Malawi

On Sunday morning we left very early for Lilongwe, Malawi, where we stayed in the Baptist Mission Guest house over night.  On Monday we drove the remaining 4 hours to Sun n Sand.  We arrived in time for lunch.

The first year here on the mission field we didn’t have this meeting – budget cuts.  As new missionaries we didn’t know what we were missing.  Now we do.  We have now been to two of these meetings.

It is a wonderful time of seeing other missionary friends that we only get to see once a year.  We get to have a blessed time singing and worshiping in English.  Until you have been overseas for a few years can you understand that.  It is just a blessing to sing and worship on your mother tongue.  That is the reason we need to learn ciBemba, so that the people we are witnessing to can hear the gospel message in their own mother tongue. 

The kids get to do VBS.  They loved it this year.  They changed rooms for everything.  Last year you stayed in the same room all morning.  This year music was in one room, story in another, craft in another.  I think this just broke up the morning better for them.  Heather got to be with the youth this year.  Oh my!  My children are growing up faster than I want them to!!

The biggest hit is the swimming pool!  Tobias and Heather can swim a little.  Tobias will go in the deep end, Heather stays away from it.  Lane and Seth actually are showing signs of learning to swim.  They are getting so close.  I’m hoping what while we are home this summer they will get some time to improve these skills.  It is a little sad for me to see other missionary kids diving off the diving board and they are only in 1st grade.  But they live in the city with access to a swimming pool.  Plus it is much hotter where they live.

Another high light for our two youngest is the swings.  They still love to swing.  We are seeing the need to have a swing here in our yard.  Still trying to figure out how to do that.