Bible Studies

Bible studies here are always interesting.  Most of them are very one sided, at least at the start.  It seems because we are foreigners that we have credibility regardless of what we really know.  This means that everyone listens to you until you run out of things to say.  Last Sunday’s study following church was no different.  When my store of “canned” comments was done, there were a few that became bold and asked questions.  Overall the discussion was quite good.  It showed that some really know their bible.  But there are also the normal questions that don’t seem to apply much and catch you off guard.  Last week a couple of these were- “was Paul baptized?”, and “are there any gentiles still living?”   These were taken in stride, the last causing some smiles and snickers among most of the Malawians as well as us.  Then there were some deeper issues, such as people telling them that if you didn’t speak in tongues, then you weren’t really saved.  Keep praying that God will give us the wisdom we need to answer all of these questions and more and lead the people we are ministering to into a much deeper understanding of His truth.

Andy

When you get frustrated with government bureaucracy…

you need to visit the Malawi Immigration Office.  We had to go yesterday to get our visitors visa extended for 30 more days.  The office is in a government building downtown with the prison office and office of registry.  I showed up a little after 9 with all 8 passports and 40,000 MK (about $250) to get our extension.  The entrance to the Immigration office was guarded by someone who was directing all the throng of people to various windows or rooms.  I expressed my need and was told to go to room 2 (which is the boss’s office).  I fought my way down the 4 foot wide hall that was full of people lined up to get to a window and got to room 2.  The officer was very helpful, gave me the 8 forms (a miracle in itself, usually they are out of forms and have to send out for more, or you have to go get your own copies made) to fill out.  After giving him the filled out forms and the 40,000 MK, he said to follow him to get them processed.  We made our way back toward the mob at the windows and he handed off our package to a man standing there with some other passports and cash in his hand.  I asked if I should wait, and he told me to return in 2 or 3 hours and they would be done.  Since 2 or 3 hours ended up at lunch, I waited until 2 to come back.  I took Alina with me so she could have some adventure as she gets bored sometimes just sitting at home or the nursery.  As we arrived, they were just opening up after lunch hour, so the crowd was even thicker.  We hit gridlock about halfway up the stairs to the second floor where the offices are.  There was a small line of people fighting their way forward, so we followed them.  When we got to the main hallway, it was completely full of people waiting and you could barely fight your way through the mob.  After about 10 minutes of jostling, we made our way back to room 2, but the boss was still out to lunch.  We waited for another 15 or 20 minutes and he showed up.  We were ushered into his office and he said he would go check on the passports.  He returned with the passports and the stack of forms and receipts for payment.  We verified payment for all 8 and he left to get them processed.  He came back in about 5 minutes with a stamp to extend the visitors visa.  He started to stamp and at the same time deal with the 3 other people who had come into the office.  After stamping them all, he asked me to interpret what the stamp said about which date went where.  The stamp was so worn out you could barely read what it said, but we finally figured out one date was the new end date for our stay and the other the current date.  He filled out all the dates and then got another stamp to make it official.  After stamping them again with a different stamp, we were good to go.  Thankfully the crowd hand dispersed some by this time and there was actually a pathway to walk between people waiting.  Two trips, a couple of hours,  rugby scrum, lots of stamping and we can now stay until August 13.  I have a whole new perspective on the U.S. Passport Agency.
    Andy

