Two good cups of coffee this morning……sleep was tough to catch. My mind kept going back to the hospital….that happens sometimes when I am here. Better to just roll with it and know sleep will come at some point.
We headed of to the Village of Masau around 9am…….the men in one vehicle and us gals in another! That’s right, Karey drove and she did a fantastic job! Once she stopped using the windshield wipers for a turn signal we were good! Lol We had lots of giggles, bumpy roads, stop/goes, with worship music courtesy of Leah, and we made it there alive! Lol
Today we had a children’s camp. Ovi reported at least 300 kiddos! It was awesome! They split all of us up into 3 teams……I found myself with Ovi on the team we named “power”. Let me tell ya, these kids are serious about their games…..very competitive! Ed and Marks team was “elephante” and Leah/kareys team was “zebra”. Many many games were played….. I had the honor of playing the game where you run with a balloon to a cone, pop it by sitting on it ON THE GROUND and then run back. I have never heard such excitement and voices and pumped up kids! Soooo fun!!
Karey was able to teach part of the creation story……with soooo many kids. They sat and listened without moving for about 20 mins. She did a great job bringing it to life while Mark gave the salvation story to another set of kiddos. All listening intently again.
Mark and I manned the hand washing buckets while Karey and Leah went to help serve food for lunch. Todays menu was rice, boiled egg and cabbage. They also have what they call “soup” which is a bit of broth made from tomatoes and water that they pour on it. It is soooooo good! Feeding so many children…..as I watched them rub their hands together under the water I streamed out of a cup…..all these little hands…… I was so grateful for the opportunity to serve. The honor to serve. I “treasured up” watching the littles and olders sitting in the dirt eating with their hands. In the middle, my husband, always willing to lend a hand or help wherever needed. I will remember him under that tree with little people surrounding him!
After lunch, the kiddos where encouraged to go to church! I have no idea how in the world that little church fit all those kids, but it did. The children ran to “go to church”. Ed preached using Nicodemus for what must be done to be saved……Karey filled me in. When Ed called for an invitation to salvation, sooooo many stood up. Again, to check for sincerity, he tried to talk them out of it…….none walked away. Ovi was able to capture kids in the back of the church with heads bowed, eyes closed and mouths praying…….we pray they received Christ. I do believe God was gracious and showed us glimpses.
Leah and I made our way back to the women to help with clean up…….I mean cleaning for 300+ kids and adults…. There’s a lot of clean up. Some of the women were returning with 5 gallon buckets on their heads full of water. Doreen (Stanley’s wife) was taking off to fill her bucket…..I asked if I could go with her. We chatted on the walk/hike to the well. I have missed her sweet spirit and smile that just lights up her face. She is a hard working woman……I mean crazy hard working. She let me pump the well to fill up the bucket and we headed back with it ON HER HEAD! She is so strong!!! We helped the women clean all the dishes and cups and bowls…..we used pieces of burlap from rice bags with a bar of soap and sandy dirt. There was chatting and laughing and getting down to business of cleaning. My skirt may or may not have been quite wet by the time we were done. Working with the ladies……I hope my actions let them know I am in it with them…..they do so much.
We made it home after a great day- dirty, sweating, gritty and spent! I jumped in the shower almost as soon as we got home before a nice big cup of coffee. A Muslim family came to visit in the early evening here at the mission house (they do know why the Corenea’s are here in Malawi and have welcomed the friendship). After visiting for a bit, I found myself alone with Fatima and her daughter Sara. Conversations turned to faith and Jesus and His sacrifice. It was a good conversation…… I hope I planted seeds.
Dinner was amazing….Lita has a gift! We often talk about our highs and lows during a debrief in the evening. Transparently I shared that I have been praying for increased sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in His prompting….I can get going so fast I do not listen. And that is sin….that is disobedience…….even if it is delayed obedience, it is still disobedience. I am thankful my Father is gentle with me as He teaches me…..thankful for His patience. Today, He helped me slow down to listen…..He got my attention to see where He wanted me.