Summary Note for Malawi

Greetings from the Warm Heart of Africa!

Let me begin by stating that our God is simply amazing and showed me time and time again throughout this adventure that He is in control and we do not need to worry! From the planning, to the fundraising, to traveling, to the time spent in Malawi; I was constantly reminded that when we trust in our Father, greater things happen than we could ever imagine. The people of Malawi are some of the most welcoming and hospitable people I have ever met. It is the warm heart of Africa and they don’t let you forget it! The customary way for people to greet one another is to say, “Mulibwanji,” which means, “How are things,” and the response is always, “Ndili bwino. Kaya inu,” which means, “things are fine, what about you?” All of this is usually said over a long handshake. The culture is very relationship-oriented rather than being task-oriented.
I lived in the Ministry of Hope Office, located in the capital city of Lilongwe, with several other interns. Although not the most attractive city, Lilongwe offered many much-appreciated luxuries, such as running potable water, electricity (with the occasional black-out), and even internet. This is not the real Malawi. Over 90% of Malawians live out their entire lives in the village setting. These villages consist of mud huts with straw roofs, no running water, no electricity, minimal education, and no medical care. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and also has one of the highest percentages of people living with HIV/AIDS. Ministry of Hope is working to combat the staggering statistics by operating two crisis nurseries, six feeding centers in six different villages, a preschool program, mobile medical clinics, and a scholarship program for students to pursue further education.
I have been fortunate enough to experience a small portion of each of these ministries. The babies in the crisis nursery stole a piece of my heart the moment I stepped inside the building. Currently there are 17 babies under the age of 2 and several nannies occupying less than 1500 square feet. Needless to say, it is a little cramped. When at the nursery, I spent my time playing, feeding, changing cloth diapers, and just loving on the babies. Some of the babies that I became especially fond of are Shawn and Fi-Fi (twins, one of whom started walking while I was there!), Rachel, Impatzo (which means gift), baby Ruth, Chisomo, Elenati, and Feruke. I could have brought a few of them home with me! Two things that these children need in prayer are to pray for their care and well-being and to pray for their home situations.
One of the newest branches of Ministry of Hope is the operation of the Mobile Medical Clinic. This clinic travels on a rotating schedule to the different villages where Ministry of Hope feeding centers are located. While in Malawi, I was able to assist with the operation of two medical clinics in the villages of Khwamba and Chimon’gombe. This clinic consists of a registration table, a station where medical complaints and history is taken, a station to take vitals (this was my job), a clinician, a doctor, a lab technician, and a pharmacy table. This entire operation, as well as the Lilongwe crisis nursery, is run by one amazing woman named Mwawi. We treated 205 patients in 5 hours at the first medical clinic and about 125 patients in only 3 hours at the second clinic!
Ministry of Hope was founded about 10 years ago by a young man named Fletcher who started feeding orphans in his village from his backdoor. Today, Ministry of Hope operates six feeding centers in six different villages that are all located about 1 hour outside the capital city of Lilongwe. The feeding centers look like what we would refer to as a concrete picnic pavilion with a few offices attached. Three days a week, anywhere from 100 to over 200 children gather from miles around to the concrete floor of the center to receive a hot meal of nsima (Which is made from corn maize meal and is somewhat like very thick, tasteless grit cakes. This is used to eat the other parts of the meal with.), sometimes rice, shredded greens, and beans. The feeding centers also host preschool classes every morning and provide a secure place for children to gather and play.
One of the most memorable and impacting experiences was staying in one of these villages with the feeding center director’s family. I stayed in a village named Selengo with Jimmy and his family of ten people. The village is located at the end of a dirt road and about a 25 minute drive from the nearest paved road. I bounced along in an old land cruiser down the bumpy dirt road while dodging cows pulling carts, goats, people on bicycles and people on foot. Although it is early in the morning, everything already seems to be stained the color of the soil, a bright brick red.
My stomach is full of butterflies because I am on my way to give a sermon to Malawians in a village church in about 30 minutes! I was walking through this village the previous week and greeted a man and his wife. The man spoke broken English and asked me what denomination I was. Being nondenominational simply does not exist in Africa; therefore I stated I was Baptist because the church I had been involved in during previous years was Baptist-based. It turns out that this man is the pastor of the ‘Selengo Baptist Church,’ who was thrilled to find this out, and asked me to come and speak at their Wednesday service. God has a sense of humor doesn’t he?! Of course I could not decline, so here I am on my way to preach at a church in a remote village in Africa. The church was an open-air building with a chalkboard and concrete pulpit up
