June 7: new family

Today when we went to adziwa i got so sad... salome does not remember me, and she will not talk to me. im just not feeling happy today. i no longer have a team to help me; its just me and nicole. and we have a new family. they are very very sweet and i like them, but everything is scary. i tried to take a shower... the water blew all over my face, flooded the bathroom, and never got hot. so i will be going to bed smelling like booty stank.. great! . also on the way home tonight my new mother Maggie pointed out all the prostitutes standing on the streets which was eye opening. im really beginning to be hit with the whole 7 months length and i miss my family and my friends and right now i just feel like the world is spinning and im not invited. i cant believe im missing out on so much it seems surreal. and i just feel dishearted. morgan is stressing and blatantly unhappy and she sometimes rubs it off on me accidently. i just want to be eating ice cream watching swan princess in my own bed right now. anyways im rambling and having a pity party... itll all be okay. just please, if you know you mean a lot to me, dont forget about me when your life moves on and im left behind. goodnight love and miss you

June 5th CCBC

Today I went back to Capital City Baptist Church, it was different. No one I’ve ever met before was there except for wangari and blessing. Moses and his brothers and sisters were not there; jimmy is in college and ozzy left and does not plan to come back. Penelope went somewhere I’m not sure where though. I met a few new people but there was only about 5 youth in the whole service, whereas last year there were 20-25 teens. Then we went to the classic café delight for lunch where I got some bbq pizza. It was very good. After that was a very bumpy hour long car ride to the refugee camp. This is where victims in other African countries can flee from war, famine, disease, violence, corruption or persecution. The problem is the laws that state that refugees cannot work, farm, or earn any kind of living. They have to build their own houses from whatever they can find, and once they are there they cannot leave unless they apply for a pass, which is rarely granted for an extended period of time. There were people from Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and several other countries. Now I’m going to nap and then eat a “blie” (a buffet) of authentic Malawian food. Love and miss you!

June 4: my drum

Today we went to Lake Malawi. We swam and saw 10 lizards and I got a philly cheese steak sandwich. It was all great! Also we went to the wood market on the way to the lake. I got a carved drum and my noah’s ark (btw mom if you want dad to get you one it cost me 10 dollars) I have a very cool story about my drum. Okay, so here in Malawi, the market people are very poor and make about a dollar a day. When they see americans they get very excited and greedy and try to cheat them in addition to getting in your face and saying things none stop. In order to eliminate this problem, a local goes with us each time, and TK especially gets intense. He even said, “im putting on my lion face. I will be a beast” also you are NEVER to give out anything for free. Im going to be honest with you. My experience in the market place has been full of greedy uncomfortable men hastling. Okay well the drum shop was across the street from everything else, so I crossed over and haggled the price down to 1300 kwatcha (about 7 dollars) which is a very good deal. He gave me 200 kwatcha as change. The only other man on this side of the street asked me to come look at his things. He had bracelets and handmade banjos from wood that had tuning thingys and sounded pretty awesome. I told him I had just spent the rest of my money for my drum, and only had 200 kwatcha left, which is only 1 dollar. he told me he would give me this beautiful banjo for a dollar. I began to tell him how beautiful I thought it was and that it was worth more than 200 kwatcha. His eyes began to fill as he told me “I know but I haven’t eaten in 3 days and I need to make some money today. I do not have a choice but to give this to you for whatever you can give me” I wished I could do something more him but I slipped him the 200 kwatcha and said he could not tell anyone but to just take the money I don’t want a beautiful banjo for that little price. I broke TKs rules, but he seemed so genuinely desperate, unlike anyone else. As I waited for the other guy to carve my drum, the man came up to me shouting and singing. He said he would teach me to play for free because I made him so so happy. As we played, he asked where I was from. I told him I was working with capital city Baptist church. He said oh you’re a Christian. I became a Christian a month ago. I walk 3 kilometers both ways to church but I have to because with out god I have no feet. Then he thanked me and I told him to thank god because god provided for his good and faithful servant and to eat happily tonight in gods peace. He began to cry and shook my hand. I left, but I was so happy that I got to minister to the crazy market people! Then we ate dinner at Blessings house. Her family is so sweet. In sheer blessing attitude, she made me help her make sandwiches while everyone else socialized. I liked it :] I missed her terribly. For all you guys back home, she is doing well:] oh yeah and the power has been out all day, just fantastic.

Love you and miss you!

