CORRECTION

In our last post, I wrote that our P.O. box is in the name of Wellspring Ministries. That was a mistake. It's actually in the name of the previous executive director, but we plan to submit our names this week. In short, the proper mailing address is: John and Samantha Jewell, P.O. Box 31615, Lilongwe 3, Malawi, AFRICA. 

Mail in Malawi

Thank you for keeping up with us through social media as we settle in to our new home halfway around the world. It’s so encouraging to receive your messages and to read your comments. It’s good to be remembered. 

Some of you have asked for our mailing address, and you’re probably wondering why it’s taking so long to get an answer. The mail system here is quite different than we’re used to, and we want to be sure we give you the right information. We don’t have a mailbox at our house, and I haven’t seen a mailman. Instead we have a post office and a post office box. The address is: John and Samantha Jewell, P.O. Box 31615, Lilongwe 3, Malawi, AFRICA. (The black and white squares in the photo are the actual boxes.) 

I hope you didn’t just jot that down and quit reading, because there are a few things you should know. First of all, please don’t bother paying for priority mail or insurance, because, no matter what they tell you at the U.S. post office, they cannot guarantee anything once it leaves the country. And, it may not get to its final destination when they tell you it should. We experienced this firsthand living in Brazil. Also, please don’t mail anything of monetary value, as the packages may be searched and items removed. (I know what you’re thinking; I was raised with the same rights and protections, but we are living in a place now where it’s legal for the police to pull us over for no other reason than to check our documents. It’s different here.) Make sure everything is clearly printed, and don’t forget to write “Africa”, even though you think it should be obvious. Before we left the States, several people asked us when we were moving to Maui, and when I lived in Austria, I received some very late mail that had made a pit stop in Australia. Not everyone is a geography whiz—myself included.

Now that all that’s out of the way, please accept our gratitude for your encouragement and for expressing interest in sending us mail. Don’t shy away from it because it doesn’t sound foolproof. The fact is, we’ve talked to other missionaries who say they receive mail all the time with no problem. We would love to get letters, photos, and any other small items you want to send. We’re very thankful for modern technology that allows us to receive communication of any kind from you. Missionaries used to leave home without hope of correspondence from their loved ones. We remember that when we start to feel sorry for ourselves for not having electricity or internet. 

P.S. If you're not into snail mail, just keep posting online. We'll take it any way we can get it.

Avoiding Malaria

Each day we meet Ben for lunch at school and each day we meet someone new. This week we met a lady who may have just saved our lives. She’s from New Zealand, and she’s the only doctor at the school clinic.

As one of our new friends was leaving us at the lunch pavilion, she introduced us to a woman sitting at the adjacent table. The timing was such that the woman was in mid chew, but that didn’t stop her from extending her hand to introduce herself. She continued with her sandwich throughout our conversation as if her meal was a necessity rather than an event. She was very cordial and articulate, with a lovely accent I still can’t distinguish from South Africa. She was obviously a person with a mission and no time for trivialities. We told her we had just arrived, and John jested that he hopes we don’t have to see her again any time soon. She smiled just enough to let us know she appreciated the humor, then answered with, “Well, take care of yourselves. Don’t go out at night and certainly don’t drive at night. The greatest cause of death in this country is traffic accidents. The next is malaria. You would be an absolute IDIOT to not take antimalarials.” 

We were slightly taken aback and looked at each other. I asked, “Is that something you can take every day? Isn’t that an antibiotic? Is that a good idea to take an antibiotic every day?” 

“Of course, it’s fine. I’m scared to death of malaria and I’ve taken doxycycline every day for fourteen years to avoid it. You would be stupid not to. I see people in my clinic all the time on the edge of death because they’re not taking antimalarials. If you’re not immune, you really should be taking them every day—especially your children. You would be crazy not to at least give it to your kids.”

Idiot, stupid, and crazy. She got my attention. “How can we know if we’re immune?” I asked. 

“Unless you grew up here, you’re not immune. It takes time to develop an immunity and that’s why children under five often die of it. The locals get sick but not like you will if you get it. It’s a killer—very dangerous. It’s listed as the highest level of risk on the U.S. health department travel advisory. They should have told you. The U.S. embassy makes their people sign a waiver if they refuse antimalarials.”

We continued our conversation as she finished her sandwich, threw away her trash, brushed her hands off, and briskly led us to the busy clinic next door. We chatted on the way. I asked her if she likes it here. She said sometimes and the other days she remembers she has a calling. She wrote two prescriptions—one for Ben because he’s younger and one for the rest of us. She then prayed for us and sent us to the pharmacy on site.

We believe this was a divine encounter. Ben has surely accumulated enough mosquito bites already to qualify him for clinical testing on the ratio of malarial to non-malarial mosquitos in the area. I would love to tell you I don’t worry, but I do. I have lost sleep over the fact that, not only is he attractive to mosquitos, but he’s also allergic. We discovered that fact in Texas when his ears swelled up like red play dough from bites he incurred while playing in the yard. 

God is truly amazing in His ability to answer our prayers in ways we could never think to ask. I do hope we don’t have to see that wonderful lady any time soon, and I know better than to trust in medicine. I am, however, so grateful for the peace of mind that allowed me to sleep through the night last night, believing we are a little more protected from a life-threatening illness that runs rampant during the rainy season that is just around the corner.