Changing Platforms

Hello!
Blogger is a great platform, but I need to change platforms because I need one with an app. As you know, we travel a lot and lose power quite often. During these times I can't post anything from my computer, but now that I have a platform with an app hopefully I'll be able to keep up with blogging much better (if I don't keep up with it, please bug me about it haha).
The new site is https://becomingmzungus.wordpress.com
Thank you for reading!

Our Long List of Projects

Recently things have been picking up with projects that need to be done. B and I are working on translating the hymnal into Chewa, a deacon here is translating booklets into Chewa and Tumbuka (which I then type up on the computer), I'm hoping to finish the camp video by Feast time, and, speaking of the Feast, we're in crunch time to get all the Feast planning done! Along with visits, car work, and housework, we've been rather busy recently.

For the hymnals, so far we have around 15 of them translated, edited, set to music, and printed. There's a small Chichewa hymnal that one of our friend's had, but it had no music notes and a few errors. Brennan and I, using Gimp software, have been taking the music from the English songs, erasing the English words, typing up the Chichewa words, breaking them into syllables to fit with the notes, then taking them to the office to be edited. We have a great edit team- Juliana and Chimwemwe! We'll go into he LifeNets shop for Chimwemwe to read over the song, fix errors, and then sing it to make sure it flows and the words are fitting with the notes properly. Often times, people stop by the shop and ask us to sing more songs because it's rather novel to see two white people singing in Chewa! I am so thankful for Brennan's God-given musical talent- it makes creating the hymnal much easier and faster! 

The Chewa and Tumbuka booklets have been a big desire of mine. I am passionate about languages and making sure information is accessible to everyone (hence why I was studying to be an ASL interpreted), and now we're finally getting the church's study booklets translated into languages that are widely understood across Malawi! Although English is one of Malawi's official languages, it's only really spoken in school (and even that is starting to change; primary schools are stopping English lessons) or government. The average person doesn't speak enough English to understand a doctrinal study paper. It's my goal that when we go out to villages, we can hand out Chewa or Tumbuka booklets, and in the future, even translated Beyond Today magazines! Thankfully we have some very talented translators and a great editing team. 

Summer camp was a blast- I'll upload a blog about it soon. From camp we have so many pictures and videos. I have video editing software on my computer so now I'm working on creating a camp video to show at the Feast! Once it's done I'll try to upload it here too. 

So sorry I've been so absent on the blog. I'm working on getting back into the swing of things. The past few months have been kind of crazy. Not overly busy, but spiritually hectic. The last few months have been a huge growth period that I have struggled through but am incredibly thankful for. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here. God has blessed Brennan and me left and right. We're finally starting to learn how to be joyful through trials because we know what they bring. God is so good, all the time. 

Gule Wamkulu and Minibus Riots

July 6^th is Malawi’s Independence Day so we’ve been able to see some celebrations! On our first drive up to Mzuzu we saw two guys walking barefoot in the bush (I have shoes that can’t handle the bush so I can’t imagine how tough their feet must be) with skull masks, red feather loincloth type things, red feather anklets, and were carrying spears. One member in the car commented that they weren’t humans but animals. That struck me as odd but I didn’t think much about it. On Thursday on our way back home we stopped in Mchinji at the Chapamba’s clinic. While we were leaving, Patricia pointed out a guy (he looked young, maybe around 14) who was wearing a maize bag tied around his head, a large black cloth tied around his face so all we could see were his eyes, no shirt, and had black stripes and dots painted all over him. The rest of him was real ashy. She asked what we’d call him in the States and having no clue what was going on we just assumed crazy. That got his attention (much to my freaked out dismay) and he came over. Patricia gave him some money but didn’t hand it to him. She walked up and set it on the ground a few feet from him then once she backed up he bowed and picked it up. Because he was really ashy, had his face completely covered, and people were scared to go near him I thought that maybe he was leprous or maybe just crazy? But Patricia said that he was an animal and that’s why she couldn’t touch him. Well, I was totally confused and a bit taken back by my friend’s actions so she laughed and explained. Around holidays people will celebrate by dressing up as the Chewa tribe’s Gule Wamkulu dancers and dancing. After she gave him the money he started dancing then another one came over and they danced for a while (the video is on my Facebook page) then got more money and left. So it’s kind of like people dressing up as Native Americans and Pilgrims for Thanksgiving, just two weeks in advance.

