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!

Christmas Update

Dear Friends and Family,
I hope you’re enjoying this Christmas season as much as I am. As some of you know, I was able to make it home this year to South Florida for three weeks to celebrate Christmas with my family! The commercialized Christmas traditions are very different compared to humble Lilongwe, Malawi. Since I have been a terrible communicator this semester, I wanted to recap what has been happening lately with my ministry in Malawi.
I inherited a new group of students for my first grade class this year. Some of the most exciting things so far have included getting started on our Accelerated Reading program, going on a field trip to the new parliament building, baking bread, learning how to rap (taught by some college students, not me;), dressing up for reading day, learning to swim, performing various songs and skits for chapel, making Joseph’s coat of many colors, and many others. I love interacting with my students from this year and last. As time goes on, we seem to create a closer bond and I like to call us a little family.
I’m continuing my children’s ministry at Senza Village that I started last year. Our team of 3 goes every Saturday to teach a Bible lesson, sing worship songs, and play a game or two. The church that was started last year has been without a building since it began. The village and I decided that if they make the bricks and put up the walls, then I will put up a proper roof. After working for over 2 months, the people of Mafungulo Baptist Church finished the bricks and put up the church walls. I bought and delivered the iron sheets and lumber necessary to put up the roof as well as found people to build it. After about a week, the roof was up and the building was ready to be used as a place of worship. Attendance has increased from 132 to 298 members. Now, they can worship without the sun or the rain making them uncomfortable. I was encouraged by a letter written by the chiefs saying that the children have been reciting the weekly verses for fun.
I volunteered to be the “assistant director” of the school Christmas Program at the beginning of the year. I didn’t realize at the time how much work this would involve, even after watching my mom do it for so many years. I organized 200 costumes for the kids, 84 costumes for my ballet girls, as well as choreographed 4 of the 5 ballet dances. The kids did a beautiful job.
I have been having fun this semester getting to know the college students better and learning more about Malawians in the process. God is doing incredible things with their lives! I can’t wait to see what he does when some of them graduate in June.
Thank you so much for all of your prayer and support throughout this semester. I cannot tell you how much of a difference prayer makes in my attitude, patience, and health as well as the lives of those I work with. I pray often that God will use me for his glory with the kids he has put in my path. Please remember the kids of ABC and the kids of Senza village; that they will know the true meaning of Christmas.
Grace and Peace,
Whitney


Click to enlarge picture

A Crazy Week

Muli Bwangi!

So many things have been going on and I wanted to share all of the details. I can honestly say that I had my busiest week of my entire life last week. The first couple days were stressful and I felt like tears could pour down my cheeks at any moment. But, as the week went on and I finished more projects, it got better and I got to see some cool things happen.

First of all, the Christmas show is coming. This means we need ballet costumes! It also means, that since we can't easily get pre-made costumes here, we have to get them made by a tailor. So last week the tailor and I measured 90 girls, collected the money, and went shopping for fabric. The fabric stores are in down town Lilongwe which is CRAZY driving for me. Too many people surrounding my car for my own comfort. They tailor and I worked out an agreement that whatever we don't spend on material is her income. That wasn't a smart move on my part because now she wants to make very small costumes with no sleeves and cheap material. Darn. But we purchased the fabric and we have worked out the designs. Most are angels with lace wings and satin dresses. I really hope they turn out ok. I will have to be calling her every couple of days to make sure she is getting the work done since it is only 3 weeks from the show.

Next, I threw a surprise party for my roommate. She turned 22! WOOHOO! I do love parties, even in Africa;-)

On Friday after school, Khuzwayo and I ventured out to begin the process of building the village church. I'm so proud of them! If you don't know, Khuzwayo, Katie, and I have lead a village ministry with the kids almost every Saturday. Last year they asked for a church building and I told them I just was concerned with the hearts of the children. Then, they built a temporary small grass church.

