Arrived in Chicago safely and on our way home. Thank God for safe travel.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Arrival in Paris
We arrived here safely. Everyone is tired but glad to shower and we will head into the city for our retreats of silence this afternoon.
Please pray for our process time and for fun in a new city.
Thank you for your prayers
Chris
Please pray for our process time and for fun in a new city.
Thank you for your prayers
Chris
Thursday, July 12, 2012
WE ARE IN KENYA
We have made it to Kenya. we have a 6 hour layover and then we will be on our way to Paris.
Praise God for safe travel.
Please pray for our debriefing.
Chris
Praise God for safe travel.
Please pray for our debriefing.
Chris
Turning toward home
Friends,
This morning we say goodbye to our friends here in Malawi as we head to the airport. It is with joy and tears we say goodbye.
We will arrive in Kenya this afternoon and then we fly through the night to Paris. We will be staying in Paris for the weekend to process our summer and then we fly to O'hare Monday.
Please pray for God to give us safety as we travel and to help our team process and commit to what he is calling us to do
Thank you
This morning we say goodbye to our friends here in Malawi as we head to the airport. It is with joy and tears we say goodbye.
We will arrive in Kenya this afternoon and then we fly through the night to Paris. We will be staying in Paris for the weekend to process our summer and then we fly to O'hare Monday.
Please pray for God to give us safety as we travel and to help our team process and commit to what he is calling us to do
Thank you
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Fun at the “Nyanja” (Lake)
This past Friday, July 6th, our team left for Salima, a town near Lake Malawi for a leadership retreat. This included 15 Malawian students, 2 SCOM staff workers, SCOM graduates from the Salima area that are part of the associates team whom help support the ministry and our friends Freddy and Delore from the refugee camp. The weekend was filled with leadership training for the SCOM students, empowering them to be leaders through a Godly perspective at their schools and eventually of their nation. What I thought was especially helpful about this training is the inclusion and importance of women in leadership and they play a crucial role. Historically, mainly men have held leadership positions in SCOM, so it is an important effort to empower women to take those roles.
You might be asking why Delor and Freddy joined us for the weekend, since they are not a part of SCOM. On Friday night, 7/6, Freddy was able to share with the SCOM students the work he is doing in the refugee camp. Afterwards, there was a lot of discussion of how the SCOM students could practically help the refugees and the ministry there.
The last component of the weekend was introducing manuscript bible study to the SCOM students. This bible study went through Genesis 12-16 looking at the life of Abram/Abraham and was led by Chris. We got to see what it looks like to be a Godly leader and how when matters are taken into your own hands without consulting God, there can be consequences. This bible study proved to be helpful for all in attendance.
Of course this weekend was not all bible study and seminars; we had a ton of fun also. Between swimming in the lake and teaching some of our Malawian friends to swim, relaxing in the hammocks and playing in the sand, we formed good friendships with each other and got to share our testimonies of God’s goodness. This weekend was defiantly a personal highlight of the trip because of the interactions we were able to have with the SCOM students allowing us to grow in friendship with our Malawi brothers and sisters.
Prayer requests-
-Pray that the SCOM students can be used to make a difference at the refugee camp through the love of Christ.
-Pray that the leadership training will prompt all in attendance to make a difference in their community, country and possibly the world through Christ-centered leadership.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Blog post by Luke Erickson
Sunday was a very good, very tough, very eye-opening day for me. We went to the refugee camp in Dowa which is about a 45 minute drive from where we are staying in Lilongwe. This is the second time we had been there, but the first time was just for an afternoon visit and we didn’t really see much of the camp in depth. That day was spent visiting the villages around the camp that the refugees were helping by building churches for them or providing goats and/or pigs to provide a source of food and economic aid. This time we went to the camp for church and then went around and visited the homes of a few of the refugees as well as the place where the feeding program was based out of.
The church service was a very new, but great experience. People were incredibly warm in greeting us, and were incredibly joyful in their worship. A flat tire on the way caused us to be about a half-hour late, but unlike most of the American church services that I’m used to back home, that half hour was only a small piece of the service. There were several different groups of people that came up to sing and dance. Our team performed by far the 2 shortest songs of the service and then Chris was invited to come and preach. The sermon, on Isaiah 6, was a great encouragement to the people there as the pastor told afterward. I think he did a great job of not just focusing on Isaiah’s call in verse 8, but the verses that follow that focus on how difficult his call will be. The service didn’t seem like it lasted 3 and a half hours, probably because of the incredibly joy that everyone had in worshipping the Lord.
