My family at Rise. From the left... Ruth, Tinashe, Me, Chikondi below me, and Za.

It truly troubled my heart to see how sad Tinashe was, and also because I had just meet Grace’s 9 year old daughter Gift, the weekend prior. My heart truly goes out to their family during this time of need and I spent much of my week praying and thinking of them asthey were together. I missed Tinashe very much as I held down the house with her sister Ruth and her nephew Chikondi. She has been a great friend and mentor to me as I start off my journey here in Malawi. Teaching me important cultural things to be aware of and helping me figure out my way in society here. She is such a wonderful woman of God and I have been blessed to be able to stay with her. She truly challenges me as her faith and love for the Lord is so strong and evident in her life. She is always praying to the Lord for even the littlest things, thanking Him for a safe journey to and from program, and simply just praising His name for His glory and mercy towards us. It was difficult to spend most of the week without her.

It was hard to leave the kids, they were extremely sad that it was my last week with them. I was so encouraged by the time that I was able to spend with some of them during tutoring in program. I was able to take some of them aside one on one and practice reading English with them. They are doing well in their English studies, but it is hard for them to focus on the areas that they struggle in a group setting, so I was able to take time with them on the areas they struggle. The progress that they made even within two weeks was amazing. They work so hard to be successful academically, and it is encouraging to see Rise assist and encourage them in their education in a society where it is so hard to achieve academic success.

I leave Rise with a hopeful heart that the development projects that we worked on will help them find funds to continue with and grow their wonderful ministry, and with great expectation and hope for the child and high school sponsorship program. I hope to be back to Rise to visit for at least a day or two before coming back to the States, and will stay in communication with Za and Tinashe as they continue on with ministry in Madisi.

Saturday morning Robert (the director of ChristCares) the ministry I will be spending the next two and a half weeks at came to pick me up. I am living in his home with him and his wife Sheila, who just had their first baby girl, Mercy, last week. Along with Robert, Sheila, and Mercy, lives Sheila’s sister Pemphero who is 16, and two other high school/college age friends and helpers around the house, the boy, Innocent, and the girl Felista. There house sits right on the outskirts of Lilongwe, the very small capital of Malawi.

Me and two of the beautiful girls from program.

Robert serves as the Director for ChristCares, and also serves as the lead pastor of a local church which I attended this weekend. The church was built by and is served by Korean Christians in a complex along with a hospital and school. I am already starting to feel like home with Roberts’s family, and am so blessed to be able to serve along side of such amazing people.

One thing that truly challenges me and makes my heart so happy is the idea of family, and community here. So far, both at Rise with Tinashe, and here at ChristCares with Robert, my whole idea of family has changed. These people I lived with over the past three weeks open their hearts and their homes to so many people, and treat them as family, living in true community. They live with their brothers and sister, nieces and nephews, youth and friends. Both Robert and Tinashe have taken relatives or simply people in need from their communities into their homes to help them have a more successful future. They help pay school fees, feed, pray with, tutor, encourage, laugh with, and treat them as family.

What a beautiful picture of the body of Christ, the church. Not in the sense of the word that the church is a building that we gather in on Sunday mornings, but the idea that the church, is truly the body of Christ. That we are His hands and feet here on earth, living out love the way that He called us to; Sharing love and community with those around us through actions, meeting each other’s needs, helping each other with problems, praying with and for one another, etc… That what we have is not our own, our blessings and everything that God has given us should be used to bless others and share with them the love of Jesus. What an amazing example of Christ’s love. I am so blessed to be a part of this body of Christ here in Malawi.