Selengo Baptist Churchfront. Jimmy, the feeding center director, was expecting me and took me to his family’s home where I left my things and then we immediately walked up the hill to the church. People had already started to gather and they sang songs in Chichewa (the native language) while waiting for the rest of the congregation to arrive. It is not an understatement when people describe Africans as having rhythm. They have their hands, their feet, and their voices and they know how to use them!
Pastor and wife of Selengo Baptist ChurchIt was amazing because as soon as I stood up to begin speaking, the butterflies disappeared and I was enveloped in a sense of comfort and boldness. I read 1 Corinthians 12 and spoke about how we have value because we have all been created in the image of God, who chose us even though we are sinners. That each of us has been given a unique set of gifts and abilities designed for a specific purpose long before being born. For this reason, we must encourage one another and look at each other as brothers and sisters that all contribute in a unique and necessary way to the Body of Christ rather than judging one another. We also talked about not letting circumstances determine our faith. The people of the church were so appreciative of just having me there that they gave me a HUGE bag of ground nuts and a bottle of coke! This church is praying that a sister church from the US will partner with them, so if you are interested please contact me!The family I stayed with in Selengo were the most hospitable people I have ever encountered. Upon my arrival, they slaughtered a goat and when I was leaving they killed a chicken for our last meal together! They offered me the best of everything they had and I feel as though I became a part of the family after staying only a few short days. The women in the village astound me. From sun up to after sun down, they are performing different tasks to run their homes that often involve hard physical labor and a baby strapped to their back. They made me feel like a
Selengo Feeding Center Director and familysissy to say the least! I did however try to help where I could. I even learned how to carry large buckets of water on my head! While in the village, I also helped teach preschool, play with the village children, learned how to play soccer ‘African style,’ and met with a group of women living with HIV/AIDS.
This group of women had come together to support each other and I feel is a great new focus group for ministry of hope to be involved with. These women live in villages, some with families and husbands, some without, no income, no medical treatment, and no way to provide even food for their families. After meeting with them and the feeding center director, I decided to help the women in one way I knew how. With the help of your support, I rented an acre of land for one year next to the Ministry of Hope garden in Selengo. Working with Jimmy and Andrew (who went to school for agriculture and manages this garden), we drew up plans for a community garden for these women to share. The garden will also include immunity-boosting plants and produce that will help the women to combat HIV/AIDS. I just helped them get started by renting the land for the first year and paying for the seed, land prep, and irrigation prep. After this, it will be their responsibility to use it wisely, with the oversight of Jimmy and Andrew, and then they can sell the surplus to provide some sort of income for their families.
The last day of my stay in the village was the most memorable. I feel this is the day that confirmed to me that I had formed real relationships with these people and that I wasn’t just ‘an American tourist.’ A few days before, a village elder had passed away and was having a traditional/tribal funeral. Up the hill in the village, people began to beat drums and traditional dancers danced in costume on Thursday afternoon and did not stop until the burial on Friday afternoon. On Friday, I was invited to come to the traditional ceremony so Jimmy and I walked to it. To get there, we had to walk through the village where hundreds and hundreds of people had gathered and were all sitting outside eating. On the other side of the village, there was a large circle of about five hundred people watching the traditional dancers. I felt as though everyone was looking at me and I was definitely the only azungu (means white person) for miles and miles! It was very crowded, but the women insisted that they squeeze me in up to the front so I could see. The dancers were covered in costumes constructed out of straw, strips of cloth, leaves, and other random things. You could only see their hands and feet and they danced all over the place to the beat of the drums with movements that seem alien to us.
As I write, I am still trying to absorb and unpack all the details of this adventure. It is truly amazing to look back and see the tapestry
of events that God weaves together to bring us to where we are today. It is never a question of our own ability, but our response to God’s ability that really matters! I hope this is just the first adventure of a life-long journey that God has prepared for the future! If you are interested in learning more about Malawi, Ministry of Hope, or how to become involved, please feel free to contact me. My email address is scowcroftla@montreat.edu and my travel blog URL is http://laurensfannypackfiles.blogspot.com/.