After coming back after Summer break I felt like God would want me to help them get the church they dream of having. It is something they have never had and with their new faith, I feel like they should have one. They know I come to bring the gospel, so now I feel like it would be ok to help them out with this. I told them that if they put up the bricks, then i will put on the roof. The roof is the part that they cannot afford on their own. They made all of the bricks themselves and called as soon as they put them all up. I'm not gonna lie, it sorta reminds me of the gingerbread houses I used to build when I was little. A little crooked, a little funny looking, but they are proud!

So My Friday was filled with shopping for the materials. We got 36 large iron sheets, LOTS of LONG wooden beams, nails, wire, termite paint stuff, and the top roof ridge. I've also hired some carpenters to do the job. They are great because they are staying in the village until they are finished because I don't have time to give them transportation everyday.

The REAL story is actually quite interesting.

We were pretty excited to start


After school on Friday, Khuzwayo and I met up with Pastor Noah Banda and the truck driver. The truck driver was an answer to my prayers because we had no way of getting the huge materials to the village without him. He offered to take the day off from his job to help and only required gas money. We took my car as well so that we could all fit. Our first trip all the way out of town was unsuccessful because they didn't have the right iron sheets. Our second attempt was a success and they loaded what we needed onto the truck.

Still in a good mood, thinking we were almost finished.....


Then, it was time to get the wooden beams. Oh those wooden beams. This is when I miss Home Depot. We had to go across town again and into a village where we could get them for cheap. The men loaded the wood onto the truck but couldn't seem to get them on right. They worked and worked. Took some down, and worked again. After over an hour and some lifesaving cokes I happened to have in my car, we seemed ready to go.

All loaded up

We drove about 5 minutes down the road at about 10MPH. The truck driver pulled onto the side of the road and told us he couldn't balance his truck because of the weight. It was also making one of his tires flat. Some truck huh;-) So thankfully, here in Malawi they have pick up trucks for "hire" on the sides of the roads for people who need to transport things but don't have a car. I drove back and hired someone to drive the pick up truck to our flatbed and load half of the wood onto it.

It was dark and the men needed light. I decided to turn off my car but shine my lights on them. Well, after about 15 minutes of this, I suddenly had a smartness attack (they don't come often obviously), and went to check the car. The battery was dead. Meanwhile, the truck drivers, pastor, Khuzwayo, and a few passerbyers were finishing reloading all of the wood. It had taken so much longer already that the first truck driver had to get headache medicine. He only has one eye due to cancer (eye cancer?) and needed something for the pain. He went to go get medicine while the other guys did everything in their power to get my car working again. Then, the new pick up truck driver needed petrol so I gave him money to pick some up around the corner. And THANKFULLY they had some around the corner because nobody has had it lately.

You tired yet?

So, Once all of these issues got settled, a couple hours later, we were on our way at a fast pace of about 15MPH. We made it to the village road (a couple miles long) when I started driving over wood. We stopped and had to reload. It happened again. We reloaded. And again. and Again. So, the men decided we needed a new plan and took all of them off the trucks and started again in a way that made a lot more sense. They wouldn't let me help because I'm a girl so I sat in a dark car at 10PM in the middle of villages not knowing what would happen next.

After about an hour of reloading, we started again and only had to stop 2 more times. We finally got there about 11PM.

But wait, its not over.

I had promised the men dinner earlier because I thought we would get back around 5... Riiiight.

So they still needed dinner and I took them to the only place open. We went in, got food to go, went out to the cars to go our separate ways, and my car wouldn't start again...

Once again, the men did everything in their power to start it againa nd I had to rev the engine for about 10 minutes. I wish I knew something about cars.

Saturday, I went to drop off some more small materials at the village. I couldn't stay because I called extra ballet rehearsals to finish our dances. I felt so relieved once they were finished!

Then, my small group had an outreach at my house. We hosted Malawian girls for a game/movie/chitchat/eat lots of food time. I had fun and I hope they did too!