            The real Gule Wamkulu dancers are really interesting. The main tribe in the middle of Malawi is the Chewa tribe and the people who we saw on the way to Mzuzu were part of the tribe. When people are dressing up like the dancers around holidays it’s just for fun, but the real dancers do it seriously and wear masks and kick up dirt to hide themselves from evil spirits. If that wasn’t freaky enough for the American me, they’ve also been known to grab people and take them for a while.

            Thursday was an interesting day. A loved member in our congregation is suffering from cancer and the treatments here in Lilongwe aren’t helping to destroy the cancer but rather to make him comfortable. We got him an appointment in a clinic in Zambia so he could get a referral to go to a different Zambian hospital and start getting treatment to destroy the cancer (I still don’t understand the whole process). We drove to the Zambian border where we were told we shouldn’t go through the border but on this dirt road to the left because that was the only way to get to the clinic. We started off and found ourselves on the harshest road we’ve ever been in. Our trusty Bongo hit more than a few rocks and knocked some parts loose. It’s not looking like it's in too good of shape right now! But we eventually got to the clinic, found out we were in Zambia, and everything went rather smoothly from there on out.

            Things have been a bit tense around here. The minibus drivers like to cram their buses as full as possible, which is of course illegal. Recently the cops have been cracking down on overcrowded vehicles and drunk driving. Because of that, the mini bus drivers are not too happy and have been having not so peaceful demonstrations. At least three police stations in Blantyre have been burnt down and minibus drivers have been blocking the roads and charging motorists 500mk (about .80 cents) to pass their barricades. We heard news of demonstrations yesterday and today but they were called off. Thankfully Lilongwe has been peaceful!

Post Office and Visits

We’ve had a nice and productive week! After multiple building committee meetings, traveling, and errands we’re a bit tired but feel pretty productive.

            On Monday after we got back from Blantyre we ran a ton of errands. Monday is starting to become our grocery-shopping day, which I love. It does take most of the day, however, because we make around six stops. Since moving here and seeing all the stores, we’re getting used to which places have the best prices and the best products. Now we go to Food Lovers for meat and potatoes, Shoprite for eggs and coffee, Sana for dried beans, Chipiku for biltong, Game if we need stuff for the house, and anywhere and everywhere for produce. All the roads, except for the few main roads, have little shops set up where people sell (usually) tomatoes, super tiny dried fish, some type of greens, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and short fat cucumbers.

            We had two little neighbor boys, Mohammed who’s 7 and Sean who’s 5. When we came back in June though Mohammed had moved and now Sean is super bored so he spends most of his after school time at our house. Recently he’s become my cooking buddy. We’ve made tortillas, pico de gallo, and cookies so far.

            On Tuesday we went out to eat and Brennan ended up getting food poisoning so we stayed home on Wednesday when Lewis and Lena went down to Mangochi to check out the campsite for summer camp.

            Friday was a nice busy day to lead into the Sabbath. Brennan went to a building committee meeting and I worked in the office on stuff for camp. Then we ran some errand, as usual. Part of our errands included going to the post office. I love talking to the guys who sell stamps outside of the post office—always so nice and helpful, but I’m not a fan of going in. We’re supposed to have a PO box but for some reason no mail was being sent to it so now we go into the post office to get our main. When you walk in you see a bench, three chairs, and four service counters. The two counters farthest from the door have no signs. The third counter has a sign that says, “Counter 14 Acceptance and Delivery of Parcels.” The last counter has a sign that says, “Counter 13 Parcels Acceptance Customs Declaration.” … So we just stand in the shortest line then ask for mail from out PO box. It’s been quite interesting to figure out.

