Our First Week in Malawi: A Journey We’ll Never Forget
Looking back, this past week in Malawi has been one of the best and most rewarding weeks of my life! - Carmen
This week has been so fulfilling in so many ways, from the children learning the verse, to the way they use every bead when making bracelets. There are too many highlights to just pick one, so here are a few. The motorcycle ride (to the center), the way the children were so excited to color a picture. The focused stares the children gave while a story was being told. - Kerri-Jo
Even though we came to teach the children, they taught us so many things. - Willaena
They are so kind and we come there to give them love but they return it 10x harder. - Carmen
They taught us bits and pieces of their language, as well as just simply being grateful with what they have. I am also very thankful for our Pastor who helped us with everything we needed through the week, showed us encouragement and strongly encouraged us to come again next year. -Karianna
One of the days this week, the teachers from the centres were quite involved in the games! Once they said a few words in Chichewa and all the children scattered to grab stones, and the children…who are very protective over you, fight to grab a stone for you, knowing you can’t understand their language properly. - Willaena
The teachers were so kind and so was everyone in Blantyre! Florus, Janneke, and Bep [Timotheos field workers] have been so welcoming, kind, and caring. - Carmen
Some other things that I loved were coloring with the kids and learning all their names, jump roping, watching them listen and learn both the stories and Psalter we taught them and walking with them to end of the road after the day was done. - Emberlynn
They are eager to please and so grateful with the games we brought and listening to our VBS stories. They recited their Psalter and Bible texts very well and were really excited to sing along with us. A challenge for this week was trying to entertain 400+ children and trying to keep everything organized with only 5 volunteer leaders. - Dorianne
Handing out the snacks at the end of the day, although sometimes chaotic, just seeing the smiles on their faces brightened my day! I also enjoyed when the children wanted to take pictures and selfies! Learning some Chichewa words from our driver and the teachers was also a big joy not only for me but for everyone else as they laughed along if I tried saying a word and I said it much too wrong. - Samuel
The language barrier is tough but it brings you joy when we see the look of happiness on their faces. They love it when you show interest, even when we make mistakes. - Willaena
It was definitely hard to say goodbye to all the children and teachers at Namitambo and Mbulumbuzi. - Dorianne
The Pastor asked us to give a farewell speech which I thought was really nice because then we were able to express our gratitude to everyone for opening their hearts for us. We were able to let them know that even though we came to teach them, they actually taught us so much in other ways which we are grateful for! - Heidi
It’s sad to wonder if I’ll ever see them again (I hope I do) but I will continue to pray that the Lord will work in their hearts and lives. - Emberlynn
I will definitely miss the kids, the teachers and pastor we worked with but looking forward to another week full of much more! - Emberlynn
