Praying for Riley

In this small interruption to sharing our trip to Malawi with you I would like to ask for you to pray for Riley - he is heading to the Middle East this week and will be there for three weeks. Riley has been looking forward to this trip for quite awhile and we are so excited for him. Although I cannot share details about his trip with you, please know that God's glory will be revealed throughout the nations. Thank you, in advance, for holding Riley up in prayer.

Sunrises and Sunsets

In Malawi the sun rises around 5:30 AM - everyday. Very different from Washington. One day Rob and I got up before the sun and we were not disappointed. We witnessed light breaking through darkness and colors coming alive all around us. We were being beckoned to join in the new day, to embrace it - to suck the marrow from every moment. What a way to start the day!

And the sunsets in Malawi are simply spectacular, too. The sun sets around 6:00 PM - everyday. Without electricity the darkness slowly creeps in and covers everything like a thick blanket. But as it is setting, the sun not only changes its hue but also that of the entire sky. It boldly lets loose with a mighty display of color. And then finishes with a whisper, a slow darkening, until the whole sky is black. We were blessed to have been out on a path one night when the sun set. We witnessed it all - and were reminded that God's mercies truly are new each and every day.

Dogs

Even though I was extremely tired the first night, I couldn't sleep. Incessant barking kept waking me up - and keeping me up. Although Maggie was not to blame (Maggie is the Burns' dog) she didn't help the situation. And, to be honest, the barking continued to interrupt my sleep every night until we left. But God gave me the strength, energy and joy needed to pour myself into every day. And a good thing to come from not sleeping is that I was awake to hear the hyenas....

ahhh...finally...

On Thursday, June 21, 2012, we arrived in Lilongwe, Malawi - tired, hot and dirty. There was no fanfare, no neon sign, no amazing first impression. We simply exited the plane, walked across the pavement and entered the airport with a ton of other people. But then things got interesting. Very interesting.

There was a sign reminding those entering the airport that they needed to show their immunization records before being allowed to proceed into the room where visa applications were applied for. Well, it was at that exact moment I remembered I had forgotten to pack our immunization records. That's right. But we were singled out and simply waved through. Our passports were stamped with thirty day visas and then we went to get our luggage. (Ok, actually we headed to the bathroom - which was clean and had flushing toilets - and then we got our luggage.) All of our bags arrived. We loaded everything on a cart and prepared to wait in line while our bags were searched - first by customs and then by the police. But again, we were simply waved through - no searching of bags by anyone. That was truly a God thing!

Chet Burns was there to pick us up so we loaded our gear into the vehicle and began the almost three hour drive south to Ntcheu. By the time we got there it was dark - and I desperately wanted a shower and a bed. (If you read a previous post you know that didn't happen.) We met the

family, had a meal, got a quick orientation and the key to our room out back in the guest quarters. Oh, and we learned there was no water - so, no shower. But by now we were so tired it didn't really matter. We carried our bags to the room, made ourselves at home and went to bed - almost. Something running up the wall into the ceiling caught our attention. And then something else. And then something running across the floor. Lizards. One of the panes in the window was missing and so the critters were free to come and go. Supposedly they eat bugs - and they were kinda cute - so we simply climbed under the mosquito net, put our heads on a pillow, took a deep breath and thanked God - we were in rural Malawi.

Congo

After leaving Ethiopia we headed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The word that comes to mind to describe this place is harsh. The terrain was harsh. The landscape was harsh.The weather was harsh. The airport was being patrolled by uniformed military men carrying big machine guns and wearing scowls - harsh. And we were strongly advised not to take photographs (thus my blurry attempts at being sneaky..) - harsh. We left Congo - next stop Lilongwe, Malawi.

1, 2, 3...Go!

On Tuesday, June 19, 2012, we boarded a plane in Seattle and headed to Africa. Well, actually, after our flight was delayed we then boarded a very crowded airplane bound for Washington D.C., buckled into our no-leg-room-very-cramped-cheap-seats and... sat there - for a very long time. You see, there was a passenger seated several rows in front of us who was having difficulties. We are not sure exactly what sort of difficulties except that about forty-five minutes later he was unwillingly escorted off the plane by three big, burly Seattle firefighters. Then we were on our way.

We arrived in D.C., had a small layover and then set off for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The flight was long but relatively uneventful. The seats on this leg of the journey were, thankfully, much better. However, the airport in Addis Ababa is, well, not wonderful. After another short layover we boarded the next plane and... sat on the runway for almost an hour - without air conditioning - while we waited for someone to change a fuse - the one that controls engine cooling and the cabin air conditioner. That fixed and ourselves soaked with sweat, the air came on and we were off again - one more stop before Malawi.