Rock Walls

          Apparently, Stacy and I needed some adventure in our lives. We had one interesting morning, yesterday! On our schedule, we had planned to visit one of our CBCCs (community based care centers). As I have mentioned before, our ministry partners with Feed The Children to provide Vitameal to almost 1500 children all over this area. Vitameal, like it sounds, is a vitamin-enriched porridge that was developed to counteract malnutrition. These CBCCs also spend time teaching the young children that come daily. We have twelve local feeding centers that are under our care… and I use the term “local” lightly. One of the things we want to accomplish while we are here this fall, is to visit all of our centers and help them to improve in certain areas. Some of our centers are doing better than others, and we really want those who are excelling to reach out and help those CBCCs who are struggling. In my opinion, Malawians helping Malawians goes much farther than our temporary assistance. It is our goal to get them involved in helping each other grow.

          So, back to our adventure… yesterday, we were to visit this Kanjati feeding center. It is one of the most successful centers; they are really invested in this program and have done lots of things right. You can know of their determination for this program when you come to understand that these leaders walk over three hours (one way) to pick up the porridge from Esther’s House each month. Bruce, who is on our staff as a house parent, escorted us this morning – giving us directions. He is the one who checks on these centers regularly. We started out down a particular road that I have travelled many times. However, I had no idea how far this road actually went. Villages and towns just kept popping up, and the terrain got rougher with each one. Stacy is my hero for getting us there… mind you, we have experienced lots of firsts on this trip – driving in Malawi for the first time being one of them, driving a standard vehicle another! There were times yesterday that it felt like our Land Cruiser was actually climbing rock walls. I failed to get any pictures of the so-called “bridges” we crossed, but you get the idea. Bumpy, first gear kind of stuff. There was an intern here this past summer, Matt, who actually biked to Kanjati with Bruce. We are impressed to say the least.

          We made it, and our car made it too! When we arrived at the feeding center, there were no children. Sigh. One of the leaders explained to us that they have had more children coming to their center and so they had run out of porridge. Kanjati is feeding almost 200 children each day. This is a problem because there is supposed to be a limit of 120 children per feeding center. This is simply because that is how many portions of Vitameal are provided. But how do you turn malnourished children away because they are numbers 121 and 122? Hopefully, in 2012, we will be able to fix this issue by starting another feeding center nearby so that this center can split itself in half. How awesome- that they have grown so large and are reaching so many children!

This is a picture of Kanjati's kitchen. It is currently under renovation. Most feeding centers do not even have the means to cook inside of a building; rather, they simply use a large pot on top of an open fire.

Ok, I lied... there were a couple of sweet faces present when we arrived :)

The adventure continues. Because the children weren't there yesterday, it looks like we will be heading back to view their program on Monday!

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!

It's been a while since I have been able to post, especially since I have been able to share pictures. The last couple of weeks has had its mixture of emotions. And tonight, I am particularly anxious... tomorrow is the day I have been dreading. Tomorrow! The past 8 weeks have gone too fast. On top of this sadness... we have spent our last two days grieving the loss of one of our own, Anny. Yesterday, I woke up due to tapping on my window. It was our watchman, Dadly. When I answered him, he informed me that we had visitors at the gate- it was a couple of relatives of Anny. Dadly went on to explain that she had passed away during the night. My heart sank... once again. I went to wake Cindy and we were just in shock for a good bit of time. We went right away with the women to the hospital. After waiting on the director of the mortuary, we then escorted precious Anny's body back to Madzanje. The Esther's House vehicle is a lot of things- holds a lot of roles... Ambulance, taxi, hauler, etc. The role I hate the most is its use as a hearse. Unlike the funeral of an infant, there is a period of time used for organization; therefore, the funeral wasn't until today. We spent most of today preparing for and attending the funeral. All of our kids put on their Upward's soccer shirts (their E.H. apparel) and proceeded with us to the ceremonies. Belinda, one of Anny's closest friends, led the group carrying a picture of Anny. I was SO proud of all of our kids... they sang with a certain joy and hope as we proceeded that was missing from the wailing family members and friends. As we entered the home where her body was being kept, our orphans grieved the loss of their friend greatly and it tore. me. up. Dealing with death is one thing, but comforting children who are dealing with death is tough. There were parts of the day that were very difficult... you just don't look at these happy, smiling faces, and think that they will possibly not make it to next month. However, there were also parts of the day that were hopeful and happy. Anny is now being held by her Savior. She is finally free from disease and sickness and pain. She is being loved in the best way possible by her Father.

Here is a picture of Anny at Esther's House a few weeks ago. Both of her parents are deceased. She grew up in a "child- headed household," raised by her elder brother and sister... just the three of them. Anny had such a hard life here on earth- it is comforting to know that she is no longer suffering. She trusted Christ through Esther's House. She will be missed.

