Last days in Lilongwe

Hi friends! Today is our last day in Lilongwe. Tomorrow we leav our wonderful hosts Walker and Katie and drive north to Embangweni with Rev Vasco Kichipapa and his sweet wife Mada. Its hard to describe this first week- whew! We feel like we are just settling in and getting familiar with everything and now we have to take off. But we are really excited about our week in Embangweni where Luke will get to shadow some nurses and doctors and I will get to work with some more children. I think the routine of next week will be good.

Our last few days here have been packed. During our time wirh Rev Kichipapa we have realised that he is not only the Director of the Nkhoma Synod Youth, but he is also a business man! The Youth deparement has several money making projects to help support their work. Without thee projects, their work would be limited. Two projects that he took us to ( that Peachtree has helped sponsor) were the dairy farm and the corn mill (maize mill). Can you imagine is your youth pastor had to take time from his schedule of preaching and meeting with students to tend to the corn mill 100 miles outside the city? It was really exciting to see these projects in action! The most exciting thing was today was visiting a youth meeting at a high school. It was kind of like a young life meeting with singing and dancing and a message. It was a fitting end to the week- seeing all the hard work and money raising in action.

Yesterday we visited 2 hospitals. I think we can both agree that this was the most intense experience so far. After a few days of visiting different sites and feeling a little "bounced around", I have been praying to feel really connected to this trip-- and I think this is what God had in mind. This hospital was like nthing I have ever seen. WOmen were everywhere. They come from the villages and the poorest parts of the city to deliver here. They do 1000 deliveries a month- a MONTH. And the women bring their mothers, aunts, sisters- anyone who can cook for them and care for them during their stay there. They deliever in one big room for delivering- no privacy at all- and only one surgery room. There are several big wards full of women and family members- some sick, some in early labor, some post natal with babies. The doctor who toured us (kind of like a Bono of doctors) gave us some pretty shocking statistics. He told us that for every 100,000 mothers, 600 in Malawi die of childbirth (compare that to only 19 in the United States). It was hard to see such injustice. The doctor argued that these statistics have to do not only with the poverty of Malawi, but also with the status of women in this society. Women essentially have no voice, especially in the poorer villages. In many cases, they are not valued, and their babies are valued less.
We felt blessed that our day ended on a much brighter note. The Morrises then took us to the new public district hospital (called KCM), which was built by a foundation they are working with. The brand new hospital was beautiful. Nothing elaborate, just a clean, quality facility to provide basic quality care for the people here. Our hope is that this new hospital will serve as a symbol of hope to at least some of these young families and mothers. It's claim to fame is that it's supposed to be the first hospital in Africa where a poor, non-paying mother can still have her own private room during delivery. There is something about this that goes beyond money and progress and improvement. Providing this space for every mother who comes in, regardless of class or background, makes a serious value judgment. It's saying that each of these mothers (and their unborn babies) is a child of God. They all are worthy of love, and as God's creations their bodies deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

Please pray for these owmen and health workers. Also pray for rest- we have not quite adjusted to the time and night noises. We'll touch base again soon!
Love, Luke and JS

Pics from Lilongwe via Raymond

Despite what the blog may tell you, this is not Jan Scott or Luke. However, I am Jan Scott's hero and older brother and Luke's favorite of all his older brothers-in-law, Raymond. JS asked me to post some pics for you all to show you they really are alive and that she hasn't started running/swimming westward, yet. Here's the captions she gave me, but I can't seem to get them in order.

0236, Third: me at the women's training school with my hand made doll (they gave me one as a gift!)

0266, Second: visiting dyna (our friends' marshal and amy's sponsored child) and her family at the world vision area development project

0316, First: dancing with simidi's family (our friend's laura and marty's sponsored child) at the world vision ADP

148, Fourth: our room at the morris's (complete with the mosquito net!)

Enjoy and keep them in your prayers!

-Raymond

Quick note

Just a quick note from Jan Scott...

We just wanted to say we love the comments from everyone! Please continue to pray for us as we settle in. We are finally adjusting to the time change and are getting on a good schedule. Like Luke said there is a lot to take in and we are slowly processing everything God is showing us in this beautiful country!

