Day Nine: Mission Trip Concludes in Lilongwe

Mission accomplished in Mzuzu! (details to follow when time and access allow. We are now here in Lilongwe, capital of Malawi, safe and sound. We enjoyed a great feast at the 4 star Four Seasons restaurant/resort last night. Really good food, festive setting, koi ponds, gardens, etc to help us process the nine day mission and celebrate our activities and accomplishments, lessons and gifts received from the faithful, loving people of the 'warm heart of Africa.' I do love this kind of work, and all the fun, debriefing and process times, personal transformations, and contributions to God's work in the world I witness on these missions.

No one got too sick (me not at all) on the trip. Those most physically fit got off their health and diet routine a bit, but its all good. Claire and Christian, who we left behind to continue the work as shalom interns, plan to move out of their new digs because they can't close their windows to the bugs. Back to Katoto Guest House which comparatively works better for them. Claire preaches in the UMC today and Christian will preach next week (his first sermon). Both seem comfortable and confident in their surroundings, and eager to serve and make a difference.

Three of us will continue on to JoBurg later today. The rest of the team is eager to return home (but not too eager because it really was a good and important mission trip, with significant contributions made and lasting gifts received). We all wonder how well we will re-adjust to our nomal life and routines.

I'll upload photos and details when I return home, and ask each member of the team to add a post to this mission trip blog.

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry, Drew University; and International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book. In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives. Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth. When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A The...

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Not Afraid of Death by Julia Esquivel

In reading your blog, Michael, I immediately think of these two poems is poem by Julia Esquivel, from Guatemala, whom I had the pleasure of meeting years ago. Un abrazo, Ada Maria I AM NOT AFRAID OF DEATH I am no longer afraid of death I know well Its dark and cold corridors Leading to life. I am afraid rather of that life Which does not come out of death, Which cramps our hands And slows our march. I am afraid of my fear And even more of the fear of others, Who do not know where they are going, Who continue clinging To what they think is life Which we know to be death! I live each day to kill death; I die each day to give birth to life, And in this death of death, I die a thousand times And am reborn another thousand Through that love From my People Which nourishes hope! THREATEN WITH RESURRECTION They have threatened us with Resurrection There is something here within us which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest, which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside. It is t...

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