Goodbye

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for waiting patiently for me to post another blog. Honestly, I wanted my last blog to explain what I will be doing for the upcoming school year and I just found out yesterday what I’ll be doing.

I loved everything about being in Malawi. That doesn’t mean that everything was fun and easy, but I don’t regret any of the hard times I went through. My first year in Malawi was filled with long hours in my classroom, confusing moments around the city, and lots and lots of learning. My second year in Malawi has been very different. I was able to build on what I did last year and felt like I could see the needs of those around me from a different point of view. I saw God work in my life in different ways everyday. My worldview was stretched and transformed as I was able to interact with other cultures and religions from around the world.

My favorite 2 babies from Crisis Nursery: Mateo and Peter

It is amazing to see the differences and similarities from the life I have always known in America compared to the lives of those in a third world country. The differences are the obvious ones. We live in air conditioned houses, all have a drivers license AND a car, and we don’t leave the house without being appropriately dressed for the occasion.

In Malawi many people live in mud huts in villages, walk to work, and many walk barefoot. The similarities took me longer to discover but all comes back to our human nature. When you bring food to a village, people will eat until they’re full, but beg for more. At first I didn’t understand this attitude. Then it hit me, Americans do the same thing. We have more then enough to be happy, but always feel as though we don’t have enough. Seriously, have you ever thought that life would be better if you had a nicer car, or could take better vacations? Yeah, so does everyone. It just comes in different forms. I was appalled by the way the woman and children acted in the village until I understood that I have acted the same way, and I have so much more!

In the village

I would like to ask you all to pray for African Bible College.Pray for the leadership and that all decisions will be God centered.

My 2-3rd grade ballet class (30 girls!)

Please pray for the village I went to. I threw a party in the village for my last time there. We had 2 goats prepared by the woman, and rolls sodas for everyone! About 10 chiefs from the surrounding villages joined us for our party. There, they asked me if I would like to stay and start a ministry on their land. They have a desire to learn more about the gospel. They desperately want to know more about Gods word and don’thave a solid foundation. I would love to go back and do something when I know it is what God wants me to do. Please pray that God will be present in their village and that the seed that was planted there will bloom and flourish.

Kim came to visit! And she helped SOOOOO much!

I made some amazing friends that I will keep for the rest of my life. Please pray for my transition back into the states. Please also pray for God’s direction in my own life as I continue to pray for my next overseas mission, and if there will be one. I know that serving God is my future, I just don’t know where he will lead me.

My friend Ben; recent ABC GRAD!

I have a job waiting for me in Jackson, MS as the assistant youth director at Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church. I’m excited and nervous to move and start a new chapter in my life. In my time in Malawi, I missed being with youth and young girls. I haven’t yet decided if I enjoy working with kids, or youth better. Maybe I just like both!

Thank you all for your continuous support in my 2 years away. I couldn’t have done any of it without the financial and prayer support of my friends back home. People asked how my health was when I was in Malawi. I told them all that I was surprisingly healthy and never got malaria. Mrs. Smith told me that her and her husband prayed almost everyday for the mosquito’s to stay away from me. I know that God listened to their prayers and so many others. Thanks again for everything! Please continue to pray for the amazing Malawians I left behind! God really is doing great things there!

Mom and Grayson came to visit! It was so much fun!

Last couple Weeks of Chaos :)

Hey! this is Kim! I am here helping Whitney finish up the school year! I have been here a week and life has been really busy but its been fun :) The first thing i did was go to the crisis nursery! the babies were sooo cute! i kinda want to take one home! I became best friends with Chisomo, the baby i held for three hours.

The first half of the week was consumed with the year end dance show! we had lots of long rehearsals but it turned out great! Whitney is amazing :) it is funny doing a show here because it is WAY more difficult to get everything we need. At one point we thought we were missing a ballet skirt and Whitney almost had a heart attack because there is no way we could jus go out and get another one haha I felt like i was back at Many But ONE for the most part tho :) I did a lot of hair! and the kids really liked the Mousse cause they don't have that here haha ;) Now that the show is over life has gotten less stressful we had open house for the parents which turned out nicely! I LOVE all of Whitneys first graders they r soo cute! We went on a field trip to Kumbli and dont ask me or Whitney what this place is cause we still dont know. All i know is that we learned how to make yougurt and cheese, we looked at farm animals, we made clay pots, and we made brickets which is water and paper mushed into a ball. The kids had a great time, it was just really random :P We had a bus fiasco while we were there tho cause ABC had a team coming in and needed the field trip bus......so the bus driver left us haha and Whitney was making a ton of phone calls in order to get rides back to school. It all worked out tho and it was a great day :)
Another thing i love about Malawi is how the lights will randomly go out! i laugh because it happens all the time and people dont mention it ever. Even the kids jus go aww and continue on with life! but there r generators so they r never off for very long :)

Tomorrow we r throwing a fiesta for the kids cause they r learning about North America :) it will be fun! We r also working on report cards and cleaning up the classroom........only 4 more days of school! We r also throwing a party on Sunday for the church at the village that Whitney goes too. I am excited it will be fun! we have to buy a goat so that should be interesting!