After the worship service, we went to several different places on our “tour” of the village. It was fascinating to see many of the homes of the refugees, but what I enjoyed the most was seeing the feeding program. The feeding program was started by two men named De’lor & Freddy, two refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was originally just for kids in the camp with special needs, but expanded to helping widows, orphans, and those battling HIV/Aids in the camp. Each morning as many as 42 kids with varying degrees of intellectual disabilities come to this building to be cared for by volunteers (other refugees) and receive two meals. Not only that, but Freddy routinely advocates for these children by going into the homes of the children and helping them see that there is no shame in having a child with special needs. You see often when the group that oversees the camp would go in and take a census of the camp, many parents of children with special needs would say they have 4 children when they actually have 5. They would hide these children and wouldn’t care for them in the ways that they need. Freddy not only helps these children see themselves the way that God sees them, but also helps their families see them the way that God sees them.
Visiting this place really touched me and convicted me, especially seeing what Freddy and De’lor do. Here are two men who were forced from their homelands, not “allowed” to work (camp regulations), given little food rations each month (I don’t know how they survive on 7 kilograms of maze, 1 kilo of beans, and 50 mL of oil), yet in spite of all of this, they work tirelessly to care for people who otherwise wouldn’t be cared for. That is the gospel. As James 1:27 tells us that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” That is what Freddy & De’lor are doing, and what am I doing? That is what hit me the hardest. They have several ways that we can help advocate for them including buying some greeting cards that they produce there to help with some of the expenses they have. Still, the biggest take away I have is how much I live for myself as opposed to living for others the way that Paul commands us to in Philippians. I hope to better emulate Christ when I return the way that Freddy, De’lor and so many of the rest of these refugees do.
Zomba blog post by Colin Hale
Hello everyone,
We had some both interesting and amazing moments this weekend. We began by making the 6 hour trip from Lilongwe to Zomba, to meet with the students of Domasi Teaching College and Chancellor’s College. We arrived in time to join worship at the Domasi service. Following worship Moriah shared her testimony and Jenny preached out of Hebrews 11. Both the testimony and preaching were extremely encouraging. The preaching specifically showed us the faith of the Old Testament patriarchs, and how we fit into the continuing line of Christians, as well our call to also walk in faith. The meeting ended by the patron (faculty representative of SCOM) giving our team words of encouragement, that what we are doing here in Malawi is truly God’s work. After staying the night in a hostel, we got up and met with the leadership teams of Domasi and Chancellor’s Colleges. Inside these meetings the teams told us all the parts of their ministry that were both challenging and excelling. Some things that were challenging to these students were changing venues for their services, how to start or continue reaching to incoming students more effectively and because of the distance for staff to travel they require more presence from the associates and regional committees. The travel itself was extremely trying, due to poor road surfaces vehicle maintenance is require often, and for long trips break downs are a frequent occurrence. Our vehicle experienced this reality, as we were stopped for nearly an hour fixing a tire that had fallen off, by God’s provision the incident occurred in a village of people that were willing to assist us repair the wheel.
Some of our prayer requests are for continued safety in traveling, for the associates program of SCOM to increase to continue providing for the ministry, along with the associates please include a prayer of thanks for the associates that are present and constantly sacrificing for the ministry.
God Bless.
We had some both interesting and amazing moments this weekend. We began by making the 6 hour trip from Lilongwe to Zomba, to meet with the students of Domasi Teaching College and Chancellor’s College. We arrived in time to join worship at the Domasi service. Following worship Moriah shared her testimony and Jenny preached out of Hebrews 11. Both the testimony and preaching were extremely encouraging. The preaching specifically showed us the faith of the Old Testament patriarchs, and how we fit into the continuing line of Christians, as well our call to also walk in faith. The meeting ended by the patron (faculty representative of SCOM) giving our team words of encouragement, that what we are doing here in Malawi is truly God’s work. After staying the night in a hostel, we got up and met with the leadership teams of Domasi and Chancellor’s Colleges. Inside these meetings the teams told us all the parts of their ministry that were both challenging and excelling. Some things that were challenging to these students were changing venues for their services, how to start or continue reaching to incoming students more effectively and because of the distance for staff to travel they require more presence from the associates and regional committees. The travel itself was extremely trying, due to poor road surfaces vehicle maintenance is require often, and for long trips break downs are a frequent occurrence. Our vehicle experienced this reality, as we were stopped for nearly an hour fixing a tire that had fallen off, by God’s provision the incident occurred in a village of people that were willing to assist us repair the wheel.
