Reward Day

          Between the different children's programs at Esther's House, there are sixty-three kids who we see on a daily basis. There are ten children currently residing at Esther's House permanently, but there are fifty-three others from surrounding villages who are in our community program. All of these children come to Esther's House each morning to eat breakfast. We partner with Feed The Children, and they provide Vitameal for kids all over Malawi. With the help of our child sponsors in the U.S., we also provide for their school fees and medical care. Along with this meal in the mornings, these children are expected to come in the afternoons (Monday- Saturday) for classes. They are taught God's Word and English among other things. To encourage good attendance to our program, Stacy and I have established a rewards system for those who do well. It's simple. At the end of every month, we reward those who have had perfect attendance. 

          The pictures below were taken on our first "Reward Day." (Clever title - we know) We had so much fun... Stacy and I found a bag of marshmallows in our pantry, and some chocolate chips. We ran to the store and bought some cookies/ biscuits and voila! - we had S'mores, or at least something that slightly resembled the American version of the snack. We taught some of the older guys how to roast the marshmallows, and to say it was a big hit is an understatement. This, you can certainly see from our pictures...

Joshua (above) and Bruce (below), our two "house dads", were particularly vocal about loving the treat. After explaining the snack and its name, Joshua said repeatedly, "I need some more s'mores, please!!" 

          After the kids ate their snack, we had some fun with water balloons! We played the game in which you throw a balloon to your partner at a certain distance... if they catch it and it doesn't break, you take a step further apart and start a new round. The winner is obviously the last team with their balloon in tact. The kids had so much fun. If ever a balloon burst, it seemed to take us three minutes to settle the kids down to start the game again! 

I think that I may just have the best job ever, this fall.

Enelesi the lion

         We have been stuck at our house since Friday night due to mechanical trouble with our vehicle. Three and a half days. Stacy and I have gone a little stir crazy, but we are anxious at the possibility that our car will be fixed sometime tomorrow morning. We miss those cute kids out at Esther's House! If you think of us throughout your day and night- we would appreciate your prayers very much. I had a few pictures I wanted to share... They make me smile. This is Enelesi (pronounced Inless). Although she puts up a good face, she's not so mean ;) Enelesi is one of our residential children at Esther's House. She is five years old, and steals LOTS of hearts from American team members who visit! 

"He delivers and rescues; He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions." -Daniel 6:27

        I've got a lot of catching up to do! I was finally able to upload some pictures this morning, and I want to share about the August team's time in Malawi. We had a group of ten travel to Malawi on August 28th. There were representatives from all three Cross Church campuses, and it was a neat experience getting to know everyone. I believe that we had running water one of the days that they were here, and they all had outstanding attitudes regardless. God used this team in many ways - here are some of the things that they did...

Here is the team with our Esther's House friends - the best shot we got :)

The team tried out a new technique called Bible storying as they shared the Gospel. This technique equips team members to share God's Word in a way that allows oral learning cultures to understand scripture more easily. The team studied these specific stories in detail so that they were able to tell each Bible story without a lot of help from text or other resources. In Malawi, this especially helps to fully engage the listener. It will be a 52 week program that tells the complete story of the Bible.

In this picture: Heidi May, along with her interpreter John, are teaching some kids a Bible story.

Our team spent a lot of time loving on kids at Esther's House and those in the surrounding villages.

One of the most exciting experiences for me on this trip, so far, has been the opportunity to finally meet the other children living at Esther's House. During my last stay in Malawi there were only two boys living at E.H. and now there are 10 kids, plus the children of our new house parents. They are pretty stinking cute! 

Kyle hit it big with the widows in our ministry :)

Throughout the week our team had the opportunity to do some village evangelism. We saw nearly 200 people receive Christ. Praise the Lord. On Sunday, Doug preached about the importance of believer's baptism, and 17 people made the decision to follow Christ in baptism that afternoon!

Two of our team members, Hanna and Claire, are hair stylists in Arkansas. They were able to use their skill in Malawi not only to cut the children's hair, but also to train a couple of the women to be able to do this in the future.

This is a picture of half of our team on a boat safari along the Shire river.  We had a fun and relaxing day, apart from the angry hippo charging towards our boat.

Another task that this group had while they were in Malawi, was to help move the Hart family into their new home. Shortly after we arrived, this family of four traveled from Arkansas to Malawi to join us. The Hart family has committed to be in Malawi, working at Esther's House, for a two year period. Malawian houses aren't exactly built for a guy of Ryan's height :)

       Thanks again to all of you who have been praying. I have lots more to share - so keep checking in for new posts. 

        "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, 'The LORD be magnified!' But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God." -Psalm 40:16-17

My life has been a whirlwind over the past month it seems. I can’t begin to describe to you how exciting it has been to observe the Lord’s hand in my life lately. The scripture that talks about the fact that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than mine has never meant more to me. For the past several weeks, I have felt uneasy. I wasn’t sure why and I didn’t know what to do or where to move. So I prayed. And prayed and prayed. About 30 days ago, the Lord made it very clear. I received the opportunity to return to Esther’s House in Malawi until late November and I knew. If you know me at all – you know that I love this place. But its not the place that got me excited… its that I was given that irreplaceable peace – knowing that I am where God wants me to be for this exact time in my life. It was easy this time, and I am thankful for that. I know that decisions aren’t always this simple.

I haven’t been able to get the following scripture out of my mind. Had I been accepted for that certain position I applied for, I would not have been able to come this fall. My thoughts are not His thoughts. I had planned it all out – thought I would be working away in NWA for the next year or so. He ordered my steps differently. I can’t believe He has given me this opportunity again! He knows me.

Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

I am in Malawi! I can hardly believe it still. We (a team of 10) left NWA on August 28^th, and their time ended yesterday. Stacy Mossberger and I will be staying in Malawi until late November – helping to accomplish some things for this ministry while the permanent missionary is in the states for a while. When I returned to Arkansas after my summer in Malawi, Stacy went to stay in Malawi for several months. We have been very busy working with this team for that past two weeks. I apologize for the lack of blogging! We have done a number of different things, and have seen many people saved throughout the team’s time here. God has been good.

I appreciate your support and prayer so much. God has blessed me immeasurably in the area of friends and family! Pictures to come as soon as I get a faster internet connection!