Whew!

Well yesterday we woke up in Malawi and 20 hours of plane riding later... here we are back in Atlanta. My mom and Luke's parents were waiting for us and it was a great feeling to see them at the baggage claim! We are up to our eyeballs in laundry but through all the craziness of today we have been overcome by a feeling of gratitude. God has truly been good to us during this past month- especially when we think about all of our travelling to and around and from Malawi. We are so thankful to be home, but even more thankful for the friends we met over there. We are processing everything a mile a minute- and again thankful for friends here with whom we can share and process this trip. So if you are in Atlanta- come around so we can give you a big hug and tell you a story! And we want to know what's been going with yall too!

love, js and luke

We have indeed been blessed in our short stay here in Mzuzu. We have really enjoyed our time at the Crisis Nursery, and we know it will be really difficult to say good-bye to all of the infants and toddlers this afternoon. We see how many of them, especially the older ones, have all developed such unique and wonderful personalities. The Hellers have told us how difficult it can be once these babies start walking, and it is time to take them back to the villages. On the one hand, it is a joyful occasion, as these babies in most cases are going back to family members who love them and want to provide for them. Sometimes, however, the families (and the entire villages) are so poor that you know the child has little chance of being adequately nourished, clothed, and cared for. We all feel strongly that the babies should go back to their families, but it is difficult when you know the villages are so full of children that the babies’ chances of receiving individual attention and loving attention are slim.

Yesterday I (Luke) went with Jim McGill, the water and sanitation coordinator for the Presbyterian Synod in Livingstonia, on an all-day tour of various latrines, water pumps, and other sanitation devices. I am sure that all of you in the US are so jealous that I got to spend all day looking down at latrines in grass huts! In all honesty, it was pretty interesting for me to see how many of the new latrines and sanitation projects are coordinated by local schools and communities. Each primary and secondary school in this district have a sanitation committee that encourages proper hygiene and promotes proper use of the new latrines. Many of the new latrines are ingenuitive designs, whereby you mix ash and soil with the human waste to create an excellent fertilizer. The latrines then essentially become a compost, where after a year the fertilizer can be used to improve crops and increase yields. We saw some latrine systems that really were being tended to well, while we saw others that were being neglected. We discovered that while non-profit organizations and churches can install compost latrines and clean water pumps all day long, ultimately the success of this technology depends on strong leadership in the communities and the communities’ willingness to take ownership in it.

This morning we went with an Irish missionary woman who has organized a Montessori school here in Mzuzu. She is the Education coordinator for the Livingstonia Presbyterian synod, based here in Mzuzu. It was amazing to see the stark contrast between the supplies and resources in this Montessori school and the lack of supplies in most of the village nursery schools. They had all of the geometrical shapes, patterns, puzzles, letters, and words that I remember from my time at Montessori way back when! It was also refreshing to talk with an educator here in Malawi who is really committed to child-centered learning and bringing this to the 300 village nursery schools under the synod’s supervision. (Quite a big job!)

(Jan Scott typing now…)
We leave Mzuzu tomorrow for Lilongwe and like Luke said, we will definitely be sad to leave. We have met some wonderful people- including a longtime partner and friend of Myers Park Pres in Charlotte (my home church). Rev Highson Gondwe is the pastor at a big Presbyterian church in Mzuzu and we had a wonderful visit with him over tea on Tuesday. He sends his love to everyone at MPPC! (especially the Tuckers and Lydia, the apple pie lady ) He actually got to meet both of my brothers last summer- so that was fun!

We also met up with Owen, a driver for the synod who has driven many of our friends- especially from Myers Park. He was so excited to take us to his home to meet his family. Martha, a woman from Peachtree Pres, visited Malawi almost 10 years ago and was so touched by her friendship with Owen that she has helped him build a house for his family. He took us in every room and was so proud of his home- as he should be. After spending just a few hours with him, we could see why he was so special. God has certainly blessed us with wonderful people like this here- what a gift!

Not sure how internet will be in Lilongwe, so this may be our last post until we are back home in Atlanta on Tuesday morning! (Bring on the Chic Fil A! Kidding… kind of…) Keep checking if you’d like, as we hope to post a few more pictures once we are back home. We are still processing this whole experience. The time has gone by quickly, but we also feel like we have experienced so much! God has absolutely stirred our hearts (sometimes shaken them up!) and we feel truly blessed to have spent a month here in Malawi. We are sad to leave but we are really excited to come home and see all of you and share!

Blessings sweet friends!

xo, js (and luke)

BABIES!!!

My cute, darling, adorable, baby sister sent these today. Do y'all see why Madonna keeps stealing them? Thought so.

the [last] 2 are from when we took some on a walk- the nannies tied junior on to me with a chitenzie- very malawian :)

the [first] 2 are quite typical- us being tackled by several babies as soon as we sit down. the babies usually win...

thanks bro!!!

