The wonderful widows

The widows we visited while at COTN were such a joy to see and be around. Their love and gratitude for the Lord showed in what they did. Children of the Nations(COTN) has a program that trains these widows on how to learn a skill and market that skill to provide an income for themselves. This way they don't have to rely on donations or handouts for survival. Most of them are doing sewing for their acquired skill. Luckily we brought 150 lbs. of fabric for them to use for their projects. This will give them a 100% profit. I pray that they are successful in all they do. Some of them care for 3 children and some as many as 6 children. You can see their lifes trials written all over their faces. The encouraging part is that they give all the glory to Jesus where it belongs. They know that if it was not for Jesus's love for them then they would not be where they are today. They have a fraction of what we have in a closet let alone our whole house. The widows take such pride in the little that they have. It definitely makes me think twice about what I just gotta have because it looks cool or "everyone has one". I think we have it all backwards at times.

The reason we went to Africa

I wanted to share the main reason we went to Africa. We went to serve the widows and most importantly the children of Malawi. Some of them were orphaned and some were just children looking for someone to care about them. My awesome team poured out enough love for those kids to hopefully fill them for a little while. The children there love to smile. They also love to have their picture taken. If they see you get your camera out they will watch your every move and try to work their way somehow into your picture. Then they want to see what it looks like. They never get a chance to see what they look so when they see themselves in a picture it brings them sheer delight. I also noticed that they love to strike poses for the camera. Of course the boys strike a superhero/warrior pose. Blake would get along great with these boys.


These boys got more used to me as the week went on. They are all students at the Acts III Montessori school. By the end of the week one of the boys would run up and give me a huge hug each day he saw me.





This is Mikey, Obusa Brown's son. He didn't like us at first, but even he warmed up to us by the end of the week. I got a real kick watching him cruise around the campus trying to play with the older kids.

God's Splendor

One of the many ways I like to enjoy what God has created for us is to look at sunsets. Everyday they are different and each one has its own unique beauty. Africa is no exception to beautiful sunsets. Each day they were so beautiful. I tried to capture some of their beauty so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Safari Pictures Pt 2

I can only upload a certain number of pictures per post so here are a few more. The first one is a picture of a sausage tree. You can actually eat the "sausages" which is really a type of fruit. I took their word for it.

Safari Pictures

This is the chalet we slept in for the night. I was on the left side and Pam and Debbie were on the right. All the windows were only covered by thick screens so we could hear all the different sounds during the night including the hippos talking to each other. It was soooo cool!

Village life

Here is a typical looking village. They are mud huts with a straw type of roof. Some of the huts had a corrugated metal roof. The roofs are the most expensive part of the house so often times they will use whatever material they have on hand.
The villages have a common water source where everyone uses. They fill buckets to take back to their homes. Sometimes it is quite a long distance away. There are some villages that have a state approved water source which allows them to charge for water as a source of income.

This is Rebecca. She is one of the widows in the COTN widows program. She is the one Pegi and I visited her home. She loves to dance and sing praises to God. She knows everything she owns, which isn't a whole lot, is directly due to the grace of God. If only we could all be that grateful.

Oops! two pictures are switched.

Here are Pics of where I stayed at COTN

This is the gazebo at the center of the campus. This was the central gathering place and where we had morning bible studies.


This is where I slept the first week.


These are the chalets where the missionary teams stay. There are 8 of them surrounding the gazebo.

I made it home!

Hello all. I made it safely home after a long two days of travel. Praise Jesus!! Seeing my family waiting for me at the airport was such a beautiful sight to see. All the prayers for safe travel were answered, Thank you! I was not able to post along the way so this morning I posted everything I wrote. So start at the bottom and work your way up. Pictures are soon to come.

Morning Devotions

Every morning during the week Maribeth and her pastors have devotions at 5 am. I actually made it to 3 of the 5. Not exactly an easy task, but it was worth it. We would read sections of scripture and then prayed for whoever had prayer requests and then sang a worship song in Chichewa. I enjoyed experiencing devotions and worship in a different style and setting. It is also a good reminder for me that God loves all His people no matter where they are from or what language they speak. During our Sunday service Abusa Brown (abusa means pastor in Chichewa) talked about how it doesn’t matter the color of our skin, we all bleed the same. We need to love each other no matter what differences we may have. God has been so faithful during this trip. I have felt all your prayers while in Africa and I truly thank you. I want to give an extra special thank you to my wonderful wife who not only supported me on this trip 100%, but was a huge prayer warrior for me and my team. She is awesome! I Love You!!

