Jacob's Funeral

Thought I would share the experience we had at little Jacob’s funeral.  The planning for such an event is somewhat chaotic, due to poor communications, no money and an urgency to get the job done since there is no embalming or other preservation of the body.  I got a call about 8 o’clock at night that the funeral was scheduled to be the next morning about 9 am.  Lisa and I had both decided that we should both be there as well as Jared and Kris.  We left the little ones at friends since we also were transporting 7 of the caregivers.  We arrived at the village and walked to the hut where the body was being kept and the ladies immediately broke into singing hymns.  There’s just something about African singing when done right that is very beautiful even though I can only catch a few of the words.  We were given chairs to sit on (guest of honor treatment) and waited for a while.  Lisa went into the hut with the other ladies, who were still singing and I stayed outside with the few men that were there.  In the hut was the casket surrounded by the female family members, our nannies and other village women. The young man who was helping organize things and spoke good English told me we were waiting for the transport (pickup) to carry the coffin to the graveyard and the preacher to get started.  So we waited some more (more beautiful hymns) and after a while he came back and asked if I would mind doing the speaking, since we hadn’t seen the preacher yet and he was “begged” to come.  I said sure and got my little pocket bible (courtesy of the Hainline family) out and tried to search for a few verses.  After a bit, the preacher showed up, but offered to be my interpreter.  Turns out he is a Nazarene minister and the nephew of one of our caregivers, who is also from the same village.  So I offered a few verses explaining Jesus love for little children (Matthew 19:14), God’s sovereignty over all (Romans 8:28) and the glory of being present with the Lord when absent from the body (2 Corinthians 5).  I wanted to make the point that being dead and with the Lord really is better than being alive, even though we can’t seem to understand it when it comes.  I then gave a short gospel presentation, asking if each one of them knew where they were going when they died.  I offered my own conversion at a funeral as an example of the good that can come from death. 

 

We then tried to fit 15 people into the Landcruiser to go to the graveyard which was about 2 miles away.  Most of the funeral party walked while we drove at the same speed.  At the gravesite, I offered another short message about the body fading as the grass, but the word of the Lord enduring forever and our hope of eternal life through Jesus.  After the casket is covered, beautiful homemade wreaths were placed on the grave by those of importance in the life of the baby- close relatives, village headman, and Lisa and I.  All in all it was a good experience and we were both glad we attended.  I hope that God sees fit to bring the knowledge of the Savior to those who are lost that may have heard.

 

 

Andy

 

A Baby is with Jesus

It is with much sadness that I tell you that Jacob died last night.  He was abandoned by his mother at 6 weeks and had been with us for 2 months.  He was our most fragile baby and became sick very easily.  Last night he died in our arms.  Andy performed CPR all the way to the hospital but there was no hope.  We are heartbroken and yet we are so thankful that we could care for him for a short while and that now he is with Jesus.

Please pray for my nannies as they are heartbroken as well.  To them, he was their baby too.  Pray for us that we can show them the hope that is in Jesus and the peace that can be theirs in Him as they will mourn and do things that are superstitious because of his death.

    Lisa

 

 

Just a little picture of what we do on Saturday nights around here. Of course it’s pretty hot and dusty, so a nice bath really refreshes you. Here’s the tub just before jumping in yesterday. Actually, we had a short power outage, which also takes out the water plant near us. Normally it comes back on with the electricity, but last night the water seemed to go nearly dry even after the power came back. Then, when pressure finally comes back, the insides of all the rusty, dirty pipes comes off and this is what you get. Luckily it only looks this way for a couple of hours after the water comes back on.

Andy

Life These Days

I don’t have any exciting news so I thought I would just give you a glimpse of our life these days.

Life in the nursery has calmed down quite a bit.  We have 7 babies and haven’t gotten any more since the first of October.  We have room for 2 more but we know that it’s just a matter of time before we get more.  It was a scramble at the beginning as we were getting babies faster than we could get cribs made.  Ten nannies have been hired and trained with only 1 that needed to be let go and one is only used for fill in.  We have 2 nannies on each 12 hour shift.  They work 3 days on then 3 off, 4 days on then 4 off.  They work long hours when they work but it averages out to 42 hours a week.  They all seem to enjoy working here and so far I have been very pleased. 

I had been thinking about having a devotional time during shift change but was unsure how they would feel.  Most attend church so I was hoping that they wouldn’t mind.  A few days later, Monica one of my nannies asked if we could start each day with devotions as it was not always easy caring for the babies.  Needless to say I was thrilled.  So at the morning shift change I read a few scriptures with a short discussion (as I’m not sure how much they understand) then I pray and sometimes one of the ladies will pray in Tumbuka.  We also pray at the evening shift change.  It seems to set the tone of the day as they are seeing that this isn’t just a job but a ministry for them too.

