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!!!

My first few days in Lilongwe

I arrived in Lilongwe at about 9:30 malawi time on Wednesday night (about 6 hours late), but the interns were there to pick me up! My first look at the country was the next morning and it is beautiful! I arrived just in the beginning of the interns' first break between mission teams so we have been taking things easy for the past few days. This has been a good time to get to know each other as well as see and experience a little of Lilongwe and the Malawian people before diving in.

My first day, I walked down the street to visit the crisis nursery. Right now there are around 15 babies ranging from infants to 3 years old. Some of the children staying here are orphans, but some just need special care due to illness or the family's inability to provide care. The babies are soooo adorable! I seem to be a little attached to a little girls named Fi-fi and Elanati, and a little boy named Chisomo Lukele. I hope to spend more time here loving on the babies, but also helping with other needs around the nursery.

The next day was filled with a little adventure...we got up and drove to a village about an hour outside of Lilongwe called Dedza. The drive was exciting because nathan is great driver and there was beautiful scenery. The landscape was the picturesque African rolling hills dotted with trees. There were also beautiful monoliths the size of small mountains scattered throughout the hills with steep, rugged mountain ranges. There is a popular potter place and cafe in Dedza where we went to look at hand-made pottery and get amazing cheesecake from the cafe. On our way back, we dropped Zuze off near a village to purchase a goat for us because they would give him a good deal. That's right, we bought a living breathing goat for about $30 US dollars and put it in the back of the land cruiser with everyone else!

Although not my idea, the goat was purchase with the intention of eating it for dinner that night. We got back to the compound and some of the Malawian Ministry of Hope administrators, the guards, and the driver, and Nathan killed the goat out back. I didn't watch this part, but am proud to say I stepped out of my comfort zone and watched them 'dismantle' the goat afterwards. Then I even helped Daniel clean and cut up the meat to get it ready to cook. John, the malawian driver, was very excited about making a Malawian delicacy. He took the insides (and i Mean almost all the internal organs) and the blood to make some sort of stew. It looked absolutely disgusting, but after it was completely cooked all the malawians were eating it! In the end, I ended up eating goat stomach, esophagus, testicle, intestine, and who knows what else! It wasn't that bad, but once is definately enough! We spent the rest of the evening grilling the goat meat and preparing dinner and then all eating together. It was a bonding experience for sure, if you are brave enough to call it that!

Yesterday we got up and went to the chichinge market to buy fabric. A chichinge is a piece of brightly patterned fabric that women use to tie over their skirts or use to carry babies. Then, we made our way over the the Ambassador's house for a 4th of July cookout. It was actually weird to be around so many azungu (white people), but still fun. After this, we relaxed the rest of the day and watched movies together. The rest and time together just being was much needed.

Today, we went to CCPC which is a missionary-run church that Nathan grew up going to. It was really neat to see some many people from so many different backgrounds coming together to worship. After this we picked up lunch and then Nathan, Hannah, and Rachel went to pick up the new mission team coming in while the rest of us organized medications for the medical clinic on Tuesday and then went on a walk.

I hope everyone is doing well back home and please let me know if you have any questions or comments! I love and miss you guys. Please continue to keep me and everyone else over here in your prays because we can definately feel them! Grace and Peace, Lauren

I'm in Malawi!!!

Just letting everyone know I am here and getting settled into the office! The last leg of the trip was a little more interesting with a few unexpected 'adventures', but I think also produced the most rewarding new friendships from the trip! More info to come, but praise God for his faithfulness and my suitcase made it the whole way!!!!

Lauren

South Africa

Well, I arrived in Jo-burg at six am this morning and it was 40 degrees outside! I had to wait over four hours just for my airline desk attendants to open so I could get my boarding pass. I guess africa time has started! My flight has been delayed an hour, but if that is my only problem then I would say this has been a smooth trip! I should be in Lilongwe at 3:30 in the afternoon malawi time, which i think is six hours ahead of back home. Pictures will come once i get to malawi!!!! (trust me, they wont be in short supply)
~Lauren