Safari Time

Wednesday morning half of the group went on a safari. A nicer mini bus picked us up and drove us two hours away to the wildlife reserve. It was a quiet drive the whole time. I think the three of us that went were happy to just sit and relax for a while. The safari camp was located on the reserve and it didn’t have any fences to keep the animals out of camp. The animals we saw roaming around camp were baboons and some smaller monkeys that were fast to jump and climb. The one night we were there Pam saw a hippo just outside our tent hut. I call it a tent hut because it was built like a hut with cement, fixed thatch roof, flushing toilet and shower. It was like a tent because all the windows were open. They had sturdy bug screens on them, but you could still hear all the noises outside. The loudest noise we heard was the hippos. You could hear them grunting and growling at each other all night. I even found a little froggy friend sitting in my sink that I wasn’t expecting to see. Gotta love nature. I think my favorite part was driving around on the reserve going all over in our 4X4 range rover. We went over and through many different things that I thought wasn’t possible. I think it’s a guy thing. We saw lots of impala, water bucks, baboons, and wart hogs roaming around. The coolest thing we saw was an elephant. It was neat to see it in its natural environment. He turned and looked at us giving us great photo opportunities, but he was considering whether or not if we were a threat. Thankfully he didn’t do anything but eat and walk away. We also took a boat safari. The boats they use look just like the ones on the jungle cruise at Disneyland. I thought that was pretty funny. On the boat cruise we saw crocodiles, lots of hippos, and even another elephant that had just finished getting some water. The safari was a nice little break away from our busy schedule.

Strange and Interesting things in Malawi

Here is the section where I have some strange and interesting things about Malawi. The town next to the Acts III campus is always very busy and surprisingly very loud during the day as well as at night. During the day it is the sound of things being built with a hammer. There is a constant ting, ting, ting. I think they are making metal pots commonly found at any open air market. During the day you can also hear children playing and screaming. At night you can hear music playing along with the sound of people doing normal nightly duties. The town is packed so closely together and the homes are so small that everything they do is pretty much outside. The other distinct thing is the smells of Malawi. Some are good and some are not so good. Malawi doesn’t have much of a sanitation system, which is a guarantee for unusual smells. One smell that always seemed to be in the air was the smell of burning stuff. I call it stuff because it consists of garbage as well as weeds, old corn husks, and whatever else will burn. There is that constant smell of smoke in the air. The city of Blantyre is more commercial and industrial so the smell of smog from typical city life also filled the air. Despite the unusual smells Blantyre is a very beautiful city. There is a small mountain range that surrounds the city. They are very good post card material. The Acts III orphanage sits on a hill that gives a great view of the mountains. There is a gazebo at one corner of the campus that overlooks the mountains. The breeze also blows through very nicely. We spent a lot of time in that gazebo. It was great because you could see the pretty views, hear the hustle of village life next door, and relax to read or journal. One great thing I cannot forget to tell is our mode of transportation while in Blantyre. The common mode of affordable transportation in Blantyre is called the “mini bus”. It is basically an old school Toyota van with four rows of benches in it. They pack it as full as they can because they charge per person. One of Maribeth’s teacher’s husband has an extra beat up mini bus, which we used during our stay. His name is Vincent and he is the nicest guy. What is great about his van is that he would have to park on a hill so he could pop the clutch to start it each time. He would even turn off the engine while going downhill so he could coast and conserve fuel. Needless to say we all had good stories to tell after each time he took us somewhere. No worries though, God protected us the whole time. And Lord knows we were praying each time we climbed in.