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." Ephesians 6:19-20

In Him,
Lauren Scowcroft

Pictures are on facebook!

I am sitting in Surrey, outside of London and have wireless internet. Thus, I have finally been able to post pics up on facebook for anyone who is interested!

Africa down, England to go...

Well, I don't have much to say except that I am leaving in early in the morning and I am very VERY sad...Three weeks went by so fast and I feel like I am just on the verge of forming some very special friendships and now I have to leave! I can't wait to see everyone back in the western hemisphere and share stories with you guys. Our God is so so amazing and he is working here in Malawi just as he is working in the United States! Next stop LONDON!!!

What an experience!

Selengo

I woke up at 5:30 am, got everything together, and started driving out of Lilongwe. Once outside the capital city, time seems to slow and development diminishes rather quickly. The sun was in the sky by the time we turned off the main road onto a dirt road filled with rivets, potholes, bicyclists, and goats. After bumping along this road for about 20 mins, we reached our destination. The scene was almost surreal because it was so picturesque of what one would imagine a remote village in Africa would look like. The road ended at the Ministry of Hope Selengo feeding center and the director's home, where I would be staying. The landscape is rolling hills, dotted with scrubby trees and savanna-suited vegetation. Mud huts with straw rooves, and the occasional hand-made brick structure, clustered on top of an adjacent hill make the center of Selengo. Behind Selengo rises Nkhoma, a rugged and steep mountain. There are also other steep and rugged mountain ridges in the distance.

I immediately walked with Jimmy, the director of the feeding center, up the hill to the Selengo Baptist Church. I had to arrive to early because I asked to give the message for their church service. The previous week while visiting the village when another team was leading VBS, I was wandering around the village and met a man who spoke some english. It turned out that he was the pastor of this baptist church and asked me to come speak the next week. Although I was a little nervous about it because I had never preached before, and not to mention that I couldn't say no because I was going to be staying in the village during that time, I said yes. I had prepared a message on the Body of Christ and gifts because I wanted to emphasize to people how valuable each one of them is. That they each had a unique set of gifts and abilities that all play a part in the body of christ for a specific purpose that was designed before they were born (1 Cor 12). I also wanted to remind them that they should encourage one another because of this and not judge each other based on appearance, what possessions they have, or who their families are. It was really neat because I felt this crazy sense of calmness as soon as I stood up to start speaking and they actually asked me to continue speaking once I finished what I had prepared! So I improvised a mini-sermon on unity in the body of christ and fruits of the spirit to elaborate on what I had already talked about. After the service was finished, the church presented me with a HUGE bag of ground nuts and a glass bottle coke. The pastor gave me a letter to bring back to the US in hopes of finding a church that would be willing to partner with them to better reach out in the Selengo community. (If anyone is interested in learning more about this opportunity please contact me).

After this, Jimmy took me down to the feeding center garden. It looks wonderful and is very well managed. Jimmy's brother-in-law, Andrew, studied agriculture and is in charge of maintaining the garden. The rest of the day was spent talking with Jimmy, meeting his family, and playing with children. There is no electricity and no running water and the sun sets at 5:30sh, so everyone starts to head home when the sun starts to go down. All meals were prepared in an oven room out behind the house. This 'kitchen' consists of a water barrel and a place where fires were built and pots would sit on rocks. I was so tired from being so overwhelmed all day that I was nodding off by 7:30, so after dinner I went to bed before 8:30!

