Today as I was teaching over 100 students about the good Samaritan and that we should love one another I become once again overwhelmed at the opporunity that I have been given! How blessed am I that I can teach God's little children about how much He loves them? So incredibly blessed! After I finished teaching those students, we went onto the next three classes! I taught over 500 students today and we were able to pray with them and teach them songs about how much God loves them... and it was all in their own language! It's overwhelming for me to think about how many children I am going to have the opporutnity to share the Good News with during my six months here. Take 500 students a day for 4 days every two weeks (the other weeks I do a returning session to children I teach every other week) time by 6 months! Wow what an opporutnity. God please use and guide me to tell these children exactly what you want them to know!
On another note, I can feel things changing around here. We are/I am going through a couple of changes here. Not only am I changing so much personally and spiritually, but I am also really really beginning to take ownership of this place (espeically since a guy from Ireland has come to work with me and I have been showing him around). As well, I am learning to become more independent with Liz being gone 3-5 days a week I have really been learning that my dependence is on the wrong thing. I have always depended on people and I am now learning to become more independant as I depend on the One who can truly sustain me! Other things that are changing include the weather. I am beginning to notice the fact that we do not have rain very often any more. Which means the beginning of dry season. The beginning of dry season is also really cold so I have been wrapped up in blankets and wearing socks! haha Not something I thought I would be doing in Africa! haha However, the second part of dry season becomes very hot so I should cherish this time while I can. The final big change that is taking place is a change of missionaries. There are a lot of missionaries that are beginning to count down their days. This is incredibly sad as I have grown to love all of them! However, I know that I will get to see them again!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Adventures in the Outback/ Sick Week
Many of you are wondering what has happened to me that I have been MIA for three weeks, and as I was laying flat in bed unable to do anything I was wondering how three weeks had gone by so fast. Let me start from the beginning...
Exactly three weeks ago I was told that my village experience was finally organized and that I would for sure be going to a village (nobody really knew where) for a week to live with Henry and Ethel Sumbulero. I was given a shopping list, a list of things that I should bring and an amount of money to take for my time there. So on Sunday night (March 28), I went to bed thinking that this would be my last night sleeping in a 'bed' for a while. However, the next day when lunch came and went, and the car was still int he garage getting fized, I knew that it was going to bed anther day. So the next day I was ready and waiting at 10 am which came and went so I called Thomas (the man that Liz, my roommate, works with- he was giving me a ride down) to see what had happened. However, he was unfazed and told me that he would arrive at 11:30 so I waited again. At 12 I called him again and got 1:00 for the next leaving time. Finally, at 2:30 he arrived, we packed me up and started on our way. I was so happy to be going that I decided to forget the fact that I was a day and a half late. Nevertheless, through this God did teach me about being patient because Thomas was so late (although Malawians are usually late, never this late).
When we finally arrived at Sorgin (the village that I was staying at- I didn't find out the name until I left) it was almost dark (5:30ish), and we unloaded my stuff and Thomas drove off. At that point I was left clueless as to what to do as both Henry and Ethel had vanished (I still wasn't sure who it was that I was staying with) and I didn't know where I was. So being me, I decided to play with the children that had gathered around the azungu (white person). For a couple of hours I played futbol (soccer) with the children, tried to ask them questions in broken Chichewa and enjoyed listening to them singing songs (I even taught them the one song that I had learned in Chichewa). During this time Ethel had spent her time cooking (I don't know where) and had produced a delicious meal which we ate. During supper, Henry (who I later learned to call Abusa- pastor) began asking me some very difficult theological questions. I was clueless as to why he was asking me these questions until he finally came out and asked how I could be a second year Bible College student and not be ready to preach (he later asked me to preach on Easter Sunday which I declined). Following our hard conversations I was able to shower (bucket of water and cup) and then went to bed (a cement floor with a bamboo mat on the ground plus a very thin mattress that I had brought). That night I had an awful sleep (because it was so incredibly hot) and was happy to get out of bed at 6 when I heard them.