            We had a nice Sabbath! Brennan and the Kachali sister did special music again and then after services we had lots of food and some good fellowship time.

            Sunday we went and visited people! Chimwewe, who works in the LifeNets shop lead us up to the first home (she used to be their neighbor) then after staying there for a while we went and visited her mom. While there we got to meet plenty of neighbors and had lots of laughs. On our way out, their friend made us zingaygay (total guess on the spelling) which are delicious curry battered fried potatoes. So yummy! While visiting the first family we learned more about the strike the teachers are on. Since we’ve been here it seems like the teachers are on strike almost as much as they aren’t. This is because the government isn’t paying them. It’s really frustrating for the teachers, students, and parents; especially in secondary schools where students pay school fees then don’t get taught.

            Today, Monday, was a long day. We arrive at the LifeNets office at around 8:30 for a building committee meeting which was to start at 9:00. Or 11:20. But I got to use that time to finalize the camper and staff application forms for summer camp. The meeting went well (yay!) and the building should be finished by the middle of July (yay again!). Then we did our normal weekly shopping with eight stops and ended with delicious Sana Food Court food.

            It’s been a great week overall! 
We've been having some internet troubles so I'm not able to upload a lot of pictures. I'll try to later.

We're Back!

            We’re back! We landed in Lilongwe on June 1^st and hopped right back into things. This past week has actually been super busy—good way to get over jet lag though.

            On Friday we went to the office where I could pick up the new cash register and we got to catch up with Julie and Chimwewe. After the office we spent most of the day running errands and trying to somewhat fill up our cupboards. However, having no food in the house did give us a good excuse to go to our favorite restaurant—Old DC!

            Our week didn’t get any less busy over the weekend. Saturday was the Sabbath then we observed Pentecost on Sunday. After services on Sunday we had a nice Q and A Bible study and lots of fellowship time. Overall, it was a great and uplifting weekend!

            I feel like I need to explain the Lifenets office and shop a bit. Lifenets is a non profit organization that built a shop and internet café to supply jobs and be a service to the community. Half of the building is an internet café that offeres computer services, photocopying, and a few other office services like lamination and binding. The other half is a mini shop that sells some essentials like body soap, laundry soap, exercise books, and some drinks and food. The Kubiks, who run Lifenets, recently bought a brand new cash register for the shop half to use since the old cash register broke. On Tuesday I finally got it set up and ready to use. Now we have a proper register that even prints receipt—soon we’re going to look like a Shoprite!

            This past Friday we drove down to Blantyre to spend the Sabbath there. We stopped half way between Lilongwe and Blantyre to visit an older couple in the church. Talking with them is always so interesting. They were alive during Malawi’s first president and remember a very different Malawi than the one they live in today. Dr Chilapora studied to become a doctor and the president at that time, wanting to better Malawi, started sending educated people overseas to study more. He lived in France for a couple years and his wife was sent to England to better study nursing. It’s interesting learning about how much Malawi has changed in the past 80 years. The Chilaporas were born in the 20’s and 30’s, over 30 years before Nyasaland gained its independence from England and became the Republic of Malawi. I love getting to visit the Chilaporas—they’re such a loving and wise couple.

            Blantyre was really nice! We were spoiled with our usual Blantyre Mugg and Bean coffee J. Services were great and we had a lot of socialization, snacks, and then a meeting about the soon coming summer camp!

            Sunday morning we drove back to Lilongwe and stopped in Dedza to visit some friends and catch up.

            We had a great week and are back into the swing of things! I've been bad about taking pictures so I'll try to upload some more later.

See you in June

            Sorry I haven’t written anything for a while. This past month has been a bit of a blur. For the last day of Unleavened Bread we traveled up to Mzuzu to psend the Holy Day with the northern congregation. We had a lot of good fellowship time with the Kachali family once again.

