Today was wonderful and normal all at the same time. We love living in a village. We love the people God has called us to minister to. We love sharing and giving and learning more about our adopted culture day by day. As we pack up and prepare for our 5 month furlough we leave with tears of happiness and sadness. We're happy to be going "home" to see our friends and family and to share all about the amazing things God is doing here in Malawi. But we're sad to be leaving our home, our children (the Rainbow kids), our ministries, and our life here in Malawi. God has blessed us with an amazing life and ministry here. It's a busy, full-time job but we love it! Praise God for His blessings!
Here are some photos of our day today:
Jeremy sitting on the back porch learning Chichewa. He would draw pictures and say the English name and the kids would tell him the Chichewa name. They did this for at least 2 hours!
Jeremy, baby J, and I went to another village just next to our own village to visit a family who has become dear to us overnight. On October 22 (Jeremy's birthday) we received a frantic knock at our door in the middle of the day. Our gardener said that someone needed our help. A lady was in labor and had been waiting on a minibus to transport her to the hospital for over an hour. No minibus had come and the situation was becoming an emergency. Jeremy grabbed the keys to the Landcruiser and I grabbed a couple of supplies in case I had to assist with the baby. Now, I used to be a postpartum nurse but I never had an ounce of training as a L&D nurse other than having my own 4 kids. But I jumped in the truck and began praying!
We loaded the mother and 4 other women into the truck and took off for the hospital which was about a 30 min drive away. Thankfully she made it to the hospital still pregnant and delivered the baby safe and sound into the hands of a doctor! Praise God!
The mothers's grandfather, it turns out, is a pastor of a local church and was one of the men asked to preach at our revival this past Saturday. He came with news of the birth of a beautiful baby girl, and he also asked if Jeremy and I would name the baby. Naming a baby is a huge honor in Malawian culture and we were honored to do so.
So today Jeremy, baby J, and I along with Martin to translate went to visit the baby girl and her family. Jeremy chose the name Lydia and all the family was very excited. We gifted them with some blankets and clothes and promised to return to check on baby Lydia after our furlough!
Me with baby Lydia and her mother
Baby Lydia's family
Jeremy and baby Lydia
Jeremy and Lydia share the same birthday!
Baby J checking out the village. He just made himself at home and took off exploring!
On the way home we stopped by to see a precious lady that we all love. Amayi Milicent comes to Rainbow often and her kids are always playing with our kids. She loves loves baby J. She's always trying to get him to speak Chichewa and he does his best to ignore her most of the time! ha!
Last week Amayi Milicent had quite a scare. She is HIV positive and we heard that she was not doing well. It turns out that she had been told by her "church" (a local non-Chrisitan church) that taking medicine was of the devil and she should stop. So without her ARV's she went downhill fast! After church last Sunday a bunch of us from Rainbow Church went to visit her and pray for her. We all sat around as she laid on the floor of her home in extreme pain and sickness. But one thing that she asked was how was baby J!
The next day we took her to the hospital and made sure she received the medicines she needed. Today we took baby J to visit Amayi Milicent and we're so thankful that she is back to her normal beautiful self! She was so happy to see us! And we were so happy to see her wonderful smile back!
Please pray for Amayi Milicent and the many many people in our area who are lost and following a false religion. Please pray for her health and salvation as we continue to minister to her and all of those without the Light of the Savior!