Hanging out with Maribeth

It has been neat to see the Acts III campus in person. I have seen many pictures from the website during its construction. It seems unreal to actually be standing on the site and sleeping here. It is not finished yet, but walking through it and seeing what it will be when it is finished has been real cool. This will be an amazing place when it is completed. It has been fun hanging out with Maribeth and seeing how she has been living for the past year. She is doing such amazing work here. Maribeth has such a huge heart for Jesus and it shows with everything she does. She has been training many different Malawians on how to teach according to the Montessori style of teaching. We were able to see how the kids are doing. The stuff they are learning is incredible. We also were able to take a tour of four different orphanages that are implementing the teaching style Maribeth has been training them on. She has established so many connections with local orphanages. Three of the orphanages we toured we were able to go back and paint the ABC’s on the walls with some pictures to go with it. It’s amazing how different it makes the classrooms look. The real story is walking through the local town to get to all the different orphanages. I often wondered what was going through their heads when they see seven white people walking through their village. Most of the people were nice. Everyone stared as we paraded by, which is to be expected. We do stand out pretty well. It was definitely worthy to be called an experience.

Outreach Trip to Local Hospital

Today we went to a local hospital to do some outreach for the people who are there. This included the patients as well as the family members who were visiting them. This hospital is very different than the hospitals we have in the states. The patients are together in one large room. There are a couple of half walls that divide the room into smaller sections. The beds are right next to each other. There is basically no privacy from anyone else while you are staying there. What we did was walk into the middle of the room and sang some worship songs in Chichewa and one of the pastors gave a short sermon. After that we prayed for them and handed out a paper with some verses on them that they can read if they want to know more about Jesus. We did that in three different areas of the hospital. There was about 12 of us in our group. At first it was kind of uncomfortable, especially being a group of white people in a hospital filled with no white people. We were already getting a ton of looks and stares as we were walking in. What is cool is that after we started singing and preaching the Holy Spirit totally came in and gave a feeling of peace in the hospital. That place was covered in so much prayer it was awesome. The Lord totally gives you strength to do things that make you uncomfortable. It is a good reminder to rely on His strength not our own. Through Christ all things are possible.

Off to Blantyre

We are now in Blantyre. It was a long four hour drive from where we were in Lilongwe. Malawi has some beautiful mountain ranges as well as flat plains. The countryside itself is breathtaking. There are many things that intrigue me about the Malawian culture. One is that there are houses or actually huts all over the place. When you think you are in the middle of nowhere you see a little cluster of brick huts with a thatch straw like roof. Another thing is it does not matter how remote an area you are in, there are always and I mean always people walking along the road. The roads are not very wide either. There is barely room for two cars to pass each other. The cars drive fast too. If one person walking along the road slips or trips then they are a goner. The only thing the drivers do to warn the pedestrians are honk their horn repeatedly. There have been a couple of times where I had to close my eyes. Another thing is how many fields of corn there are. I know corn is the main source of food for Malawi, but I honestly think half of Malawi is fields of corn. There really are that many. There are also many piles of shucked corn laid out everywhere. They lay the corn out in the sun on huge tarps to dry it out. Once it is dry they pop every little kernel of corn off of the cob. After that they grind the kernels into a very fine powder called maize which they use for cooking different things such as nsima. The closest thing I compare nsima to is mashed potatoes. It has the same type of consistency but tastes more bland. Nsima is a staple here because it fills you up and is relatively cheap to make. I’m sure as I go along I will have more interesting things to add to the list.

Week one in Lilongwe

The internet is not always readily available to me here in Malawi so I will be writing blog posts along the way and post them when I get the chance.

We are now at Chiwengo village. Chiwengo village is an area where a past president of Malawi purchased tons of acreage and built around 20 or so different homes. COTN was able to rent 6 or 7 of those homes to house orphans. Each house has a “Mom and Dad” and 3 to 4 “Aunties” that help out. Each house holds anywhere from 10 to 15 children ages from baby up to 17 years old. When they are older they go away to secondary school, which is high school for us. We were able to tour five of the homes and pray for them. There is also an elementary school in the village compound that all the children living in Chiwengo attend.
While we were there we replaced the screens on three of the houses. Malawi has a huge problem with mosquitos spreading malaria. All their homes have mosquito nets that cover their beds at night so they have protection while they sleep. Some of the homes have screens on their windows as well. Trust me, it gets pretty warm during the day so having the windows open to ventilate is a must. Some of the homes at Chiwengo village had screens that were in bad shape. They were torn and had holes all over. Not very effective in keeping out bugs. We were able to replace the screens in three of the homes during our short stay there. For them that was a huge blessing. They have had a rise in the number of malaria cases there. While we were working on the screens we were able to play with the younger kids that were not in school yet. They would play outside right where we were so they could watch these weird white people fixing their windows.

