Friends, some of you have been trying to get email updates from the student trip and have been getting our family updates instead. This has been fixed but you will need to go to the student blog to sign up again for emails to be sent to you.
One brief update on the team, they have returned from Mzuzu and have many stories so we will update their blog tomorrow. But everyone is a bit tired from the journey back and getting settled in our house.
I am sorry for the confusion and problems.
God bless you all,
Chris
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Challenges students face
I had the chance to counsel and encourage a student this week. I thought I would share her story. She began by saying she hadn’t felt the ability to talk with anyone then she went on to tell about her shame and guilt she carried. She said that her mom had remarried when she was 11 and her brothers and sisters when to live with her grandmother. So when her mom was gone her step-father began to physically abuse her. She told her mother and she said she was lying and that she should be quite and not say such things about her step father. So the abuse continued until she became pregnant at 13. She told her grandmother who is a midwife and she forced her to get an abortion.
She shared how she saw men, the anger she felt toward her mom and grandmother. She wants to forgive them and feels she has but still carries the emotions. She also isn’t sure she can ever find a man she can trust.
We talked about her relationship with Jesus. I apologized as a man and a father that she was so mistreated. We then talked about the long term process of forgiveness and that Jesus would continue to help her totally forgive. I prayed for her to find male friends that would help her to trust men.
I was so impressed with her trust in Jesus and her experience of His love for her. Faith is a journey that isn’t always easy but it is always freeing.
Please pray for her as she continues to heal emotionally and journeys down.
She shared how she saw men, the anger she felt toward her mom and grandmother. She wants to forgive them and feels she has but still carries the emotions. She also isn’t sure she can ever find a man she can trust.
We talked about her relationship with Jesus. I apologized as a man and a father that she was so mistreated. We then talked about the long term process of forgiveness and that Jesus would continue to help her totally forgive. I prayed for her to find male friends that would help her to trust men.
I was so impressed with her trust in Jesus and her experience of His love for her. Faith is a journey that isn’t always easy but it is always freeing.
Please pray for her as she continues to heal emotionally and journeys down.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
SCOM Awareness Event
The team joined us Friday. It is great to have them here.
Saturday was the culmination event of SCOM awareness month. It began with about 1000 Secondary and College students marching 2 miles through the busiest part of town sweeping the streets, singing and dancing (complete with a truck with loudspeaker). We got stopped at one intersection, we thought because of traffic, but it turned out that they were waiting on the national TV cameras to get there as they were at the state house covering another event. It was quite a sight, and very fun when the SCOM students would come up and encourage us in our dancing. One told us we need to move our butt more.
It ended at the Commuinity center which had a soccer field with large grand stand. After a long wait, the students were fed a roll and a soda. They actually ran our of rolls, but more came and hour later. There was alot of singing and dancing, then we heard from some speakers. First was SCOM's General Secreatry and then Malawi's Attorney General encouraging the students to set some big goals and go after them. The final speaker was an evangleist (in the true sense of the word) who implored the students to live pure lives and run away from sexual sin. You could tell from the crowd's engagement and loud cheering that it was exactly what this student group needed to hear.
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word" Ps. 119:9
Many students responded to the call to live lives of purity. Hundreds went forward for prayer and a few committed their lives to Jesus for the first time.. Praise God.
Health update:
Jacob's arm: He is ready to have the cast off. It itches and can be hard to sleep. We plan to remove it on Wednesday.
My Face: On Friday 3 weeks movement began to return. It is not fully restored but it is much better. I still have some discomfort as the nerves regenerate. Praise God for progress.
What is happening this week:
The team heads to Mzuzu tomorrow. I will be working the Patrick the SCOM General Secretary this week on several projects in the office. Dudley will be doing some computer repair (with slow internet she needs your prayers)
Prayer requests:
Safety for the team as they travel and live with college students.
Evangelistic fruit as they join in the evangelism week on campus at Mzuzu University.
Our adoption process as we begin to expand the search for other children that can be adopted.
Saturday was the culmination event of SCOM awareness month. It began with about 1000 Secondary and College students marching 2 miles through the busiest part of town sweeping the streets, singing and dancing (complete with a truck with loudspeaker). We got stopped at one intersection, we thought because of traffic, but it turned out that they were waiting on the national TV cameras to get there as they were at the state house covering another event. It was quite a sight, and very fun when the SCOM students would come up and encourage us in our dancing. One told us we need to move our butt more.
It ended at the Commuinity center which had a soccer field with large grand stand. After a long wait, the students were fed a roll and a soda. They actually ran our of rolls, but more came and hour later. There was alot of singing and dancing, then we heard from some speakers. First was SCOM's General Secreatry and then Malawi's Attorney General encouraging the students to set some big goals and go after them. The final speaker was an evangleist (in the true sense of the word) who implored the students to live pure lives and run away from sexual sin. You could tell from the crowd's engagement and loud cheering that it was exactly what this student group needed to hear.
