Worshipping an Omnipresent God and Guacamole

Aloha!!

I know its been a few days since I wrote anything....my bad.  Becca and I have been developing our daily routine and are feeling much more at home here.  This past weekend was full of little adventures, small triumps, character building conflicts, and goodbyes.

I'll start with the challenges just to get it out of the way so I can talk about the fun stuff.  Simple put, as of right now there is only one working car that about 9 people are all trying to use.  Please please please pray for us all to be gracious, considerate, and loving as we are forced to change plans and work together until the other cars come back from the shop.

It was quite the sight on Saturday as Michelle, Nick, John, Becca and I all climbed onto one car to go "across the bridge" and to the market to grab some veggies.  Along the way we picked two huge old school sewing machines and for a short while two more people and of course our purchases.  It was a very cozy trip but we all had fun.  The guys ended up making lunch for the four of us and we made dinner. A sweet deal if you ask me.  Of course cooking isn't cooking unless it's by candle light.

Sunday was a BIG step for us...I DROVE to church. And it went without a hitch. Thankfully Becca saw the gentleman riding his bike that was in my "blind spot".  Let me tell you something, I don't think I will complain about driving in the states again.  We went to a church here called Flood, it is a college age church mixed with people from all over. We had so much fun meeting everyone. I think Becca and I can agree that our favorite part was when they started singing a Malawian worship song. Of course we couldn't understand the language but just to see people from another culture worshipping the Creator of the universe was the biggest blessing ever to us.  We truly serve an Omnipresent God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The people here are worshipping and giving thanks to Jesus for what He is doing in there lives and I can do the same.  We can be united in prayer to see all the nations of the world redeemed, and we are praying to the one true Living Lord.  Now that is something to get excited about.

After church Chris, Pam, Becca and I went to a small cute place called Paypaya and had a massive wrap Chipotle style and a coke for around K1050 which is about $3.77.  That's my kind of eats...haha. We went ahead and lived larged with some soft serve ice cream as well.  It was yummy. Besides the fact that the company we were sharing was great.  We are meeting some really cool people down here.

Speaking of cool people, our friend Michelle left for the States today.  If you remember her mama had a stroke a few weeks back so she just packed up her whole life here to go home to Washington and help.  We fell in love with this awesome women and we are going to miss her.  Please keep praying for her and her family. She only has a flight as far as Canada right now so she needs a flight to be provided for the last leg.




That about sums up all the cool stuff we've done.  The rest of our time is mostly taking ballet classes, getting everything organized to start teaching, taking walks, getting to know our neighbors and making smoothies and lemonade.

*side note* I never thought I would say this but I am having so fun much learning to cook everything from scratch.



Things to be praying for-
*Car Issues
*Preparations  for classes
*Distractions
*Michelle

Today marks one week that we have been in Lilongwe! For the most part our week has consisted of unpacking, being taken around town by various missionaries here on campus, grocery shopping, and getting to know the people we will be working with in the year to come. The first four days we were here we had dinner at a different missionary home each night, now we have our own groceries and are learning how to prepare our own meals with the food here. Our official orientation doesn't start until next Monday, so til then we are getting to know our surroundings on our own. Also, Carrie taught a Zumba class to some of the women here on campus this afternoon and they all had a blast!

                            Learning to drive on the other side of the road, not the wrong side:

The fresh produce here is absolutely divine. At the local market Carrie and I picked up things like avocadoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, zucchini...Lilongwe size! Check out the size of this avocado and sweet potato (if you can't tell from the photo, just believe me..they are massive!):

                                        Here is a snapshot from a day of shopping in town:

                                        

One aspect of living here that is going to take us spoiled Americans some serious getting used to is the random power, Internet, and water outages. Sometimes the power is out for only a few hours, other times it can be out for an entire day. No power also means no Internet or hot water. Sometimes we have full on water, other times (usually right when you're about to take a shower) there is no water...only a small drip, drip from the spout. As I was journaling down my worries and what-ifs, I realized that I can either whine about it or be more teachable for the Lord. This is a little lesson about not relying on those things to be constant. In the States outrage and distress would have ensued these circumstances, but here it is a part of everyday life. The children here play outside all day long, no video games, silly cartoons, or iPads. Just their imgination and lots of dirt. Living with the knowledge that the power and Internet are not constantly at my fingertips I'm slowly letting myself be pulled away from my temporal comforts and things I hide behind. This lesson is forcing me to spend my time wisely with the Lord. My pride doesn't like the fact that I used the word "forced" but it's the truth. In these new situations Jesus is teaching me, in a completely new way, that HE is my source, my power plug, my living water, my connection. And whether the power is on or off, Jesus is always near.

Wisdom from "You've Got Mail":

Frank: Technology! Name one good thing we've gained from technology?"

Kathleen: "Electricity."

Frank: "That's one. You think this machine is your friend, but it's not."

Prayer points:

* For continued financial provision for Carrie and I.

* Wisdom on whether to purchase a car here or not.

*For us to be more teachable :)

*My computer to be fixed. (A few days ago my computer basically crashed on me, but I found a man on campus who is good with computers and am praying that, with his help, my computer will come back to life..and life abundant!)