Please Pray:

- For Tinashe and her family as they continue to cope with the loss of their sister-in-law, daughter, wife, and mother: Grace

- For my transition into ChristCares Ministries here in Lilongwe. That I would be able to build meaningful relationships with the kids and leaders, and that we could work out some meaningful development programs

- For details of my Visa to go through as I need to reapply for the visa this week

This past week at Rise seemed to go by quickly, as we were busy with program and fund raising efforts.  I am beginning to feel more comfortable here; I am able to say the local greetings in Chichewa (the local language).  It is a sign of respect and the locals really appreciate it when you are able to greet them in their own language.  The kids at program have seemed to get over their shy and fascination stage and are not joking with me, teaching me games, letting me tutor them in English, giving me hugs and showing me love.  I am able to help serve food to the kids during lunch time, which I love to do!  They are so grateful and pass me by with

Afternoon lunch time at program

big smiles on their faces as they return to their seats with their plates full.  Another one of my favorite times during after school program is scripture memory.  The kids are split into 6 or 7 groups and each given different versus from the bible to memorize.  They take about 15 minutes or so to practice with each other and the youth leaders the memory versus.  However, I can barely stay in the small two room school house because the kids are yelling at the top of their lungs the word of God.  They make up songs, and beats, and repeat as loud as they can their specific memory verses.  After time is up each team must recite their verses, and get awarded points depending on how well they do.  It is beautiful to see and hear these amazing kids get so excited about the word of God!

Art time at program. I had the kids make drawings for the donors.

I was able to make some good progress with Za (Rise’s executive director) this past week on fund raising efforts for the ministry.  I worked with him to write a proposal and fill out a grant application, which he cannot send in quite yet because they need to be fully registered as a 501 c3 nonprofit organization, which they are in the process of being approved for.  Once they are approved for nonprofit status he will send in the application and proposal, which we will complete this coming week, and Lord willingly receive some grant money to help continue with and grow the ministry.

We also worked on ideas for the child sponsorship program and talked about the importance of what a program like this could be for their ministry.  Tinashe, Za, and I had a few meetings this week to discuss the importance of development and the potential for different programs and fund raising ideas.  I hope and pray that as time goes on that these ideas and programs are able to become reality and allow Rise to not only sustain its programs but grow and expand its ministry to more children and youth of Madisi and the Dowa region.

This week I was able to spend some more time with the youth leaders, helping them with their studies and talking with them.  One of the youth leaders named Chikondi has been a youth leader with rise for the past two years, but is not able to help out with program as much recently because he was accepted and received a scholarship to go to African Bible College in Lilongwe.  Chikondi and I sat together in the office of Rise flipping through the local news papers to do research for a paper that he was writing, and discussing our opinions of Rise.  He asks me of what I think of the ministry and I ask him how he got involved and what the ministry means to him.  Chikondi tells me of what his life was like before Rise; he just barely graduated from high school due to financial struggles, it took him longer to graduate then hoped for because he had to take some time off from school to get enough money to return.

After high school Chikondi had no hope of going on to college because of finances, so he decided to follow his passion into ministry, and began to work part time for various ministries in Malawi.  After about a year or so of working here and there, Chikondi found Rise ministries.  Rise encouraged him to become a youth leader at their afterschool program, and told him that they would help tutor and mentor him so that he could take the college entrance exam and possibly receive financial aid to attend college.  He couldn’t turn this opportunity down and began to work at Rise.  After a year of working at Rise, studying and tutoring under the guidance of Za and Tinashe, Chikondi took the college entrance exam and was able to score so well that the African Bible College in Lilongwe gave him a scholarship to go to school there.  He is now in the middle of his first year at African Bible College studying Christian Ministry.

Chikondi expressed to me his extreme love and gratefulness towards Rise, and believes that he could not be where he is in life today without it.  Chikondi is only one of the many stories of the changed and blessed lives of many children and youth that are a part of Rise.  I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this ministry, and to be able to assist them in their pursuit to maintain and expand their programs here in Madisi Malawi.

Please Pray:

-          For my last week here at Rise, that I am able to accomplish the fund raising and development projects that I started to work on with Za.  That these projects would start being implemented soon, and will be successful so that Rise can find more funds for their ministry.

-   Please pray that Rise Malawi Ministries is approved by the government to be a registered 501 c3 nonprofit organization soon.  Their application and information is in and they are simply waiting on approval from the government.

-   For the hunger of the families here in Madisi.  As it is rainy season, their crops are growing but not ready to harvest until May.  They must live off of the remainder of last year’s crop (which at this time of year is not much) to sustain their families until the new harvest.

-   For my transition to Christ Cares Ministry this coming Saturday.  That the transition would go smoothly and that the Lord would prepare my heart for a new living situation, friends, and ministry.