Another Presentation

Since being in Mzuzu our puppet presentation hasn't been as in demand as we had hoped.  We were a little discouraged at first but then decided to leave it with the One who called us here.  If He wanted us to perform then He would need to break through the barriers.  When we quit worrying about it and prayed more then we received a call to present the skits at another CCAP Sunday School this past Sunday.
Originally, we didn't think we could be at another church on Sunday since we are doing the skits at the church we attend.  CCAP Sunday Schools start at 7 am and our church doesn't start until 9 am which gives us time to do both churches.  It makes for an early morning but it is well worth it.
We arranged to meet someone at the church at 6:45 am who would show us where to go.  We arrived at 6:45 sharp but no one was there and those who were knew nothing about us.  Because we know that the Lord is over all of this we weren't anxious but just prayed that the Lord would work things out.  This is a difficult lesson for some of my kids as they get quite agitated when it looks as if things aren't going to work out but a necessary lesson for them. 
Finally, someone showed up who knew we were going to be there and took us to a small room and then decided that it was too small for the amount of kids that would show up.  She took us to the "hall" which is an unfinished building but has a roof and walls but no flooring and no windows or doors.  They brought in mats for the children to sit on and then began singing while we set up the puppet stage. 
We were told we would have an interpreter but no one seemed to know who that was so a man who teaches the kids was asked and he agreed to do it.  We performed 6 skits with Andy teaching for a few minutes in between.  The kids did a great job again and are learning to pause while the interpreter speaks before continuing.  It makes for tired arms but they are getting use to it. 
There were about 300-400 kids present as more streamed in.  We were finished at 8:30, packed everything up and ready to go to our church by 8:45.  They asked us to come back and perform for the adults and the interpreter said there is another church we need to perform at.  We are returning on Saturday to perform for the youth or high school age kids and they want to discuss doing the skits for others at that time.  We got off to a slow start but God is working out the details.  We are trusting Him to order our steps.  Please pray that His word will touch the hearts and lives of those who are coming.

Toys

Here is a picture of toys at the nursery that have been washed and are out drying in the sun.

The Weather

Most of you are enjoying summer weather right but here in Malawi it is winter time.  June and July are the winter months and here in Mzuzu it can be very cold.  Mzuzu is in the mountains at over 5000 ft. elevation.  When we came the last time we had no idea how cold it could be.  Since the houses are brick and have no heat source when the sun is not out and the wind is blowing, it can feel very frigid in the house. 
Since arriving, the weather has been very pleasant with mostly sunny days and cool nights.  We weren't huddled under blankets once the sun went down.  Then July hit and boy have we been cold.  The wind has been blowing and the sun has been hidden behind the clouds.  On Saturday, we had quite a bit of rain. 
The house we are in now is somewhat smaller than our first house and tends to be warmer but it is still cold.  We go to bed early just so we can get warm. 
When we decided to come to Malawi again, we didn't want to come during June or July because 1) it is very cold during these months, and 2)we were robbed both times in June.  Obviously, the Lord had other ideas about our time table and we know that we are here at the right time.  We will just keep the layers on and drink a lot of tea and coffee to stay warm.

My Malawian Birthday Party

Most excitingly, my birthday is on 7 July. Ever since we came home from Malawi in 2007, I’ve dreamt of having at least one more birthday in Malawi. Well, I got my wish (and prayers) answered. When we were here before, my family and I had grown too really like an Indian type of food called a somusa. At every big event that we had here we would always buy a lot of somusas and minerals (pop). On the morning of my birthday, Jared my older called from America to wish me Happy Birthday. It was really nice of him to call considering that calls from any where out of the country was expensive. While I was talking to Jared, my dad slipped a small box into my cup. When I sat down and noticed the mysterious little box, my brothers went crazy. What had once been a civil “opening of a gift” routine, turned into a bedlam of boys yelling, “Don’t open it yet!” “Let me get my camera!!!” “Argh!!! My camera is dead! Don’t open the box yet!” and “OK, wait…..Alright, go ahead…..” J So now, I had 4 cameras all taking pictures of me opening a small gift box. And they all had the flash on!! My mom told me if I ever became a movie star, the publicity wouldn’t be bad at all, I’d be quite at home.

            My birthday party was to be held at 3 o’clock that afternoon. Along with the ever delightful somusas and minerals, oh yeah, and cake. ( no ice cream because the ice cream here gives one serious indigestion, my dad would more than likely go into more humorous details, but I’ll just say that) Quite a lot of nannies came to my party, along with the watchmen, security guy and the gardener. They sang some really nice songs with the traditional dances which is a treat for the mazungus (white people).  After 2 songs they called a halt to have cake, minerals and somusas. Then, we had them sing another song for us. Jennifer, the cook on duty that day led the singing and dancing. She was really energetic and that influenced the others to be enthusiastic in their singing and dancing. To clarify “dancing” their type of dancing isn’t guy and girl together, but just doing a jig but everyone doing just a slightly different thing but all keeping the same rhythm and beat to an invisible drum that it seems only they can hear. It is amazing how God gave the African people a sense of rhythm. My mom and I figured out that the reason not very many people these days can’t do without the additional drums or instruments when singing is that it has basically been bred out of us with always having accompaniment for every little thing. While the Africans have not had the comfort of our cushioned lives so have learned to have their own rhythm. This in my opinion is the best music out there.