*The Muslim community here in Malalwi. There is a mosque located somewhere behind our compound and five times a day we hear their call to prayer (yes, sometimes even the 4:00am). Pray that eyes be opened to the one, true God!

There you have it....week 1: complete! All because of Jesus.

Sending bear hugs and butterfly kisses,

Becca

Aloha!!

I am so excited to be writing today, its has felt like a high speed race these last few weeks to get Becca and I to where we are at right now.  And I would like to hand out another huge round of "thank you"s because we could have not done any of this with all of our supporters. (That's you guys reading this)

I have to admit Becca and I both slept in this morning and it was awesome. We need to catch up on sleep very badly. But....after our morning started we were both able to find our little corner of peace and share some alone time with our bible and Jesus. I don't have to tell you how refreshing that was.  I'm studying Philippians right now and the Lord has just been teaching me so much.

We had planned to spend the day unpacking and relaxing BUT our new friend Michelle Clark whom we had met last night popped by and offered to take us with her "across the bridge"(think inner city, very low income, street vendors everywhere, and tons of people) . So we climbed into her car and headed out.  Before I continue let me tell you a few things about Michelle, she has lived in Lilongwe for the past 5 years and she lived in Prague before that and another part of Africa as well.  So I would consider her a pro when it comes to getting around and the "know-how" to get things done.  In short Becca and I loved her from the get go.

So we started our journey "across the bridge" and Michelle was pointing out all the different buildings and tips about driving on the left side of the road. And as we came up to our destination she told us that another name for this particular street is "Coffin Row" and sure enough almost as soon as we started down the street we saw lines of vendors selling different sorts of coffins; it's because of the aids academic in this part of the world.

While we were down there it was an eye opening experience, I saw people from all walks of life and I could not help but notice how beautiful these people are.  Becca and I were able to barter down a price on a full length mirror for our house :) While the three of us drove around down these crowded streets I saw out of the corner of my eye a girl walking pass the car wearing amazingly a BALLET MAG T-SHIRT!! We couldn't believe it. But there it was. Brown. With Pink Pigs from Prodigal Son.  It was great.

After we left "Coffin Row" she popped by her house to show us where she lived. It was beautiful! She built her own place and has a grand garden from everything from tomatoes to lima beans to mango trees and everything in between you could think of.  Maybe I'll rent out a room from her next year ;) hehe.  We were also able to meet the head of another school here in Lilongwe, which was awesome.

We finally made it back to campus just in time to go have dinner with one of the families here.  Everyone on campus has been going out of their way to make us feel at home and comfortable.  It has really been good.

On a personal note I'm so proud of myself because I finally finished unpacking tonight :)

Well, I just this is enough for one night, I have to make sure I get enough sleep tonight because I want to learn to drive tomorrow!!

Prayer request:
*Please be praying for Michelle and her mother, who is in the States and just had a stroke. Michelle has dropped everything and packed up to go to Washington to be with her.  She leaves in just a few days.
*Becca and I are starting to plan our classes so please pray for wisdom for us.
*As far as driving goes...pray for safety!!


I am so thankful for the fact that I am here. It feels like home. Despite the random losses of power and water.  I can't imagine being anywhere else.


Love y'all!!

Carrie

Greetings from Malawi! We arrived yesterday and are thankful for the Lord's protection on our trip.

With our long layover at Heathrow airport Carrie and I were able to get on a train to explore a bit of London before our flight. Sadly, Michael Phelps was no where to be seen. But we did enjoy some authentic fish & chips and found a garden to stroll through.

Since arriving in Malawi I haven't had much spare time to take many pictures but the ones I have taken (with my iPhone) I'll share.
Here's a quick snapshot from the drive from the airport to our compound in Lilongwe:

I still can't believe how awesome our duplex is! Two bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, kitchen, and the best part..a front porch! Here are a few pictures of our duplex:

We just got back from having dinner at one of our neighbor's house, a fellow missionary couple. Up until Friday we are scheduled to have dinner at a different family's home each night. They have been so open and ready to answer all of our random questions. A lot of advice and information have been stuffed in our brains the past 24 hours and it's a bit overwhelming. Naturally, fear creeps in and tries to make you think that this will never get better or easier, but I know that as we experience more and become more familiar with our surroundings and the way things are done around here it will get better.

So, are you wondering what the story behind our blog name is? Let me clarify: After spending weeks trying to come up with a clever and artsy name, it wasn't until earlier today when I opened up the Bible for inspiration and BAM. After reading in Matthew 5 about being the light of the world and like a city situated on a hill, it occurred to me that our duplex just so happens to be on the top of a hill. Hence the clever name. Thanks, Jesus.

I'm out of things to say right now and actually need to go finish unpacking, but I will probably not end up doing something productive and sleep instead. I just wanted to give y'all a quick peek into our lives so far.

As of right now you can be praying:
*For rest.
*That we would be okay with not knowing exactly how things work over here and be open to learn, and know that making mistakes in a new country is normal.
*For opportunities to make genuine friendships with believers outside the compound and also chances to share the Gospel.
*For financial provision to continue.
*For bonding to continue with our sweet housemate, Sitara.

 “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller


"But Jesus said to him, "No one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62


 Signing off for the night!
I love and miss you all.

Sending love from Malawi,
Becca