-Raymond

More pics

JS's descriptions:

1. Luke doing an impromptu puppet show at an orphan nursery school

2. women and children waiting for the Ekwendeni Hospital mobile medical clinic (where they weigh babies, get vaccinations, etc. ) And we think we have to wait for a long time to see the doctor! Luke got to assist these mobile clinics in both Ekwendeni and Embangeni. Because the hospital serves an area of over 600 square km, these mobile clinics are essential for reaching women in the most remote villages.

...And I've been promised crisis nursery pictures tomorrow! All you baby lovers get ready.
-Raymond

Ministry of Hope

Hello all!

We made it to Mzuzu and the Lord has yet again provided some wonderful people to take care of us during this last week in Malawi! I can't believe we head home just one week from today!

We got to Mzuzu Friday night- we left Ekwendeni a bit early because not much happens on Saturdays at the hospital. The McGills (Presbyterian missionaries) had invited us to church in Mzuzu on Sunday so we decided to go ahead and move on to Mzuzu. Debbie Chase, another Presbyterian missionary who teaches at the Ekwendeni seminary, picked us up and took us to dinner Friday night. It was such a blessing to process some of the past 3 weeks with her over chicken and rice. This weekend we also took advantage of the proximity to beautiful Lake Malawi and take a day trip on Saturday. It was amazing- it felt like a day at the beach. We wont tell you all the details of how we got there and back... lets just say it involved a van, circa 1992, packed with 20 people and a door falling off the whole way back to Mzuzu.

One Sunday we joined to McGills for church with their six sweet children and then Luke led a Bible study for the Gideons in the afternoon. He did a great job and the men really seemed to enjoy it- they didn't want to let Luke leave!

Sunday night the McGills invited us to come to a dinner they were having to welcome some Scottish missionaries back to Malawi. It was a wonderful chance to meet many missionaries- from the US and other places that we have been emailing with all winter. We were so encouraged by all the wonderful people we met! These people are certainly called by God to be here doing what they do- teaching, preaching, healing, leading- whatever! It was really nice to spend time with them.

Today was our first day at the Crisis Nursery. It is such a special place. I think Luke explained it a bit, but most of the babies have lost one or both parents, and the nursery takes care of the babies until they are healthy and a family member is able to come and care for them again. The nursery does follow up visits to make sure the children are being cared for by their relatives. A few are HIV positive, but all are healthy. The wonderful nannies this morning were telling us each baby's story. There are 2 sets of twins, and Prisca, one nanny, told us one set of twins came in so tiny- just bones she said. Their mother had died and their father was in such mourning and he thought the twins would die too so he wanted nothing to do with them. They spent 3 weeks in the hospital and were slowly nursed back to health. Today they are happy and giggly and this morning they were clapping along when we were singing songs. Now, Prisca told us, their father comes back once a month (on family visit days) and wont leave- he cant wait to get them back! The newest child is a one month old baby girl who was found in a pit latrine- can you imagine?!? She was totally abandoned! By God's grace she was unharmed and healthy. Thank God for this place! I'm so glad we will spend our last week here- This organization is called "Ministry of Hope" for a reason.

Love to all!

ps- I learned how to change a cloth diaper today. Woohoo!

New Pics from the Farmers

Everybody's favorite older brother here, again. JS sent me these this morning. Check out JS's very appropriate duds in the first 2 pictures. Who said anything about a comfort zone?!? I think they got some pictures mixed up (there is supposed to be a hiking picture from July 4th, which was traded for the ATL shirt on the little boy with Luke). However, I think that one is some of the students she worked with in Embangweni. The mass of children in somewhat of a circle is a Duck, Duck, Goose game! It's from an orphan nursery school (see the post below). From personal experience, I know that JS and Luke's mere presence is like a magnet for every child within 10 miles to come running up to them. It might make playing DDG a little tricky, but all the more fun. Enjoy!
-Raymond

The Faces of AIDS

Hi Friends!

Just taking advantage of the good internet connection here in Ekwendeni. Yesterday we had a pretty intense day where we looked AIDS right in the face. We traveled out into the community with the director of the AIDS program for the hospital- Esther. This woman wears many hats at the hospital, and wears them well. The AIDS programs that she coordinates includes an orphan care program, a home based care program (visiting patients at home), youth education, and HIV testing. She also has to play business woman, and raise funds for these programs. Government pays for some things- like selective drugs and testing, but that only goes so far.

