Only 8 days left

With only 8 days left to go, we are getting very busy as we try to finish packing up before we go to Lilongwe on the 30^th.  To show their appreciation for us, the nursery put together a going away party for us with cookies, snacks, pop, and the whole 9 yards.  They even did a little skit that showed the procedure we use when we receive a baby.  They even used a real baby believe it or not!  They also gave my mom and dad a gift of some traditional clothing.  I think it was very nice of them to do this for us.

Not only did the nursery do something for us, but our assembly also gave us a gift of a carved rhino and some chitenjes.  The funny part was that they had to borrow some money from my dad to buy the gifts! 

Although I am happy to go home for a break, I am still sad to be leaving Malawi and the babies and friends we came to love.  I think that I would feel much better if I knew that I was coming back soon.  Even though I would want to come back to Malawi, whatever god has planned for all of us will happen his way not ours.  A couple months ago, I was looking forward to leaving Malawi, but now that the time is really close, I am not looking forward to it as I was before.

We will be leaving Mzuzu on the 30^th August and stay in Lilongwe until our flight on the 4^th of September.  I think that all of the nannies at the nursery dread our leaving and keep asking us if we are coming back soon and to please write to them while we are in the U.S.

 

Kris

 

                                                                           

Bridget's Passport

            Today, we just got back from Lilongwe to try to get Bridget’s passport done.  A few days before we had left Lilongwe, we had gotten Bridget’s picture and the birth certificate needed for her passport.  The plan was to have the people that had the information send the paperwork to Lilongwe then we would go to there to pick up the passport that should be finished.  When we went to Lilongwe, the paper work had not arrived so the passport was not ready.  They (the people at the U.S. embassy) said to come back the next day when the paper should arrive.  The next day the information needed still had not arrived.  So we left Lilongwe that day with nothing useful done and would still have to come back some time later to pick up the passport when ever it would be ready.  With only 3 weeks left until we leave, we are getting pretty desperate to get all of the things needed to take Bridget home with us.  Please pray that we will be able to get Bridget’s passport without anymore delays.

 

Kris

 

 

 

A True "Malawian" Experience

            On our way to a village near the lake, we passed a tractor towing a pickup and going very slow.  Well we passed it with no problem and kept on going.  Seeing this kind of thing was not unusual, so we thought nothing of it.  A while later we passed a semi truck that had tipped over and had dumped over bales of something, possibly cotton.  Since seeing this kind of thing was not unusual either so we kept on going.  We arrived at the village of Mkondezi and didn’t have too much of a problem except a drunk guy in the middle of the road that banged on our windows as we passed.  After a great teaching about baptism and a few questions answered by my dad, we went on our way.  About half way back home, we met the tractor that had been hauling the pickup, except this time it was going so slow that it wasn’t moving at all!  Well, the tractor had a very good reason to be stopped in that a pickup had run into it and was pretty much smashed and the tractor definitely was not in much better condition.  The pickup that the tractor had been towing was now on the other side of the road with the front end a little damaged. 

Seeing a tipped truck is not unusual, in that we see at least one on every trip we make on a highway. But a tractor and two pickups wrecked was a little more abnormal.  I have only seen a wreck like this once or twice before here in Malawi.  Although I don’t know if anyone was seriously hurt in that accident, we can hope that whoever was involved in this accident was a Christian so that they would go to heaven rather than a place worse than any car accident imaginable.

 

Kris

 

 

 

Our Babies

          As I am sure you all know, we are going home in September.  I have enjoyed being here and have loved all of the babies that have come to our nursery.  I hope that I can come back some time to see the nursery that our family started.  While I have been here trying to save babies, I have learned that no matter how healthy the babies appear, we need to give them the best care that we can.  Some babies that we have gotten have appeared quite healthy and later died.  Some have been sick when they came and are now very healthy and happy.  I have learned a lot being in Malawi that will probably be useful to me at some later date.  Even though we are leaving Malawi, I am sure there are many more things that God would have us to do.  Although I am not sure what those things are, I should do them as to the Lord.

             “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

In the 11 months that our nursery has been running, we have received 20 babies.  5 have died, 2 have been adopted, and 2 have gone home to be with their family.  I hope that many more babies will come to our nursery so that they have a chance to do something for God.  How can anyone do anything for God if they are dead?

 

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”  James 1:27

 

Kris