The first night we were there my team gathered in the front room of the home we were staying at. COTN has one house reserved for interns and missionaries to stay at while they are there. While we were gathered we all got to give our testimonies about our walk with Christ. It was nice to get more background info on my group. One thing I really enjoyed at Chiwengo village was the clear skies at night. I love looking up at the stars and seeing God’s splendor. It is truly amazing.

Letters from Africa

It is early Wednesday morning here in California. I had an email from Mark when the baby woke up and I was too excited to wait until daylight. He has written me a word document and attached that because they do not have a lot of time to type out emails! He's asked me to post his info for him, and I am glad to be able to help. He had included pictures in his word document, but each time I try and copy and past them from the read-only document they show up blank. Hopefully someone can post pictures soon!
Here is what Mark has to say...

Hi Annie,
It is now Wednesday at 5:40 in the morning. Yesterday was so busy I didn’t have time to write. There is so much to tell I don’t know where to begin. Monday and Tuesday we spent a lot of time with the widows and orphans. Our typical day consists of waking up and having breakfast at 7am and then devotions with the whole campus staff at 8am. Around 9am we drive to the orphanage and do some activities there. We come back to our village at 12pm for lunch. We head back to the orphanage after lunch, usually around 2pm. Then we come back at 5pm or so for dinner and then go to bed. I know we are party animals huh?
The activities we have been doing with the widows have been such an experience. They are always dancing and singing praises to Jesus. Even though you can’t understand the language you can see the gratefulness in their faces. They are so thankful for the very little that they have. On Monday we broke into three groups and each group went to a widow’s home to see how they lived. They showed us how they do dishes, how they get water and where they store it, and we even shucked some corn. After lunch that day we went to the market the widows use and we bought some supplies for the widow that opened up her home. I guess it is customary to give gifts when someone opens up their home. The lady’s house Pegi and I went to was Rebecca. She is probably in her forties. She loves to dance and sing the most out the widows. When we gave her the gifts she started dancing and singing praises to God. You could see the joy on her face for the gifts she knew God had provided.

Yesterday we brought beads that Cindy had put together to make little bracelets for the widows. It was like a workshop for the widows. They loved the bracelets. One of the widows said it makes her happy. Last night the director of COTN took all of us to his home for pizza. He gave us a tour of his house. His name is Mr. Lungu and he is very nice. Oh, we picked up Maribeth yesterday too. She was in town so I went with Henry (the guy who coordinates the mission trips for COTN, our main contact person) to pick up Maribeth. It was so good to see her. She went to Mr. Lungu’s house with us and stayed the night last night. In fact the driver just left with her to take her back to the bus station. I almost forgot, we also went to the crisis nursery yesterday after lunch and held all the babies. The babies there were babies where the mother had died during childbirth. The nursery takes care of the babies until they are old enough for the families to take them in. See, we’ve been busy.
So, enough about me, how are you? How are the kids? I miss you guys so much. I can’t wait to give all of you such huge hugs and kisses. We are going to a different village called Chiwengo today for two nights. That is where we are repairing the screens and teaching the older kids how to use the computers. We won’t be back until Friday.
I love it! We are doing so much praying and worshiping that I don’t think anyone could resist the love of Christ. Praise Jesus!!!
I need to go now so I will write again when I have the chance. I love you tons and miss you tons. Hug and kiss the kids for me. All my Love, Mark

We made it!

After a very long flight, or number of flights actually, we made it to Africa. We stopped in London for a ten hour layover. We went into town and saw the London Tower, which was fun. London is a very crowded city. The most important thing is that we made it without any complications and our luggage even made it without any problem. Praise Jesus!!!
Thank you for all your prayers during our travels, we definitely felt them. We were well protected.

