Back to real life in Malawi
We are again so grateful for the Spiritual Life conference last month. We returned home supercharged--which was what we needed since many challenges presented themselves in our first days home.
The first is an upcoming move. We have been living in and renting a house from the Baptist Mission of Malawi. We knew when we moved in that if Baptist missionaries arrived and needed the house we would have to move. We kept hoping that wouldn't happen, but we were notified that we needed to move by the end of February. God has been good and provided many options for housing, and we have found a new home that we are excited about it.
Later that week, I had to take an emergency trip to the hospital with our gardener's 2 year-old daughter. We drove the 40 minutes out to her house over horrible roads (this translates into a 2 hour bike ride for him, each way, every day). She had a seizure on the way to the hospital. Thankfully, because of our orientation at the hospital, I was able to help navigate the system a bit and she received the work-up she needed quickly and started receiving medications for presumed cerebral malaria in a very short time. Thankfully, she recovered quickly and is doing well.
A few days later we were notified that our neighbor's houseworker had been charged with witchcraft. Agnes is one of the most wonderful ladies I have met here in Malawi. She is a committed Christian and very involved in her church and she was a big help to us when we first moved here. However, there seems to be some jealous neighbors who invented a story that she was teaching withcraft to the neighborhood kids. This is an actual criminal charge and the police came and took her to jail. She was released within the day pending further investigation, but needless to say, the charges have disrupted their lives dramatically--the kids are getting picked on at school and Agnes didn't even feel safe in their home for the week following her release from jail. Witchcraft is apparently widely practiced here in Malawi, and is often under the surface of many social structures, even many churches. Even as I write this, it seems a bit crazy from my American viewpoint, but it is life here in Malawi. Please pray for Agnes, that justice would be done, and that this lie would be shown for what it is.
On a lighter note, Sydney lost her first tooth today! She's very excited for the tooth fairy to come. I'm not sure if the tooth fairy pays in US dollars or Malawian kwacha?!?
The first is an upcoming move. We have been living in and renting a house from the Baptist Mission of Malawi. We knew when we moved in that if Baptist missionaries arrived and needed the house we would have to move. We kept hoping that wouldn't happen, but we were notified that we needed to move by the end of February. God has been good and provided many options for housing, and we have found a new home that we are excited about it.
Later that week, I had to take an emergency trip to the hospital with our gardener's 2 year-old daughter. We drove the 40 minutes out to her house over horrible roads (this translates into a 2 hour bike ride for him, each way, every day). She had a seizure on the way to the hospital. Thankfully, because of our orientation at the hospital, I was able to help navigate the system a bit and she received the work-up she needed quickly and started receiving medications for presumed cerebral malaria in a very short time. Thankfully, she recovered quickly and is doing well.
A few days later we were notified that our neighbor's houseworker had been charged with witchcraft. Agnes is one of the most wonderful ladies I have met here in Malawi. She is a committed Christian and very involved in her church and she was a big help to us when we first moved here. However, there seems to be some jealous neighbors who invented a story that she was teaching withcraft to the neighborhood kids. This is an actual criminal charge and the police came and took her to jail. She was released within the day pending further investigation, but needless to say, the charges have disrupted their lives dramatically--the kids are getting picked on at school and Agnes didn't even feel safe in their home for the week following her release from jail. Witchcraft is apparently widely practiced here in Malawi, and is often under the surface of many social structures, even many churches. Even as I write this, it seems a bit crazy from my American viewpoint, but it is life here in Malawi. Please pray for Agnes, that justice would be done, and that this lie would be shown for what it is.
On a lighter note, Sydney lost her first tooth today! She's very excited for the tooth fairy to come. I'm not sure if the tooth fairy pays in US dollars or Malawian kwacha?!?
posted by Mike and Heather Tacheny at
10:56 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Mike and Heather!
Any update on Agnes? Just wondering. Also, saw this article about work Dr. Paul Farmer is doing in Rwanda and thought it might interest you.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2008/04/13/in_rwanda_visionary_doctor_is_moving_mountains_again/
Hope that link comes through okay.
Peace!
Beth
By
Dave and Beth Saavedra, at 7:44 PM
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