This ended off my first day and I did not know how I was going to be able to last a week until I began to actually get to know the family. Ethel took me under her wing and I was able to really get to know her life and participate in it. She took me to her meetings, let me help with the cooking and cleaning (which you're not supposed to let a visitor do), taught me how to carry a baby on my back Malawian style and encouraged me to every day try to carry a little more water on my heard. Amayi (what I came to call her) taught me a lot of Chichewa and her children were patient with me and waited until I had figured out how to properly say a sentence to them (or correct enough that they could figure it out). The women of the village also took me in and taught me words, how to make sentences, many songs and when we went to welcome a new baby they encouraged me to join in on the singing and dancing (that one took me a while, but when the azungu finally danced with the baby they all rejoiced because I had honoured them to try). Soon I became a part of the family, they started calling me Anti Keti, instead of Azungu, and even added me in their family song. Every night the children would sing and dance and towards the end I was able to join in with them and they were really excited, the whole village knew that Anti Keti had dance and sang in Chichewa!
As I sat in church on Good Friday, listening to the choirs sing, I was awed at the beauty of their voices and how they sang with their hearts. After church Abusa asked me if I liked the choirs and I said yes, at that point Amayi joined in and said, "Well then you will sing with the women's choir on Sunday!" What a challenge that was! I had to learn three new songs, in a different language, and the dances that went with them, I practiced all day for two days and when Sunday came, I did not feel ready. However, I went up there and did my best and the church seemed excited. I asked Abusa later whether it was a good thing that I had sung with them and he said, "Yes! When you sang with the women it showed that you cared. You honoured us by trying to worship our Saviour with us!" At that point I knew that it no longer mattered what I looked like when I sang or whether I made a ton of mistakes, it only mattered that I tried.
On Sunday night after I had sung and danced with the children, I was laying on a bamboo mat outside with Gracious, Omega, Christian (3 of my 4 host siblings) and some other children from the village talking, singing and thinking: I don't ever want to leave. I feel like I finally fit in. I have found my family and now in two days I have to leave. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the last two days as much as I could! I even carred 20 L of water on my head my second last day!
Regardless of how much I tried to make it not come, Tuesday eventually came and I had to pack up and leave. I knew that I had been blessed to come out for a week and live with a family that took me in as family. The goodbyes were hard, but I decided then and there that I would return. Then Abusa and I got in a minibus and came back to Blantyre.
Wednesday (April 7) was spent trying to organize my ethnography and everything that I had done, but I als went to visit my missionary friends who I had missed. I talked to Ellie (a missionary from Germany), and asked her whether she still wanted to go to Mangochi (a town that used to live in) because she had asked me to go earlier in the week when I was still in Sorgin. We then made quick plans and left the next day. On Thursday we travelled and also went out to the village near Mangochi where Ellie used to live and I got to see the village that was her home for her first seven months in Malawi. Friday we went to Lake Malawi and went snorkling and relaxed. That night I started getting sick and on Saturday we just sat around because I was not feeling very well and she had to clean the house. Sunday we travelled back and that night Gill and Liz took me to the hospital to get checked out. The doctor said that I had gastrointestinal problems (stomach bacteria) and my symptoms showed that I could have malaria as well, so we had some tests done. Allo the tests came back nedgative, but we were told that that does not mean that I did not have malaria because my malaria meds can cover up the fact that I do have it. So I was given all my prescriptions and sent home. The next day I was feeling weak and very cold (which was very abnormal) but just relaxed until later in the evening. I had decided that I wasn't feeling very good so I began getting ready for bed but then became very sick and began having terrible stomach pains. So we called Gill again and I was rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival I got sick again and they grabbed me a wheelchair and took me into the ER which was quite interesting. After an assessment the doctor gave me a shot, some medicaitons and sent me home. The next 3 days that followed I was flat in bed and did not feel human. However, on Friday I woke up feeling a lot better and I cleaned the house and did laundry and even went to games night. Then on Saturday morning I got up and went to language lessons and I think that I am finally getting bakc to my normal self. I am still feeling weak every now and then and I do not have as much stamina as I used to, but I know that within a week I should be perfectly fine.