Africa is an amazing place. The people are very friendly and welcoming. The children get so excited by just waving at them. They wave back with the biggest grin and sometimes even run after the car screeching in delight. The day to day life for the Malawians we visited is amazing. Needless to say it is way different than life in America. We visited the COTN orphanage yesterday and they gave us quite a welcoming. There were swarms of children with the widows singing praise songs in their tongue so loud it was overwhelming. They are so joyful for the Lord for what they have. It is now lunchtime so I have to go for now. More updates are to come...

They are in the air!

Hi friends, this is Annie, Mark's wife! I just had to post that they are officially in the air! We found a website that tracks flights, this way the kids can see where they are! How exciting this all is! We are so thrilled that it's finally here and that Mark is going to have an amazing experience!
I am sure that if Mark gets a chance to connect to the internet, he'll update when he can! If for some reason they can only get to a phone, I'll try my best to post a message!
So, Mark, if you are reading this at an airport stop, just know we miss and love you so much! And, we are constantly praying for you!

Today is the Day!!!!!

It is Friday!!! The day has finally arrived. We leave for the airport today at 11am. I woke up at 5am this morning unable to sleep... big surprise. I feel pretty good though. My bags are all packed and I actually had room for everything I needed to bring. The majority of it was stuff being donated to both orphanages. It is still sinking in that I am actually leaving today....Yikes!!! I am so excited to begin this awesome journey.

I am trying to get two weeks worth of hugs and kisses in from my family before I go. Leaving them behind is going to be very tough. I pray that God watches over them while I am gone. Let my journey begin....

The Final Countdown

The final countdown has begun. The trip is about two weeks away now. I am starting my final checklist so I hopefully don't forget anything. I got all my shots and vaccinations and started my malaria pills yesterday....what fun! We had our final team meeting and went over our itinerary while we are there. We are going to have so much fun with all the projects we will be helping with. At first I thought we were going there to bless them, but now I feel that we are the ones who will be blessed. It will be such an experience to see another culture and live among them for two weeks.

Thank you again to all who helped support me financially to get to Africa. I am officially fully funded for the trip. Praise God!!! He knocked my socks off with how much support I received from friends and family. Seeing an answer to prayer is yet one more reason to help strengthen my faith in trusting Him. It is always reassuring when I feel He is really listening to all my prayers. There was a lot of pieces that had to be put together in order for this trip to even happen. It is an awesome feeling to pray about something and then trust God to take care of the details and then watch as details unfold in a way that only God could do.

I ask now for your prayers. Please pray for a safe trip for me that God's hand would cover and protect our team while we are away. Most importantly, pray for Annie while she is home alone with the kids and a new baby. Pray for their protection as well and to give Annie the strength and patience to care for the kids while I am away. She is an awesome wife, mother, and follower of Christ.

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground." Psalm 143:8-10

I will be bringing my laptop with me on the trip so I can update whenever possible.
Stay tuned......

Getting Closer

We had our garage sale and it was a huge success. We were able to raise $1200 and bless a lot of people in our community. We sold a ton of stuff at crazy low prices and still made a good amount of money for the team. God works in cool and interesting ways. He was definitely watching over us that day.
Only one month to go.....yikes! The trip is getting closer and closer. Thankfully, by the grace of God, I am very close to my fundraising goal. It is very reassuring to place my trust in Him and see first hand how He will provide. My human side was a little nervous about being able to raise $3000. I had to continually pray and trust that if the Lord truly wanted me to go on this trip then He will find a way to provide the funds. He not only provided the funds, but He showed me how many people around me are there to help support and encourage me in more ways than just financially. That means more to me than just being able to pay for the trip. I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all who helped support me. I ask for your continued prayers for my family as well as myself that we have the emotional support we need while I am gone. It will be hard for all of us even if it is only two weeks.

First countdown completed

As if this trip wasn't exciting enough. On Friday March 13, I was blessed to have my third child. A beautiful baby girl entered our life forever changing it. I have forgotten how amazing it is to hold a newborn in your arms. She is such an illustration of how much detail and perfection God put into us when He created us. He is truly incredible.