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word" Ps. 119:9
Many students responded to the call to live lives of purity. Hundreds went forward for prayer and a few committed their lives to Jesus for the first time.. Praise God.
Health update:
Jacob's arm: He is ready to have the cast off. It itches and can be hard to sleep. We plan to remove it on Wednesday.
My Face: On Friday 3 weeks movement began to return. It is not fully restored but it is much better. I still have some discomfort as the nerves regenerate. Praise God for progress.
What is happening this week:
The team heads to Mzuzu tomorrow. I will be working the Patrick the SCOM General Secretary this week on several projects in the office. Dudley will be doing some computer repair (with slow internet she needs your prayers)
Prayer requests:
Safety for the team as they travel and live with college students.
Evangelistic fruit as they join in the evangelism week on campus at Mzuzu University.
Our adoption process as we begin to expand the search for other children that can be adopted.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Heart breaking
You can hear about many things and intellectually understand them but do they really sink in? When you are thick headed like me (Chris) the answer is no.
Wednesday I spent the morning at the SCOM office leading a Bible Study and then traveling to campuses around Lilongwe to set up our trip. I then returned home in the early afternoon to help clean other areas of the house that we haven’t got to yet as the team arrives Friday.
Then we went to the crisis nursery to help with the children and see Fuluke. We have been trying to get information on his uncle so we can contact him about getting approval and release for the adoption, but the uncle didn’t really leave any contact information. The other disheartening news was that we have discovered that Fuluke has been tested for HIV and is thought to be positive. Regardless of adoption, the brokenness of our world that a 10 month old carries a virus that will kill him in the next few years is just awful. It looks like his mom died from AIDS and passed the virus to her son.
We knew with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that children with HIV would be a reality but when seeing these beautiful children it is hard to believe. There are over 1 million people that are HIV positive here in Malawi and over 2 million children orphaned. Fuluke is just one of them. Our hearts are heavy as we see the results of the fall and sin. God help us.
Even with heavy hearts, we cling to hope. God has us here to be a source of love, encouragement and grace. We pray that we may be a blessing to our friends here. We continue to persevere and will still seek for the child we think God has for us. Where do we go from here? We will keep praying, looking, serving and waiting. Please continue to join us in prayer.
Wednesday I spent the morning at the SCOM office leading a Bible Study and then traveling to campuses around Lilongwe to set up our trip. I then returned home in the early afternoon to help clean other areas of the house that we haven’t got to yet as the team arrives Friday.
Then we went to the crisis nursery to help with the children and see Fuluke. We have been trying to get information on his uncle so we can contact him about getting approval and release for the adoption, but the uncle didn’t really leave any contact information. The other disheartening news was that we have discovered that Fuluke has been tested for HIV and is thought to be positive. Regardless of adoption, the brokenness of our world that a 10 month old carries a virus that will kill him in the next few years is just awful. It looks like his mom died from AIDS and passed the virus to her son.
We knew with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that children with HIV would be a reality but when seeing these beautiful children it is hard to believe. There are over 1 million people that are HIV positive here in Malawi and over 2 million children orphaned. Fuluke is just one of them. Our hearts are heavy as we see the results of the fall and sin. God help us.
Even with heavy hearts, we cling to hope. God has us here to be a source of love, encouragement and grace. We pray that we may be a blessing to our friends here. We continue to persevere and will still seek for the child we think God has for us. Where do we go from here? We will keep praying, looking, serving and waiting. Please continue to join us in prayer.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Supreme Court Ruling
This weekend the Supreme Court ruled that they would allow Madonna's adoption to go through. The ruling says that each adoption should be looked at individually, as to what is in the best interest of the child. They said that the 18 mo. residency issue is not a requirement, more of a suggestion. This is exciting news for us though we don't fully know what it means for us yet. But it shows that they are more open to international adoptions. I didn't think I would be praising God for Madonna yet I am.
We celebrated Joseph's 8th birthday with a few pastries this morning and soda for dinner. We are splurging :O we spent some time at the crisis nursery today as that was Joe's request. He is getting really attached to Fuluke as we all are. It is hard not to. He is a sweet little guy. We have had a great time helping at the crisis nursery. The kids recognise us now. Those that are mobile will come right up to us. They love the attention. We are choosing not to post a picture of Fuluke because we have heard of others getting in trouble (not allowed to adopt from other countries) for doing so. Trust me, he is cute and very small for a 10 month old.
Please pray for:
our hearts not to be broken in this process.
wisdom to know how much to keep doing and when to wait and see.
the process to move quickly for our adoption.
Jacob’s arm and my face to heal.
wisdom to know where to spend our time as the options grow to serve.