Jus pray that we will finish everything as fast as possible and that Whitney will have an ok transition coming back to the States! Although she is excited to come home she is starting to get sad to leave everyone and her life here. Everyone loves her and really wants her to stay....Which i guess is a good thing ;)

p.s the pictures r random haha and it take forever to load them here so i didnt put very many ;)

Coming to an End

Hey Everyone,
Sorry it has taken me ages to write in here. I haven’t known what to write or how much to share…
I haven had an exciting last month. After a 12 week, tiring term, we had 2 weeks of Spring Break! I was so emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted by the time Spring Break rolled around. Last year I was able to go bungee jumping at Victoria Falls in Zambia. This year, my friend and I got plane tickets to Nairobi, Kenya to see what we could see. Somehow, I ended up doing a 4 day hike to the peak of Mount Kenya. It was one of the most challenging things I have ever done, and I am happy its over!
I wanted to see what types of ministries were being done there in the slums, as well as see for myself where Simba, Timon and Pumba became friends. We stayed with old family friends who took care of us. We went on a safari in Nairobi National Park, saw giraffes, and did loads of shopping.
I was also able to spend 2 days tutoring at a high school in the slums. The students were mostly people who once had to drop out of school to get a job and now want to return because they cannot find a job without an education. They were like sponges and clung to my every word. I love how much many of the Africans appreciate education and don’t take it for granted. It was definitely a time of much needed rest. The trip made me miss my kids and I had a wonderful first week back with them! I seem to have so much fun with my kids when I have a small break from them;-)

This has been a difficult semester for me as I pray about what God wants me to do next year. I thought I was definitely leaving ABC, and now I’m not so sure. I have learned so many things here. This has been my first teaching job and I have definitely learned a lot in the classroom. I have also been stretched with the new culture. Trying to fit in with such a different type of people has been a challenge and also exciting. I have made friends that I will miss terribly when I go back to America. The ministry opportunities are endless here and I have loved getting involved in a couple things.
I have been asked back by ABC, have a job offer in Alabama, and a promising job in Jackson, MS. I’ve been praying for God to make this decision clearer but am still floundering back and forth between the three. All three are ministry opportunities and I feel blessed to have them as options.
All this to say, if you could pray for me right now I’d really appreciate it. I want to serve God somewhere and know I could do it at any of these places. Please pray that I’ll have wisdom and that God will point me to the right place and the right ministry for the gifts he’s given me.
My mom and Grayson are coming to visit this week, then Kim comes to visit when they leave! What a great way to end my time in Malawi! I can’t wait to show them around what has been my home for the past 2 years! Thanks for your prayers and support! 2 more months....

March Update

I just got back from the village after not being able to go since Christmas. The roads were horrible but we managed to get there. I was planning on seeing if we needed to put in extra support in the windows. Well, when we arrived, we didn’t see the church. Where the church used to be, there were some crops and weeds instead.
During the rainy season, the school, many houses, and the church fell down from the rain and a strong wind. The church supposedly found itself in line of a small river that had formed from the rain. The rains piled up waist deep and eventually, strong wind knocked down a whole wall. As the men went into the storm to collect long logs to hold it up, the other wall collapsed. They have saved the materials but will have to start from the bottom once again. The government fixed their homes and hopefully will fix the school as well. They have decided that the spot they originally put the church did not work well and the chief hasn’t told them where else they can build it. It is a different chief now and I’m hoping he still allows for it to be built. It was just a building, the church is a body of believers. Even so, I hope and pray they can have shelter over their heads during the different seasons that come.
Even without a church, we sat the kids against a hut with some shad and I taught about Hannah and her prayers to God. Meanwhile, Khuzwayo was able to gather the men and woman together while he preached salvation. I enjoyed hanging out with the kids as he finished up his sermon. Makes me not want to leave.
Speaking of leaving, I ask that if you remember, or as you read this, you pray for where God is sending me next. I have a couple of amazing opportunities in America that I am looking at, as well as the option of staying here. ABC needs a dance teacher and they are hard to come by in Africa. I want to go where God can use me the most and right now, I’m just waiting to see where that is. Whatever happens, I want to do some sort of missions, whether it’s in America or across the ocean.
On a random note, I saw a goat giving birth in the village today…….. how weird.
On a serious note, malaria isn’t just traveling through ABC but also through the village that I visit and an orphanage I was in last week. Many of the men have died in the village and a little girl in the orphanage. Please keep these people in your prayers.
My students seem to be doing great and haven’t gotten malaria. I hope their parents have given them the anti-malaria pills! My students seem to get funnier to me and I’m thankful for it because I’m getting tired and ready for Spring Break.
I have choreographed all of my dances and now still need to figure out costumes… which has turned into my least favorite thing to do in this world. At least I have some help and I’m hoping to get it figured out this weekend.
A college student and I am doing a Bible study on Romans with about 10 other people. I am loving it so far and enjoy every intense discussion about Gods wrath and how he shows us grace. It helps get me through the week.
Thanks for your prayers! They mean so much to me and everyone here!

