Meet Mphatso and Justice!

If you received our newsletter that we emailed out yesterday you may recall an announcement about a very special child, Mphatso.  Mphatso is from a small village outside of Lilongwe.  He had a cleft palate and an extreme bilateral cleft lip.  This past February when ConnectMed International came to Malawi to perform cleft palate/cleft lip repair Mphatso came to be evaluated for surgery.  That's where we first met him.

ConnectMed was able to repair Mphatso's cleft palate but his bilateral cleft lip would require more extensive surgery.  That's where Fresh Start Surgical Gifts came in.  Fresh Start performs corrective surgeries on children from all over the world 6 times a year at Rady's Children's Hospital in San Diego.  Fresh Start is the organization who repaired our baby J's cleft palate a year ago this past month.  See that story here.  One of the directors with Fresh Start was here, in Malawi,  with ConnectMed back in February.  She saw Mphatso (as well as three other children who we're working with) and began working to see if he was a good fit for Fresh Start.

The first hurdle to be conquered was making sure that Mphatso was medically able to travel and have surgery in San Diego.  Many doctors visits, appointments, and trips into town from their village were made by Mphatso and his father.  Mphatso's father owns a bicycle and works during the day as a bike taxi.  So each day spent with Mphatso in the doctor was a day without work for Mphatso's family.  Of course it was well worth it.  Praise God that all medical clearances were received and the Fresh Start board approved Mphatso as a patient!

Another hurdle was finding someone who could travel with Mphatso to the States for about two months.  This person would need to drop everything and care for a child that he did not know.  He would need to transition to a different culture easily.  He would need to become the legal guardian of a 6 year old child with a medical disability.  He would have to care for the child through at least two separate surgeries.  We understood that this was a lot to ask.  Yet we knew that the Lord would provide for us.  Mphatso is 6 years old and does not speak English.  No one in his family speaks English well enough for international travel.  Understand that going from a village in Malawi to a big city like San Diego will be culture shock to the extreme.  Mphatso needed a guardian who could ease him through the transition (as well as transition himself....), get him to San Diego, get him through international airports, be able to help Mphatso through the surgeries and care afterward that will be required. This is such a huge responsibility and we're thankful that the Lord brought us Justice!

 Justice is a recent graduate of African Bible Colleges and he currently lives in Blantyre (four hours south of Lilongwe).  He gladly came to Lilongwe to meet with Jeremy and Malla, meet with Mphatso, and immediately offered to assist Mphatso with this life changing adventure. Praise God for His provisions!  We now had a guardian for Mphatso! Thank you Justice!

Now the tricky part. With just under two months to go Mphatso needed to get his Malawian birth certificate (most children born in the villages here have no birth certificate), his Malawian passport, and his U.S. visa.  Please understand that the U.S. visa was the least of our worries, honestly.  Getting the birth certificate and passport here usually takes an act of congress (or in Malawi's case an act of Parliament).  But the Lord was with us the entire time and through friends (and friends of friends) we were able to receive all of the documentation and forms necessary for his interview with the U.S. Embassy.  Just this week Justice and Mphatso were interviewed at the Embassy and were granted approval for travel to San Diego and their U.S. visas!  Praise God again for His provisions!

Mphatso still needs some blood work and a couple of other medical tests done in final preparation for his surgery.  Please pray that these tests and all of the details will go smoothly.  Mphatso's first surgery is scheduled for November 9th during Fresh Start's November surgery weekend.  He will receive another surgery a few weeks later to complete the repair to his cleft lip.  We will keep you posted on the progress of Mphatso and Justice and their adventures in San Diego.  Thank you in advance for your prayers!

This is Mphatso at his home with his family and others from his village around him.  Justice has already gotten very close to Mphatso as well as his family.  Jeremy will be traveling to Mphatso's village either today or Monday and we will have more pictures and updates then.  Thank you Justice and thank you Fresh Start for this amazing opportunity!

Rainbow After School Tutoring

The Rainbow kids are doing well in school this year.  They are said to be at the top of their classes.  Report cards will come out soon so we will see! haha!  

Each day after school the kids have tutoring that they are required to attend.  Some of the tutors are their actual teachers from the school that they attend.  Every afternoon we can hear the kids singing, chanting their vowel sounds, and learning their studies as they receive individualized attention from their tutors.  

What a blessing to watch as these beautiful children grow in their knowledge of the world and in their love of Christ.  They are truly such a delight in our lives.  It's very bittersweet that we have to leave them for 5 months during our furlough.  But that will make our return even sweeter!  Please pray for our Rainbow children and their education.  