            Since the trip up north, Brennan and I have been taking turns being sick so we’ve been kind of out of it. Brennan had an allergic reaction to the repellant used on the mosquito nets in Mzuzu and had a rash break out over his whole body. It took about 4 days to completely heal, but thankfully he’s back to 100%. Inbetween being sick, we’ve been going to the church hall to help with construction—mainly painting and landscaping. However, due to contractor problems, we had to stop the work parties which was a bummer because everyone, especially the youth, were having a lot of fun! Hopefully we’ll be back to working soon. We’re all pretty anxious for the hall to be completed.

            Kiersten, my sister, is graduating and also turning 18 in May, so Brennan and I are going back home for a month long visit. We’re excited to go back but hate to leave our friends and the unfinished hall. Hopefully a lot of progress will be made by the time we’re back.

            I probably won’t post any blogs in May, unless I think of some funny stories from the past few months, but I’ll see you all again in June! 

Back to Chipata!

Going to Chipata, Zambia never fails to inspire me. The Kubiks arrived on Monday then on Wednesday we drove to Chipata so the Kubiks could meet the brethren and see the new church building.

            Before the Kubiks arrived we went to the Zambian high consulate to find out how we could get multiple entry tourist visas. The woman in the embassy told us that they don’t do the visas at the embassy but rather only at the border. Last time we went, the border patrol told us they couldn’t give us the visas, only the embassy could. Eventually we found out that American citizens are eligible for a 3 year multiple entry visa that costs $80. However, you must apply online. We went home and intended to do that but came across problems when we needed to upload our return flight information to complete the application—we were planning on driving, not flying. Then we found that you can get single day visas for only $20. Since we were planning on only going for one day we decided to do that. We couldn’t get those visas online, only at the border. On Thursday when we got to the border we learned that they only issue $20 single day visas between the Zimbabwean and Zambian border—not the Malawian and Zambian border. We could, however, get a single day visa for $50 each. Grr. We had to keep reminding ourselves “it is what it is” because at the end of the day, regardless of what the embassy or immigration website say, the border patrol is always right and the guard with the machine gun will always win.

            Chipata, as usual, was fantastic. I love going there. Filius enjoyed sharing with Mrs. Kubik, the president of Lifenets, how much Lifenets has helped the members there. There’s one woman in the congregation who is a widow and takes care of orphans whose parents had died from AIDS. The past few years there was a bad drought and food shortage so Lifenets sent money for food to the Zambian people. Filius didn’t use the money to buy food but to instead buy seed and soil, and then he distributed the seed and soil to members who were in need. Because of this, the woman who is caring after homeless children has enough food to feed herself and children for the rest of the year. Mr. Filius is such a huge inspiration to me. He loves his people so much and is so humble.

            The Chipata church hall has been updated since we were last there—new curtains, the stage was painted, and the signs were put up. The hall is far out of town and surrounded by members’ maize fields giving it a beautiful and peaceful atmosphere. After the talks, we had a tour through some of the fields, to the hand dug well (these hand dug wells terrify me), and then lunch! It really was such a great time.

            We got back home with our hearts filled to the brim. Our God is so great. I was continually reminded of the parable with the servants who were given talents. When their master returned and saw the ones who multiplied their talents he gave them even more to rule over. Mr. Filius started a radio program with an amazing heart, and through that he preached the gospel and God called many people. Then there was a food shortage and the congregation was blessed with money for food but Filius saw that the food was a temporary solution that would last for only a few months so he decided to create a sustainable solution and helped members grow maize. When we were in Chipata he asked Lifenets for support. Not financial support, but for spiritual and moral support. Visiting that congregation always leaves my heart full and inspired.

 Mr. Kubik talking about God's blessings in the Chipata hall.

 Viewing the fields and well!

 Listening to stories

 Talented family wrote a song for the Kubiks

Mrs. Kubik talking about Lifenets