It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like… Ramadan

by Rachel

Ramadan is from July 8 through August 7 this year.  If you live in America, you’re probably oblivious to this, but if you live anywhere else in the world, particularly Africa, the Middle East, and western Asia, you’ve probably very aware of this.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, this succinct article is very helpful in understanding the basics of Islam, and pointing to resources for ministering to Muslims.

LLW Mosque

We are more aware of Ramadan this year, because there is a new mosque just a couple blocks up the street from us. Now we can hear the call to prayer several times every day.  The mosque pictured above is one of the biggest, located in the heart of “India Town.”  In the 4+ years that we’ve been in Malawi, we’ve noticed many other signs of a growing Muslim presence. There are more Muslims immigrating to Malawi, but there are also more Malawians converting to Islam.

For a nation that is considered to be 85% Christian, this may be surprising.  However, what we’ve learned is that while there have been many generations of Christian missionaries in this part of the world, the focus of outreach here has been heavy on evangelism, and light on discipleship. The vast majority of professing Christians only understand the very basics of the gospel, and they are rarely taught how to practice what truth they do know. As you might expect, a shallow understanding of the Bible leads to a grave lack of discernment. Poor teaching has left many Malawian “Christians” vulnerable to deception and falsehood from all quarters.

Our goal is not just to produce statistical Christians, but people who are “mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28) and who “observe all that He commanded” (Matt. 28:20). We concentrate heavily on discipleship at our church, calling professing Christians to become practicing Christians, and endeavoring to help people grow in their understanding and practice of God’s truth. By God’s grace, we are able to participate in His work of transforming His people and strengthening His church. That’s why we’re here.

And Ramadan is just one more reminder – with every call to prayer – of what an important goal this is.

Around Town with Abigail

by Rachel

Abigail is getting to the age where she loves to explore, and Africa is the perfect place for explorers!  She comes shopping with me every Tuesday morning, and while she has explored most of the shops we regularly visit, we have discovered a new favorite place to visit on Tuesdays…

Abigail 24 July 13 1

ProtoFeeds is our stop to buy dog food, but we’ve also discovered that they sell day-old baby chicks for about $1 apiece.  Each box contains 100 peeping little furry friends!

Abigail 24 July 13 2The guys always ask if she wants to hold a chick, but Abigail prefers to sit and watch… and tell everyone else in the store what’s in the boxes!

Abigail 24 July 13 7

This week we spent our free day (Wednesday) exploring the southern end of Lilongwe, which is nicknamed “India Town.”  It’s a busy place full of little shops crammed into long buildings, lots of pedestrians, and all kinds of interesting things to see.  Including the man in the foreground of this picture who is climbing into his hand-peddled wheelchair.

Abigail 24 July 13 3

We also went to the open market along the banks of the Lilongwe River.  This place is even busier, with bartering, over-eager salesmen, and piles of clothes, electronics, fabrics, shoes, pots, soap, headphones, hand-painted signs… all kinds of treasures.  This picture is actually outside of the market so doesn’t look too busy, but the fence on the right side of the picture is full of black suit coats for sale – every shape, size, and pattern!

Abigail 24 July 13 6

Back in the main shops, while I shopped for fabric, Matt and Abi stayed outside the shop and watched the tailor work his old Singer treadle machine.

Abigail 24 July 13 4

The old Singer machine isn’t the only “old fashioned” tailoring item used here.  I found this gem in the ditch right next to the tailor, filled with coals and ready to iron!

Abigail 24 July 13 5

It may be winter here in sub-Saharan Africa, but it’s still warm enough to stop for a cool orange Fanta on a busy day.  And then we’re off for more exploring!

New Members at Church

by Rachel

It’s always fun to see our friends become members at church.  We’ve had a couple groups of new members lately, and Ezra, Maya, Jim, and Bethany are the most recent.

New Church MembersThe church isn’t all about numbers, but we’re excited to see these friends and many more expressing their commitment to International Bible Fellowship Church.  Pray that we as a church can encourage and strengthen them in their walks with the Lord, and that they would find areas where they can serve the church and use the gifts and talents God has given them to also encourage and strengthen others.

 

Chinsapo

by Rachel

There’s always more ministry than there is time.  Especially here in Malawi.  We try to stay intentionally focused on church ministry, because we realized a long time ago that if you try to do everything, you won’t do a good job at anything.  One of the great things about church ministry is that the church is involved in different ministries, and members of our church head up different outreaches and projects throughout the Lilongwe area.  We’ve mentioned the prison ministry before, but another one that Matt got to visit recently is a children’s ministry in the village of Chinsapo.

Chinsapo 6

Two dear ladies from our church, Grace and Mirjam, hold a kids’ program in this nearby village every Thursday afternoon.  They have about 150 in the younger kids’ program (up to 10 years), and about 100 in the older kids’ program (11-18).

