Dear supporters and readers,
Let me give you a glimpse of what you’ve paid for (continue to pay for).
Welcome to the Dzoole village in the Ntcheu province of Malawi. There is no electricity or running water yet. It is a large village. The primary school has about 1,000 students and the day care can easily pack about 100 children into its one room. The village is a safe place. It is impossible to go anywhere without being accompanied by at least 15 kids and the entire village raises them together. One of the first days we were here our host made a joke about seriously needing some family planning help.
Although the village is large, friendly, and filled with smiling faces it is also very poor. People here draw water from a well and live off the land. They walk everywhere they go and a lot of teachers are either practice teachers or volunteering. There is hardly enough food to go around and nutrition is an entirely different story.
While here we have had the pleasure of helping in the day care. The other morning we arrived at 8a.m. as scheduled, but no teachers were there. About 40 2-5 year olds had already arrived (they walk for at least a mile by themselves to get there). They were all obediently waiting for a teacher to arrive to unlock the one room building and usher them in. The teachers are not trained and work entirely out of a volunteer basis. One woman who comes regularly looks to be in her 70’s and bring porridge for the children, which she makes herself. Most of the children come simply because this is the only meal they will receive that day. There is no food at home and their bellies are enlarged due to malnutrition. There are no books, toys, art supplies, or lesson plans in this building. The children sing the same two or three educational songs they know every day, play a few games, eat a bowl of porridge and then walk home again. Everyone is gone before 11a.m.
The teachers approached us, pleading for money to feed the children because they are too hungry to learn. They also asked for a salary for themselves so they can continue volunteering. At this time we can do little for the teachers wages but it is your money (and people like you) that did this:
Today my team and I participated in a food drive for the village that will feed the entire village a meal every day for the next several months. The day care has enough to ensure the kids are fed plenty for at least 5 months. My team and I were able to ensure the preschoolers ate, but the Lord multiplied the food that arrived into about 120 massive bags of this meal. I’ve eaten porridge meal and it is anything but yummy, however, watching these kids eat you would think they had been handed an ice cream sundae.
And just because God can:
While in the village I have prayed for three bold and tangible things.
All have been answered multiple times over. While living here it has down poured multiple times (which is huge because they use bore hole pumps and rivers for water and most of it is dried up). A food truck delivering massive amounts of food, and the transformer the village has been waiting on for a long time so the village can get electricity finally arrived. When we got here we asked when it was expected and no one had any idea. The people kept saying ‘when the money arrives so we can have it delivered’. The next team that stays in the village will have electricity. We are now watching them put up power lines.
These are the things your money goes toward when you make a donation to my world race account. And, because you know me and can read my blogs, you will directly know how much of a difference you really are making. Please continue to support me financially. I’m not fully funded yet, but getting close. God will use us to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and much much more.
