Time is flying by!

Well I have officially travelled Malawi and I am now able to say that I have travelled all over Malawi!
I went down to Sorgin once again to live with Abusa and Mayi Abusa for another five days. I really enjoyed living with them and this time I was able to go with Mayi Abusa to do her ministry and I really enjoyed it! I was able to lead a ladies Bible study as well as pray for a couple of different families with different problems that I was able to go and show compassion and love. One family had a 13 year old girl that was quite handicapped for 10 years. They don't know why and it has been a huge strain on the family so I was able to pray for her, for what God's plan was, for the family and that if it was His will that God would heal her. I was also able to go and pray for a family. They were an older couple who had lost 2 sons and had therefore become parents again because they had to take in their grandchildren. This is very common in Malawi and quite sad. I also know of quite a few people who have taken in neices and nephews as well.
One of the exciting things that I was able to do while I was there was name a little girl. The last time I was in Sorgin a lady was pregnant and when I found out that she had had her baby I went to visit them. Through a series of events I was asked to name the baby. What a challenge! However, after some great discussion with Mayi Abusa I came up with three names and she picked one, Kathy-joy. After my mother. I think that it is so cool that I was able to name a baby after mom! During the naming process I was able to give a gift, and pray for her and her family! It was definitely a cool cultural experience.
After my week with Abusa and his family I was able to go for four days with the Sunday School Training team again which was really good. I really love spending time with them and I have created such good frienships with these Malawians and it was so nice to be able to spend time with them and we watched a lot of World Cup games together! haha definitely a good time! However, I realized that I would not like to have their job because I do not like having to live in a new place each night. After four days I was ready to go home and sleep in my own bed!
I was also able to go to a Malawian organized worship night (all night) and I really enjoyed it! We worship first in English, then 1/2 and 1/2 and ended the night/morning singing all in Chichewa! I really love it and made quite a few more Malwian friends! What a blessing!
Now I have four weeks of normalcy before I go to SLC (Spiritual Life Conference). It is organized by SIM Malawi for all the SIM Malawi missionaries. After that I have two weeks and then I am home! Wow how time flies!

Off Again

I just returned to Blantyre from Mvuu Lodge (a safari destination) where I went with another friend (Rebekka) from Germany. After much problems and trying to organize things we ended up goingn to Mvuu which was more expensive than we had planned. However, once we arrived we realized that God had planned our trip exactly for us. We both felt so blessed to be there and to be able to see the things that we did and quite frequently we broke into songs of praise! When we came back to Blantrye and looked at our pictures we were both awed at what we were able to see and had a hard time believing that it was real.

Now I am preparing to go to the village to live with Abusa and Mayi Abusa again and I am very excited! I will be with them until Friday and then I am home for a day and a half before I go out with the Sunday School Training Team again. My month has become very busy and I am realizing that it will go by very very quickly!

God has blessed me so much this month once again and I am just shocked that He does even though I do not deserve it. One song that Rebekka and I repeatedly sang was, "Our God is an awesome God!" What an amazing song when you sing it from the heart!

Month of June...

Well May has come and gone and June is here. The month that I have been dreading because it is when all the goodbyes start. Tomorrow two people that I have gotten very close to (Bob and Connie) and their son (Seth) are returning to the States and they are starting off the goodbyes. Then on Saturday two more of my friends go (one being Matty). I am really not looking forward to this, but I know that God will strengthen me and give me things to look forward to... like a possible Safari!
May was kinda a hectic month, but God taught me a lot about giving and again more about relying on Him. My contact with people has been quite bad recently because of this desire to stop always depending on people and learn how to depend on God. However, it is always a slow process.
I have also made some great attempts at using my Chichewa this month. I have become quite proficient at teaching Chichewa songs, and I am starting to teach memory verses in Chichewa and a little of my lessons. Because of this I have two verses memorized in Chichewa and I have read the story of the good Samartian in Chichewa far too many times (in order to figure out how to say the words properly). I have really been working hard at my language studies and Matty has helped to push me forward by working hard at his as well.
I will miss Matty a lot and because Joseph has been a little bit difficult lately, I will be focusing more on other ministries (Cure, doing another village experience and going with the Sunday school training team again). I am really looking forward to my new schedule and I think the variety will help me with Matty leaving. I have a feeling that this month is going to go by fast and I still cannot believe that I only have 2 1/2 months left in Africa. However, I know that when my time does come to an end I will be overjoyed to see family and friends. Nevertheless, I feel like I have finally found my own home and I will be very sad to leave. But I won't worry about that for another little while!