Last One

***This last blog post was written just a couple of days before my departure from Malawi. I was unable to post it due to the lack of an Internet connection. I am home now, but I wanted to post it anyways. Hopefully this short, last post makes clear my gratefulness to God for allowing me this opportunity and my gratitude to all of you for the much needed support I have received!***

          

          I feel like I have some how cheated the system. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world -that James 1:27 exists and that God has chosen to prepare my heart for such a special task.

          I still can’t believe that I was given the opportunity to return to Malawi this year. God has been so awesome. God IS so awesome. He has really shown up in a big way during our time here. I could have never guessed, ahead of time, some of the miracles He has done, and I certainly would have never guessed some of the lessons I would learn during my stay. We have seen people saved; we have witnessed birth and new life; we have experienced the grief that comes with death, and we have seen growth – all in just a matter of months.

          I can’t believe I am just a day away from getting on a plane that is headed for the U.S. Time feels very weird. It is slow and fast all at the same time… if that makes any sense. There is nothing left but good-byes and packing! I am excited to see my family, and grateful for the chance to be home for the holidays. However, I also know that the moment I leave this special place - my heart will begin missing it and aching for my friends and family in Malawi, Africa all over again.

          I am extremely blessed. Don’t think for one second that I don’t realize this fact. I am beyond grateful for those of you who have supported this ministry or myself in any way over the past months. I am forever grateful for every phone call, for each encouraging message or email, and for every single prayer. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!”

Until next time!

-Alyssa-

       

Cindy Is Back!

          On Thursday morning Stacy, Jailos, and I drove to Lilongwe to pick Cindy House up from the airport! Cindy is the director in Malawi for Esther’s House. I never thought that we would all be in Malawi together. She had to return to the states for a short time, but has come back for another year in this special place. We are so very excited that our time is overlapping with her return. Stacy and I both spent time in Malawi with Cindy last year, and the three of us have already had such a great time being together.

          I am so thankful for Cindy. I am so thankful for her heart to serve the Lord, and her heart to serve Malawi. I can say one thing for sure… this ministry wouldn’t be the same without her! The positive impact she has made on our staff here, and our ministry at Esther’s House has been evident in so many ways. This is apparent through the pictures below of her reunion with everyone at E.H. I love reunions.

   The Lord has taught me so much through Cindy’s obedience in answering God’s direct call on her life. I hope that I am always able to sense the Lord’s voice and direction like she does. You need to get to know her... a little difficult since she lives in Africa BUT at least follow her blog posts, HERE.

Dentist & Doughnuts

          This past Thursday we took our residential children to the dentist! It was quite the experience. It is located in town, in the Ntcheu District Hospital... not one of my favorite places in the world. But, the kids were beyond excited to get to ride in the car and come into town. However, Stacy and I decided to leave the destination a surprise (or we were to chicken to tell them... one of the two). They were surprised alright! Although we had a few nervous bodies, we didn't have one tear! They are pretty stinking brave. The dentist was very nice and good with the children too. At the end of their check-ups, the dentist's assistant gave the kids a lesson on how to properly clean their teeth. And of course, after we were finished, we brought them back to our house and filled them with Koolaid and cookies- so that they wouldn't hate us! After all, six of them have to return tomorrow for more work :/ We are working to schedule a time for the dentist to come out to EH so that our community kids can get checked as well.

 Looks like a beautiful smile to me!

 Poor Asau was pretty nervous!  

 Even our little Praise got a check-up. 

          In other news, we have had a challenging week as we didn't have water for over a week. We have been experiencing lots of blackouts/ power outages - many leaving us without power for 24 hours at a time. And we were also without Internet last week. These things are definitely convienences, but they certainly help our progress here. This past week has made me thankful all over again for my home! Convenient, as Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Having CONSISTANT water, electricity, and services like Internet is a huge blessing. Despite these challenges, we have managed to stay busy. It is often humorous to us how varied our tasks are each week. People ask me what a typical day looks like in my life here, but the truth is... there isn't one. There is not even a typical week. Last week, for example, we took a trip to Blantyre (to run errands and renew our visas), we did some painting, worked with the kids on their english, treated the entire E.H. campus for Scabies, took the kids to the dentist, bought fertilizer, and much more. We have seen God move in amazing ways during our time here. I am so grateful to have a part in this ministry. This place and these people are so special to me!