Mercy Mbewe

Our apologies for taking so long to post pics of the beautiful Mercy Mbewe!  Mercy was born to Martin and Alinafe on August 27th.  Martin and Alinafe serve as house parents for all of the girls at Rainbow.  Martin is currently a senior at African Bible Colleges and will graduate in June!  They have one other child, Praise, who is just as cute as his baby sister.  

Mercy Mbewe- 2 days old

Mercy and Alinafe arriving home from the hospital!

Martin, Alinafe, and Mercy

The Mbewe family!

Here is Mercy just last week.  She's so beautiful!

One of our oldest (and sweetest) girls, Monica, is such a good helper with Mercy!  Monica and Mercy came to visit our front porch and I snapped the picture.

Praise God for his precious gift to the Mbewe family and the Rainbow family!  

School Has Started!

Yesterday was the first day of school for our Rainbow kids here in Malawi.  It was a very exciting first day because four of our children are now attending secondary school!  Secondary school here is like the equivalent to high school in the States, except that the majority of secondary schools are boarding schools.  So on Sunday we loaded up the Landcruiser (Malawian style) and took off to deliver our precious children to their schools.  Parents/visitation day is the first Sunday of every month so we will be able to go and visit them on that day.  But otherwise, they won't be home until Christmas.  

Our secondary school students:  Macfarren, Collins, Miriam, and Estelle

Miriam is the daughter of Taona (one of the ladies who cooks for everyone here at Rainbow).  We took a picture of Taona with both of her daughters.  Temwa is her other daughter and she will be going to secondary school in two years.  

Many tears and many goodbyes.  We will miss our children so much!

Mac, Miriam, and Estelle are going to the Children of the Nations secondary school in Lilongwe.  This is where the remaining Rainbow kids will attend school as well.  

Pictured above is Miriam and Estelle with Grace.  Grace is the daughter of Mr. Phiri (one of our guards at Rainbow).  Grace will be attending COTN as well.  

I'm already dreading this time of year EVERY year!  It's so hard to say goodbye. 

Collins was dropped off at his secondary school in Nkhoma.  He started at this school a couple of years ago and chose to continue attending here.  

So now all of our Rainbow kids are back in school.  Here is a small group shot of a bunch who were returning from their second day of school this afternoon.  All of them seem happy and are enjoying being back in school.  Please pray for a good school year.  Pray also for the teachers as they teach in classrooms of over 100 children.

And our youngest, Felix, is still too young to attend school.  He keeps busy though while he waits for his friends to get home.  Here you see him eating oranges and goofing off with SM.  

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever!!!????  

Prayer requests:

Pray for God's protection over our kids in secondary school.  

Pray for Godly influences in the lives of our children.

Pray for the decisions the children will make and the lessons they will learn.

Pray for the kids remaining here at Rainbow, that they will have a good school year.

Pray for the Rainbow leadership that they will seek Christ's guidance in each aspect of raising these beautiful children.

Most importantly, pray that these children will see, learn about, and decide to follow Christ and make Him Lord of their lives.  

To God be the Glory!

Consider it pure joy....

This week has been hard.  I'm not sure if our minds and hearts are just ready to be home (we have 8 weeks left until furlough), or if the 16+ hour power outages each day are taking its toll on us.  We've had power for an average of 3 hours per day since Sunday (it does come on while we're sleeping and yes, I've been up at 2:30 am washing clothes).  And the times when we do have that power differ each day.  So we have to be ready at a moment's notice to cook, wash clothes, charge batteries, jump in the shower (because living at an orphanage with 65 other people causes our reserve tank of water to drain pretty quickly), etc.  Night time is the hardest.  Usually by that time the power has been off for 14 hours already and now the kids need baths, food, and bed so Mommy can settle down and get some relaxation.  It's hard to do with no lights, water, or power.  No rest for the weary.  Rumors are vague as to how long this power shut down will last.  Escom is working on one of their generators. Some say two weeks, some say until December.  It's Malawi, so you never know.

But God has taught me a few hard lessons through this week.
1) Patience.  No, I did NOT pray to be taught this lesson.  But God is working with me on this in a major way!  Some days are better than others.  But living in Malawi you HAVE to have patience or you'll go crazy.  It's something that can't be explained.  You just have to experience it here.

2) Peace.  I have some moments of peace and some moments of complete melt down.  Those moments can be hours or even seconds apart.  One minute I'm ok and the next I'm crying on the floor of my bathroom.  But I'm getting there.  God's not through with me yet.