            My brother, Andrew is hinting to me that I should get back to the topic of my partyJ I got 2 gifts from some nannies at the nursery. To me, they might have been a gift of a million dollars, to know that these women cared enough to purchase the chitangis (cloth that the women wrap around their skirts); headbands and set of earrings were the best gifts I could have asked for. God is so incredible! The sets of chitangis I received from 2 different people were of the same material!! Veronica and Joyce got me a chitangi at a different time, not even knowing that Grace was even getting me anything. And Grace didn’t know that Veronica and Joyce were getting that color of chitangi. I still can’t believe it. I know there is some reason for that. Out of the whole Tyifa Market, I got the exact same chitangis. God is so wonderful.   

             Sarah Langdon

Questions

If any of you that read this blog have questions about Malawi or a question for one of the kids, please let us know.  We would love to answer any questions you have or something you are curious about.

Life in Malawi

When you live in Malawi, you generally hire some watchmen, a housekeeper, a cook and a gardener to work for you.  The watchmen are a necessity or at least you think they are to keep you from being robbed.  Even though when we were here before we had watchmen, a dog and alarm buttons and we still were robbed two times! 
The house we have rented already had a gardener and 3 watchmen that worked for the previous tenants so we kept them on to work for us.  I did hire a housekeeper as the house desperately needed cleaning and to be honest it is nice to have someone do your laundry and clean your house for only $50/month.  With hired help comes the added responsibility of being their health care, loan officer and helping with any other needs they have. 
At 4:30 one morning we heard a tap, tap at our bedroom window.  Andy got up to see who it was and it was one of the watchmen who asked to use our phone to call home about his sick child.  After calling he asked if we could go get his daughter and take her to the hospital.  Since it was 4:30 am Andy declined to take her (which of course makes you feel guilty) but somehow they got her to the hospital that day.  After a week in the hospital for pneumonia we paid MK4000 or $30 for her stay. 
About every other night we get a knock on our door from the watchmen requesting some kind of help.  Even though they are paid every two weeks they always need a cash advance for transport to visit a sick relative, reconnect their electricity or pay for getting a driver's license.  We deduct this from their pay (not the health care needs) and when pay day comes they get their pay minus the advances.  They can get their pay one day and the next they will ask for an advance.
It is easy to get frustrated and cynical but they are very poor people who don't know how to save and live for today.  If their family has a need and they have money they will help them which isn't a bad thing.  After thinking about this, I realized that they aren't really different than Americans.  Most Americans live beyond their means too.  We just have credit cards, bank loans, welfare, health care and other services provided by the government to help us out when we either spend too much or have some adversity happen to us.  We, as rich Americans, are to these people, what our government is to those in need in the States. 
This is again another reason why we as Americans need to count our blessings.  Even for those of you that have suffered hard times, it is nothing compared to the poorest here in Malawi.  We are thankful that we can help these people if only for a little while. 
The reason we are here is to not just help their physical needs but to give help them see that Jesus is the Bread of Life and He is who they really need.  We will be gone in a month but He will never leave them.

"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"

Babies at the Nursery

I realized that I hadn't posted any pictures of the babies here at the Mzuzu Nursery.  Right now, there are 9 babies.  Their maximum capacity is 15 but they have had 18 at times.  With 3 nannies that means 5 babies to a nanny when they have a full house.  If they have more than 15 they hire part-time nannies to help.
As you can imagine, my 3 girls only want to spend their time here holding babies.  They are a big help to the nannies.



