The Cure for the Christmas Blahs....

I have expressed to some of you that this year has been a bit challenging for me in being away from family and home at Christmas time. I determined at the onset of the season that rather than focus on what I don’t have, I was going to focus on what I do.  As I opened my hands and my heart, God gave me some very humbling opportunities to reach beyond myself and to get involved in some projects of His design.  I must say, that this has made for a very heart-warming Christmas, indeed.

After visiting Malawi earlier this year, a pastor's wife from San Antonio, Texas, questioned the feasibility of doing something for needy pastors this Christmas.  She asked me if I could possibly locate and send to her ornaments that could be sold to church members with all proceeds going to assist Malawi pastors.  Through many challenges that can only be fully appreciated by someone who has tried to make this happen in the African context, I sent her 500 ornaments of three types, which reaped a profit of $5000.  With that money we were able to provide 95 pastors and their families with MK 7000.00 ($50) each.  When you consider that many of the pastors in this movement make less than MK 1000 ($7) per month, this was amazing.  I think it would be fair to estimate that approximately 190 adults and a minimum of 400 children benefited from this generosity. What a blessing!

 

Pastors were told to meet at the divisional director’s office at 9:00 AM. That meant that we could expect them any time within the following two hours. That doesn’t indicate disregard for scheduling; it more accurately indicates challenges in transportation. Many had to travel by mini-bus for hours to arrive at the designated locations. The distance may or may not have been so great; it just takes that long for many to make the necessary connections with public transport. One pastor told us that he only got the call at 6:00 AM that morning with no explanation of why he was to be there. He quickly readied himself, repaired his bicycle, and rode 20 kilometers to be there at 9:00 AM. You can imagine his overwhelming delight when he was told the purpose of his coming. Malawians try not to be expressive of emotion. It was comical to me to watch him as the realization of what was happening began to dawn on him. He tried very hard to suppress a smile, but he was totally unsuccessful. He burst into an open grin as he expressed his gratitude for such a generous gift.

I actually had a divine moment as I observed one of the pastors after receiving his offering. He sat rather thoughtfully as he looked at the envelope containing his money. The divisional director asked him if he understood what we were saying. His response was, “Yes, I am just calculating that this will be enough to pay the school fees for my seven children.” Gaylord asked if he had been praying about that, to which he replied that he had. At that moment, I began to see the greater miracle behind this project for so many. In the economy of God, it is not extreme to touch the heart of a pastor’s wife in San Antonio, Texas, to organize a project to assist his servants in Malawi, Africa; thereby, answering many prayers heard only by Father God and His children. So many times we try in our finite knowledge to calculate how God will respond and meet our needs without taking into consideration that His resources and networking are infinite. That is a divine reality. There is no way when any of these pastors prayed for their many needs that they could imagine that God would respond to their prayers by speaking to a lady and church congregation across the world through the selling of Christmas ornaments, but He did. 

  

An American mentality often focuses on the thought that extra money at Christmastime allows us to purchase gifts and prepare feasts. Though I am sure there will be more food on the table for Christmas dinner, many of the pastors served, indicated that now they could purchase seed or fertilizer for next year’s crop. School fees for their children or dependents are due in January. One young man is getting married next year, and this will help with labola, or the bride price, that must be paid in his culture. The rains have destroyed the thatch roofs of some of the pastors’ homes; now they can be repaired. These are just some of the uses that the pastors shared with us. How timely, indeed, was this project.  Over and over we heard the phrases, “This is a very good thing,” or “This is a miracle,” or “Thank you so very much.”

In blessing 95 Malawi pastors' families, two American missionaries were blessed more than words can adequately express.  May the true joy of the Christmas season rest upon you and yours this holiday.

Twenty-eight and Counting

Today is our 28th wedding anniversary.  I have been holding this hand for that long and hope to continue holding it at least that many more.  I have held it through good times and bad, and I cherish the feelings that holding this hand evokes.  I feel accepted, protected, valued, strengthened, loved.