We celebrated Joseph's 8th birthday with a few pastries this morning and soda for dinner. We are splurging :O we spent some time at the crisis nursery today as that was Joe's request. He is getting really attached to Fuluke as we all are. It is hard not to. He is a sweet little guy. We have had a great time helping at the crisis nursery. The kids recognise us now. Those that are mobile will come right up to us. They love the attention. We are choosing not to post a picture of Fuluke because we have heard of others getting in trouble (not allowed to adopt from other countries) for doing so. Trust me, he is cute and very small for a 10 month old.
Please pray for:
our hearts not to be broken in this process.
wisdom to know how much to keep doing and when to wait and see.
the process to move quickly for our adoption.
Jacob’s arm and my face to heal.
wisdom to know where to spend our time as the options grow to serve.
Crisis Nursery & Orphanages
This week we spent moving into our new house and getting things started on our adoption. Our house is beautiful and very large. It has been neglected for sometime so has required a lot of time this week in cleaning and debugging. The previous inhabitants cooked with a lot of grease, so I spent a day scraping grease off the counters and walls. But it is plenty big enough for the team to join us in a week.
Last Friday we put our application in with Social Welfare requesting an adoption. They have very limited resources which makes them a little difficult to work with. In our perspective they move very slowly. And by Wednesday they couldn't find our application. Every trip to that office is very discouraging.
After the first meeting at Social Welfare we thought it best if we didn't leave the part of locating a child entirely up to them. Chris made a trip to the crisis nursery and an orphanage this week with little progress. On Monday all the infants at the crisis nursery were "attached" to some family member. When he went in on Tuesday there was a young man in their relinquishing his rights to his 10 month old nephew, Fuluke. You could tell that he loved him very much but since the boy's mother died on Saturday, he is not able to care for him. He is an adorable little boy and would be very pleased to accept a miracle from God if Social Welfare would match us with him.
We spent some time this week volunteering at the Crisis Nursery, feeding and playing with the babies. The whole family enjoyed it, even Isaac said he enjoyed it more than he wanted too. He feed 2 boys their bottles and read them some books. Grace really enjoyed playing with Fuluke and he smiled and laughed a lot for her. She is ready to be a big sister. The caregivers kept bringing more and more babies out for us to play with till there was 10 or 11. Grace said we needed more adults as we would hand babies off to our kids to pick up the fussy one.
Please pray:
- that we would not become discouraged when facing roadblocks in the adoption
- for Fuluke to find a good home (with us :) or somewhere else)
- safe trip for the team as they travel this week
Last Friday we put our application in with Social Welfare requesting an adoption. They have very limited resources which makes them a little difficult to work with. In our perspective they move very slowly. And by Wednesday they couldn't find our application. Every trip to that office is very discouraging.
After the first meeting at Social Welfare we thought it best if we didn't leave the part of locating a child entirely up to them. Chris made a trip to the crisis nursery and an orphanage this week with little progress. On Monday all the infants at the crisis nursery were "attached" to some family member. When he went in on Tuesday there was a young man in their relinquishing his rights to his 10 month old nephew, Fuluke. You could tell that he loved him very much but since the boy's mother died on Saturday, he is not able to care for him. He is an adorable little boy and would be very pleased to accept a miracle from God if Social Welfare would match us with him.
We spent some time this week volunteering at the Crisis Nursery, feeding and playing with the babies. The whole family enjoyed it, even Isaac said he enjoyed it more than he wanted too. He feed 2 boys their bottles and read them some books. Grace really enjoyed playing with Fuluke and he smiled and laughed a lot for her. She is ready to be a big sister. The caregivers kept bringing more and more babies out for us to play with till there was 10 or 11. Grace said we needed more adults as we would hand babies off to our kids to pick up the fussy one.
Please pray:
- that we would not become discouraged when facing roadblocks in the adoption
- for Fuluke to find a good home (with us :) or somewhere else)
- safe trip for the team as they travel this week
Monday, June 8, 2009
Our weekend
This weekend was full. I (Chris) went to a stakeholders meeting with key spiritual leaders in the country. The Student Christian Organization (SCOM) presented the issues facing teenagers in Malawi and the challenges to them performing well or even finishing high school.
Here are a couple of issues. Many students have to walk over an hour to school each day. That means they leave home very early and arrive at school tired. This doesn’t help them perform well at school. Another challenge is that in a study done of 4000 students in 2007 - 31% of students were orphaned and struggled to come up with school fees. Some girls are forced to sell their bodies to come up with their school fees.
One story from the conferences in May, a young girl said her “boyfriend” had helped her pay her school fees and now was pressuring her to have intercourse by threatening to beat her up unless she paid him back. A SCOM counselor asked her how much would it cost to pay him back what he had given so she could be free. She did some figuring and said 2850 kwatcha. (That is less than $20.) It was heart breaking to hear!!! This situation is one of thousand of similar situations.
