Turtle Flipping

This month marked the fifth anniversary of my mother’s death. Though she wasn’t a Christian during my upbringing, she did accept Jesus about a year before she was diagnosed with Alzheimers. As I ponder my childhood, I realize she inadvertently taught me Christian principles throughout my life. One in particular has been weighing heavily on me. 

My Mom and I with Banjo,
the Dog She Gave to John and Me

When we first got cable television at our house, I watched a lot of National Geographic. I loved the animal documentaries. Mom seldom sat down to watch a show, but she would walk through the living room and comment. One time, during a documentary in which a land tortoise had been flipped upside down and left for dead in the hot desert sand, my mom, who was very practical, threw out, “Why doesn’t the camera man just turn him over?” I never watched National Geographic the same way after that. The lesson was immediately apparent and, though I love photography and writing, it destroyed my chances of becoming a journalist. I would ruin too many stories by flipping over turtles. 

When John and I visited Malawi last May, we saw so much need that we couldn’t ignore it. I could almost hear my mom say, “Why don’t you just go and see if you can make a difference?” Or, maybe that was Jesus’ voice I heard. Either way, we’re here now and have already been involved in several real-life documentaries. This week we're helping a mother in the village get hernia surgery on her infant. The cost is about twenty-five dollars, but for someone who can’t pay for a bus to get to the hospital, it might as well be twenty-five thousand. We're also starting a phonics program in the same village for kids and adults who want to learn English and to read in their own language (Chichewa). Many just want to be able to read the Bibles we've given them and have been studying from. Another woman just had eye surgery to remove a cyst that was causing her pain. There are other stories, but I won’t go into all of them now. Instead I have and will continue to post them here. 

I used to assume that, like in the United States, there were programs in every country to take care of the population’s indigent. Not so. If someone here is sick and cannot afford proper medical care, she dies. Sure, there are free clinics and hospitals, but not every issue can be addressed there. Also, if someone is hungry and can’t afford food, he starves. Yes, there are missionaries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) addressing these issues, but there is not enough help. I don’t know the statistics and I’m not aware of every effort to improve the quality of life in Malawi, but I don’t need to know all of that to know there's still a great need. I have personally met people who are sick and cannot afford transportation to get to the free clinic, and I have met people who are hungry and have no food. I've heard the stories first hand about friends and family members who have died of starvation and disease. We're confident this is where we need to be. Giving a handout helps immediately, but we're also looking at longer-term goals. We want to be a part of lasting changes in the way of education and training that will help people who have never been given opportunities to improve their lives.

I’m going to continue to post photographs and write stories about our experiences in Malawi, but our primary goal is to flip over as many turtles as we can. I can talk about all of our hopes and dreams for this ministry, but I would like to take a page out of my mother’s book and be more practical than that. If you make a donation to this mission, we will use it to pay for someone to eat or go to the hospital. It’s that simple. Thanks to those of you who sent money this month to allow us to take care of the people I listed above. Here is a photo of Enellese and baby Wonderful, the one in need of hernia surgery. Thanks to your generosity, he'll get it soon.

Enellese and Baby Wonderful (She wanted me to tell you
"Zikomo Kwambiri,"
which means thank you very much.)

Please send donations to: Westworth Church of Christ, 5728 White Settlement Road, Ft. Worth, Texas 76114, ℅ Malawi Mission Work, or you can give with a click at http://www.westworthcoc.org/malawi-mission/

My Kindergarten Education in Malawi

I didn't expect to teach kindergarten in Malawi, but when it became apparent that God himself might be recruiting me for the position, I didn't want to say no. 

Shortly after we arrived, Ben's teacher announced that she would be moving out of the country. I texted the secretary to say I could fill in if they didn’t find a replacement. She promptly replied that the position was filled, which was a relief since I was looking forward to a break from teaching. (I've been homeschooling the boys since Jonah was old enough to go to school.)

Later that day, John needed to use my phone and, glancing at a new message, asked why I hadn’t told him I was going to be teaching kindergarten. I thought he was confused until I looked at the message history. It said the third grade position had been filled. Then came the question, "Would you be willing to teach kindergarten?" followed by the large blue thumbs up that I had never used in a text much less to negotiate employment. I called the kids in to find out who had been playing with my phone, but they reminded me that I have a password to keep that from happening.

I drove to the school to explain that there had been a misunderstanding. I was too late. Other teachers greeted me with congratulations. As bad as I felt about doing it, I had to set the record straight, which I did. Later, the headmaster called to ask me to reconsider. I thought about the five and six year olds who were in the same boat as Ben had been without a teacher, and I agreed to fill in through the end of the year. (I should mention that there is one other kindergarten teacher who did a fine job including both classes in her lessons as well as a teacher's assistant who also filled in the gaps during the interim, but the kids and their parents rightfully expected a dedicated teacher of their own.)

Here I am with the little cherubs from kindergarten. 

They certainly were a blessing after all, and I learned some very interesting things while I worked with them and their families. For instance, the Malawian parents who can afford a school other than a public one don’t always teach their children Chichewa, the traditional language. Some only want them to learn English. The kids giggled every time I shared the new Chichewa words I was learning and couldn't fully understand why I was studying it. Also, there are many families who practice other religions that send their kids to school here, because they recognize it as one of the best educations in the city. However, I learned through conversations with parents that some kids are required to go to one hour of religious school for each hour they participate here to counteract the Christian teaching they received. The parents are aware this is a Christian school but not all parents want their children to be Christian. It’s a delicate balance but one I’m confident tips in our favor, as we have Jesus on our side. 

Now that we have a year of school under our belts, we plan to go back to homeschool and get more involved in the ministry that seems to be developing in one of the villages outside of town. This in no way means we’re not planning to prioritize our kids’ educations. In fact, we hope to make our work a major part of it. The opportunities for our boys to experience life and friendship with people that live a completely foreign lifestyle to anything they have ever known is a godsend. Also, we have made lifelong friends during our time at the school and look forward to investing in those relationships over the coming months and years. Possibly the most important piece of information we have learned in our first eight months in Africa is the great need for more educational opportunities, not just for privileged kids, but also for all Malawian children. We've seen a huge contrast in the quality of education in the city for families who have money and in the villages where they don't. We hope to be a part of the remedy to that problem.

Thank you for your support and encouragement during our first eight months in Malawi. We believe God has big plans for the end of our first year and for our second year and beyond. We have been blessed with faithful financial supporters who have made this possible, and we expect to be growing and developing to the point that we will need a bigger team to move into the future. Please consider how you might be a part of this mission. Every contribution helps. 

Please send donations to: Westworth Church of Christ, 5728 White Settlement Road, Ft. Worth, Texas 76114, ℅ Malawi Mission Work, or you can give with a click at http://www.westworthcoc.org/malawi-mission/