Chinsapo 4

The ladies include Bible stories, skits, songs, and coloring or activity time in their programs.  This all sounds fairly normal until you remember they they hold these programs under a few large trees in the middle of a village, with very few resources but an abundance of creativity and love.  Sometimes the ladies bring something special for the kids.  Right now our church is collecting warm clothes and blankets for the kids as we approach the winter months.

Chinsapo 2

Grace actually lives in this village, so has great opportunities to build relationships and shine the light of the gospel in her every day life. Both Grace and Mirjam are active in the church as well as the Ladies’ Bible Study, so we’ve gotten to know them well.  Neither of them would claim or aspire to hero status for what they do every Thursday afternoon; rather, they have put to use the gifts, talents, time, and opportunities God has given them for this ministry.  We’re thankful for them, and glad to come alongside them as a church to help and support them in this work.

Chinsapo 1

Please pray for these ladies when you think of them.  I know they would appreciate it!  And if you’d like to hear more of what they do, you can check out Mirjam’s blog.

Baby Flo 2.0

by Rachel

We’re expecting Baby #2 sometime around November 6th!  After much thought, we’ve decided that if we are able, we’ll stay in Malawi for the birth.  Abigail was born in Glendale, California, and we had thought about going to South Africa for this kiddo, but SA is a long way away.  We have a great support base of friends to help us here in Malawi, and a good Dutch doctor – who’s not afraid to send us to SA if he needs to.  With that in mind, we headed to the mission hospital at Nkhoma for our first official pre-natal check-up.

PreNatal 2

 

Pre-natal check-ups here in Malawi are SO easy: heart beat, blood pressure, weight, how do you feel?, ultrasound.  Done.  And all for $1.75.  I don’t think we’ll be filing an insurance claim on that one.

PreNatal 1

Ultrasounds are fun!  Our little one was so wiggly that it took a long time to freeze the picture to get a good measurement.  He’s right on schedule for a November 6th due date.  And yes, he’s already referred to as a boy – both motherly intuition and all the old wives’ tales hint strongly that this is a boy.  It’ll be about another 10 weeks before we can find out “for sure” – the ultrasound machines aren’t as technologically advanced here as they are in some other parts of the world!

PreNatal 5

One of the most reassuring parts of today was seeing this room: delivery and recover in the private wing.  It’s a large room, with 2 beds, a couple shelves and cupboards, a desk and chair, and a private toilet and shower.  And in true mission hospital tradition, the Dr. offered for Matt to come stay at his home if he’s not a fan of the spare bed here, and he said his family could watch Abigail for us.  Mission community is like family, and we felt that today.  We’re excited to have a baby here, and are praying that God would give us a healthy pregnancy and delivery.  Now if we could just do something about the “morning” sickness!  =)

Church Camp 2013

by Rachel

We love church camp!  Granted, this is only our 2nd annual church camp, but we looked forward to it all year long!

Family Camp 2013 1

We love the way everyone pitches in and makes camp “home” for a few days.

Family Camp 2013 2

We had great times of worship and teaching in the Word brought to us by a team of 7 from Faith Bible Church in Ladera Ranch, CA – who also put on a kids’ program at the same time.

Family Camp 2013 3

We had hours of fellowship around food, around campfires, around campsites, and all around the game reserve.  It was so nice to just stop and spend the better part of 4 days together with these people we love and always want to see more of.  We can’t think of a better way to spend Easter weekend than with our church family!  (You can click on the group photo above to see a large version.)

Um, Now What?

by Rachel

We drove to Dzalanyama Forest on our day off a couple weeks ago.  It’s a rough road, and we were thankful for a vehicle with 4-wheel drive and high clearance.  At a couple points after coming through swampy sections or small canyons we commented “hope we don’t have to turn around and go back through that…”  And then, shortly after one of those comments, we came to a road block:

truck fire jerry can on the road

 

There are several things about this situation (and picture) that make us laugh.  1) The truck that is very obviously in the way.  2) The fire, which is also in the way, as it’s about where our right wheels are supposed to go.  And 3) the jerry can of fuel sitting right next to the fire.  Thankfully the truck driver was willing to back up to a small clearing where we could squeeze around him.  That just left the fire and the jerry can.  With a little motioning, the jerry can was moved, but the fire was just left, so we hugged the left side of the road as closely as possible.  “Hope we don’t have to turn around and go back through that!”

Spitting Beetles

by Rachel

Last night when getting Abigail ready for bed, we noticed about 7 small blisters on her chest, just below the neckline.  She was acting completely normal, not itching them, not complaining, not even appearing to notice them.  We gave her some Benedryl and decided to see how they looked in the morning.

spitting beetle

 

By the morning (pictured above) a few of the smaller blisters had dried out, and the bigger ones looked better too.  Later in the morning, we saw in town a friend who has lived in the area almost her whole life.  She instantly diagnosed the work of a spitting beetle!  She said that only one of the various types of spitting beetles in the area spits strong acid, so apparently – based on Abi’s mild response – she only encountered a mild variety.  Thank the Lord!