Jesus Christ. 

The following day we worshipped with the local church. It was wonderful celebrating all God had done with new friends. Worship in Malawi is beautiful! I could listen to them sing all day long! Afterwards we distributed food and mats to 50 needy families. Please continue to pray for the people of  Chisawa to come to know the Lord. 

Duck Duck Goose

 I had to take a picture of this tree! Just beautiful! 

Continuing to work on the Church/feeding center

 
Sharing the gospel and praying for all the men who were helping us build the church/ feeding center.

 

 Sharing the Jesus Film

                                                                   Church under a tree


                                         Love worship in Malawi! Songs are sung with such joy and dancing.

                                                                        Our team

                                            Setting up for the food distribution

                                                 

Flood Relief Part 2

Thanks for returning to our blog and reading about day 2 of our flood relief trip to Chisawa.

       The majority of the day was spent making cement and laying brick for the church. We also went into the village to pray, build relationships, and share about Jesus. Thank you for you prayers! We were able to talk to several families about Jesus. They listened intently and where very curious. 

      Anywhere we walked we were followed by a crowd of children ( excited to see the Americans). We had a language barrier obviously since we had only been in Malawi for a week. Thankfully  Titus and I had learned how to say Bo (which means hi/ what's up?). The kids would giggle and say bo back. We taught them how to high five and fist bump. They loved that! We enjoyed meeting all the kids! I love that smiles and laughter are the same in any language. 

I had a very proud aunt moment that I have to share. My oldest nephew, shared about Jesus to a large group of children! He did a wonderful job! It was neat seeing someone so young be brave and share about his faith and Jesus' love. :)

Here are some pictures from our journey... check back next week to learn about our last day and 1/2 in Chisawa! 

The beautiful view from our campsite

 The guys continued to work on laying brick to finish the foundation of the church and began building columns. 

Sugar Cane  break - Titus' first time to try sugar cane

We walked to into the village to share about Jesus and invite people to come to the Jesus Film the next day. All of the village children were excited that we were there and followed us whereever we went. 

  Sharing my testimony with Pastor Stanley translating                                                                           ( we each took turns sharing about how Jesus changed our lives).

The fruit Pastor Stanley is holding was a gift from some of the village children. :) 

It was delicious! 

 Helping prepare for lunch

  Visiting homes and making new friends

The kids loved getting their picture taken and then of course they had to see it :)

 Posing for the camera! They could have done this all day. 

Beautiful way to end our day!