Love to everyone!

ps- Happy anniversary to my sweet parents!! And good luck to Lydia on Sunday in the Iron Girl- you go girl!!

World Vision Visit

Yesterday we went to the Nkhoma ADP (Area Development Project) that’s sponsored by World Vision. Everything about this experience was intense. This ADP was a 20 acre tract of land encompassing about more than 150 villages and around 25,000 people. This was an amazing statistic for us when we saw how rural and remote the area seemed. The villages are so tiny, and it’s amazing to see how many children and adults live in such a small area.
The setting was like something out of National Geographic. I have never seen anything like it before: thatched roofs, barefoot children, and mud roads that are more like ditches. It was a wonder we were not deathly sick riding in the back of World Vision’s Land Cruiser.
During our time in this arid, rugged, mountain terrain, we saw four World Vision children that our Peachtree friends sponsor. (Laura and Marty, Marshall and Amy, She and Jessica, and Staci) In every case, the children were shy, but the entire village came out to greet us. As we approached the village the women were chanting a traditional welcome song. Then the presentation of gifts was an elaborate affair. We would sit down and present a small gift to the child while 50 other children looked on. Then we took lots of pictures, and then we were presented with a gift from the child’s family. We received peanuts (they call them ground nuts over here), potatoes, and a bamboo basket that the ladies had hand-weaved in order to dry dishes with (Marty and Laura: this was your child’s family, so be looking out for a straw basket when we get back to the states!) We were told that people have been given live chickens and goats before.
In the last home we went to, the village had prepared a most elaborate welcome, with songs and dances. Then the family actually welcomed us into their home for a meal. There Jan Scott and I sat on the earthen floor of a 2 room mud house with a thatched roof, and we ate a meal of sima and pinto beans. Sima (pronounced seemah) is their national food, much like grits except blander. We were taught to roll it up into a ball in our hands, and then you dip the ball into the beans, which they call a relish. It was an intense and powerful experience to accept genuine hospitality from people who were so poor and yet truly generous with what they had.
We were especially impressed by the World Vision leaders who accompanied us through the ADP. They were all extremely knowledgeable about Malawian politics, world affairs, and the struggles of non-government organizations (NGO’s) to promote sustainability in some of the poorest countries in the world, like Malawi. We both really felt that God has these organizations here for a reason, in addition to the church, to be part of His mission in the world.

First week in Malawi!

Hello all! Greetings from the "Warm Heart of Africa!" We cannot tell you how crazy the last three days have been- overhwhelming, amazing, tiring, eye opening, wonderful, sad, joyful-- and sometimes all at the same time. We got to Lilongwe on Monday afternoon and got settled in with our wonderful hosts for the week. The Morris's have been SO accomodating and welcoming!

Let's see if I can give a brief overview of our time here so far... so much has happened in the last 48 hours its hard to believe its just been 2 days! We met up with Reverend Vasco Kichipapa on Tuesday morning and it was so wonderful to finally meet him! He is the director of the Youth for the Synod of Nkhoma (youth = age 5- 30!) and he is a partner with Peachtree Pres. He took us to his office and then out to see the Youth Camp run by the Synod where he does trainings (kind of like conferences) for youth who are leaders in their churches. Clearly his job is huge. He has over 100 congregations and does not have a reliable car. The youth camp we visited was about 35 miles out a dirt road- and when i say dirt road- imagine a road with ditches on both sides and sometimes in the middle. They close the camp in the rainy season because it is too hard to navigate. People ride by on bikes carrying other people, firewood stacked 4 feet high, 100 pound bags of coal- whatever! And everywhere children are running and women are carrying babies on their backs- tied on with cloths- straight out of National Geographic. People are everywhere! Every mile or so there would be a "village" of huts and maybe a "storefront." It is like nothing I have ever seen. At the camp we met Absalom who is the camp manager. He became a Christian when he attended the camp as a young man and now runs the camp. He was really a man of God.