          On Saturday we held our third "Reward Day." I think it was a big hit! We played with water balloons, ate homemade doughnuts, and watched "Finding Nemo" to end the day. We were sad towards the end, realizing this would be our last Rewards Day to plan! The kids thanked us and told us how much they have loved our special days with them. We have seen great results in the attendance of our kids since we began this program. Last month we had 17 perfect attenders. This month we had THIRTY-FIVE kids with perfect attendance! We are so excited. 

This week we are traveling to Lilongwe to pick Cindy up! We are so excited that her time is overlapping with ours! However, I can't believe that we are only two weeks away from heading home! The time always goes so fast. Thanks so much for all of you who keep Esther's House in your prayers. We are so grateful for all of the support we receive on a daily basis! 

Christina's Story

          If you saw Christina Kalembera inside of our Esther’s House gates you would notice her great smile right away, you would see her laughing with her friends, you might even get the impression that she is a typical teenage girl living in Malawi. What you probably wouldn’t be able to guess is the fact that she is the head of her household… that she is the one and only guardian and provider for three other children.

          Christina has never met her father. He didn’t want a place in her life and she only heard the news of his death through someone else’s words. When she was six-years-old, just starting primary school, Christina’s mother died from Malaria. At this point, she and her brother, Chiyembekezo, went to live with her agogo (grandmother). A couple of years later she lost her aunt and Christina’s family grew by two, Mefalo and Enetie, her younger cousins. Again in 2007 Christina’s world turned upside down when her grandmother passed away too.

          Christina became the guardian of three small children at an age too young; she was fourteen years old. When talking with Christina today, she told me that she remembers this time and how difficult it was. She didn’t think she would ever be able to finish school; she did not have the money for school fees. She worried about what would come of her brother and cousins if she wasn’t able to find work. However, a number of years ago, Christina heard a message preached by a certain pastor who was leading a crusade in a local church near her home. On this day, she gave her life to Christ. She was twelve years old and had hope for the first time.

          I asked her how she has kept going all of this time… what motivated her to keep trying. Her response was sweet and powerful. “I know that I am doing this in God’s sight. I know that He is in control, and He will watch over us.”

Do I have that kind of trust?

          Her house is small. It could be compared to the size of many of our own closets, yet it is made of mud bricks and straw. Christina struggles in school, because her time is divided between her studies and trying to provide something for the children in her home to eat. But you wouldn’t be able to see those things from simply looking at her face. She is grateful. She is two grades away from finishing school, and this is possible because of someone in the U.S. who has been gracious enough to sponsor her each month through our program… providing her with school fees, nine meals throughout each week, clothing, and medical expenses if needed.

The main room in Christina's house (1 of 2 rooms)

The bedroom  - where all three girls sleep.

          Christina entered the Esther’s House community program in 2008. She says that she didn’t begin growing spiritually until she began coming to E.H., hearing the teaching of God’s Word on a regular basis. She urged me, today, to continue helping other children like her.

          I don’t write this blog post to cause you guilt. I don’t write it to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling either - about how Esther’s House Ministries saved the day. I write this blog to tell you her very real story, about how God saved the day, and provides for His child. I write this post to beg you to understand that she isn’t the only one. We see these cases every week, even when we are not trying to see them. And you can help. Visit www.puremission.org/give/sponsor-a-child/ and click on a smiling face to sponsor a child like Christina. Their lives are more than difficult. If I could show each of you in person what these kids undertake each and every day, I would. It would break your heart just as it has broken mine! Pray for them like crazy. Yes, it takes a little bit of your money too, but these kids need our support through prayer and encouraging letters, convincing them that they are loved by you, and more importantly, by “Yesu Khristu”. 

Life Lately

          It has been too long since my last post! We have been very busy around here, and I have so much to share about. The Lord is working through this ministry in a great way, and I am so grateful to have a front row seat. The following pictures are a glimpse of life lately at Esther's House. 

          

          The kids received new shoes! Things wear out rather quickly in Malawi, and this was one of the things that we have been needing to replace. After a couple of trips to various markets, we successfully found good shoes for all of our residential kids at E.H. You would have thought it was Christmas morning... they were so excited. After our first go at buying the right sizes, Stacy and I took the shoes to E.H. and had the kids each try on their pair. Almost all of them fit! There were 3 or 4 pairs of shoes that were entirely too large, so we told those children that we would bring them a better pair the next morning. We had a few pouty faces that evening, but the next day we kept our promise and they received their shoes as promised. Thank goodness we got it right on the second try! Precious' shoes were definitely a little big, but there was absolutely no way we were prying those new tennis shoes off of his feet. I wish that you all could have seen him run off with his new shoes... running quite funny, but with the biggest grin you've ever seen.