The days when the babies were crying all the time has long gone.  All the babies have adjusted and just cry over the usual things—wet diaper, hungry or just want to be held.  Most of the time when I go into the nursery the babies are sleeping or lying on the floor while the ladies are folding clothes.  We have our usual 3-4 pm crying session which happens most days but it’s no different than when my children were little.  It seemed that the time you wanted to start getting dinner ready the baby would cry and be fussy.  I guess it’s universal. 

I never considered myself a “baby” person but I sure love these guys.  It is a treat to walk into the nursery and hold a baby whenever I want.  I’m sure that fact that someone else does most of the work like washing out diapers helps my attitude.  Actually most of my nannies won’t let me change the nappies.  I am more than willing to but when I put a baby on the changing table they jump up and finish it.  There is definitely a distinction in boss and worker here and they consider it a dishonor for me to do their job.  They will call one of the kids to take a baby so they can cook or wash up but they would never call me.  I have to explain to them that these babies are my babies too.

The ladies have become quite possessive of their babies.  I have assigned nannies to a room so they are responsible for certain children.  When we get new clothes and I ask who the clothes will fit they will argue over who gets it even if it’s obvious that it won’t fit their baby.  I have tried to explain that girls wear pink so Leya’s mamas let everyone know that any clothes or blankets that are pink belong to her.  It is done very good naturedly but sometimes I wonder.  I told Leya’s mamas that she was going to be adopted and they were heartbroken.  One said, “Not my daughter.” 

We are continuing to proceed with Leya’s adoption.  The social service worker from Mzuzu is going to Blantyre next week to conduct the home study.  Once the home study is complete and the worker approves the family then they can foster her until the adoption is final.  Since the family is leaving the country permanently in March we are trying to ensure that this process moves along quickly.  We’ll have to pray for girls as my nannies want more girls.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and it feels weird as we have none of the usual reminders that we do at home.  The weather is warm; no calls from family as we coordinate the meal.  We are going to Paul & Joanne Pascoe’s home to celebrate Thanksgiving with the few Americans in town.  The next time I go home, I’m bringing back some cranberry sauce, olives, pickles, and canned pumpkin in my suitcase.  They have pumpkin here but not in the can and it just doesn’t taste the same to me.  I would have thought it silly to pack them before but know I realize how important little things are.  I did find some cream cheese in Lilongwe last week and paid an outrageous price but I wanted to make a cheesecake for Thanksgiving.  They were selling strawberries on the street so I bought them so we will have a cheesecake with strawberries just like home. 

 

 

 

 

Faith and Thanksgiving

We have had many people say what an example of faith we are to them and for that we are thankful.  We want our lives to be a testimony to God and we want Him to get ALL the glory.  What we don’t want is for people to think that we are something special and have the kind of faith that they could never have.  For those of us that profess to be followers of Christ, obedience is something that must be a part of our Christian life but we need to remember that obedience doesn’t always mean that we feel like doing what God has called us to do or that we are excited about it.  Obedience isn’t based on our feelings but is what we do because God only wants our best.  I don’t believe that most Christians truly think that God knows best.  If we did we wouldn’t hesitate when God calls.  We must remember that “…the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Here is an excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers:

“Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides—He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Cor. 1:30).  How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God? We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!”

As I read this passage this morning I was humbled to say the least.  We may be in Africa doing what God has called us to do but our faith compared to the above statement is very small.  We grumble and complain way too much and most days would like to come home.  We miss our family, my children miss their friends, and we struggle with the Malawians that we must deal with and the differences in culture.  There are many days when we are glad that no one is here to hear and see us.  Sadly, the Lord is always here and must just shake His head at our attitudes.  HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME!!  He didn’t hold back anything.  He left the right hand of God to be born in a manger, live as a human in a poor family and willing die on a cross for ME and YOU because of his great love for us.  Yet I still grumble.

Oswald Chambers goes on to say, “Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.”  As I reflected on the last comment, I realized how different my attitude would be if I had just an ounce of praise for what God has done in my life and what he continues to do.  I also believe that I would be much more effective for the kingdom of God because my eyes would be on Him not on my circumstances.  Since this is Thanksgiving week for those of you in the states, why don’t we all try to thank Him for his incredible goodness to us and just maybe we can continue that thankfulness even when Thanksgiving is gone. 