So I guess that is how three weeks managed to slip by so quickly. It's hard to believe that I have been living here for over 50 days and almost two months! Thanks for your prayers over the past three weeks and throughout my entire time here. Please continue to pray for my health and strength as well as my Chichewa. God Bless!
Exactly three weeks ago I was told that my village experience was finally organized and that I would for sure be going to a village (nobody really knew where) for a week to live with Henry and Ethel Sumbulero. I was given a shopping list, a list of things that I should bring and an amount of money to take for my time there. So on Sunday night (March 28), I went to bed thinking that this would be my last night sleeping in a 'bed' for a while. However, the next day when lunch came and went, and the car was still int he garage getting fized, I knew that it was going to bed anther day. So the next day I was ready and waiting at 10 am which came and went so I called Thomas (the man that Liz, my roommate, works with- he was giving me a ride down) to see what had happened. However, he was unfazed and told me that he would arrive at 11:30 so I waited again. At 12 I called him again and got 1:00 for the next leaving time. Finally, at 2:30 he arrived, we packed me up and started on our way. I was so happy to be going that I decided to forget the fact that I was a day and a half late. Nevertheless, through this God did teach me about being patient because Thomas was so late (although Malawians are usually late, never this late).
When we finally arrived at Sorgin (the village that I was staying at- I didn't find out the name until I left) it was almost dark (5:30ish), and we unloaded my stuff and Thomas drove off. At that point I was left clueless as to what to do as both Henry and Ethel had vanished (I still wasn't sure who it was that I was staying with) and I didn't know where I was. So being me, I decided to play with the children that had gathered around the azungu (white person). For a couple of hours I played futbol (soccer) with the children, tried to ask them questions in broken Chichewa and enjoyed listening to them singing songs (I even taught them the one song that I had learned in Chichewa). During this time Ethel had spent her time cooking (I don't know where) and had produced a delicious meal which we ate. During supper, Henry (who I later learned to call Abusa- pastor) began asking me some very difficult theological questions. I was clueless as to why he was asking me these questions until he finally came out and asked how I could be a second year Bible College student and not be ready to preach (he later asked me to preach on Easter Sunday which I declined). Following our hard conversations I was able to shower (bucket of water and cup) and then went to bed (a cement floor with a bamboo mat on the ground plus a very thin mattress that I had brought). That night I had an awful sleep (because it was so incredibly hot) and was happy to get out of bed at 6 when I heard them.
This ended off my first day and I did not know how I was going to be able to last a week until I began to actually get to know the family. Ethel took me under her wing and I was able to really get to know her life and participate in it. She took me to her meetings, let me help with the cooking and cleaning (which you're not supposed to let a visitor do), taught me how to carry a baby on my back Malawian style and encouraged me to every day try to carry a little more water on my heard. Amayi (what I came to call her) taught me a lot of Chichewa and her children were patient with me and waited until I had figured out how to properly say a sentence to them (or correct enough that they could figure it out). The women of the village also took me in and taught me words, how to make sentences, many songs and when we went to welcome a new baby they encouraged me to join in on the singing and dancing (that one took me a while, but when the azungu finally danced with the baby they all rejoiced because I had honoured them to try). Soon I became a part of the family, they started calling me Anti Keti, instead of Azungu, and even added me in their family song. Every night the children would sing and dance and towards the end I was able to join in with them and they were really excited, the whole village knew that Anti Keti had dance and sang in Chichewa!
As I sat in church on Good Friday, listening to the choirs sing, I was awed at the beauty of their voices and how they sang with their hearts. After church Abusa asked me if I liked the choirs and I said yes, at that point Amayi joined in and said, "Well then you will sing with the women's choir on Sunday!" What a challenge that was! I had to learn three new songs, in a different language, and the dances that went with them, I practiced all day for two days and when Sunday came, I did not feel ready. However, I went up there and did my best and the church seemed excited. I asked Abusa later whether it was a good thing that I had sung with them and he said, "Yes! When you sang with the women it showed that you cared. You honoured us by trying to worship our Saviour with us!" At that point I knew that it no longer mattered what I looked like when I sang or whether I made a ton of mistakes, it only mattered that I tried.
