Mount Nkhoma

We attempted our first hike as a family.

Fortunately we got back just before the rains came.

It is beautifully green from all of the rain.

Nkhoma is located about 15 miles south of Lilongwe.

It was a fun adventure!

Humble pie

I don't know if I was getting too proud of my accomplishments--driving and shopping by myself. But in case I was too prideful, I had a good taste of humble pie the other day.

I took the kids to the store and just as we were checking out it started raining. The torrential rains that hit hard and are so loud on the tin roofs that you can't hear yourself think. We waited under the eaves of the store for about 25 minutes with about 20 other shoppers--while Sam splashed in the puddles and proceeded to get quite wet. Finally, the kids were crazy waiting and the rain let up just enough that the kids could actually hear me; so we decided to make a run for it to the car. Sam took off into the parking lot and I tried to follow down the ramp with my broken cart. The cart hit a big hole in the sidewalk and tipped over---all of our groceries spilled out into the wet parking lot--and we got soaked attempting to pick everything up. Fortunately the only casualty was 3 bottles of pop and one of the many people witnessing the mess, actually stood in the rain himself and helped us pick up.

Although I was quite embarassed when it happened--it now makes me laugh because we must have looked so ridiculous--3 uzungus (white people) picking up groceries in the pouring rain. The moral of the story: Don't forget your umbrella!!

Mmmm--Nsima!!!

Sydney loves Nsima! Joyce made us dinner the other night. Nsima is a corn based flour that is made into play-doh consistency and dipped in a sauce or relish of some kind (ndiwo)--we tried beans. Both of the kids loved it--maybe because you can use your hands to roll the nsima into balls and dip it.



We've had another full week of new adventures. We are praising God for many blessings--we received many Christmas cards and even a few packages this week from many of you. It is so good to hear from you and we thank you for our prayers and encouraging words!

I(Heather) feel like I accomplished something huge this week--I made a trip to the grocery store by myself. "What's the big deal?" you ask. Well, I've been quite fearful of driving--especially in the congested areas--such as where the grocery store is. But practice makes perfect--so now that I have had one uneventful trip, I'll have to just keep practicing.

Mike has become quite a handyman around the house--he's had to since things seem to break quite easily here. But in this picture Mike was spraying for mosquitoes.



We made a trip to the local market in search of a shoe-repairman. Sydney's favorite flipflops broke. We would have just thrown them away as our attempt to staple the toe piece back down was unsuccessful. But on Joyce's suggestion we brought them to the market. A very busy place and a bit overwhelming. But we found the man and he fixed the shoe in about 3 minutes--for 50 kwacha (about 40 cents). What a deal--and Sydney was so excited to have her favorite shoes again!
Many of these encouraging events happened on the same day--and after a language lesson that made us feel like we are really learning some Chichewa! God was pouring out the blessings. We realized that it is so much easier to praise God when our circumstances are so positive.
But a week ago we were struggling to find joy amidst some tough circumstances. Our dog, Anna, died last week. She started acting sick on Wednesday--lying around and not eating and she died early Friday morning. We buried her in our back yard after a short funeral. We're not sure what happened, but some of our friends wonder if she ate a poisonous frog or other animal. It's possible since she was still a puppy and she ate anything and everything. We are glad we still have Joshua--the german shepherd. But we do miss Anna.
Death is so common here in Malawi. I probably had the most difficulty saying good-bye to Anna and she was just our dog that we had known for only a few months. But everyday people are losing loved ones here. It's so much more of a part of life. I'm not sure I will ever get used to that when we start taking care of patients in the clinic.

work and language

In case you were wondering we haven't only been going to parties and visiting the lake this last month. (Contrary to the reports in our last post) We have continued in our Chichewa lessons. Joyce (in picture) has been a great help to us as she really encourages us to speak Chichewa, even when it takes FOREVER for us to find the right words. She is amazingly patient.






We (the whole family) also had the opportunity to visit a village right here in Lilongwe where Children of the Nations runs a feeding program for orphans and other needy children. Here I am attempting to use my Chichewa to talk with the kids. It turns out that I still have some studying to do. But we were able to sing a Malawian Christmas song together--in Chichewa! Sydney and Sam love the song and sing it all the time.
Sydney and I also had the opportunity to go to the local hospital's malnutrition ward with a ministry of our local church. We were able to distribute Christmas gifts and food to the patients and their families there. The wards were very crowded and understaffed. And as Sydney would testify, very hot! The nurses were working so hard but it seemed like an overwhelming task to meet the needs of all of the patients. It gave me the itch to get to work. Mike and I have struggled to not feel guilty that we are not "working" yet, while we study language. But we know that without investing the time and learning the language of the Malawians, we will always struggle in ministry and understanding. So please pray for diligence and patience as we continue our language learning.

Happy New Year

Hi everyone! Sorry about the long break in communication. The month of December got away from us--I wasn't expecting such a busy Christmas season. But with the kids off of school most of the month it doesn't take much. We were blessed to celebrate the holidays in some new and some familiar ways.


We were able to decorate for Christmas. The kids were excited to hang their stockings and even decorate a small Christmas tree. I appreciated having some of the familiar sights and musical sounds of Christmas since we were celebrating in very unfamiliar 90 degree weather







The hot weather brought us another opportunity to go to the lake. It's hard to beat swimming and playing in the sand in December. Sam got to use his cool sunglasses.





Here we are caroling at the American Ambassador's home. We told Mike that the party was all for his birthday, but it was really the annual American Christmas party.







We had some fun family time--giving gifts, opening stockings, and playing games. Sydney has become a puzzle whiz (and she is enjoying her new princess puzzle) and we enjoy family games of UNO daily.

We were blessed to be surrounded by so many people and events to celebrate Christmas. We were missing our families but were able to speak with all of them through the computer over the holidays. And for free!! Thank you for your prayers and God bless you and your families in 2007!