Malaria

There has been a lot going on here at ABC and I think it’s time for me to spread it to my prayer warriors at home so they can lift them up in prayer.
Malaria has been running rampant through Lilongwe and even ABC. We have had many deaths at the ABC clinic in the last 2 weeks. One of them was a little 8 year old girl which was enough for the doctors and nurses, and everyone else to fall to their knees. This weekend however, one of our own college students, Vitu, got +4 malaria. He died within a few days of arriving at the clinic. He was only a freshman and loved by many. This tragedy was enough to shake up the entire student body, as well as staff.
As a foreigner, I often don’t think of malaria as being something you die from. I knew it is possible, but I didn’t know how common it is, even when the best medicine is provided. People get malaria all the time and usually come back to school after a week or two. Life here is hard. There is always an option that a loved one will get malaria and die and there is almost nothing that can be done about it, especially if you do not have the money for the anti-malarial pills.

Please pray for Vitu’s family and friends, the college staff who were close to him, and all of the college students.
Pray for people to start taking malaria seriously. Going to the clinic right away can save a life.

Please Pray

Please pray for my former roommate, Katie. She is having something like seizures but nobody knows what's wrong with her. They are sending her to South Africa for tests but the whole situation is just very uncomfortable. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and peace for Katie. This is something that I have seen happen several times and am responsible for not making sure she went to the doctor. I would really appreciate all of your prayers for the next couple of days at least. I will keep you updated. Thanks!

January Update

Happy February!
I have almost been back in Malawi for a month and wanted to give you some details on what has been happening.
Everyone is getting sick, including myself, with some stomach bug. Don’t worry, its not malaria. As I sit here at home while my kids are at school, its not as fun as I thought it might be. My first day of skipping school ever, and it stinks.
A new law was passed in Malawi last week. It is now illegal to “break wind” in a public place. These are the laws they’re working so hard to pass when we still never know when we’ll have petrol available for our cars.
It was my new roommates birthday on Friday so we had a surprise party! She coaches volleyball at the college so the men’s team and a couple others showed up. My friend and I made a cupcake display that we were very proud of. I’ll try to put up pictures when I get them.
The college is starting back this week and my roommate and I have planned to storm the dorms with cookies on Thursday for the girls! I’m super excited to make more college friends!
I haven’t been to the village since December. The only campus car allowed to drive on dirt roads has been broken for 2 months. I have heard rumor of it being driven around town but who knows if it is actually fixed this time.
I had a fundraiser for ballet on Saturday night. We were in an outdoor pavilion watching Princess Diaries from a projector. We made popcorn and Sobo (thick sweet liquid that you dilute with water) and sold leotards that I brought from the states. Since there aren’t any movie theaters yet around here, most of the little girls from school came. I became worried when the rain began to blow sideways into the pavilion and made the kids and leotards wet! They handled it well. I became worried again when the power went out in the middle of the movie and some girls knocked over a tall speaker on accident. Thankfully it wasn’t broken. I distracted the girls with simon says, Father Abraham, and If You’re Happy and You Know It. Finally, the power came back on and we finished the movie with the few girls who were left. It was an adventure for sure. I’m trying to raise money for our end of the year ballet costumes. We have charged the girls a small amount for the costumes each time so we haven’t been about to keep them for the school. This time, I’m hoping to buy costumes for at least one dance so that we can have them for next year. I really hope I don’t have a costume fiasco this year!
My new found food is chimanga. Chimanga is roasted corn from the side of the road. It is crunchy and chewy and reminds me of popcorn. My roommate loves it and gets it everyday for her birthday week. It only costs 30 Kwacha which is like $.20. I’ll post pictures of chimanga too when I take some!
My kids are awesome as usual. It was poring rain yesterday during recess and the kids were sad they didn’t get to go outside. I turned on DC talk and we turned our class into a dance party! It was great! We also had fun last week planting sunflowers in my backyard. Some have begun to sprout, and some will probably never come up due to poking giant holes and packing the dirt down very tight.
I could use your prayer in a couple of areas:
*for my own spiritual growth as I get busy with things that seem important
*for my students to soak in what I teach
*for everyone’s health right now
*for details to work out so I can get started on the village ministry again this year.

Thanks for all of your prayer and support!