Well, my squad and I finished up our month in Romania and we all traveled together to Africa. My team and I are in Lilongwe, Malawi this month. I’m a long way from home. Get it?
This month, my team and I are connected with a man named Pastor Duncan and his wife. Pastor Duncan helped to start a ministry is called “The Fountain of Holy Fire Ministry.” It sounds intense, and it is! We are staying in the home of Pastor Duncan and his wife. They have graciously given up their bedroom for my team and I. The transition from Europe to Africa has been a challenge. I didn’t realize how many comforts from home still lingered in Albania and Romania. The home where we are staying has no internet capability and we often lose electricity. For now we have internet access once per week when we travel into the city. We are about 20 minutes outside the capital, Lilongwe. I have never seen poverty like this in my life.
A couple of quick facts about Malawi. Malawi is the poorest country in the world. Also, Malawi has an average life span of about 40-45 years of age. HIV is a huge problem here in Malawi. There are many orphans because of the HIV epidemic. As I mentioned above, the poverty here is extreme. Many people are without work. Pastor Duncan and his ministry are trying to help with these problems in tangible ways.
Last week we spent a lot of time helping with child care at the church. There are many young women involved in the ministry and they all seem to have several young children. My team and I have been teaching the children games like Red Rover (my favorite!) and holding babies. It can be overwhelming with so many children. A baby peed on me last week. I had an eye opening moment about the poverty here when a little boy came up to me, hysterically crying. I don’t speak the language and didn’t know what was wrong or how to comfort him. I looked down at his swollen belly and thought “he’s hungry.”
I spotted a little girl that had some snacks that looked like cheese curls. I motioned/gently demanded for her to share some with the little boy. She opened her bag for him, and I motioned for him to take some. He looked up at me in disbelief. His eyes widened, and his tears stopped. He started to devour the snacks. It was so humbling to think he might not have eaten that much that day. We’re helping where we see need and I am sure that will look different from day to day. Our time here has made me realize how incredibly blessed I am. Please keep me in prayer during this transition.
I am so thankful that God has provided so much funding for me to be here. Every day this week I have thought…”I’m in Africa!!” It’s strange and exciting. Insert the opening song to the Lion King 🙂 I would not be here with out the loving support of people like you. I still need about 4,000 dollars to be fully funded for the World Race. Would you help me reach this goal? To support me just click the “support me” tab under my blog. Thank you!