June 3: Womanizers

Today we went to adziwa for the first time this year. The women welcomed us with their beautiful singing and dancing. I saw salome. We had a meeting for school supplies. They have grown so much. Last year there were only 2 classrooms in use. Now there are 8, administration offices and even a library (with no books yet though). They are planning on adding another standard as well. However, there are still needs. They have several desks now, but some desks hold up to 3 kids. They need 55 more desks, textbooks, and bookshelves. SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE LET ME KNOW!!  Awana’s, the after school program, has improved dramatically! Last year, no one helped us, we had no translator, and it was chaotic. This year, there were several helpers, they had an actual lesson book to use and organized games. The best but most heart-breaking part of the day was at the end when James asked the kids what some of their challenges they face at home each day. Thankfully most children blessed their parents and commented everytime that they do not drink beer or smoke. A few kids stated that they were an orphan and it is hard with no parents but the people they are staying with are very good to them. At this point, a little girl in the fourth grade stands up and says that her father doesn’t smoke or drink but he was a womanizer. All the kids giggled because they thought it was a funny word, but the girl began to cry. Another girl stood up later and said that she knows her father keeps going with other women. She also began to cry, even though she tried to hold back the tears. We proceeded to pray for them and tell them how god can see their pain and tears and he wants to love on them. It truly broke my heart. I did not see lonely today which worries me. Financially, I think I was 600 dollars under on the budget that previously was made :[ but it will all work out eventually.

Please pray for lonely, finances, my finger-biting habit to end, team bonding, continued growth, and no bugs or diseases

LOVE ALL OF YOU AND MISS YOU!!

June 2: FINALLY HERE

After 3 days of travel, today we finally made it.

Cool airport story real quick: there was a HUGE miscommunication on the poundage that was allowed on south African airways. We did not know if it was 44 pounds, the travel agent’s number, or 66 pounds, which was the amount on our itinerary. Also, the limit on carryons was 18 pounds, apparently including our purse. When we arrived, Nicole prayed for smooth transitions between flights and specifically our luggage weight. Morgan’s bags weighed 74 pounds, mine 61 and nicoles 53. Thankfully we could do a little switching around and we got all of them under 66. As we neared the bag check, nerves took over me. They let us through!! So now we’re on to the carry-ons. My back pack itself weighed 21 pounds, 3 pounds over, and that did not include heavy purse. Morgan had two HUGE bags that each weighed 15. Jim had told us that they were very persnickety about carry-ons and they would not be forgiving. The person in front of us weighed theirs and both their carryon and their purse were put into the equation. I was terrified. When it was our turn, the man said “You’re fine. Just go.” How freaking incredible is that. That had to have been Jesus because they are not known for EVER letting people off the hook!!

Anyways, TK(blessings father and member of African Leadership), Jimmy(CCBC youth pastor), and Mr Banda(church driver) picked us up at the airport. Upon arrival, Jimmy told us the three of us were going to head on to our host families. However, when we got to kuka to drop of Jim Tommy and Karen, we were told to stay at kuka lodge because the family situation has not yet been confirmed. A meeting tomorrow for church members to decide where we’ll stay. As jim pointed out, we ARE in Africa, and they have a different pace and mind set when it comes to deadlines and priorities. We have not yet switched dollars for kwacha, and I realized I only packed dresses no skirts so I have no clue what im going to do about going to adziwa tomorrow. However, I am not slightly stressed or nervous surprisingly, which could only come from Him.

I miss my family, but no offense fam but not that much. I think its just god keepin me together because when I went for only 2 weeks the last two years I cried when I got on the plane both times. I guess we’ll see how it goes the next couple weeks.

may 31: mission initiated

So today I said goodbye to everything in my life. My beautiful family, best friends, my car, my time, updated music, movies, shoes, clothing, FOOD, school, and seven months of my normal life. And for what? For a mud hut and rats on a stick?

Every time I think about Malawi, I smile. Im not completely sure why, all I know is that as hard as it is to leave my family and my shoes and my smoothie king, its not the first thing I think of. I think of how mych I WANT to be there serving and helping in any way I can. 

Today though, I am committed to this adventure, so I have time to think about that second thought of what im missing back home. It sucks, it really sucks. I want to see my little sister become a silly teenager and my older sister hit the big 21, and I want to see everyone on my turn to adulthood on September 13. I want to hang out with Scott and eat dippin dots everyday. And I want my mom to read to me and have crazy family meals. But im in this. I know im supposed to do this and I will. And im gonna rock it.

P.S. im in the Atlanta airport now waiting for 5 hours until I go to JBurg.

Blessings

This word has become to mean so much more to me recently.
Let me tell you a little story.

Girl 1meets girl 2, and they become friends. 6 months later, girl 2 moves to franklin. Girl 2 has baggage, issues, and seems so sad. but  girl 1 loves her so so much. As time goes by, girl 1 prays every week to figure a way to make girl 2 happy. She wants the very best for Girl 2 including peace self value and a relationship with her best friend and savior. 4 months later Girl 2 asks god for a personal relationship and surrenders her everything. not for her parents, not for society, but for herself. To make herself happy

As i thought about this today, the word blessings just seemed to fit perfectly. God wants to pour blessings on each of us, not to condemn or to judge. There are responsibilities, but the rewards are simply magnificent. The lyrics to this song speak perfectly...
"You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade."

This is for you my sweet friend. Always remember, everything is in the past and you are perfectly clean!!!

LOVE YOU