Mission Friends, it has been a while for me to write a blog / update on our life and work here in Malawi. By the grace of God we are doing well in many ways. We visited our home country for some weeks in July/Aug. It was good to see our relatives and friends and enjoy those things we miss when we are here. We stayed mostly in the province of Zeeland in Vlissingen, city at the sea.
We all always really enjoy the ‘bike-culture’ in The
Netherlands; wherever you go (town, church, friends, office) you take the bike
even if it’s cold or rainy, unless the distance is more than 10 miles… Our
little boys covered many miles too…the special bike-paths are very smooth,
straight and safe, unlike Malawi!
And everywhere the grass is green, whatever season.
We had to say goodbye / farewell to our loved ones for two
years. That was especially hard with regards to my grandparents, being 90 and
92. Our journey went well, we were impressed by the way we were received at Kenya airport
in tents (one week ago the whole international terminal had burned down).
During our flight to Lilongwe, the third leg of the journey, we all fell
asleep…I always have mixed feelings during landing…sitting in my luxury
airplane chair coming from ‘polished European civilization’ seeing the mud
hut’s, donkey-carts and women carrying buckets of water on the head from the well,
through my window. The transition in the 24 hour journey is almost too abrupt.
Right when we got back I was called to an emergency in the
village Grace and I work. The 15 year old handicapped girl who was raped when
she was 13 and has a 20 month old baby was caught in a fire. She suffered
terrible wounds. We have been giving her antibiotics and bandaged her every day.
The wounds could have easily killed her but the Lord has answered our prayers.
Tiya is doing very well now. The wounds are almost closed and she is able to sit
up and move somewhat. What a witness to the relatives in the community!
We started the children programs also, teaching the group
little ones under the public tree and the older ones in our ‘classroom’. When I
walked into the village the kids all came running up to me with very happy
faces. They had really missed the programs. Last week I did a quiz with
questions about all the stories we have taught so far. It was a lot of fun and
excitement. The winning group received prices. We have been teaching the Beginning
(Genesis), then jumped to the NT with Christmas, continued with the life of
Christ and now reaching Jesus suffering and death.
As you might know this is the dry season (we don’t have the
four seasons familiar to most of you). The rain ceased in April and will
hopefully come back in December. That means it is very dry and dusty now. I
always feel bad for the people walking and biking along the road when I pass
with the car, leaving them in a cloud of dust. The house also gets much quicker
dirty and the sky does not look so clear blue as it is during the rainy season.
Our kids started school 22 August; all four are in ABC Christian
Academy. This school is a
wonderful mix of local (Malawian) kids (70%) and kids from abroad (30%). For
Joas and Rhoda already their third Malawian school year, for Obed the second
and Moses the first! Every Friday morning the kids spend time in chapel where
the Word of God is being shared, hymns are being taught and classes get turns
performing a song, skit or memorize Bible verses. Here Moses first one at front
row. (Reception, Kindergarten and 1st grade).
Two Canadian volunteers came to stay with us and did a great
job computerizing 4400 books of Logos Resource centre and putting them in a
system so that the pastors being trained there can start using them now. Besides the training days at Logos Cees also started
teaching three times a week a class of Systematic Theology at ABC. A great
opportunity to teach 60 third year students and give them a firm foundation
before they become leaders wherever God puts them.
Being 13, Joas has become very independent now. He decided
to bike to and from school so that we don’t need to provide transport anymore.
The roads here are not that safe so we pray the Lord will give His protection.
Rhoda is really enjoying school now. Even though she misses
her friend who left to Germany
in June, she is happy with new friends that we prayed for. She participates in
many activities, mostly related to music.
This morning I had a meeting with some women of the literacy
class at Grace. I brought tea (and lots of sugar), bread and papaya and we had
our own ‘Papaya-High-Tea’, while we shared Gods Word and also taught them a
first lesson on the benefits of Papaya (there are many).
Last but not least I have to make a need known to you and I
ask if you will pray for this need. So far I have been able to fund the programs
we do in the community with donations from a few groups in North
America and The Netherlands. The funds are drying up and I fear,
if we don’t get any donations soon, we won’t be able to continue doing what we
do now (and then I have dreams far beyond that…the Lord knows). To put it into
facts, this is what we use per month:
-1000 Coloring pictures with Bible verse = 10.000
Kwacha ($30)
-Porridge to help malnourished baby and mother = 3000 Kwacha
($9)
-Bread or fritters for 250 kids once a month = 6000 Kwacha ($18)
-Prices for memorizing Scripture and catechism = 4000 Kwacha
($12)
-Medicines for burns, worms, malaria etc = 5000 Kwacha ($15)
-Transport to community
= 10.000 kwacha ($30)
-Chichewa Bible stories and pictures for literacy = 8000
Kwacha ($24)
-Exercise books and pencils = 4000 Kwacha ($12)
-Go-to-school program = 6000 Kwacha ($18)
-Volunteer support Grace = 9000 Kwacha ($27)
-Pastors wives meetings = 15.000 quarterly ($45)
If you feel inclined to support this ministry we would
really appreciate, mostly the people we serve. There are different
possibilities of raising funds. Maybe a
bake-sale, a marathon walk, a fund-raise-dinner, a collection….you name it. I
now bring this matter into the hands of our Heavenly Father.
