His presence made known

Hello again ☺ I hope your first week of August is going well! How on earth did that happen??? AHHHH… anywho… I’m sorry this post is later than usual… I was planning on updating you all on Sunday, but then I was able to call my Mama for her Birthday!! We sang her a song and then I passed her around so everyone could say hi. Then I got to chat online with my sister instead! It was a great surprise even though I got kicked offline about 10 times and had to wait about 30 seconds for each message to send haha. I have about an hour before our intern meeting… just enough time to catch you up from last week! Here’s a few highlights:

On Tuesday we had all the widows bring their children so that we could take family pictures for them. Since we can’t get them printed here, we are planning to send them back as a gift after we leave. Not only was it special for them, but it was also helpful for us so that we can have each woman’s picture and name to use for future prayers and memories. We then made an announcement for them to bring a plate with them on Thursday because we wanted to serve them lunch. They were sooooo excited (what’s new? Haha) and the afternoon was finished off with usual singing and dancing!

Our normal schedule for Thursday is to spend the morning with the widows and then come back for lunch and a siesta before we go back in the afternoon. This Thursday, however, we stayed behind in the morning to prepare lunch for all the women. We purchased rice, beans, and greens from the market in order to feed over 40 women. It was quite a process since the beans have to soak overnight and the rice has to be sifted for rocks, but luckily the cooks helped us with the quantities. We arrived at noon and as we walked in with our 3 pots the women surrounded us with singing and dancing because they were so excited and thankful. After about 8 songs or so, I had prepared an encouraging word and blessing to share since it was my week to lead Bible study. I thanked them for allowing us to serve them in this way because they always serve us. I shared my love for long meals with friends because of the fellowship that goes along with it, along with Jesus’ love for community that they exemplify so well. I read Romans 15:5-6 which says, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. I reminded them that the most important thing we have in common is our love for Christ and thanked them for showing us a deeper sense of His love in the way they serve us and each other. As we were serving food we were worried that we wouldn’t have enough for everyone, but we just kept praying for God to provide and make it stretch. Everyone was served a substantial helping and about half of the women were able to come back for more!!! We enjoyed an amazing time of fellowship and eating (with our hands of course! Malawian style….) and I can’t even describe the presence of God that I felt in that room. The most amazing thing to me as I reflect on the day is the women’s response to it. Up until that point all we have “done” is sit with them and fail at knitting, most of the time not being able to communicate. Yet, this was the first time we “did” something by bringing them food, and their graciousness and joy was exactly the same as every other time we have spent with them. Their hearts are amazing and I have learned so much from them!

On Friday we did a photo scavenger hunt in Mgwayi where we broke up into teams and wandered around the village taking as many pictures we could of things on the list. The kids loved it!! Well anything that involves a camera is pretty much always successful!

On Sunday the COTN country director (aka: a bigwig around town), Yobe Lungu, took a few of us with him to his church in the morning. It was from 7-9 am and then he had to go preach at another church at 10. He is seriously the most genuine and loving man of God I have ever met! He is so intentional with his time and always seeks us out to say hello and see how we are doing. During the service, even though it was in English, he was explaining a few of the traditions that were going on and then during the offering he handed the 3 of us some money to put in so that we could all walk up together and drop it in the basket. We were introduced to the church (a Malawian tradition) and was welcomed with a song of course! Even though he had somewhere to be we never felt like we were wasting his time or we had to rush. We left church at 9:15 and still had to be driven back so that Yobe could arrive to church on time. Yet, on the way home we stopped to sit down and have a cup of tea and a little chat! Haha we were cracking up… that would never happen in the States! Needless to say he showed up a little late but that’s completely acceptable when entertaining friends!

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers! This current week is our last week of ministry which is going to be a lot harder than I originally thought! I have been blessed with amazing relationships and a deep love for the people here that it will be hard to leave. Please pray that God will continue to lead me in His will and that I would be open to what else He wants to teach me with my little time left here. Please pray that our goodbyes would be blessed and for our physical and spiritual health. I love you and miss you! See you in 2 weeks ☺

Love, K