The next morning, the day began at about 5:30 when the sun begins to rise. In Selengo, the sun crests above the mountains at about 6:30 and is absolutely beautiful. I helped Georgina wash the previous night's dishes (by the way, I will never again complain of washing dishes with running water!). After this, I went down to fetch water from the well with Jimmy's wife and Georgina, his niece. This was really neat because this is something that the women of the village do everyday morning and I felt like I was experiencing a piece of their community. I pumped the well by hand and then the women put a bucket on my head (it was a very big bucket). I then carried up the hill, on my head, and back to the house while only spilling a little bit! They said they were impressed because my 'other american friends' couldn't even carry the bucket a few meters before dropping it, so I felt like I accomplished something. I assisted in the preschool class that is offered by the feeding center, which ran from 8 am to about 10:30 am. The kids were so cute and I think I ended up being more of a distraction than a help! After this I met with a group of women living with HIV/AIDS who have come together to help support eachother. I have agreed to help them by providing the funds to have a community garden that their families will share for food and sell the excess to have some sort of income. I am going to provide the money to rent an acre of land for one year, the initial seed, land preparation, and irrigation preparation. After this, Andrew will be in charge of the garden's maintainance and Jimmy will oversee the the operation of the garden as an official branch of the feeding center. The rest of the day was spent playing with the children in the village and going on a walk along a trail that connects several villages together. We went to look for a Baobab tree because it was a life-long dream to see one in real life and they are amazing. It was also great to be walking through the villages with the people who live there.

The next day started bright and early again and the carrying of the water bucket on my head was slightly easier. Today, I led the preschool because the teacher was attending a funeral. The funeral was a traditional one becaue the man who passed away was not a christian. The ceremony began the day before by having the beating of the drums and traditional dancers. They continued throughout the night and did not stop until the next afternoon! After lunch, Jimmy took me up to the funeral to see what it is like. There were over 1,000 people there if I had to guess and all of them were looking at me! People had travel from surrounding villages in the area and were sitting around eating together and crowded around the main attraction; the drumming and dancing. There were hundreds of people crowded in a circle and the women noticed that I was trying to see the dancing and they motioned for me to come over. The squeezed me in to near the front so I could see which was very neat. The traditional dancers were dressed in crazy costumes made from straw, grasses, sticks, strips of fabric and other random things like old masks. If a funeral is this exciting, I want to attend a malawian wedding! This was truly a unique experience!

The rest of the afternoon I played the children and was taught some cool soccer tricks by some of the boys! This last afternoon and evening was the most special to me because of the excitement of the funeral and I feel like this time was when I realized I actually formed relationships with people while there. Jimmy took me aside to tell me that they truly enjoyed having me as a guest and said that I became a part of their family and adapted to every situation they threw at me. He also said that they will truly miss me and that I they have enjoyed hosting me more than any other person who has come to stay as a volunteer! This was very special for him to say such things I think. Everyone I have come into contact with has been so hospitable and so welcoming! I feel like I was treated like royalty the entire time, but that is what they do here. They are known as the warm heart of africa and they are proud of it! I know I just typed a novel, but I cannot even begin to describe all of the experiences I have had here!

~Lauren

Mazungu visits a village...

I cannot even begin to describe what I have experienced over the past few days, but I will do my best in the next day or so. Right now I just wanted to let everyone know that I am now back from staying out in a remote village called Selengo. I have learned so so much and praise God for my time spent here. Hope everyone is doing well and I will write a detailed post when I get a chance. ~Lauren

Another week in Malawi!

Mulibwanji!

