The day started early, with a devotion presented by Marc, when he presented the "The Station" a short story written by Robert Hastings. The story reinforces the point about the importance of living in the present, with God, because of uncertainty of the future. The team reflected about the themes in the story and related it back to their own lives.
Then we got on the road, stopping at the Ministry of Hope and then heading off to spend the day at Khwamba, one of the Ministry of Hope's feeding centers, where we were greeted by over four hundred kids eager to meet each of us. It was an amazing experience spending time with them, getting to know them and sharing a smile or a hug.
Can you imagine over four hundred kids of all ages and sizes coming together with one another and with us to sing songs and meet us, and enjoy a short bible lesson while we visited? Here's what four hundred kids looks like when everyone sat down at the center, on the floor:
One of the first things that really struck the team today was the universality of a smile, and how that even though there was a complete language barrier between us, a smile or a laugh overcame it and bonded us with them and them, with us.
We arrived at the feeding center at about 9am, and David, Keith and Paul immediately went to work cutting PVC and climbing onto the roof and beginning to the upgrade effort on the solar panels installed on the last visit during 2011.
Lisa and Marc spent time with the kids, sitting on the ground or a nearby log and able to look even the littlest kids right in the eye that way. We shook hands (Malawi style) and played, picking many of the smaller kids up into the air and saying, "Wheee!" which they seemed to enjoy a lot.
Before lunch, David, Lisa and Marc visited a family led by an amazing woman three kids of her own and taking care of three other, small kids who's mother had died during childbirth. She's lived in the nearby village her whole life. We presented her a wool blanket and some cooking foods and supplies, as well as soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste and a bible. She was very gracious and thankful for the visit and the gifts we presented.
After lunch, David and Lisa led a short bible lesson about how Jesus' love helps to cleanse us on the inside, erasing our sins. We presented over 200 of the kids with special bars of soap, representing Jesus' cleansing of us, with hand-made Crosses and a quote from Romans 11 which the kids loved receiving and were very excited about it.
We also presented over one hundred new outfits for the boys and another hundred new dresses for the girls. The dresses were extra special because each was hand made by loving donors who generously and lovingly made and supplied them. The kids were thrilled and couldn't wait to see how they looked in their new clothing!
It was an exhilarating day for all of us, and only the first of three days we'll be with these kids at this center before moving to the next one.
It was a terrific day!
Love to all,
Marc and the Malawi team
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