Yet SCOM is in the middle of it trying to save these young women from difficult situation.
Family update:
Jake’s arm is getting better. He was using it to much while we traveled so it was quite swollen when we arrived. We have been keeping in his sling and his swelling has gone down significantly.
My face is still paralyzed on the right side. My speech is challenged so I have to make sure I speak clearly to be understood. I had the opportunity to share with the gathering Saturday and felt I was clear enough. I have been experiencing some pain in the area as it seems the nerves are regenerating. (I think that is what you call it.) Who knows but God. He is in control and we are trusting in Him. He can use us even in our weakness.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Here are a couple of issues. Many students have to walk over an hour to school each day. That means they leave home very early and arrive at school tired. This doesn’t help them perform well at school. Another challenge is that in a study done of 4000 students in 2007 - 31% of students were orphaned and struggled to come up with school fees. Some girls are forced to sell their bodies to come up with their school fees.
One story from the conferences in May, a young girl said her “boyfriend” had helped her pay her school fees and now was pressuring her to have intercourse by threatening to beat her up unless she paid him back. A SCOM counselor asked her how much would it cost to pay him back what he had given so she could be free. She did some figuring and said 2850 kwatcha. (That is less than $20.) It was heart breaking to hear!!! This situation is one of thousand of similar situations.
Yet SCOM is in the middle of it trying to save these young women from difficult situation.
Family update:
Jake’s arm is getting better. He was using it to much while we traveled so it was quite swollen when we arrived. We have been keeping in his sling and his swelling has gone down significantly.
My face is still paralyzed on the right side. My speech is challenged so I have to make sure I speak clearly to be understood. I had the opportunity to share with the gathering Saturday and felt I was clear enough. I have been experiencing some pain in the area as it seems the nerves are regenerating. (I think that is what you call it.) Who knows but God. He is in control and we are trusting in Him. He can use us even in our weakness.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Friday, June 5, 2009
We have arrived
Well it took us two days but we are here. We slept (all of us for 12 hours- Dudley corrected me - I slept for 12 hours and everyone else slept 14 - 16 hours) last night. We have secured housing and will be working to get everything together this weekend. (The house is large but quite dirty.)
I will fill in more in a couple of days.
Thank you for your prayers.
Chris
I will fill in more in a couple of days.
Thank you for your prayers.
Chris
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
off to the airport
Well we are finally in Chicago and on our way to the airport.
1 broken arm - check.
1 paralyzed side of face - check.
4 kids - check.
2 parents - check.
4 bags and 6 back packs - check.
6 passports - check.
Malawi here we come.
Thank you for praying
Chris
1 broken arm - check.
1 paralyzed side of face - check.
4 kids - check.
2 parents - check.
4 bags and 6 back packs - check.
6 passports - check.
Malawi here we come.
Thank you for praying
Chris
Monday, June 1, 2009
Prayer Request
It has been a good and rough few days. Jacob our #2 son broke his arm on Wednesday. He is in a cast and fine.
Friday at dinner I started having twitches on the right side of my face and by Saturday morning I lost movement on the right side of my face. Well the short of it is that I have come down with Bell's Palsy, a condition that causes the facial muscles to weaken or become paralyzed.
It hasn't helped my looks but little could :) Drinking is a bit of a challenge as well as keeping my eye moist (can't blink or close it completely.)
As you can imagine, it isn't the best timing as we leave tomorrow for Malawi. Saturday morning I was reading Phillipians chapter 3 & 4. 4:12 stood out to me.
4:12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
It seems this is a good opportunity to give God praise and learn about contentment. I do ask that you would pray for healing. My speech has been affected since half of my mouth doesn't work at this point. I would love to be able to speak clearly as I have opportunity to preach God's word in Malawi this summer. God knows what is best so would you seek His good and perfect will for us.
Our journey begins Tuesday June 2 at 12:30pm. Malawi here we come. Praise God!!!
Chris
Friday at dinner I started having twitches on the right side of my face and by Saturday morning I lost movement on the right side of my face. Well the short of it is that I have come down with Bell's Palsy, a condition that causes the facial muscles to weaken or become paralyzed.
It hasn't helped my looks but little could :) Drinking is a bit of a challenge as well as keeping my eye moist (can't blink or close it completely.)
As you can imagine, it isn't the best timing as we leave tomorrow for Malawi. Saturday morning I was reading Phillipians chapter 3 & 4. 4:12 stood out to me.
4:12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
It seems this is a good opportunity to give God praise and learn about contentment. I do ask that you would pray for healing. My speech has been affected since half of my mouth doesn't work at this point. I would love to be able to speak clearly as I have opportunity to preach God's word in Malawi this summer. God knows what is best so would you seek His good and perfect will for us.
Our journey begins Tuesday June 2 at 12:30pm. Malawi here we come. Praise God!!!
Chris
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