-   Praise the Lord for the wonderful hearts of the people here, for their love and faith in Him.

By Lindsey

Many Many praises!!
 
The entire team arrived safely on Sat with ALL 16 bags!  Robert, Willie, Peter and I met them at the airport and were able to wave to them from a second floor balcony.  Robert is an amazing man full of the favor of God.  He got the official to let him and I back into the luggage area to great and help.  Then we went as a group through customs and the man wanted us to start filling out paperwork and when he asked us what we had we told him school supplies etc.  Robert said we were here to visit his church and do missions and the man said then come on in!  The next stop they opened one bag and Robert said we were here to preach the gospel and the guy said no problem go on.  All those bags just went through without a hitch!
 
We are all feeling well and being totally blessed to be in Malawi and to be visiting with the people.
 
Yesterday we worshipped at Robert’s church.  Half the team taught 150 kids that they are a treasure from God and Jesus wants them to help Him find lost coins.  The other half of the group gave testimonies to about 100+ teens.  Then in the main service we sang a few songs and Jon preached on Psalm 23.  Afterwards we served the entire church beef and rice, starting with the kids first!  We spent the afternoon watching a soccer match and then ended it with a time of fellowship in Robert’s home.  We all enjoyed traditional Malawian food of fish, nisema, peanuts and greens, and of course soda & ice cream
 
Today we were in groups of three and visited the homes of some of Robert’s kids and got to pray with families.  It was really special and humbling to be in their homes and to receive gifts of food from their hearts.  It seemed that God sent specific members of our group to specific houses. 
 
We also toured the city and had a history lesson.  Turns out the first president of Malawi’s favorite scripture was Ps 23:1-2 the exact passage that God put on Jon’s heart to share.
 
Robert asked us last night where have we seen Jesus today?  I think we have not stopped seeing His hand putting together even the smallest details of the trip.  We cannot express how amazing it is to be here and to be united with our family in Malawi.
 
Tomorrow we are ministering at the Korean hospital and visiting Robert’s afterschool program Christ Cares.  Wednesday we will visit Peter’s village, a school and a hospital in his town.
 
We have felt all of your prayers and really need them to continue.  We have so many stories and experiences to share.
 
Love,
Becky and the Malawi team

But now we have said our goodbyes, and although we are staying in Lilongwe, we are moving on to YouthCare Ministry, where we are meeting up with Gibozi Mphanzi. YouthCare has been established for five years, so it has had more time to grow roots and extend its branches. Lindsey and I will also meet up with Roger and Kristin Nielsen, who will be traveling with us for the remainder of our stay. That means we are at the two week/half-way marker of our visit. Traveling is funny, because there are so many new experiences, the days seem full and long, yet ‘time flies when you’re having fun’, so the weeks go fast. We will continue to soak up each and every moment.

ChristCares, initiated by Robert Manda, has only been established for one year, yet its impact has profoundly touched the villages and families involved. Yesterday, we walked through Chisaleka and Chatata, meeting some of the afterschool children’s families and seeing their homes. We then saw the afterschool program in action, consisting of a feeding program, recreation, academics, and spiritual growth. It is obvious that the children love it, and many encouraging reports are coming back from their parents and teachers who say that the children are being transformed. The afterschool program is currently working with 40 children; yet, if there were doors, children would be breaking them down to participate. The demand is incredibly high. And as of today, nine young women are working with ChristCares to pay for their high school tuition. In addition, ChristCares has been confronting the HIV/AIDS pandemic by bringing leaders of the communities together and educating them through trainings and workshops so that they can in turn, educate the youth of their communities. As Peter and John return to join ChristCares, its capacity will increase, furthering opportunities for children and young leaders.

Lilongwe is a unique city in that there are pockets of highly populated areas, spread out and isolated by fields and trees. It is hard to see where the population of one million actually resides. As a result, transportation is an issue. Overcrowded, rundown mini-buses shuttle people on dilapidated roads, lined with vendors and those who cannot afford the buses and therefore walk. It is also a very dusty city. The red dirt that embodies Africa is fine grained and kicks up with the subtlest wind. White is not a recommended color to wear.

More to come . . .