Some of our prayer requests are for continued safety in traveling, for the associates program of SCOM to increase to continue providing for the ministry, along with the associates please include a prayer of thanks for the associates that are present and constantly sacrificing for the ministry.
God Bless.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
What Kind of “Azungu” Are You?
Oh hey! This update from Malawi is brought to you by Nate VanDyke.
I apologize in advance—I don’t quite know what the structure of these blog posts has been thus far. So I’m just going to roll on and tell you what was going through my mind as we were in and around the refugee camp outside Lilongwe today.
[Events that will be left out include: Yesterday’s return to Bunda College, where Steve shared his testimony; the joy of children’s faces at the sight of a red balloon; our car being approached on the street where Steve was asked “What kind of Azungu (Chichewa word for “White Person”) are you?; enjoying the sweet nectar of Passion Fanta after a long day].
Alright, commence train of thought:
After arriving at the refugee camp, we were taken to meet the pastor of Emmanuel Full Gospel church. After speaking with the pastor of the church for about 20 minutes, he led us on a 45 minute car ride through the Malawian villages to see some of the things the church was doing. When we arrived at our destination, we saw a half finished building being put up to serve the orphans in that village. And then we got back in the truck and started heading off.
And all I could think is “Why?”
Why would we drive for 45 minutes to see a place for 5 minutes? What’s the point of going all this way to see a half finished building? How was this worth the trip?
And then I thought about what that building was. What that building represented.
That building was an act of service from a group of people with few resources and no country to meet the needs of villages and people that are not their own.
And that blew me away.
From that first village, we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. All set up by these refugees to meet the needs of the people around them.
When we got back, we heard more from the pastor of the church. The vision of this church of refugees is far more than orphan programs. They are planting churches in villages, not towns or cities, so people without access to the Gospel through radio or television can hear the Good news.
Then Luke asked how many other places they had planted churches in. And the answer came in names of countries, not villages. These people are planting churches in three to four countries, and the mother church is in the middle of a refugee camp.
As Chris said, these people make life work in a place where most of us would struggle. But they also see and respond to the needs of those around them.
End train of thought. I apologize if this was a touch long or was hard to follow.
Prayer Requests:
_Travel mercies as we head to Zomba for the weekend. It’s a 4-5 hour trip and figuring out transport has been somewhat of an obstacle thus far.
_Good health for all of us.
_Eyes to see what God is trying to show us, as well as his continued provision and support.
I apologize in advance—I don’t quite know what the structure of these blog posts has been thus far. So I’m just going to roll on and tell you what was going through my mind as we were in and around the refugee camp outside Lilongwe today.
[Events that will be left out include: Yesterday’s return to Bunda College, where Steve shared his testimony; the joy of children’s faces at the sight of a red balloon; our car being approached on the street where Steve was asked “What kind of Azungu (Chichewa word for “White Person”) are you?; enjoying the sweet nectar of Passion Fanta after a long day].
Alright, commence train of thought:
After arriving at the refugee camp, we were taken to meet the pastor of Emmanuel Full Gospel church. After speaking with the pastor of the church for about 20 minutes, he led us on a 45 minute car ride through the Malawian villages to see some of the things the church was doing. When we arrived at our destination, we saw a half finished building being put up to serve the orphans in that village. And then we got back in the truck and started heading off.
And all I could think is “Why?”
Why would we drive for 45 minutes to see a place for 5 minutes? What’s the point of going all this way to see a half finished building? How was this worth the trip?
And then I thought about what that building was. What that building represented.
That building was an act of service from a group of people with few resources and no country to meet the needs of villages and people that are not their own.
And that blew me away.
From that first village, we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. All set up by these refugees to meet the needs of the people around them.
When we got back, we heard more from the pastor of the church. The vision of this church of refugees is far more than orphan programs. They are planting churches in villages, not towns or cities, so people without access to the Gospel through radio or television can hear the Good news.
Then Luke asked how many other places they had planted churches in. And the answer came in names of countries, not villages. These people are planting churches in three to four countries, and the mother church is in the middle of a refugee camp.
As Chris said, these people make life work in a place where most of us would struggle. But they also see and respond to the needs of those around them.