 

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.   Hebrews 11:6

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Hebrews 12: 2-3

            Lisa

Herbs

I (Lisa) had been interested in alternative medicine for a while, but was never sure where to begin until I started getting Mike & Debi Pearl’s newsletter, No Greater Joy, (nogreaterjoy.org) and reading how they used herbs in their family. They recommended books which I bought and read. About that time we relocated to White Salmon, Wa. and I met many people who were already using herbs. I started purchasing herbs from bulkherbstore.com and making some basic remedies for colds and such. Living near Hood River, Oregon also had many advantages as that area is very open to alternative medicine and organic foods.

We are not adverse to using drugs but we have seen how well herbs work on a lot of sicknesses. We have also been amazed to learn that most drugs are the synthetic versions of the active ingredients in herbs. We became convinced of their usefulness with our daughter Sarah. She seems to get sick very easily and can go from bad to worse in no time. She has exceptionally large tonsils and gets tonsillitis a lot. The first time she was so bad that she could hardly swallow, couldn’t eat so she was losing weight and I was getting worried. I took her to the doctor who prescribed antibiotics and she did get better. I decided to do research so that the next time we could try herbs first and maybe not need the antibiotics. The next time she was sick I was ready and started using herbs vigorously and we haven’t had to take her to the doctor since.

Before coming to Malawi, I spent months reading, searching the internet and praying for wisdom to find the herbs that I would need most. Since I didn’t want to have to take my children to a doctor here unless it was life threatening, I wanted to be prepared to treat my own family and I had hoped to help the nationals that worked for us too. I made numerous combinations of herbs and most I made into a tincture. I made quite a few herbal salves because I knew that skin problems were common here and also wanted something for bug bites. I’m sure there were many people who thought I was a little weird but I didn’t really care as my family’s well being was most important.

Even though I’m a believer in herbs I have been amazed at how well they work on my babies and the Malawian people. They have worked so well that my nannies asked me if I was trained as a nurse or a doctor. I just had to laugh because I have no training at all except what the Lord has given me and what I have read from books. It just goes to show that God is truly the Great Physician and all wisdom comes from him. Here are some examples of how they’ve worked:

- One of my night nannies was sick for 3 days due to dysentery. I made her a strong tea of herbs and by the next day she was well.

- One of my babies had a severe diaper rash that appeared to be caused by a yeast infection and others were starting to get it. I made an herbal salve and within a few days it was gone.

- severe shoulder pain that was helped

- teas for colds seem to work faster and better on the nationals than on my family

- a baby had an swollen, red spot on his private part and after putting an herbal salve on it was gone within an hour

This blog is getting too long and I could go on but I just wanted to share my excitement with all of you at how well herbs are working here in Malawi. I can give God all the credit as He created the herbs that I use. If you want more specific information on what herbs I used you can email me and I will be glad to share my recipes with you.



Lisa

p.s. these are my views only so please don’t use this forum to debate the points that I am making as I know that not all agree with me J

The Forbidden Topic

It is with great hesitation that I address the following topic that relates to our ministry- the financial end. The first thing that needs to be said is that this is NOT a request for funding in any way, shape or form. Our belief is that we have been blessed with circumstances that enable us to be self-funded in what we do in Malawi. I firmly believe that God will provide whatever we need in a monetary way regardless of whether we advertise, request, pander or otherwise make known some particular need. All the money in the world is His and He will spend it where He sees fit.

With that said, there have been some who are interested in becoming involved in what we do by donating funds to assist our cause. At the present time there is only one simple way to do that, which is to mail a check to our U.S. address made out to Andy Langdon and it will be deposited into our checking account by the person who takes care of our mail and financial things back home. This is strictly a gift to us, we are not a tax exempt organization so you will not be able to write it off on your taxes and you are relying on us to be forthright in how it is spent. If you have a certain area that you would like to support such as food or clothing for the children, then please specify and we will do our best to make sure it goes there. The second (and tax deductible) way to get funds to us is through Ministry of Hope, our “parent organization.” This is more complicated, because at the present they don’t provide financial backing, only logistical and spiritual support. If you donate through them you will need to specify the donation is for the Crisis Nursery in Mzuzu, and then we will have to work out with them how the funds get transferred. A third way is being developed which would be a debit account through a good friend of ours that is affiliated with a church in Richland, Washington. More details on this means will be provided when it comes into being.

Thank you all for your support and prayers.