3) Joy.  Now please don't think that I've been all smiles and cheery this week.  Far from it.  I've pouted, I've griped, I've whined, I've cried.  Yep....I sound like my kids!  But I've also come full circle to see the joy in my circumstances.  Last night my kids managed to have baths and a hot supper thanks to a few minutes of generator time.  JOY!  And they sat around in the candlelight coloring in their coloring books as they waited for bed time.  JOY! We all pull together and work very hard to get everything done that we can while we have power.  Teamwork!  JOY!

4) Self control.  Even when my insides are screaming for justice....I mean we DESERVE power all the time, right?  Even when I want to fall on the ground kicking and screaming after the power goes out just as my corn bread goes in the oven....I can't let my kids see that.  I have to smile and figure out a way to not let my emotions get the best of me.  Poor Jeremy, I still need a little more self control around him since the second the door closes I let all my frustrations and emotions out on him.  I'm thankful he just sits there and listens.  He doesn't judge or lecture.  He's pretty amazing.  But I'm learning.  Pongono-pongono (little by little).

5) Faithfulness.  God is there!  He's right beside me.  When I'm so tired I can't move, I ask for His strength.  When I'm so angry I can't see straight, He's right there taking over my emotions.  When I'm sad and homesick, missing the conveniences that so many of my friends and family have (like power, water, and Chick-fil-A) He's there to remind me that I can do this.  His strength is real.  His love is powerful.  And His faithfulness is all I need.

Wait, that list up there looks oddly familiar.  See, we've been working very hard with the kids on showing and demonstrating the Fruits of the Spirit.  Galatians 5:22-23 says, "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control..."  We even have a tree up in our living room that the kids can put a sticker on when I notice evidence of fruit in their lives.  Apparently my teaching needed to be more aimed at myself.  The Lord has shown me that I am the one who needed to be reminded to bear fruit.

So now we have figured out a few things.  We cook mid-morning and have our meals lined up waiting to go into the oven when the power comes on. We gather our clothes and have them in the wash and ready to turn the washer on.  We bathe and eat no matter what time of day it is.  If there's water and hot food then it's time to take advantage.  But mostly I've learned to be thankful for this simple trial!  Simple!  So many of my friends are going through life threatening illnesses, children in the hospital, death among their family.  There is so much hurt and pain in the world.  I'm thankful that I've been given this trial at this time.  When I put it into perspective I realize that complaining over no power is NOTHING compared to some of the hurt and pain that others are experiencing. God has shown me this:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1:2-4

To God be the glory! And bring on the power outages Escom!  I'm ready!

This morning AJ and I made up a bunch of food to have ready to put in the over once the power came back.  Bread rolls, cinnamon rolls, cheese garlic bread, and chocolate chip cookies to name a few.  Be prepared!

Dishes waiting to be washed when we get water back.

A list of things to do (because I tend to get anxious and forget) when power is back.

AJ figuring out how to spend the quiet peaceful time.

Our Fruit of the Spirit tree.  Artistically it's very sad.  But the kids love it.  I guess I need a tree of my own. ;)

Gracie Update!

Do you remember Gracie?  This past February she had cleft lip surgery from ConnectMed International's medical team here in Lilongwe.  

Recently the doctors from Cure have been working to separate her joined fingers.  She has had multiple surgeries in Blantyre and we're hoping that she gains control of her thumb and index finger as a result of the surgeries.  

 Notice in the pictures below she has a bandage on her left hand. We'll go back soon to check her progress.  Please continue to pray for Gracie and all of the children whose lives were changed during the surgery week with ConnectMed.  Another group, Operation Smile, just completed a surgery week with even more cleft palate and cleft lip surgeries being completed.  Praise God for these amazing groups who sacrifice so much for the beautiful children and adults here in Malawi.

Clean Water for Malawi

Jeremy has been helping an organization called Clean Water for Malawi out of Jackson, MS.  He is assisting the Malawian leadership in evaluating their operations in an effort to improve their work processes and efficiency. Last week he went up to Mzuzu (about 4 hours north of Lilongwe) to meet with one of the three crews.   

This is a picture of the water source for the village where Clean Water is drilling a well.  There is no access to clean water yet and the people of the village have dug a hole in the ground to access water.  Obviously there is a huge need for clean water here!  

Here is the well that was just finished by Clean Water

A plaque is placed on each well showing who donated it.  

Another Clean Water for Malawi well.

Here is the current project for Clean Water.  This is the watering hole that the people of the village use for their water currently. 

The Mzuzu team for Clean Water for Malawi

The well in progress

The plaque that will be placed on this well.  In case you can't read it, this well was donated by First Presbyterian Day School, Jackson, MS.  Thanks 1st Pres!

Contact us for information on how to help Clean Water for Malawi.  info@m-1ministries.org