Lifton's Miracle!

Meet Lifton!  If you are a follower of our blog or of our Facebook page then you already know Lifton.  Lifton is from Mkanghamila village where Lucas has planted one of the churches in our area.   When ConnectMed was here in May we met Lifton (a church elder knew that we were searching for cleft palate/cleft lip patients and he introduced us). We took him to ABC for screening with the ConnectMed team.  Unfortunately Lifton was too malnourished for surgery at that time but ConnectMed was able to fit him with a device that would aid in his eating (which can be seen in the pictures). 

Not wanting this family to give up hope or get lost in the system, our family decided that we would provide formula and care for Lifton to try to get him fat and healthy for the August Operation Smile surgery event. We had until August 2 to try to get his weight up! Every two weeks we would take or send formula to Lifton's mom and check on him to make sure he was thriving.  Lifton is a twin and at our last visit we noticed that Lifton was now actually FATTER than his twin brother!  Praise God!  

Above is Lifton in his mom's lap.  His twin brother is standing on his grandmother's lap in the back.

August 2nd Lifton and his mother arrived at Rainbow bright and early to be taken to Kamuzu Central Hospital for screening with Operation Smile! 

Lifton being screened by Peter Bartlett to check his hearing!  Peter is a good friend of ours and one of only two audiologists (the other is his wife Bec) in Malawi. 

On August 4th we got word that Lifton was selected for surgery!  Praise God!  What a wonderful blessing!  He was scheduled to have his lip repaired on the 6th.  He will require additional surgeries in the future to repair his cleft palate.   

Surgery day!  We visited with Lifton and his mom as they waited to be called back for surgery.

Lifton's last photo before surgery!

And here is Lifton today!  Isn't he gorgeous?!  

His mother is beyond happy and just beaming with joy!  Apparently the Op Smile team gave her some hats to celebrate with! ;)

May God receive all glory and honor and praise!  Lifton still has a long way to go but we pray that through God's help he will come to complete healing and will grow to thank God for His provisions!

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.- Isaiah 12:4

Water Well Repair

In the area that E3 Worldwide works, we embarked on a new campaign to repair water wells and establish permaculture model gardens in the grey water runoff from these repaired wells. M-1, Clean Water for Malawi, and E3 Worldwide joined together to repair 10 wells over the course a single week for this first phase. Over the next month, Clean Water will provide borehole management training for the villages that received and will receive repair for their wells. In addition, E3 Worldwide will start to train and implement the permaculture model gardens. We will proceed with additional well repairs in the area following the completion of the first full phase.  

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. - John 4:14

Due to the broken bore hole the people in this village had to resort back to this hand dug water well as their water source.

This is a picture of another shallow hand-dug well used for the water source for the people (as well as the animals) of this village.  

At each well people from the village and the village well committee participated in the dismantling, diagnosing, and repair of the bore holes.  Most fixes were simple but required specialized parts and materials that are difficult for the villages to attain. 

Above (in the maroon shirt) is the Group Village Headman for several villages that were supported by this borehole that had been broken roughly 6 years.  They fixed it several times on their own with locally available materials but the repairs would not last.

I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.- Isaiah 44:3

Another picture of a shallow well where water is attained if the well is broken.

In the near future, a similar campaign for borehole repair will be started in Chiseka and the villages that surround where we live. Clean Water for Malawi (known as Clean Water for Africa in Malawi) will partner with M-1 Ministries and Rainbow CDC to reach the local villages. At this time, there are over 60 wells that are broken and not providing safe, clean drinking water for the people of these villages. If you would like to participate with us in this borehole repair project, then please contact us.