End train of thought. I apologize if this was a touch long or was hard to follow.
Prayer Requests:
_Travel mercies as we head to Zomba for the weekend. It’s a 4-5 hour trip and figuring out transport has been somewhat of an obstacle thus far.
_Good health for all of us.
_Eyes to see what God is trying to show us, as well as his continued provision and support.
Hello followers of the blog, this is Moriah updating you on our trip!
On Monday (the 25th) we went to a ministry called Children of the Nation. It is a ministry that helps both orphans and widows. The kids get one meal a day and we got to serve them for that meal. Although we saw a lot of smiles and joy in some of the faces we also saw a lot of sadness and hopelessness. As a team it was very hard to see that kind of brokenness, and although it’s the reality of life, it was hard. Although it was difficult to see, we also saw God working in that ministry. It is a ministry that has grown, and hopefully will continue to grow over the years so it can help more children.
We thank you for your constant prayers and support for this trip, here are a few more things that you could be praying for:
- Continual growth and development as a team
- That our van can get fixed! Transportation has been a bit of a problem so far and if we got our van fixed that would help out a lot! Some of our plans depend on this!
- For God’s continual provision for our team and SCOM
Thanks again, God bless!
--
Hello Brothers & Sisters! I, Rico Johnson, am providing you with another update:
We went to Lilongwe Technical College last night, 26 June 2012, and the service began around 7:30 PM, Malawi time. Our time there was simply amazing! The Spirit of the Lord filled the entire place! Each student warmly welcomed and greeted us with smiles. (Some of them were even giving out hugs!) They would sing praises to the Lord before each time of one-voice prayer. We prayed and praised the Lord three times before the service began! We enjoyed a men’s choir, a woman’s solo, and there was a praise team transitioning each event. Our team had a chance to sing a few songs, share testimonies, and preach. (I shared my testimony!) It was a huge blessing to see the student’s faces light up with Kool-aid smiles when we sang a song in Chichewa (their local language)!!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for SCOM leadership and organizational development
- Pray for the students of Malawi to experience more provision from the Lord
- Pray that our team might experience deepening relationships with one another.
Burdened for Christ,
Rico
On Monday (the 25th) we went to a ministry called Children of the Nation. It is a ministry that helps both orphans and widows. The kids get one meal a day and we got to serve them for that meal. Although we saw a lot of smiles and joy in some of the faces we also saw a lot of sadness and hopelessness. As a team it was very hard to see that kind of brokenness, and although it’s the reality of life, it was hard. Although it was difficult to see, we also saw God working in that ministry. It is a ministry that has grown, and hopefully will continue to grow over the years so it can help more children.
We thank you for your constant prayers and support for this trip, here are a few more things that you could be praying for:
- Continual growth and development as a team
- That our van can get fixed! Transportation has been a bit of a problem so far and if we got our van fixed that would help out a lot! Some of our plans depend on this!
- For God’s continual provision for our team and SCOM
Thanks again, God bless!
--
Hello Brothers & Sisters! I, Rico Johnson, am providing you with another update:
We went to Lilongwe Technical College last night, 26 June 2012, and the service began around 7:30 PM, Malawi time. Our time there was simply amazing! The Spirit of the Lord filled the entire place! Each student warmly welcomed and greeted us with smiles. (Some of them were even giving out hugs!) They would sing praises to the Lord before each time of one-voice prayer. We prayed and praised the Lord three times before the service began! We enjoyed a men’s choir, a woman’s solo, and there was a praise team transitioning each event. Our team had a chance to sing a few songs, share testimonies, and preach. (I shared my testimony!) It was a huge blessing to see the student’s faces light up with Kool-aid smiles when we sang a song in Chichewa (their local language)!!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for SCOM leadership and organizational development
- Pray for the students of Malawi to experience more provision from the Lord
- Pray that our team might experience deepening relationships with one another.
Burdened for Christ,
Rico
Monday, June 25, 2012
Visiting Colleges
Muli Bwanji? (How are you?) Grace and peace to you. This is Steven writing to update you, our faithful supporters, on our time here in Lilongwe.
On Thursday, we had a wonderful time visiting a Malawi technical school about 20 kilometers from our place of residence. The students graciously greeted us with warm smiles and Malawian handshakes as we arrived later than expected. Payton shared a message on the book of Jonah, urging us to reach out to the seemingly unreachable students on our respective campuses. Nate gave a powerful testimony about how he started taking his faith seriously when God gave his family an extremely sad and unexpected trial. The Malawian students and our team were mutually encouraged by one another’s faith in Jesus Christ as we worshipped together.