On Sunday night after I had sung and danced with the children, I was laying on a bamboo mat outside with Gracious, Omega, Christian (3 of my 4 host siblings) and some other children from the village talking, singing and thinking: I don't ever want to leave. I feel like I finally fit in. I have found my family and now in two days I have to leave. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the last two days as much as I could! I even carred 20 L of water on my head my second last day!
Regardless of how much I tried to make it not come, Tuesday eventually came and I had to pack up and leave. I knew that I had been blessed to come out for a week and live with a family that took me in as family. The goodbyes were hard, but I decided then and there that I would return. Then Abusa and I got in a minibus and came back to Blantyre.
Wednesday (April 7) was spent trying to organize my ethnography and everything that I had done, but I als went to visit my missionary friends who I had missed. I talked to Ellie (a missionary from Germany), and asked her whether she still wanted to go to Mangochi (a town that used to live in) because she had asked me to go earlier in the week when I was still in Sorgin. We then made quick plans and left the next day. On Thursday we travelled and also went out to the village near Mangochi where Ellie used to live and I got to see the village that was her home for her first seven months in Malawi. Friday we went to Lake Malawi and went snorkling and relaxed. That night I started getting sick and on Saturday we just sat around because I was not feeling very well and she had to clean the house. Sunday we travelled back and that night Gill and Liz took me to the hospital to get checked out. The doctor said that I had gastrointestinal problems (stomach bacteria) and my symptoms showed that I could have malaria as well, so we had some tests done. Allo the tests came back nedgative, but we were told that that does not mean that I did not have malaria because my malaria meds can cover up the fact that I do have it. So I was given all my prescriptions and sent home. The next day I was feeling weak and very cold (which was very abnormal) but just relaxed until later in the evening. I had decided that I wasn't feeling very good so I began getting ready for bed but then became very sick and began having terrible stomach pains. So we called Gill again and I was rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival I got sick again and they grabbed me a wheelchair and took me into the ER which was quite interesting. After an assessment the doctor gave me a shot, some medicaitons and sent me home. The next 3 days that followed I was flat in bed and did not feel human. However, on Friday I woke up feeling a lot better and I cleaned the house and did laundry and even went to games night. Then on Saturday morning I got up and went to language lessons and I think that I am finally getting bakc to my normal self. I am still feeling weak every now and then and I do not have as much stamina as I used to, but I know that within a week I should be perfectly fine.
So I guess that is how three weeks managed to slip by so quickly. It's hard to believe that I have been living here for over 50 days and almost two months! Thanks for your prayers over the past three weeks and throughout my entire time here. Please continue to pray for my health and strength as well as my Chichewa. God Bless!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Village Life...
Welll my life is once again preparing to have significant change, now that I am finally beginning to feel settled. I am preparing to go and live in a village with a Malawian family for a week and I think that it will be quite the experience. While I am there I will be writing my ethnography so it will not only be a rewarding experience but also one in which I have to do tons of research for!
I have been warned about all that looms in the village, so I am asking for prayer during this next week and I prepare to live on the Malawian food, without electricity, a working toilet, running water and possible a shower for a week. I'm sure that this will teach me a lot about how the true Malawians live, but I also know that I will probably want a shower quite badly by the time I return home.
After I get back and will once again have my computer I will for sure put an update up about my experience and I will try to include some interesting stories. So stay tuned....
I have been warned about all that looms in the village, so I am asking for prayer during this next week and I prepare to live on the Malawian food, without electricity, a working toilet, running water and possible a shower for a week. I'm sure that this will teach me a lot about how the true Malawians live, but I also know that I will probably want a shower quite badly by the time I return home.
After I get back and will once again have my computer I will for sure put an update up about my experience and I will try to include some interesting stories. So stay tuned....