We piled in a truck and headed out to get feed for the pigs (a fund raising part of the program) from the maize mill. Believe it or not, we are getting pretty familiar with maize mills here in Malawi. Then we headed out to a tiny village- 30 minutes down really bumpy, dusty roads (again, we are getting really familiar with these as well...). We arrived in a village with about 5 mud huts and met Green, a man living with HIV. He invited us inside his house- no bigger than a small bathroom in the US. We went in with Webster, who runs the Home Based Care program. Webster explained that this man had contracted HIV 3 years ago and was having reactiong to the ARV drugs. He has some skin rashes and was having difficulty even standing up, but was actually doing better- and was walking with a homemade cane. He told Webster he was feeling no pain, but he was trying to renovate the roof of his house because it leaked in the rainy season. Webster told us the Home Based Care program was helping him fix his roof because they knew when he died, his 3 young children would need to be looked after. I couldn’t even imagine those preparations. Webster also advised him to come back to the hospital in one month to be checked out. Again- I cant even imagine his journey to the hospital- walking down those dusty roads for hours, hoping someone picks him up. As we sat there in his tiny hut, hearing about how he shares it with his 3 children and young wife, I realized that this was what AIDS looks like. A man, only 34, trying to prepare his home for his small children that he will inevitably leave behind. And his wife- dutifully cleaning his wounds and cooking for him and her children, knowing what is coming. And yet, God is using this man Green- he volunteers to keep the pigs that the AIDS program sells for fundraising. He was so proud of them and we took many pictures. Luke asked me what I was thinking when we left- and all I could think about was how we complaining about our small house in Atlanta.

From there we went to see a nursery school- mixed with orphans and non orphans (so as not to discriminate). Every village that the hospital serves has a one of these orphan nursery schools- over 300! These children were so happy and full of life, you might forget that most of them have experienced so much death already. But Esther pointed out several that had been badly burned, blaming the lack of supervision after their parents have gone. The community really does step in and take care of the orphans, as most of the teachers are volunteers. And at the nursery school they get at least one nutritious meal a day. The teachers keep the children busy with songs, dancing, games, counting, ABC reciting—all kinds of activities. Esther said the aim is to keep their mind off the sadness in their lives. But I kept thinking about how lonely the nights must be- with no one to tuck them in or say their prayers with them. Please pray for the orphans, and pray for a cure for this horrible disease.

Tomorrow we leave for Mzuzu to spend our week in the Crisis Nursery. I am excited to get back to those precious babies! What joy and hope there is in a baby’s face! Jim and Jodi McGill (Presbyterian missionaries who we met in Atlanta) and their 6 children have invited us for dinner Sunday night. Luke has also scored yet another teaching engagement with the Gideons in Mzuzu- word is out on the Divinity grad in town! We are also looking forward to connecting with other friends and friends of friends in Mzuzu- I think it will be a great week to end our time here. We miss everyone and appreciate your prayers so much!

xo, js (and luke)

ps- We heard the internet is great in Mzuzu so we hope to send lots of pictures there!

Updates on the young travelers

Raymond here. Luke sent me this to post. Enjoy!

This is Luke. Now I have been waiting for the Internet to load for the past 45 minutes, I don’t have too long to actually write anything. We’ve discovered that’s about par for the course for Internet in Malawi. But at least we have access.

A lot has happened since we last updated. Back in Embangweni I was asked to preach at the Loudon CCAP Presbyterian congregation, the church at the center of Embangweni mission station. At first it was a bit stressful. I had to type my notes for the sermon out on 3 separate computers, and there was only one printer in the entire station that finally worked. I spent the better part of one day walking around trying to find a computer and a printer that would work together. Yet the Lord was faithful in helping me preach clearly and energetically on Sunday morning. The church is quite large, with no sound amplification expect for the stone floors. So I had to shout the sermon at such high volume that I felt I was a televangelist. Being the loving, amazing wife she is, Jan Scott sat in the church on Saturday and listened to the sermon twice to help with my volume control. Ultimately, I think the message was clear and faithful to the text. I preached on 1 Corinthians 12, discussing the importance of unity in the body of Christ.

Tuesday we found out last minute that there was going to be a free ride from Embangweni to Mzuzu, on an ambulance of all things. So we hopped in the back of the ambulance (which is a big Land Cruiser 4x4 here) and rode to Mzuzu over bumpy dirt roads. When we got to Mzuzu, our clothes were covered in dust. We looked as if we had been rolling around in a ditch.

We had the blessing of briefly meeting Paul and Darlene Heller at the Crisis Nursery in Mzuzu. This was a wonderful place to rest after our bumpy journey. We washed our hands and took off our shoes before entering the nursery, which is home to 12 babies, ages 0 to 18 months. Most of the families of these babies are temporarily unable to care for the infants, either because of financial reasons, sickness, or death in the family. The best news is that while most babies stay here until they are roughly 1 ½, many return to their families afterwards. The babies were really cute indeed. Jan Scott was clearly in baby heaven, and there were a few that wooed me as well. It was amazing to see how even at such a young age, babies have such distinct personalities. We will be going back there later this week, so more on the Crisis Nursery later.

