Silver bells

We are gearing up for Christmas here. But it takes on a little different flavor in Malawi. The only commercial signs of Christmas are at the local grocery store where the checkout people are wearing Santa's hats and reindeer antlers. We have heard that there is a different holiday activity in Malawi in December--- more crime. Some stealing when they know many are away on vacation (schools take a 3-4 week break). We fortunately are not going anywhere and we feel quite safe in our house and the wall that had come down has been rebuilt.
On the advice of other missionaries here, we packed some Christmas decorations for our house. We played some Christmas carols and put up lights and a hand-me-down tree today during a big rain storm. We even were able to get together with friends to sing carols (no need for bundling up to carol outside here)
Even though we are in a very different place than previous Christmases, the songs of Christmas made the season come alive and reminded us that Jesus' arrival to earth was for everyone everywhere.
Sydney's school had a Christmas program last week. I can't believe our daughter is old enough to be in a school program--but it was very special. Very worshipful songs, some kids shared what Jesus means to them which was quite sweet and poignant as many of the students at ABC Christian Academy are not Christians. The kids who shared their testimony were quite a witness.
The last song they sang has been stuck in my head since then. I love the words:

And we all bow down

Kings will surrender their crowns

And worship Jesus

For He is the Love of God

I love the picture of everyone bowing before baby Jesus in worship. The power and love of God in a baby. Thank you God.

Board Meeting

We had the opportunity to meet the board of Partners In Hope Medical Centre last week. The Board meets every 3 months and is composed of Perry Jansen; Caroline ( a Brit and the director of Action for Behavior Change); our new clinic manager, John Hamilton; SIM (Serving in Mission-the mission that both Perry and Corey Harthoorn are a part of)Area Director, Ryan Hannah; and 3 Malawians---Hestern Banda (a prominent Christian businessman), a local pastor(I apologize that I don't remember his name and since I'm writing in the middle of the night again I don't have easy access), and Ann the director of personnel.
We toured the building again with the board members and it was encouraging to see how excited they were with the progress being made on the building since the last board meeting. Caroline sadly is leaving the clinic as her husband has been transferred to Mozambique, however she has worked herself out of a job which truly is the goal of missions. Her staff now reaches over 40 schools as well as other outreach sites with education regarding HIV and AIDS. It's a very exciting ministry that shares the love and hope of Jesus in practical ways with the younger generation of Malawi. Please pray that the funding for their grants goes through in a timely manner so they can continue this ministry.
Last week also marked another significant development at the clinic. On Friday, December 1, the Partners in Hope Campus opened a new building targeting the youth of the area. It has plans to be a mini-youth center with activities and events for youth that draw kids to the building. The primary goal will be to talk about HIV and AIDS, and offer voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) to kids in a more non-threatening environment. The opening happened to fall on World AIDS Day--what a great way to celebrate.
We were blessed to be part of this meeting and celebrate again how God has blessed the ministry of the clinic and is using it to change and save lives.

The lake

We finally got a picture of the lake to upload successfully. Isn't it beautiful? We'd love to have visitors and this tranquil scene is just 1-1/2 hours away! Any takers?

Week 4--the Big Rain

Another week has passed quickly. We can hardly believe we've been in Malawi over a month! Last weekend was a bit eventful as there was a HUGE rain on Saturday night. The next morning I looked out our back window and the view had changed. I could see right into our neighbors yard and guest house. The rains had washed part of our property wall away. The wall of water then swept down the hill and took out two more walls. The house you see in the picture is the guest house of the Jansens and it's fortunate to be standing and not be filled with water. So we (or our landlords) are in the process of rebuilding the walls. The up-side is that we were able to meet some neighbors that we hadn't met before. It's hard to meet people when everyone lives behind walls with locked gates and guards. Hopefully it won't take another minor flood to allow us to make connections with some of our other neighbors.

The other picture is that of a moving truck. The caretaker of our property moved from our guest house to a house of his own. This truck showed up and piled all of their belongings inside and delivered it to the new house. As there wasn't room for the family, Mike helped drive them across town to their new house.


We also had our first sicknesses this last week--fortunately only minor gastrointestinal problems, sore throats and ear infections. We are all on the mend thankfully.

We thank you so much for you prayers as we continue to transition. Please pray for health and strength to be diligent about our language study. Praise God for the new friends the kids have made in school.