Bag 2 Makwasa

Muli Bwanji! (Hello, how are you?), Bwerani (Come inside) my african blogging adventures. Ndili osangala kubwala kuno (I am happy to be here).

It has now been a month since we arrived at our new home, Malamulo Mission, Bag 2 Makwasa, Malawi. We have had a long journey leading us to this new home and these friendly Malawian people. We had a month with both our parents and family, which made our travels seems even more difficult and our decision to relocate our lives to this side of the world questionable. But through all our pain, God has been leading us, and we are convinced that we are where He has placed us.

As our plane touched down on the airstrip in Blantyre, I glanced over at Ryan and sensed that he was 'coming home'. The red earth looked pretty against the green acacia trees, and the vibrant purple of the blooming jacarandas beckoned a closer inspection of this new landscape. Benson declared, “we have arrived in Africa” and then stated, “where did Michigan go?”.

(Ryan is doing amazing. Performing all kinds of procedures and surgeries that he has not been trained to do. The Lord is blessing him and holding his hand. Check outhttp://www.malawimedicalmissions.org/ to learn about how you can participate in projects here at Malamulo.)

After clearing customs, we turned a corner and saw Susan Woods and her daughters Janelle and Marquelle. Immediately I was relieved and felt an unusal sense of comfort and peace. Elisa Brown was also there to meet us and Wes Lutz drove us through town and home to Malamulo. My wonder at the foreign surrounding was peaked by the new set of driving codes and ettiquettes, and the sheer mass of people commuting on foot with all their kutundo (luggage) on their heads. I sat nestled between Benson and Hudson in the middle seat of the Prado and as I reached for both their hands to give them a squeeze I asked God to place His hand over our family here in this country. The contrast of the countries I have grown up in and continent we have now chosen to live seemed to collide on that trip 'home' from Blantyre. I began to wonder what my new house would look like.

(Day trip with the Lutz family and student missionary Alex to Mt Mulanje)

(Benson with Kaiza and Andrew Lutz)

It wasn't too soon before we headed up the last hill and took the left towards Malamulo mission. I recognized the grounds from our 2005 visit. We exited the Prado and I took a deep breath, “Lord give me strength to bear whatever I am about to witness at my new house”...there were preceeding rumors that the house needed some TLC.

(View from our front gate. Our new home.)

(view from the back yard patio looking up at our new home)

Paint fumes suffocated my senses as we entered through the kitchen and 2 men were still running their brushes down the cabinetry. The beige tiles looked blood red in places and I quickly picked up Hudson and told Benson to 'put your shoes back on'. As my eyes glanced up in the pantry I noticed 10 rat holes where they had gnawed their way into my pantry. The living room presented as a large room, with loads of entertaining potential. But the floors were grimy and grubby, and the couches were stained with mud and ridden with fleas. The dining room table looked like it had been used as a pot holder with multiple burn marks and dings. I felt disgusting. Unclean in my new house.

The bedrooms were all a good size with fabulous closet spaces. I was trying to find the positives despite Benson's room having 3 mattresses strewn throughout – all of which had bed bugs. Hudson's room was a compilation of odd furnishings, and our room was the best in the house, decent double bed, and old catholic style dresser and night stands. The bathroom was a disaster, with a missing sink, flooding on the floor and mud caked thick on the murky blue tiles. The tub suffered from years of neglect and was stained and grubby, to match the tiles that encased it.

The utility room was equally disgusting and housed an almost new washing machine that had been broken and never taken back within the year for it's warranty, which had just expired last month.

So here I have switched to cloth diapers, started potty training and have NO washing machine in the house. The word 'disaster' came to mind.

(our living/dining room)

(see the pantry holes in the roof, and my kitchen to the right)

We took it all in, became encouraged by the beauty in the yard, and then I just cried and cried. I thought about the disrespect to let a house go to ruin in this manner, about the discouragement that it was not ready for our arrival, about how we could possibly make it better.

(Ryan half way through fighting the roaches)

This past month has seen many changes. I am now using and am a fan of G-diaper with cloth inserts, and kushi tooshies wipes (thanks to Bec). Benson has taken to potty training and is now doing better about accidents when playing (and not wanting to stop for pooping). My bag of skittles used as encouragement for this venture are almost depleted but I think the routine and wearing big boy undies is now more incentive than the colorful candies.

('pool' day with the Lutz kids)

(at first I was trying to keep the boys 'clean' during the day, now I just try to find clothes that will not show ALL the dirt they WILL collect during the day)

(celebrating our Hudson's first birthday, missing all our family and friends in America and Aust)

(Chrislyn Lutz reading to her kids, Benson and the Brown boys)

We are getting up early and eating breakfast as a family. Occasionally through the week Ryan will get to come home for lunch and we enjoying being able to 'pop in' on Daddy at work. Benson and Hudson have lots of kids near by and the missionary kids on campus provide hours of entertainment and fun. Kaiza and Andrew Lutz and their Mommy Chrislyn made our transition much easier than it would have been if they were not here. Loaves of bread, meals, peanut butter and playtime were all appreciated. Recently we welcomed the Brown family (with 3 boys) to Malamulo and the addition of more blonde haired kids.

(Left: Samson, Middle: Duncan, Right: Maxwell)

We inherited a gardener, Duncan Beatie, who has worked at this house for the past 30 years. He is an exceptional vegetable and fruit gardener and we decided to keep him on as our worker. Our yard is So big and beautiful that we also hired another man, Maxwell Gringer to work with the flowers. Maxwell is young and is the son of Mr Gringer who worked for Bill and Cheryl all those years ago. Finding someone to help us inside is challenging and I am still not completely comfortable having someone working inside my home. We have Samson Jeseman inside who is the brother to Lyton Jesemen who worked here for the Burnhams when Ryan was a child. Now Lyton is at the Guest house and cooks for people visiting and for the patients in the Annex. Samson spent his first week scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing....then every day since, scrubbing again. Slowly this house it getting cleaner and cleaner. Ryan set traps and has killed 9 rats, 200+ cockroaches, a couch full of fleas, and countless wasps and other vermin.

I have an amazing selection of fresh vegetables and fruits and have been enjoying going to market to buy tasty tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, capsicum, herbs, zucchini, eggplant, potatoes, spinach, mangoes, papaya, bananas, strawberries, cucumbers, peppers, beetroot, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, peanuts, rice, beans.

We are excited to receive our own set of wheels that we just ordered from Japan after waiting and sussing out the car situation here in Malawi. We can have the vehicle delivered right to Blantyre, which is best when your husband is on call a lot and can't always get time off to cross borders and collect a car.

While the challenges seem great at times, there are blessings abundant. Candlelit dinners when the power is out, a massive yard for Benson and Hudson to run and play, warm and welcoming faces, good food to eat, picturesque country, and the joy of following God's calling in our lives.

Thankyou for keeping us and Malamulo in your prayers and thoughts. We are so grateful.