Now that the countdown of my wife's pregnancy is finished, it is time to prepare for Africa. This trip is really starting to sneak up. I even went to get my "stay healthy" shots I needed for traveling to other countries. It gets a little scary when you hear of all the possible illnesses you can acquire if you are not careful. The old Boy Scout in me came out so I am prepared for anything.

We are having our garage sale fundraiser next weekend so if you are around come and check it out. This sale like all the ones from before is such an illustration of trusting the Lord. We decided to have a sale to raise funds and let God do the rest. As a result, we have stuff continuing to arrive for us to sell. Our cup truly over flows. I pray that this garage sale raises a ton of money for our team.

God is Good!

Wow! is the only word that describes how awesome trusting in the Lord is.
I knew that going on this trip to Africa was going to cost a lot of money on travel alone. Feeling the call to go, I didn't want money to be the thing that stopped me from going. Here is where handing over my own petty little reasons and fears to the Lord comes in. It is one thing for me to say I trust the Lord with everything and another to actually do it. So I called myself out.
I not only felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to step out on a limb, I felt the Spirit shoving me.
I decided to go on this trip regardless of whether or not I could raise a single penny. I prayed that if God really wants me to go then He will provide the funds to get me there. He has not only provided funds for me, but He has shown me how much the people around me are here to support and encourage me.

I am over half way funded for this trip. Each time I receive my share letters back in the mail I am speechless at how generous the people around me are. I am so thankful, grateful, and humbled at how the Lord has shown me in a very real way that He is here walking with me every step of the way.

This trip is going is going to be so amazing. I am anxious to see what God does next.

Fundraising

One of the things I least enjoy is asking for money. That is why the first thing I ask for is prayers. Prayer opens the heart and allows the Holy Spirit to talk. Going abroad and helping out those who are less fortunate while spreading the great news of the Gospel is both life changing and exhilarating. Unfortunately, the reality is that it costs money when travelling is involved. Many people think that when churches send people on mission trips that the church pays for the trip. That is usually not the case. As with my trip to Africa, every member that goes on a mission trip is responsible for raising the funds themselves and then paying whatever remainder is left.

The cool thing with that is it forces you to give it up to God and to trust Him. That is a hard thing to do especially in today's weak economy. Not many people have money laying around that they are waiting to get rid of. I understand this, which is one of the reasons why I hate asking for money. When you truly feel led by God to do something or to go somewhere the last thing that should stop you is money. I don't think God starts something He doesn't intend to finish.

Right now that is where my prayers are going. I pray first and foremost that His will be done. I also pray that God uses me not only in Malawi, but to have some kind of impact on my family and friends as well. I am eager to share this adventure with anyone who wants to be a part of it. I will gladly accept prayer support for me and my family, financial support to get there, and the support of just following along with this amazing journey.

Thanks for reading.

Garage Sale Time!

This whole journey to Malawi began with garage sales so it only seems fitting to have another one to help me get to Malawi. My team is going to have a fundraiser garage sale on March 21 to help raise funds to get us to Africa. 100% of everything we make will be put towards our Africa trip. If you have any items in sell able condition that you would like to donate to the team please feel free to contact me.
It would be awesome to see God's glory be magnified through the generosity of others. Pray for a fundraising miracle!

The journey begins

This blog is about my journey to Africa! I am excited and nervous at the same time. This is truly going to be a life changing experience. I look forward to what God is going to show and teach me. I have never traveled out of the U.S., so that alone will be new to me. I will do my best to keep you up to date on everything I am doing, learning, and experiencing. I invite and encourage you to keep checking back.

Our team leader, Cindy, also started a team blog. The link is under the "Trip Link" section, as well as links to the groups we will be visiting!

We have had our first team meeting and it was great to begin getting to know the other team members who are going. Annie and I sent out support letters this week so we are praying that they arrive safely and that everyone else enjoys seeing exactly what will be going on!

Where is Malawi?

Many people ask me where Malawi is. It is a small country in Africa located next to Mozambique and Zambia on the southern half of the continent. Here is a map for you to see.