The next day, we visited Bunda College of Agriculture near Lilongwe. SCOM hosted a day of fun activities for the campus to enjoy, including a Gospel Show at night. We played all sorts of games and sports with the students (soccer, basketball, triple jump, high jump, musical chairs, sack race, to name a few…). Throughout the day, we got to have incredibly fruitful and encouraging conversations with a number of Bunda College students about their purpose in college and their faith in God. Many students go to school SO THAT they may bring what they learn back to their hometown to enable and strengthen the local community and economy. Quite different from the American culture of almost going to college “because that’s what you do.” Our team was greatly blessed by these conversations.
On Sunday, we started our day of rest by attending worship service with hundreds of believers on at Capital City Baptist Church right across the street. It was an awesome experience worshiping with God’s people in a different cultural context.
Today, we will visit a local orphanage not far from where we are staying. Chris warned us beforehand, “Just know that your heart is going to be broken.” Brothers and sisters, I ask you on behalf of our team that you would continue to pray for us in the following ways:
1. That God would break our hearts for what breaks His.
2. That our team would enjoy His abundant provision in terms of health, nourishment, and rest.
3. That our eyes and ears would be opened to see and hear God across circumstances.
4. That we would break down our own cultural and social barriers to boldly approach more Malawian students in the sharing of God’s love.
5. Finally, that when we continue to face spiritual challenges, by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we would succeed and grow as a community of believers as well as individual men and women of God.
We thank you again for your faithful support. God is strengthening us through your prayers.
In Christ alone,
Steven
On Thursday, we had a wonderful time visiting a Malawi technical school about 20 kilometers from our place of residence. The students graciously greeted us with warm smiles and Malawian handshakes as we arrived later than expected. Payton shared a message on the book of Jonah, urging us to reach out to the seemingly unreachable students on our respective campuses. Nate gave a powerful testimony about how he started taking his faith seriously when God gave his family an extremely sad and unexpected trial. The Malawian students and our team were mutually encouraged by one another’s faith in Jesus Christ as we worshipped together.
The next day, we visited Bunda College of Agriculture near Lilongwe. SCOM hosted a day of fun activities for the campus to enjoy, including a Gospel Show at night. We played all sorts of games and sports with the students (soccer, basketball, triple jump, high jump, musical chairs, sack race, to name a few…). Throughout the day, we got to have incredibly fruitful and encouraging conversations with a number of Bunda College students about their purpose in college and their faith in God. Many students go to school SO THAT they may bring what they learn back to their hometown to enable and strengthen the local community and economy. Quite different from the American culture of almost going to college “because that’s what you do.” Our team was greatly blessed by these conversations.
On Sunday, we started our day of rest by attending worship service with hundreds of believers on at Capital City Baptist Church right across the street. It was an awesome experience worshiping with God’s people in a different cultural context.
Today, we will visit a local orphanage not far from where we are staying. Chris warned us beforehand, “Just know that your heart is going to be broken.” Brothers and sisters, I ask you on behalf of our team that you would continue to pray for us in the following ways:
1. That God would break our hearts for what breaks His.
2. That our team would enjoy His abundant provision in terms of health, nourishment, and rest.
3. That our eyes and ears would be opened to see and hear God across circumstances.
4. That we would break down our own cultural and social barriers to boldly approach more Malawian students in the sharing of God’s love.
5. Finally, that when we continue to face spiritual challenges, by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we would succeed and grow as a community of believers as well as individual men and women of God.
We thank you again for your faithful support. God is strengthening us through your prayers.
In Christ alone,
Steven
Friday, June 22, 2012
Arrived in Malawi
After 40 hours of travel, we made it to Malawi. Everyone was exhausted when we arrived, most of us fell asleep by 4 in the afternoon. Yesterday we went to a worship gathering at the Kamuzu College of Nursing. We enjoyed the fellowship and Bible study together. Moriah and Colin shared some of their testimony. Both our team and the Malawi students were blessed by our time togther.
We are going to Namitete Technical College. Payton will be speaking and Nate will share some of his story. Please pray for them.
Tomorrow we will be spending the day at Bunda College. Pray for us to connect quickly with the students and bless them as we spend the day enjoying fellowship and ministering to the campus.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Team going to Malawi
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