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Oh How He Loves Us
Written March 17/2010
The last couple of days I have had off because the Malawian I work with was sick. They were great days to spend with God and with the language just learning and being taught by the creator. I spent a lot of time in music as well as in His word, however, today after I had gone out teaching and had eaten lunch, I felt unsatisfied and didn't know that to do. While I was reading Little Women, I ended up falling alseep and woke up just as the rain was beginning to fall. The rainy season here is almost over and so it has been dry and hot the last couple of days and the rain was just like a quenching cup of water in the desert. As I was sitting there I began hmming "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder Band, so I grabbed my computer and thankful that I had the song on my computer, play it. I eventually put it on repeat. I sat and watched the rain for a little but realized that I was not content just sitting, watching and smelling this beautiful rain, so I got up and went outside in the rain (contrary to Malawian culture). Standing barefoot in the grass and then mud, I was so happy and content that I was consciously trying to feel the rain on my face and hands and the mud between my toes and with that my heart began to be filled with joy. The song playing in the background was very fitting. Thank-you God for your quenching rain and even more so for how You can truly quench each one of us. You are the living water and I am so thankful for You. Just like humans cannot live many days without earthly water, I believe that I needed this reminder to always remember how badly I thirst for Him. I also realized that if I had an overflowing jug of water in a desert, I would not just keep it all to myself, but rather, I would share it with those who thirst just as I do. Therefore, I have renewed vigour to share the Living Water with everyone who thirsts for Him with me! Oh how He loves us!
The last couple of days I have had off because the Malawian I work with was sick. They were great days to spend with God and with the language just learning and being taught by the creator. I spent a lot of time in music as well as in His word, however, today after I had gone out teaching and had eaten lunch, I felt unsatisfied and didn't know that to do. While I was reading Little Women, I ended up falling alseep and woke up just as the rain was beginning to fall. The rainy season here is almost over and so it has been dry and hot the last couple of days and the rain was just like a quenching cup of water in the desert. As I was sitting there I began hmming "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder Band, so I grabbed my computer and thankful that I had the song on my computer, play it. I eventually put it on repeat. I sat and watched the rain for a little but realized that I was not content just sitting, watching and smelling this beautiful rain, so I got up and went outside in the rain (contrary to Malawian culture). Standing barefoot in the grass and then mud, I was so happy and content that I was consciously trying to feel the rain on my face and hands and the mud between my toes and with that my heart began to be filled with joy. The song playing in the background was very fitting. Thank-you God for your quenching rain and even more so for how You can truly quench each one of us. You are the living water and I am so thankful for You. Just like humans cannot live many days without earthly water, I believe that I needed this reminder to always remember how badly I thirst for Him. I also realized that if I had an overflowing jug of water in a desert, I would not just keep it all to myself, but rather, I would share it with those who thirst just as I do. Therefore, I have renewed vigour to share the Living Water with everyone who thirsts for Him with me! Oh how He loves us!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
exalting Somebody
Well this week has been busy and not all at the same time! I have started to get really involved in ministry and I have begun to become involved in the language as well. It's crazy to think that I have already been here 3 weeks and that I have less than 5 months left here! How fast time flies!
Today I went to Cure Hospital for the first time to actually help out and it was really great! Thanks for all your prayers! Kayla (another short termer) and I went there and played games with the kids and just tried to spend time with them. It is still hard seeing them, but putting a smile on their faces is so rewarding! I really think that I am going to enjoy this. However, I am still glad that it is only for 2-3 hours at a time because otherwise I don't think that I would have the energy to continue. Kayla and I both depended on each other to get through this and I will be sad the times that she cannot come with me.
God has sent me some great friends and two of my friends who came down to visit went back to their village 3 hours away. I already miss them! However, I now know that I can go and visit them in Salima as well as in Germany and Switzerland when our terms are over! Plus, since there are 11 different nationalities on our team, I will be able to go and visit a lot of people!