Monday, I went to the village after school thinking I was going to help build! They're not too keen on girls doing that sort of thing, even though I wore my tennis shoes and long skirt!

The church with the beams up on Monday

I ended up starting a game of duck duck goose with the kids, fell on my knees, and scraped them like a kid. Haha how old am I?

Please Pray for:

• The church building. I feel a little helpless because I don't have time until Saturday to visit them again and see how they're doing with it.


• The Christmas show to come together quickly.


• All of my sweet students: First grade and ballet.

I thank God that he has blessed me with such opportunities here.

I am also thankful that he has given me a wonderful church family that gives me so much prayer support. I am continually blessed by your comments reminding me you're praying. I was reminded this week of why I am here. I began the week relying on my own strength and not seeing how I would get anything finished. God gave me this verse from 1 Corinthians 13:3:

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but
don't have love, I gain nothing.

It is not worth it to do anything we consider "good" if the condition of our heart is not right.
I pray daily for the condition of my heart to be right. Give FIRST to the Lord.

A monthly update

Its been a long time. Sorry for that. Since my last post lots of things have happened but here are the highlights:

Last month was Reading Day.
Reading day is a day completely devoted to reading. I have been reading Pippi Longstocking to my kids so that is who I dressed up as. I ended up winning the girl teacher costume award! yay! I took the wires out of my hair half way through the day after I poked one of my barnacle like kids in the eye. Nothing bad happened, thank goodness! When I got home I desperately wanted to wash my hair but the water was only dripping out of the shower. I bucket washed it and it took me about 5 shampoo's and over an hour to get the red out. It was worth it!

I was also a part of a readers theater with some of the other teachers and played Baby Bear.


When I arrived back in August I found that the Chinchen's dedicated the old preschool room to my ballet classes! We have a couple mirrors and 2 of the barres I had made last year. I got 2 more 12foot ballet barres made and painted. Now it's feeling more like a ballet studio! I am currently working on choreographing 4 dances and teaching them for the Christmas show.


The Christmas show........
I am busy getting details ready for the show coming in only 7 weeks. My biggest job right now is figuring out angel costumes for 300 students. Something I have no experience doing. I am also working on making the flyer so that the students can have a design contest. I will choose a couple of cute ones and display them around campus. Then, the winner will be used as the program for the show.

The village program is going well! They have finished making the bricks for the church and just began putting them up. In a couple of weeks I hope they will be ready for us to put on a roof. I am praying that someone shows up in my life that can guide me through this process in a way to not confuse me completely. I am hoping to ask my growth group when it gets closer to the time to help me with this.


My growth group is a small group from my local church. We meet at my house every Monday night and discuss the sermon from Sunday. We also pray and share. I've enjoyed getting to know the people in my group and doing outreaches with them.

We are planning to do a girls outreach in a couple of weeks. We will invite the girls basketball team to my house for a chick flick and FOOD. I'm hoping we'll get a good response and can make some more girls feel welcome at the church.

Parent teacher conferences are this week. I will meet with each parent to discuss their child's report card. This is NOT my favorite time of the year, but I know it is needed.

It is getting HOT. I seemed to have forgotten how hot it was before the rains start. I'm hoping they start soon to give some relief to my hard working students. We call all become a bit grouchy when we're sweating through our clothes during math. I have a hard time staying after school when all I want to do is jump in the pool!


Chop-chops and roaches are in full bloom around here. We have killed 2 chop-chops already in the last couple of weeks. These are gross spider/crab things that I have never seen anywhere but here.


I just wanted to update you on how things are going. Please pray that all of the details are completed for the Christmas show! Pray for my sanity through it and that the kids will learn so much more then how to act and sing on key. Please pray for myself as a teacher. That I would be able to teach the information in a clear and fun way that they can all understand and remember. Almost all of the kids have moved up their reading score drastically since the first day of school!

I hope everyone on the other side of the world is having a fantastic Fall!