Skip to main content

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.

Popular posts from this blog

Let the River Flow: Why WorldHope Corps digs village wells

  Sunday Sermon at the The Water's Edge in OB , San Diego, CA. "Woman at the Well" (John 4:7-15) When you think about the gospel story of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at Jacob’s well, I’d like you to picture this Woman at a similar well in northern Malawi. Sitting and talking with Pastor Dennis Singini about water. Her name is Nyang'oma, which means "drum." Her Christian name is Mary Botha. She is 85 years old and lives in a village in the Kampenda area of Northern Malawi. She has cared for 11 children, two of whom have died. And her husband has died. When Dennis and I first met Mary in 2008, her village did not have a deep well or access to clean water. Nor did the six surrounding villages with over 1,500 people. Women and children had to drink with animals from shallow seasonal wells or walk about of 5km away to drink from the closest stream. Sometimes they would get sick and complain of stomach aches. Cholera and dysentery were widespread, and m...

Water Buckets for for washing hands Needed in Malawi

“Sadly, I do think most deaths will be in those countries (Africa, Asia and South America), and the most extreme economic pain..."  --  Bill Gates on PBS News Hour, April 7, 2020 EASTER 2020:  We’re all coping the best we can during this Easter season of hopeful-struggle in the face of the Global pandemic by the name of Covid-19.    “Brace yourselves,” I say to our international ministry partners,“ as new cases in their countries surface and testing begins.   How to help them prepare, put basic provisions in place, and help the people stay healthy and safe.   COVID CARE KITS, our Easter campaign this year, urgently seeks cash donations to help our front-line ministry partners in Malawi, Uganda, and Palestine procure and distribute soap and sanitizers, face masks, and emergency food, in areas most at risk for the coronavirus which has already arrived. WorldHope Corps sponsors two Hope Tailoring Schools in Malawi and Uganda, and a child develo...

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...