Let me graphically restate what I declared December 19, 1980, and feel even stronger today.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, GAYLORD !

Canaan

If you follow my blog, you may remember the baby boy that I was given the privilege of naming earlier this year.  I posted photos of him in September.  I thought you might like to see Canaan's first Christmas photos.

 

Santa Plaza

We have a store here in Lilongwe actually named Santa Plaza all year long.  I noticed the other day that they have added holiday decorations - inflatable Santas, no less.  Pretty uptown for our town!

House of Promise

Through ministry we have become acquainted with a project called House of Promise.  This was started by a gentleman who had a heart for several orphans.  He secured housing and employed a couple to serve as house parents.  This couple currently has two children of their own as well as six other boys and girls. 

This week we were privileged to visit with them at the location where they are planting maize for next year's harvest of food that will sustain them.  May God bless each person who has a heart for or involvement in this ministry.  You, too, are planting seeds that will reap a harvest of blessings of eternal sustenance.

  

Today through my eyes...

Just thought I'd post a picture of life as I am experiencing it today.  I am working at my desk in my office listening to the sound of raindrops on the vegetation outside and the birds chirping and the frogs croaking.  Looking directly to my left out the open window, this is what I see....

 

Adding "the beauty of Malawi" to my list of blessings today!

Annual Christmas Shopping Trip....Revised

Most of you know that I was in public education in the States, serving in the various roles of teacher, counselor, principal throughout my 19 years of service.  Each year I received at least two days of personal leave that were for just that - personal time off of your choice.  So around holiday time I would take one personal day, and Gaylord and I would go Christmas shopping.  We would choose a city and spend the whole day just shopping, eating out, and taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of the Christmas season.  What great memories!

Well, this year it seems that I have missed all of the festivities of Christmas more than I have in years past.  I haven't given in to the temptation to turn "Scrooge".  Instead, I have decorated our home and even decided to re-institute the annual Christmas shopping trip.  Gaylord must sense that I am struggling a bit because he got up bright and early and cheerfully went from spot to spot with no grumbling or complaining and even asked if there was anywhere else I wanted to go at the end of the morning.

That was a great offer, but considering that we had gone to almost every possible location for viable shopping alternatives short of the open market, he was pretty safe.  But I must say that I had a fun day.  I even documented it so that you could enjoy with me.  So get ready - we're going Christmas shopping in Lilongwe, Malawi.

(1)  SHOPRITE is a local grocery store that is a South African chain store.  My main priority for the day was to fill some food baskets for distribution, so this was a perfect choice.

  

From the photos you can see that SHOPRITE offers more than just food.  This could actually serve as one-stop shopping for many.  But not for these elves.  It was on to...

(2) FOUR SEASONS NURSERY COMPLEX - Four Seasons is a local nursery that is housed in a mini- shopping mall.  There are several little shops and a couple of restaurants.  After browsing the shops and looking at the creative nativity sets, we enjoyed a tasty chicken salad with iced tea at BUCHANAN'S GRILL.  The falling precipitation and cooler temperatures made it feel like many December shopping trips in Texas.

 

(3) NATIONAL BANK - what shopping trip would be complete without refurbishing the cash fund?  That was our purpose in stopping at the ATM, but it was raining so hard that Gaylord didn't get a snapshot.

(4) SUNBIRD CAPITAL HOTEL at City Center has two or three gift shops that I wanted to check out.  While I browsed, Gaylord got a snapshot of the outdoor lounge area.

(5) FOODWORTH - With limited success we made the final stop of the day at another of our grocery shops.  This store tends to carry certain food items that Americans are accustomed to.  With an additional item here and there, we were headed for home.

Fortunately for me, I got everything I needed,  compiled the food baskets I wanted to make, and even played Santa's helper and put them under the tree.

 

 

I determined a long time ago in my life that I could choose to bemoan the fact that there were certain things that I did not have, or I could make the best of the wonderful things that I did.  That proved a very wise choice for me today.  So let the annual Christmas shopping trips continue!