Twins - Jerrine & Darlene






The two fattest babies - Joseph & Flyness





Bridget with Temwa





Twin boys - Moses & Marman



Prices

Trying to eat and live like an American is expensive in Malawi.  It is a lot cheaper to eat like they do.  Here is a list of what things cost:
30 eggs - $6.50
1 large cabbage - $1
20 bananas - $1.25
4 carrots - .75
5 tomatoes - .75
small bunch of rape (like swiss chard) - .06
1 apple - .50
loaf of bread - $1.
8oz. tomato paste - $2.00
very large avocado - .35
cheese - $9.50/lb
butter - $7.30/lb
hamburger - $3.25/lb
10 lbs. sweet potatoes - $1.50
coffee - $9.80/lb
rice - .70/lb

The typical Malawian meal is rape with tomatoes and onions, eggs or some type of meat (if they can afford it) and nsima (like polenta).  Compare the cost of that meal with the meals tht we like to eat and eating Malawian is the way to go.  We do eat a lot of rape, cabbage, tomatoes and onions but since I don't know how to cook nsima, we eat our relish (that's their name for side dishes) with rice and beans.

What's for Breakfast

Here in Malawi, breakfast consists of tea with a lot of sugar and 2-4 slices of white bread with margarine.  My children think it's a fine breakfast but after a few days of it the novelty has worn off.  Just because we are in Malawi, doesn't mean we have to eat like them but it is difficult to find something else to eat.  They have cereal but a box of Corn Flakes costs anywhere from $5 to $8 and isn't any more nutritious than the bread which costs $1.00.  In Lilongwe you can find oatmeal which costs $2.50 for 1 lb.  We are not in Lilongwe but Mzuzu where it is harder to find things. On Friday, we went to a store and they had oatmeal so we bought 2 big boxes.  When we go next time they won't have any. 
What I have been doing is making a baking mix that I can mix into muffins, pancakes, etc. when I need it.  Initially, I couldn't find brown flour (whole wheat) so I used white flour but tastes better than the bread.  Last week I found some brown flour so now we have some nutrition in our breads.
At the bakery you can find scones which are really good and we have those a few times a week.  They have another type of roll which is good that they call "Obama" and I don't know why.  Apparently the Malawians love Obama so they have named this bread after him.

Matthew's Views

Adjusting to Malawi has been surprisingly easy for us (at least for most of us). Considering that we haven’t been here for four years, getting used to Malawian culture has been surprisingly easy. The one member of the family who has been having the hardest time is Dad. The reason for this is that he is the one who is driving. Having to drive on the left side of the road while dodging Malawian traffic (synonyms: hectic, crowded, busy, dangerous, generally unsafe) has not been fun for him.

Andrew is more than content here, jabbering continually about the local food (and the quantity of it), the quartz which is everywhere in Mzuzu, and the size of the bugs and other creepy-crawlies (no, I’m not kidding). Yesterday, Andrew was letting everyone know about the giant spider he and Jotham (the nursery gardener) uncovered in a dirt bank. He took pictures of it, and like it or not, everyone had to see them. As a matter of fact, he was trying to get me to write this blog post all about the local insects.

Sarah is in the world of her dreams, with more than enough cute little butterballs (er, that is, babies) to cuddle, rock, sing to, and love to death. She and Kris are the ones who spend the most time with the babies. They both love to hold babies. It makes a lot of cute pictures.

I, on the other hand, find very little that is appealing about holding a drooling baby on my lap. If I wanted my shirt dripping wet, I would probably pour water on it. Maybe if I were older…

Okay, I repent. Maybe I do find them cute and adorable, not to mention fun. There is a certain kind of happiness that comes from holding a little 1-year old baby. However, my point on drooling (and diaper wetting, and spitting up) stands. The first day we were at the nursery, a baby threw up all over Alina. She didn’t smell very nice afterwards.

Bridget is having lots of fun at the nursery. She loves to hold babies. It makes a rather funny image to see Bridget holding a baby that’s half her size. It’s hilarious to see Bridget grunting and staggering under her burden, while the baby’s eyes bulge and its tongue hangs out from being squeezed so hard. The babies obviously don’t share Bridget’s enthusiasm.

Overall, our family has had a very good time here. The puppet ministry is doing OK, although we have yet to perform elsewhere in Mzuzu aside from the nursery and the local Brethren assembly. This is shaping up to be our best Malawi trip yet.

(P.S.): Just this morning, I once again had my opinion reinforced as to holding babies. I was holding one of the cutest ones when she spat up all over my hand and pants. A nice little gift, but not exactly my idea of a pleasant time. Oh, well,,, She made up for it with her cuteness.

-Matthew