I have to praise God with the contentment that He has given me. I am usually happy to be here (except when I get a little homesick) and GOd has just been teaching me and helping me to understand the world a little better. I have been reading Elisabeth Elliot's book Shadow of the Almighty about her late husband Jim Elliot and I am just awed at this amazing man. One phrase that he wrote while in college struck me and I'd like to mention it:
" Missionaries are very human folks, just doing what they are asked. Simply a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody." Jim Elliot
It's that just an incredible observation? But it leave me with one thought, why can't we all be a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt the One Somebody that matters?! I think that I am going to try to make this a new goal of mine for each day.
Please pray for my ministry here as well as my strength to continue when the times get hard. My sanity also needs prayer since I will be spending a lot of time alone when Liz leaves for her medical trip Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week.
Thanks for all your prayers and support!
Today I went to Cure Hospital for the first time to actually help out and it was really great! Thanks for all your prayers! Kayla (another short termer) and I went there and played games with the kids and just tried to spend time with them. It is still hard seeing them, but putting a smile on their faces is so rewarding! I really think that I am going to enjoy this. However, I am still glad that it is only for 2-3 hours at a time because otherwise I don't think that I would have the energy to continue. Kayla and I both depended on each other to get through this and I will be sad the times that she cannot come with me.
God has sent me some great friends and two of my friends who came down to visit went back to their village 3 hours away. I already miss them! However, I now know that I can go and visit them in Salima as well as in Germany and Switzerland when our terms are over! Plus, since there are 11 different nationalities on our team, I will be able to go and visit a lot of people!
I have to praise God with the contentment that He has given me. I am usually happy to be here (except when I get a little homesick) and GOd has just been teaching me and helping me to understand the world a little better. I have been reading Elisabeth Elliot's book Shadow of the Almighty about her late husband Jim Elliot and I am just awed at this amazing man. One phrase that he wrote while in college struck me and I'd like to mention it:
" Missionaries are very human folks, just doing what they are asked. Simply a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody." Jim Elliot
It's that just an incredible observation? But it leave me with one thought, why can't we all be a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt the One Somebody that matters?! I think that I am going to try to make this a new goal of mine for each day.
Please pray for my ministry here as well as my strength to continue when the times get hard. My sanity also needs prayer since I will be spending a lot of time alone when Liz leaves for her medical trip Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week.
Thanks for all your prayers and support!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
A God of Compassion and Love
Well over the last week God has been continually giving me a compassion and love for His children and he has been showing me that my time here in Malawi is not going to be an easy feel good trip. Today I was hit with the reality of the work that I will be doing in the Cure Hospital here and on Sunday he gave me compassion for the children of a small community.
On Sunday I went to a new church called Mpemba and I feel in love with the children there. However, my heart broke seeing the clothes that they were wearing and I wanted to at least be able to sew their clothes back together (especially since winter is coming).
Today I went to visit Cure Hospital to try and figure out my schedule of volunteering there. Cure Hospital is a facility that believes in loving God’s children and therefore they perform surgeries and provide FREE treatment for children under the age of eighteen. Now this is not cheap so they have a lot of volunteers as well as rely A LOT on support. Also, they have a private section of the hospital that provides care for anyone, but they have to pay (a very small fee) to have treatment/surgeries which also helps to support the children’s side. Grace (a volunteer) told me that it would be really easy for us to be able to just send in money and feel like we have helped then (which it really does help), but that if we volunteer our time and build into their lives it is way more beneficial and difficult and being there I can see how hard this opportunity that God has given me is going to be. Please pray for me because just seeing the children I have a hard time keeping my emotions in check. It is so hard to see them and not feel sad or angry about the situation that they are in. It makes me want to sit and cry but also bring tons of joy into their lives at the same time. I have a feeling that I will be doing the later a lot there and the former quite often at home.
I know that for sure in six months, but also before that, that I will be changed by this experience and that God has brought this opportunity into my life to teach me and help me grow.
Please pray for how God is going to use me but also for me to be able to have the strength to keep going when I’m working with sick children.
*As I was struggling with this opportunity God sent me the song He Sends His Love by Point of Grace and I have realized that I need to stop being upset by these circumstances and just let him use me to love his children.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
SURPRISE!