First off, I would like to extend an apology to everyone for not having updated you guys in about a week! Last week, I got some sort of bug/virus thing and was down and out for three days and I am just now getting back to feeling myself. I figured I would do you a favor by not updating you in detail about the events of those days...thank you Cipro

Yesterday, I got to go to the wood market and get my first chance at shopping in Malawi. There are so many amazing boxes, statues, tables, jewelry, and all sorts of other curios. Needless to say, I got a good bit of practice in at bartering. Afterthat, I spent an hour putting together an outline for a speech for tomorrow and then helped with the babies in the crisis nursery. Today was also a great day! We had to get up very, very early and went to a village called Chimon'gombe for a mobile medical clinic. We saw over 100 patients in about three hours and then had to pack up early to take a clinician back to the hospital. My responsibility at the clinics has been taking vitals (pulse, weight, blood pressure, temp) after people register.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day and I would greatly appreciate all your prayers! I am six hours ahead of eastern time fyi. Tomorrow morning, I am leaving at six in the morning to go out to Selengo. I have been asked to give a sermon at a baptist church in this village tomorrow morning! I am a little nervous, but pray that God is the one speaking and not me. I am going to stay out in the village until Friday. During my time out there I will be speaking, helping teach preschool, help the village garden, teach a class on relationships, teach a class on environmental education, play with kids and do pretty much whatever else they have planned. You will hear from me hopefully friday night if the power does not go out! So until then, have a wonderful blessed week!

Lauren (ps-the last verses of ephesians 6 sum up whats needed in prayer!)

A day with babies and Mobile Medical Clinic

I cannot believe that I have already been here a week! Praise God for his providence and for constantly reminding me that He is pulling everything together so that I will be taken care of; I just have to keep trusting him. This journey has been full of learning to trust God through and through. I can't wait to see and experience what else is instore on this trip!

Yesterday, I went to see the new Ministry of Hope sight and it is going to be fantastic when it is completed. After that, I spent the afternoon at the crisis nursery. I have become 'slightly' attached to at least five of the babies. Elenati is a beautiful about 11 month old baby who always has a very serious look on her face until I make act so goofy that she starts laughing. Chisomo is a little boy who looks like he could be a Baby Gap model with soft curly dark hair. Littly Ruthy is about 5 months old and very tiny and very very sweet. There are also the twins who are the oldest babies in the nursery and have been there the longest. 'Fi-Fi' needs to start walking and I am convinced that she will while im here and her brother, Shawn, is known for crying and being moody when he is not being held, but loves Nathan who can make him laugh so much by rough housing. Right now, there are about 17 babies in the nursery.

Today was just amazing! After getting almost 4.5 hours of sleep (we stayed up until 2 am sorting through donations), we got up early to drive to Khwamba for a mobile medical clinic day. The village was miles from any paved road and a little over an hour north of Lilongwe. It consisted of dirt roads, a lot of goats, a whole lot of kids, little huts with thatched rooves, no electricity, one well, and very warm-hearted people. I was stationed to record vitals right after people registered and before they went to see one of the two doctors. I saw people from the age of infancy through the elderly. We arrived at 10 am, set up, and then treated over 175 patients before 4 pm and I checked every single person's bloodpressure or pulse that was treated. I must say, my back is feeling it! I am now at even greater qualms about if I am supposed to pursue further medical training for missions or not because I enjoyed it so much!

I made a new friend today named Kingsley Banda. He is one of the MOH scholarship recievers who is my age, so he speaks pretty good english. He is now living with his grandmother in Khwamba and volunteers with the feeding center. He stayed in the vital signs area the entire time, helping us with translating to chichewa and english. He really wants to go to college and I believe that he is someone who will be able to succeed and then give back to the community; he just needs to somehow get the funds to go to college. I also really enjoyed riding squished in the middle of the front seat of the mini-bus between two malawians. You get alot of funny/surprised looks on people's faces when driving by! Tomorrow, we got to a different village named Salingo for work with the children programs there so say a pray! I love you guys and hope everything is going well back home! Keep me up-to-date with whats going on over there too!

ps-I promise I will upload some pics of the past few days if the power does not go out tomorrow night!!!