Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas!

from our family to yours

 

"Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" Revelation 5:13b 

Happy 18th Birthday!!

Guess who is turning 18!!!  It's Riley!! 

Happy Birthday, Riley!  We love you!

Malawi

 

The true beauty of rural Malawi.

Natural Beauty

 

 

 

 

 

Malawi is a naturally beautiful place.  These are just a few photos from our time walking in Lilongwe.

Kumbali Lodge

While in Lilongwe we also had the privilege of being able to stay at Kumbali Lodge.  Kumbali Lodge is located at the edge of the city but it seems like it is a world away.  At night we could see the village cooking fires across the way.  It was simply amazing - a wonderful place to end our journey.  While staying at the lodge we continued our walking - lots of walking.  We walked to a nearby cultural village and visited with artists.  Another path we walked took us to a permaculture farm.  This farm is trying to promote permaculture and help people throughout Malawi produce food for themselves so that a.) people no longer starve to death and b.) Malawi does not need to import food from neighboring countries, thus keeping the cost of food down, thus people who cannot grow their own food no longer starve to death either.  The lodge itself runs a farm; all vegetables are grown on site and the menu is made up from what is growing at any given time.  It also runs a small dairy, producing its own milk, cream, butter and yogurt.

Lilongwe

Before leaving for home we were able to spend a couple of days in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi.  The city is so different from the rural areas where we had been.  One of the days we spent traveling around the city with a Malawian man named Peter.  Peter took us to the big city market - it was very similar to the markets in Ntcheu, Balaka and Dedza only much more ginormous.  (And, yes, I bought fabric - and a can opener as there aren't any twist top bottles.)  We went to several different grocery/convenience type stores, getting an idea of how much it would cost to live there.  He took us to a strip mall (a place where lots of stores are connected but the entrances to each are outside) and we shared a pizza at a big, new food court and talked in depth about family and life in Malawi.  We got to see the World Vision office and talk to Peter about non-profits, aid and what Malawi needs.  We were also able to go to the Lilongwe Wildlife Center - the world renowned center for hurt or neglected zoo animals.  (The one eyed lion from Romania and tons of baboons from Israel are there...along with several other animals.)  Peter drove us past a very large memorial/mausoleum dedicated to the first Malawian president and the new four star hotel and conference center being built by the Chinese.  We were also able to go to a 'tourist' market and spend time in the heart of the city during traffic time.  We had the real Malawian city experience.