After the camp we visited a Woman's Training School also run by the Synod. They have courses for women to train them to be teachers, in computer literacy, and other skills. This was a big highlight for me because the day we got there the women were preparing for their "final examin" to be nursery school teachers. The lack of teacher training is huge in Malawi, and these women are some of the few who get training at all. BUT because these women live in villages where supplies are not guarenteed, they are trained to make EVERYTHING from scratch. They had made beads (for fine motor development- they told me- just like we use in my class) from cutting up reeds along the river. They were finishing up their hand sewn dolls. They has designed and constructed a jungle gym with local carpenters. All the concepts that we use in my PreK class were there- they were just using completely homemade materials. (Erynn, Akilah can you imagine?!) While we were having coffee with the missionary who runs the training school, one of the students brought me a gift from the women- one of the homemade dolls! It was beautiful- such a treasure.

Just writing about all of this is exhausting and that's exactly hos we have felt at the end of each day. Exhausted, but inspired but the great workd God is doing here in Malawi. Amen!

We made it!

(To South Africa at least!)

One huge plane (a B777 for those interested), 2 cozy seats, 18 refills on water, 2 and a half movies, 15 hours, and 2 very helpful sleeping pills later... We made it to Africa! The flight was not as bad as we anticipated and we both slept a lot. We checked in to our airport hotel, had a nice dinner, and are getting ready to fly out to Lilongwe, Malawi tomorrow to meet our friends and wonderful hosts for the week Katie and Walker Morris (Kate Morris Stanley's parents). We feel like just making here was a big part of our journey and we can't wait to get to Lilongwe tomorrow. Judging from the super slow connection at the hotel... things may get shaky on the blog front once we get to Lilongwe, but we'll try to keep you updated. Please pray for safe travel tomorrow (and for our bags to get there!) and for us to have a spirit of flexibility, thanksgiving, and enthusiasm as we begin our work.


Love to everyone!!

Here we go....for real this time

We're headed to the airport. In about an hour. Let's give a special shout out to Aunt Jane and Uncle John, who graciously offered to take us to the airport. Pray that check-in and the flight itself will run smoothly, and that we will get at least a little sleep on the plane. We'll write again when we get there!

Love,
Luke and jS

Pack it up!

Now here's a packing challenge... get all this into one bag... Yikes!

But here's a packing blessing... Look at all these wonderful donations! Our Sunday School class (shout out to all the Proclaimers) collected cloth diapers, medicine, and stickers. My awesome PreK team donated lots of extra colored pencils and markers for children in the World Vision Area Development Project (ADP). And even sweet KJ Saffold let me take his baby carrier over to use in the Crisis Nursery (see their blog link- Suffer the Little Children). Luke's dad went through all of his old ties for us to take to the men, and we also got some tea towels for the women. My favorite gifts were these sweet finger puppets my dad bought for us in Montreat at Ten Thousand Villages. We tried to pick out African animal and US farm animals. Every child loves puppets right? Aren't they sweet?

What a blessing it has also been to hear from so many friends!! Once we sent out our prayer calender and blog link we have gotten the sweetest notes and encouragement. Keep the comments coming! Thank you! God is good!

(and now I know how to post pictures- yes!)

Here we go...

Welcome to our blog! Neither of us has ever done this before... and we are not sure how much Internet access we'll have once we arrive in Malawi but its worth a try!

Luke and I leave in 5 days (!!) for a month long mission trip to Malawi, a small country in southern Africa. Its know as the "warm heart of Africa." Why Malawi? You ask... Well we have both always wanted to go to Africa to see God's work there. last summer, both of Jan Scott's brothers, Raymond and Owen went with groups from Myers Park Presbyterian Church and had life changing experiences. When we realized that we had this month free this summer, we decided to explore the possibility of a trip with our church, Peachtree Presbyterian. One thing led to another and before we knew it, God has us heading to Malawi! Along the way we have felt so encouraged and supported by friends here in Atlanta, at both Peachtree Pres. and Kairos Church, friends far away, and of course by our families.

While we are not always the first to step out of our comfort zones (especially me- Jan Scott!), we know we go covered in the prayers of many who love us. And most importantly, we go in God's hands to be a part of His plan. Our prayer during our preparations has been for flexibility and peace, and we continue to meditate on Jeremiah 29: 11-13.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

So here we go. Let's get this journey started!