After all of the ceremonies were finished, we headed back to town with all of the Esther's House team to have a farewell party. I love spending time with my friends here and tonight was wonderful, except that I knew the reason for the occasion. We have been packing all night and are trying to stay awake as long as we can so that we might be able to sleep on the plane tomorrow. I have a feeling that it is going to be miserable. We are departing Ntcheu early tomorrow morning in order to say all of our goodbyes and be in Lilongwe in time for our flight. The guys at E.H. will accompany us to LLW. Tomorrow is going to be so painful so I would greatly appreciate your prayers.

Anyways, here are some picture highlights of the last couple of weeks. Hope that you enjoy. The next time I post, I will be on U.S. soil! I am so thankful for all of the support I have been given. The family of God is really incredible.

Madzanje Baptist has started construction (brick making) on a new church building. Here is Joe next to the bricks they have made so far. So proud.

We are going to miss our Malawi mom so much.

Uncle Bruce with Z :)

I know this picture isn't so great, but it represents something so great. Every Sunday, after the adults have had their Sunday School lesson, the kids return to the worship center. They stand at the front and answer questions about their lesson they have just been taught. It is SO cute.

I have become Malawian now... carrying things on my head. I could do without the awkward stares and laughs, though :)

I have gotten way too attached to this precious baby.

One day, I will live here. How cute is this little place? I love it.

Yes. Mice. On a stick. Also known as a mouse-kabob... delicacy in Malawi. No thank-you.

I am going to miss her so much. She is one special lady! Please pray for Cindy and support her as she continues her 2 year journey!

Can it get any cuter? They are wonderful.

Getrude and I last Sunday. Today, the day of Anny's funeral, marks one month exactly to the death of their baby boy. Please continue to pray for Bruce and Getrude.

This is one of my favorite pictures. My favorite boys!

Bruce and Joe are very special to me. Their hearts for the ministry are so very incredible. The way that they care for Esther's House and our kids is awesome.

Here are our orphans with new Upward t-shirts. So happy!

A week or so ago, we received word that one of our girl's was very sick. We took her to the clinic and it turned out that she had a very bad case of the measles... there is an outbreak in our area currently. Patrick, the clinician, told us that she needed to be admitted into isolation at the District Hospital. When we arrived at the D.H. we were directed behind the main building to "measles isolation." You could say that we were a bit frustrated when we found that this was where they were being kept. Have I said that the hospital conditions are awful?

The tent was packed with patients- all laying on a thin piece of foam that was placed on the floor. Here is Cindy with Tandiwe... the staff thought it was hilarious when we explained that we were her guardians. She was so sick, but is doing much better now. Just another testimony of how God is using Esther's House.

I hope that you have been able to see at least a little piece of what has been going on this summer. It has been a life-changing experience that couldn't have been possible without each one of you. Thank-you so much. I have learned so much and a part of my heart will remain here forever.

I am not sure why, but I have been unsuccessful in posting pictures the last couple of days. It is quite frustrating because I have so many wonderful pictures to share! Hopefully, I will be able to get it working soon... since there is only 7 days left in my trip! Can you believe it? The pain of leaving this place has already begun to sink in. As we were leaving Esther's House tonight it really hit me. It doesn't help that our Malawian friends are always reminding us that the end is near. They say the sweetest things which I love to hear but hate how it sharpens the heartache. I have made some wonderful, life-long, friends this summer... family really. I can't believe I have to leave them.

Anyways, we have had some very good days since the last time I wrote. Yesterday, we had our last "excursion" day- just Cindy, Derek, and I. It was nice and relaxing. We did another safari and saw so many wonderful things... so many more animals than in our last experience. We also visited the lake- which is quickly becoming our favorite spot. It is absolutely beautiful. We have had great day today as well. We started the morning with a not-so-good phone call from Bruce saying that our watchman's daughter was very ill. She is somewhere between 8-12 months old and had a bad case of Malaria. However, we got her to the hospital and she has now started treatment and is feeling better. Afterwards, we headed back out to Esther's House to meet with the staff along with one of the local baptist pastors here. We had a prayer meeting that was greatly needed and was such an encouragement. We have already experienced answered prayer and been given exciting opportunities as the day has progressed.

Tomorrow we have plans to travel to Blantyre after a meeting and an appearance at the Madzanje Secondary School graduation. There is some business we need to get accomplished, but we are looking forward to time with our missionary friends there as well. Please pray that in this last week we are able to get much accomplished. Pray for me as I try my best to keep my mind off of the sad end; I want to enjoy each day to its fullest. Thank-you, once again, for your prayer and support. It has been so evident and comforting.