         In the picture above is Asau with his new shoes. We also got each child a pair of flip flops to wear around the Esther's House compound.

          This past week we also returned to Kanjati village... you know, our driving adventure. This time, when we arrived, there were so many smiling faces to greet us! We stayed to see the program, and were very pleased with their work. Tomorrow, the leaders from this feeding center will travel with us to another site to help teach some of their methods and good habits. We are excited to see their willingness to help others develop good programs. 

 These children are holding their breakfast porridge, Vitameal, which I have told you about before. Love these faces.

          One of the things that is keeping us very busy is our home visitation program. This month we have started a program in which we visit the guardians of all of our children. Honestly, this is so important. While the community children do spend a lot of time with us during the week, ultimately, they still go home to their guardians. It is vital that we are working to be on the same page with them. It is a partnership, and we want to do all we can to assist them in this process. We knew that this would be a good program; however, God has blown us away with the results of our visits. In the short time that we have begun, five of our guardians have accepted Christ for the first time. Just a few days ago, we sat down with a mother to two of our community boys and shared with her the gospel. Not only did she give her life to Christ, but she quit her job to be obedient to the Lord. She owned a business preparing and selling alcohol in her village. She had just prepared several bottles to be sold, and after talking with us she made the decision to dump the bottles and trust the Lord for provision until she could find other work! Are you hearing this? We are so excited. Below is a picture from one of these visitations. We shared Christ to the grandmother/guardian of one of our girls. She had stopped going to church after she lost her husband and daughter. She too, realized she had never truly been saved and accepted Christ during our meeting. A friend of this lady was sitting nearby with her tiny new baby. She was so nice to let me steal him for a little while - only two weeks old! New life all around us; we are so grateful.

          Stacy and I try our best to work with the kids each day on english in various ways. Last week I got out the sidewalk chalk and we had lots of fun. We practiced saying colors and numbers and all sorts of things. 

 And we got a little messy too...

          Last Monday we attended the funeral of one of our own widows. Nelly had been in our program for some time and passed away after being in the hospital for over a month. Thankfully, we had decided to check in on her just a couple of days before her death. We were able to sit and pray with her and it was a special time. Pay attention to those times when you can tell the Spirit is leading you. Maybe it is visiting a sick friend, pursuing the healing of a broken relationship, or taking the time to pray for someone who the Lord has specifically put on your heart. We don't know how much time we have! Ephesians 5 comes to mind. This is how The Message translation puts it...


"Wake up from your sleep, 
Climb out of your coffins; 
Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants."


          The very next day, as we arrived at Esther's House, we found that our facilities manager, Jailos, was not there. He normally beats us in the mornings and so we called to see what was up. He explained that his wife was in the hospital. By the way he talked it did not seem too serious, so we continued with our work, planning to check in on him later that day. As we were leaving Tuesday afternoon, Getrude (house mom) asked if we had heard about Esther, Jailos' wife. We responded, telling her that we weren't sure what she was sick with. Getrude's next words to us were shocking to say the least. Our jaws dropped when she explained that Esther was not sick, but rather she had had a baby! NO ONE had known she was even pregnant! We were all so surprised. For some reason, Esther did not want anyone to know of her pregnancy. But sure enough, when we arrived at the hospital later that evening we found this precious baby girl. Both Esther and the baby were in great health. 

Below is our friend Jailos, and his new baby girl! She was quite the surprise to them as well. Jailos turns 51 this week; they were not planning on having any more children! But the surprises didn't end there. As we were visiting the new mother and baby, Jailos asked Stacy and I to name her! We were up all night thinking of names. I threw out Emily, and we both liked it. We told Jailos and Esther the next day and they agreed - Emily it is :) 

States (Stacy, as the Malawians say) and I worked on a new mural for the classroom. We had a great time painting. This isn't quite finished, but you can get the idea.

I feel like this picture below almost all of the time it seems. But these cute kids keep me going. I think I am going to sleep for a week straight when I get home!

Today, Stacy conquered driving the 3-ton Dyna truck! We are learning new things every day. 

          The German orphanage, which is approximately an hours drive from us, has an awesome wood working shop. A few weeks ago we asked them to build us new book cases for the classroom at E.H. They were ready for pick-up today and we were able to put them in their new spot. As you can see below, the community kids love helping with things like this.

And finally... a picture of my favorites :) They are showing off their yogurt that we brought them. Nobody working and no kids in school on this national holiday in Malawi. Happy Mother's Day!! Ha!