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......