Rafiki means friend in Swahili. I have been taking Swahili lessons a few hours every week in Dzaleka, I would say it is the most common language spoken throughout the camp. My tutor is a 20 year old from DRC named Jessy. The time that I get to spend with her is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the week, she teaches me so much more than just Swahili, my favorite moments are when we get to talk about life and Jesus together. She is so full of energy and joy and depth and can always make me laugh about all the mistakes I make when I am trying to talk. One day, she was asking me when…
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Child-like faith. "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The holiday conference at There is Hope was themed "who is a child of God". The children got to learn more about what that means and I got to learn a lot about joy. It'a something I've been reading about lately. It's a fruit of the Spirit, Ann Voskamp says, "Senses are impaired if they don't sense the Spirit." The source of joy is always there. It is a choice whether I see it or not, so why do I choose not to see it, to sense it, so often? I'm thankful for…
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Meet Tea (pronounced like Tayah), our new baby. He was born to our neighbor and my friends and I our his aunties. We were put in charge of naming him, we tried to find a meaningful Chichewa name so we were thinking the name Muyo. When we went to see him and give him his name, his father and mother wanted it to be something where they could remember us, so his name now is the first letter of all three of our names. It was a very exciting day for us all and the best thing to be aunties to this little boy.
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18 preschool teachers were able to attend a training a few weeks ago to learn how to teach the many children who come to their preschools each morning. The teachers are now equipped to teach the children things appropiate to their age level, prepare lesson plans, and interact with the children in ways that will encourage learning. Preschool is very important to these children and the village and country as a whole because the children who attend preschool go further in their education here. There is a big difference between the children who attend preschool and those who don't, so all of the…
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I have had family in town lately, my sister about a month ago and some of my other family is here for the next few weeks. It has been fun to show them around Malawi and also show them a bit into what work is being done here. It blows everyones mind that my sister is younger than me, she is taller than I and that is what they can base age on sometimes. I would say that the coolest part of them being here though is seeing how they aren't just my family here, they are everyones family. In Malawi, maybe even Africa in general, family is a broad tearm. Everyone is always a brother or sister or…
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