August 18, 2010

Someone who went: Anna

Posted by Anna Hamlett

Well, I’m back from Africa and the trip was amazing! Malawi and its people are beautiful. It’s incredible to see people who love so fully regardless of circumstances. The love I was shown was overwhelming. I’ll never forget how the kids rushed to dust off my dirt-ridden skirt, while they remained covered in it. I was genuinely moved by that act of service.
It was hard to keep track of time while in Africa, but I almost didn’t need to. I just lived. The days were long and full. For once I felt as if I was living in the moment. It was amazing talking to strangers who genuinely wanted to know your name and were eager to learn more about you. People never seemed to be in a rush to end conversations. They value and enjoy community life.
My favorite thing to do in Africa was listening to the singing and watching the dancing. The people of Malawi are gifted with rhythm and soul. As I look at the pictures from the trip, I can I see myself filled with joy and a sense of freedom.
To make a long and beautiful story short, the trip was incredible. Being in Africa has taught me that to live simply is to live joyously. It was a joy to serve the people of Malawi. I hope they received half as much as we received from them. It’s hard to put into words everything I learned, but I experienced first-hand that God moves, God works and God is good all the time.

“And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10

August 3, 2010

Malawi Team Update

Posted by Lizzie

Wow! The past week has really flown by! Our team has been so busy that we
haven’t had a moment of time to update. God is teaching us how to be
blessings to the beautiful people of Malawi.

We were greeted at the Lilongwe airport by a number of COTN staff who had
been anxiously awaiting our arrival. After we moved into our huts we were
bussed over to Mtsiliza, a neighboring village, where we were greeted by
hundreds of children as well as the Mtsiliza widows. They sincerely
appreciated how far we had traveled just to spend time with them and serve
them.

For our first two days, we were divided into teams of 3 and sent out with
a translator into the village of Mgwayi. We got to know specific families
and hear about what their life looks like. We were also able to share with
them pictures and stories about our own families. We cooked dinner for the
families on Saturday.

That afternoon we went to the market to pick up groceries and supplies for
dinner. One of these groceries was a live chicken! Garry, Jon, David and
Sid were some of the men who were the lucky ones to take the chicken “into
their own hands” in the preparation of dinner!

Yesterday we were able to go to a traditional Malawian church service –
what an experience it was to worship Christ in a different language
surrounded by His children. This was a highlight of the trip thus far for
many of us.

Today we began our group discussions with the men and women. Throughout
the week we will be talking about love, marriage, purity and health. We
also taught the women the game of “human knot” – this was extremely fun
for everyone. We will be starting VBS this afternoon and have a bunch of
great things planned. Our teaching will focus on children in the Bible and
we will be bringing water balloons and crafts to the village!

Everyone is having a wonderful time immersing ourselves in the Malawian
way. We miss you all!

July 6, 2010

Headed to the D.R.

Posted by Michael Murray

Goose Lopez-Torres, the self-professed “Snack Minister” of Student Ministries (he runs the snack bar at The Edge), will be heading off to the Dominican Republic on Friday as a leader for the Student Team. Goose was a leader on the Student DR Trip last summer as well. What made him want to join the team again this year? He loves seeing the impact the trip has on high school students.

“To see these kids voluntarily give up a week of their summer break is inspiring,” Goose said. “When I was their age, I would have never given up a week of my summer break to do something like this! For one week they unplug from their iPods, cell phones, and video games to do something that really matters. I get 3 weeks of vacation a year. To use one of them to be a part of this team is really a no-brainer for me.”

Goose hopes that the students will learn humility on this trip. If they can get a sense of what it’s really like to be in need, they may gain a new perspective on life. “I think sometimes kids, especially teenagers, believe that they have the worst life ever and no one can relate to them,” he says. “When they see some of the conditions we are about to see, it may give them a greater appreciation for what they do have.”

Goose thinks the trip will be a great way to be an example to his family and friends. He has two young sons and when they grow up, he wants them to know that their dad was faithful to God’s call. He also loves being able to talk about the trip with his unchurched friends as a way to share his faith. He hopes the high schoolers will do the same with their friends.

Please pray for Goose and the rest of the leaders and students as they get ready to go to the D.R. later this week!

June 23, 2010

Intern Progress Team Update

Posted by Gabe

A big Malawian welcome from Chipiti!

On Friday afternoon we moved into the orphanage and started to make it
our home. After a flooded bathroom, a power outage, peanut butter
sandwiches for dinner due to the power outage and the daunting task of
attempting to learn 28 African children’s names we called it a night.

Saturday brought a day of 6:00am devotionals with the entire home and
learning how to do chores with the kids (the boys sweep the yard out
here…it’s so funny to watch!). In the afternoon we played and
attempted to learn the kids’ names again. Did I mention we have 28 children
to keep track of? :) The evening time brought around another gathering
of devotional time with the house. The power is consistently off by 6:00pm, so
most of the times we meet around candlelight to sing praise songs. It
is the perfect ending to a busy day.

On Sunday, we headed to church with brother Frackson, our COTN
intern coordinator, and enjoyed lunch at his house. During devotional
time that night at Chitipi, all the Interns shared a favorite verse
with the children. It was a great way for the kids to know a bit more
about us.

Monday kicked off our scheduled summer plans with helping the kids do
chores and get off to school. Tutoring happened in the afternoon time
and from this point on we will be heading up devotional time at night. Chase
shared tonight and did a wonderful job!

Tuesday we headed into Mgwayi Village and met our families where we
will be visiting during the summer. Each Global Intern is paired with
a National Intern and will be stationed at a home where they will
build relationships with those living there through tutoring, help with chores, bible study, play time, etc. We also toured a small school where
we will be assisting the teachers twice a week.

The team is doing well and is enjoying being called “Uncle” and
“Auntie” by all the kids in the home. We have all, at one point
or another, commented on how much that has touched our hearts.

From the Malawian lands, we just want you to know this: God is so, so good!

June 17, 2010

The Team has Arrived

Posted by Guest Blogger: Gabe

The rest of the interns arrived on Tuesday! We picked them up from the airport around 1 p.m. Everyone seemed healthy, but tired! We went straight to Njewa for some food then loaded them back on the bus to head to the Mtsiliza Welcome Program. It is always fun to watch first-timers’ reaction to the village life and the many children that surround the bus upon entering. They had us all sit in front of hundreds of children while they sang and did native dances for us. It’s one of my favorite things to experience here…. The bus ended up running out of gas during out welcome program, so we had some time to kill which is easy with so many children clamoring for attention. “One Picha” “One Picha” was shouted over and over again as the Interns snapped tons of photos with the kiddos! I was able to gather these kids for a photo session—it was too cute!