We caught a ride to Ekwendeni from Mzuzu with Jodi McGill, our missionary friend who we had met in Atlanta! We really enjoyed getting to catch up with her, and we look forward to spending more time with her and Jim next week back in Mzuzu.

We arrived in Ekwendeni last night. We are still getting acclimated, but have really enjoyed it so far. There is only one physician here, a Dutch woman, but I enjoyed shadowing her today. The saddest thing was seeing the number of small children with really severe burns, in severe pain. Apparently this is quite common here in villages, as the poor have no other way to stay warm in the cold season than to light a fire right next to their beds at night. There was also a drunk guy who was about to die with a blood sugar level of 0. They gave him an I.V. of glucose, and he recovered quickly. We have met several other British medical students in our guest house as well, and have quickly made friends. Today Jan Scott weighed babies (meaning she wrapped them in sarongs and put them on a hook scale exactly like the ones we weight vegetables on in grocery stores!) and organized drugs to be handed out to AIDS patients.

We thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We hope to write again soon!

Love,

Luke and JS

Our week in Embangweni!

Hey friends!

Happy Fourth of July! I'm sorry its taken so long to post- we are in a really remote area of Malawi and just to give you a picture- I'm using the only Internet connection in the village right now, through a cell phone!

We got here on Sunday and have really loved our time here. Embangweni is a mission station here in Malawi- meaning it was founded by Presbyterian missionaries. There is a hospital, a church, a school, and also a school for the deaf. The "head of station" is the pastor of the church- Reverend Gondwe. We have really enjoyed meeting him and his precious 2 daughters. He actually talked Luke into preaching to English service tomorrow morning! What an honor and quite an experience!

Luke has spent the week at the hospital shadowing Martha Sommers, an American doctor sponsored by the Presby church. He has also spent lots of time observing surgery (saw his first C sections!) and with Joyce, a nurse who runs the family planning and prenatal care clinic. One Friday he went out with the Mobil Clinic team into the villages to give vaccinations, educate people about HIV, and do check us for babies. He has especially enjoyed the pediatric ward where he has seen many cases of malaria, malnutrition, and other things we don't really see in the US. I'm not really doing his experience justice. He has found this week eye opening, interesting, and completely challenging. He has made friends with 2 "surgeons" (who actually have less training than our doctors- maybe only 2 years) who have been so impressive. Everyone at the hospital does such a great job- even with tragedy right around the corner. We actually went hiking with them this morning.

I have spent my week teaching in the primary school. The students start having all their subjects in English starting in Standard 5 (grade 5) so I taught there all week. Because I cannot teach Agriculture (yes, that's a subject. The teacher asked me how farmers in the US learned how to farm is we don't have Agriculture in schools?), I have been teaching math and English. It has been a blast, but SO different. There are almost 100 children in the class, and the rooms are just concrete blocks. Not chairs, desks, teacher table. Just a chalk board (when was the last time you saw one of those?) and rows of children sitting on the dusty floor. When I say, "Good morning!" All 100 stand up and say, "Good morning teacher! How are you?" Its quite a change... I have just been soaking up everything. One of their subjects is Life Skills where they learn about HIV and Malaria- almost every lesson is packed with lessons about contracting disease. Nothing US children have much to worry about. The other Standard 5 teacher is really great. She asks so many questions- Do you have AIDS in the US? DO children walk to school or ride buses? How many children are in your classes? In the US I hear they have machine for everything, even washing the plates and cups- is it true? On Tuesday I played my first game of Net Ball with the teachers after school- really fun. Overall its been a great week, but I don't how the teachers do anything without ANY materials. I taught my class how to "kiss your brain" when they did well during the lesson. They loved it. Actually everywhere we go children seem to follow us. They shot out "Mr. Luke! Mrs Farmer!" Luke is quite popular. :)

I also observed the nursery school. Pictures 40 children, ages 2 to 5 packed in to a 10 by 10 room, sitting on the concrete floor, shouting out their ABC's. It was hilarious. The teachers are all volunteer and do a pretty good job, again with no materials. They play duck, duck, goose. They kids are so full of joy- just like children everywhere. I taught this class the "Tooty Ta" song we do in my Pre K class. They were all laughing- such joy.

I think JOY is the one word we can use the describe the people here. We discover everyday why people call Malawi the warm heart of Africa. And for that we are thankful.

Please continue to pray for us- the culture shock is a daily thing- even though our trip is almost half way over! Oh and one more thing- we have enjoyed getting to know a group of Scottish students who are staying here. Last night they had a Scottish Caleigh (like a square dance) at the high school that we went to. And today we went hiking with some friends fro the hospital. So even though we are missing being in Montreat for the Fourth of July, we still got our square dancing and hiking in- Malawi style!

Love to everyone!
JS and Luke

ps- Happy late birthday to Cecil and early birthday to Blair! xoxo