The Fall

Falling in love is a wonderful thing. It’s like walking into a surprise party for two. Falling out of love is a painful thing. It’s like walking out of a funeral home. Yet, as I remind couples when I preach a marriage homily, the honeymoon always ends. Sooner or later we hit the ground and fall out of love. Only then does the work of real love begin. {Which is why most men should stay married—it’s the best chance we have for growing up!}

I fell in love with Malawi during my first visit here in 2002. After 2 months of immersion in Malawi life both Darlene & I became convinced that our love was real. Our desire to somehow return for a long term commitment was undeniable.

Six years later (after 2 more visits) we said our vows and “moved in.”On Aug. 7, 2008 we returned to Malawi for a three year term as PCUSA (Presbyterian Church USA) missionaries. However, we soon became painfully aware that there is a huge difference between casual visits and “living together”. In fact we had a devil of a time. The honeymoon was over, we hit the ground, we fell out of love.

August 7, 2009 when we left for a visit to the States, some people wondered if we would ever return to Malawi. In my darkest moments, so did I.

We had fallen out of love.

Nevertheless, along the way, we had also begun the hard work of real loving. Our feelings had changed but our commitment had not. We were growing up. Returning to Malawi & the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery after our visit to the States was truly returning home. (Be it ever so humble!)

Exorcism

What the devil is going on here?

The devil,

the father of lies,

the tempter of souls,

the destroyer of hope,

gets a kick out of kicking us

when we are down.

So we say:

“The Devil made me do it!”

Do you “believe” in the Devil?

No, not I.

Yet,

I know not

how better to name “it”.

The lies that corrupt my mind,

the trials that drag down my spirit,

the darkness that shrouds my soul,

Is real!

Until…..

all heaven breaks loose

and I glimpse

The Light—The Life—The Love

of One who alone is

Truth;

the One who lifts my soul

above the devil’s reach .

Paul Heller

Domestic Difficulties

We are back in Malawi and everything is running at full swing. Now we can start to deal with some of the everyday problems that arise. The most pressing domestic problem we have is the rat. Yes, we have a rat living with us at home. I saw it one night. Then I saw its’ path of destruction. It chewed through powdered milk packets and the flour bag. It worked on the spices and even ate through the precious taco seasoning mix from the States (that dirty rat!!). It ravaged Paul’s desk drawers, leaving evidence of its’ presence with chewed fragments of scotch tape and numerous poops. Eeeeeeeeeeeew!

After it ate the taco seasoning I declared WAR. The only good rat is a dead rat. I tried traps and rat poison. No luck. It seems our rat enjoyed peanut butter the most. So I mixed the rat pellets with the peanut butter making special “crunchy” peanut butter. No go. Nothing.

After numerous failed attempts to kill this obnoxious critter I asked our staff for help. They readily agreed. They were up for the challenge. So yesterday, while I was at work, they did the deed. They heard the rat behind the bookcase in the study, and cornered it. Gift guarded the area in case the rat took an escape route while Baulen ran for the broom. Then they pressed the bookcase against the wall until the dirty rat came scurrying out from behind it. WHAM !– Baulen nailed it using the “percussion method”. Bingo! He was so excited he called me at work, where I was equally excited.

Baulen told me that he had killed another rat in the study while we were gone. So this was not the first. That gives me hope that we are now rat free (for the time being). We’ll see how long it lasts.

While We were Gone

“Who is minding the store while you are here in the States?” It’s a question raised at almost every one of our 8 Nursery presentations during September.

The answer is simple—our competent Malawian staff. Augustine Harawa (Administrative Assistant), Anna Kamanga (Nurse), and Veronica Mwenelupembe (Staff Supervisor), took full responsibility for all administrative decisions. Our 12 nannies, 2 house-keepers, 2 watchmen, and 1 gardener, carried on faithfully.

Upon our return we were welcomed with songs and hugs. We were also welcomed by 15 healthy babies,

including 3 new arrivals Brandina, Eunice, and Gift. Alec, however, Alec who has filled our life with the joy of his smile, his play, and his hugs since our arrival last August, Alec has gone back to his home in the village. That is the joy of why the Nursery exists, but still it hurts.

Visiting our own “home village” in the States was a joy, but so is the return to our village here in Mzuzu.

Pictured are our 4 newest residents going to the clinic for their baby shots.