First of all I want to apologize to those of you who I confused when I posted the last blog. My brithday is on the 3rd but when I posted my blog it was still the second at home (third morning here).
So yesterday after I wrote the Blog about the contentness God gave me, I went home and had a great nap! haha then I was invited to go the movie theatre to watch Planet 51 with a missionary and her children (I know weird to think about going to a movie in Africa). So anyways I went with them and when I got home Liz (who plays the flute) and I gathered around the piano and played some music which was great! (the piano is actually Stephanie's and she's moving out on Saturday so I will no longer have that =[ Then since Stephanie had offered to make supper Liz, Stephanie and I had supper together for the first time which was really nice. Stephanie apologized that it was only Liz and her and I was happy that I just wasn't by myself.
After supper we started doing dishes and Stephanie kicked me out of the kitchen telling me that I wasn't allowed to do dishes on my birthday so I went into the living room to play some more piano when Gill (Short Term Cordinator), Ruth (a missionary that teaches at the college) and the two new missionaries from Switzerland came in. I assumed that Gill had brought them because she usually tries to take the new Short Termers around when they first arrive and they had arrived earlier that day. Anyways, at that point I saw Seth (a MK) walk in and I was a little confused why he was at our house but just figued that he came with the guys. At this point people began flooding into our house and I finally put all the clues from the day (people trying to get me out of the house, the banners that said Happy Birthday, the cook asking how to spell my name, etc.) together. Needless to stay I was both surprised and overwhelmed! Stephanie and Liz looked to be pretty pleased with themselves!
We had cake, (three cause our cook made two and I had made myself and cake just incase that day as well) and play pictionary and just enjoyed eachothers company. At about 8:15 when everyone left I asked Stephanie if I could use her dial-up connection in the house to try to get a hold of my parents (she had warned me that skype didn't work with the dial up but i tried anyways) and I was able to have a quick video conversation with them which was amazing! I know that that was a gift from God!
All in all my day was amazing and I felt so love and blessed to have so many people in my life! God truly blessed me and showed me how it doesn't matter where I am He will bring people into my life who care about me and love me! I am so blessed!
So yesterday after I wrote the Blog about the contentness God gave me, I went home and had a great nap! haha then I was invited to go the movie theatre to watch Planet 51 with a missionary and her children (I know weird to think about going to a movie in Africa). So anyways I went with them and when I got home Liz (who plays the flute) and I gathered around the piano and played some music which was great! (the piano is actually Stephanie's and she's moving out on Saturday so I will no longer have that =[ Then since Stephanie had offered to make supper Liz, Stephanie and I had supper together for the first time which was really nice. Stephanie apologized that it was only Liz and her and I was happy that I just wasn't by myself.
After supper we started doing dishes and Stephanie kicked me out of the kitchen telling me that I wasn't allowed to do dishes on my birthday so I went into the living room to play some more piano when Gill (Short Term Cordinator), Ruth (a missionary that teaches at the college) and the two new missionaries from Switzerland came in. I assumed that Gill had brought them because she usually tries to take the new Short Termers around when they first arrive and they had arrived earlier that day. Anyways, at that point I saw Seth (a MK) walk in and I was a little confused why he was at our house but just figued that he came with the guys. At this point people began flooding into our house and I finally put all the clues from the day (people trying to get me out of the house, the banners that said Happy Birthday, the cook asking how to spell my name, etc.) together. Needless to stay I was both surprised and overwhelmed! Stephanie and Liz looked to be pretty pleased with themselves!
We had cake, (three cause our cook made two and I had made myself and cake just incase that day as well) and play pictionary and just enjoyed eachothers company. At about 8:15 when everyone left I asked Stephanie if I could use her dial-up connection in the house to try to get a hold of my parents (she had warned me that skype didn't work with the dial up but i tried anyways) and I was able to have a quick video conversation with them which was amazing! I know that that was a gift from God!
All in all my day was amazing and I felt so love and blessed to have so many people in my life! God truly blessed me and showed me how it doesn't matter where I am He will bring people into my life who care about me and love me! I am so blessed!
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