The current contact addresses are:

Andy Langdon

PO Box 891

White Salmon, WA 98672

alangdon[at]africa-online.net

(non tax deductible)

Ministry of Hope - USA
231 Ponderosa Drive
Swannanoa, NC 28778
USA
Phone: 828-298-9739
Contact: Rex Hoffman –

rhoffman[at]ministryofhope.org

(tax deductible)

(note- the @ sign in the email addresses above has been replaced with [at] as an anti-spam measure; when you use them put it back in)

Andy

The Suburbs (or into the bush)

Today I got my scouting badge.  It was time to do follow up with the family of little Leya, the month old baby girl.  Since a family is interested in adopting, we need to determine if Leya’s family will allow her to be adopted.  I picked up the social worker at his office about 8 a.m. and off we went.  We took a road I knew that was on the outskirts of town, this was going to be a quick trip I thought.  We followed the road as it became more and more sketchy and further into the boonies.  After about 10 km, we reached a village with a school.  Our arrival prompted all the children in the area to come running like we were really special.  We stopped to ask directions (I did the stopping, the social worker did the asking) since a school was the only landmark we had to go on to find the aunt who had been guardian.  The directions were that this wasn’t the right school and we needed to go further.  There was a lady with a parcel on her head who wanted a ride, so we loaded her up and off we went.  She was somehow a shirttail relative of the lady we were seeking and knew the way.  We went on another 5 km or so as the road continued to get narrower and more rutted.  I only had to use 4-low a couple of times to get up steep rutted pitches.  Finally we came to the intersection with a foot path and that was where the driving ended.  We all took off down the footpath and after a half km or so we came to a junction and the lady dropped her bundle and told us to follow ahead.  We went a few hundred yards and she pointed out a couple of houses on a ridge top about another half km away.  We struck out and were soon there, although the only ones around were children.  A short discussion revealed the mom was down in the canyon getting water.  After a bit she returned and we found that the aunt we were looking for had gone back to her village about an hour and a half away (by foot).  We discussed the situation of Leya and it was decided to summon an uncle who lived a short distance away.  Off went one of the kids to fetch him.  After a bit another set of women showed up from the opposite direction (more relatives) for more discussion.  They agreed they needed the men involved to make any sort of commitment, so it was agreed they would discuss the situation and send someone to town with the findings.  About that time, a man showed up from the direction the child had gone to fetch.  A few minutes later an older man appeared who turned out to be the village headman.  He spoke fine English, and told me I needed to learn the local language.  More discussion about Leya and the final conclusion was that they understood our purpose and were quite grateful for our work and were all for a foster or adoptive resolution to her problem.  The Headman said it was God who had brought us here to help with this situation, and he was right on.  My reply was to give God the thanks for it all.  After all of this, we were offered food (raw cassava root) for the trip home along with a big bunch of plantain bananas that one of the kids carried to the car.  We made our way back to town, picked up a couple of ladies that had loads on their heads (one was so heavy the lady could barely lift it, around a 100 pounds I’d guess) who were grateful for not having to walk 15 km to market their goods.  Back home around 2 p.m., all in all a very good day.

 

Andy

 

Blessing's Birthday

Today, November 1st, is Blessings 1st birthday so we celebrated with a cake. He wasn’t too interested in eating it but he really liked playing with it.



















Here in Malawi they don’t celebrate birthdays as most only know the year that they were born. We couldn’t resist having a little party for him.



Lisa

Homes for the Babies

Our purpose here in Malawi is to open our home to babies, 0 to 18 months of age, who are in crisis and provide food and loving care for them until a longer range solution for them can be found.  We provide this care until the child is old enough to eat solid food and can be returned to their family.  If their family is unable to care for them, then we have to look at placing them in a foster or adoptive home.  This is not easy because most Malawians struggle to feed their own families and many are already providing for extended family members.  Adoption is also a new idea here and so far most people that adopt are expatriates that are working in Malawi for a period of time.  Unlike Madonna, you have to live in Malawi to be able to adopt a child. 

Five of our seven babies will need to have homes found for them.  We are unsure about the other two.  We received a call from a family in Blantyre (southern Malawi) that wants to adopt a baby girl.  We have Leya who is 5 weeks old, but her relatives must first agree to the adoption.  This is not always easy because you first have to locate them and that requires that the social worker tracks them down.  The social workers never have transport money so if we want this to happen we have to drive them to the villages.  Please pray that this adoption will happen and little Leya will have a permanent home.

Today Mphatso’s father came to the social welfare office and asked to see him.  I took him there and was sure that the father would want him back because he is so healthy now and has begun to eat solid food.  The father was very happy to see him so healthy but instead of wanting him back he said that we could keep him for 18 years.  I always assumed that he would return to his father, so now we need to find a permanent home for him too.

Please pray that we can find homes for Bridget, Blessings, Mphatso, Leya and Jacob.  If we find homes for these babies then we will have room to save more babies.

 

p.s. My children think we should adopt a few but this mom is feeling older every day.  I wish international adoptions were allowed here as I’m sure I would have many takers for these babies.

 

          Lisa