28/04: Buy Truth...Don't Sell It
Have you ever had one of those seasons when it seems as though you are being attacked on every side? Well, I feel as though I have been in this wilderness for about a month now. However, there have been many blessings to come from this wilderness experience. This teaching is one of them. It is a bit lengthy, but it was life-changing for me, and I pray it will bless you as well.
This past Friday I was driving about 2 ½ hours away to meet a dear brother / pastor for a long lunch. About 20 minutes into my journey, my thoughts fixated on all of the storms brewing around me; I felt like Peter sinking into the crashing waves. The radio in my car is broken so I played the only CD I had in the car to help my focus shift back onto the Lord. It was a CD of James Earl Jones reading the New Testament. This particular CD started with Luke 18.
As I played the CD, the first thing I heard was the parable of the unrighteous judge and the widow. Here it is in its entirety. Luke 18:1-8:
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
When I first played it, two things about this parable spoke to me personally.
1. God will avenge His elect.
2. Verse 7 ends with letting us know that the Lord ‘bears long WITH US.’
Both of these points blessed and encouraged me. It was exciting to think, ‘Hey the Lord is trying to encourage me…He is going to avenge me of all these people doing these things. Praise God!’ Sadly, I began imagining how the Lord was going to avenge me with these people.
During this time of daydreaming about being ‘avenged,’ the CD kept playing. So, I came back to reality and replayed the same chapter and focused in. What I noticed next I had to replay three times to make sure I was receiving what the Lord was telling me…it was not comfortable. I was trying to find another meaning but could not. Here is the next set of verses, yet another parable. Luke 18:9-14:
“9And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Up to this point, I had never taken these parables to be related. I just thought of them as two independent parables that Luke just happened to place one after the other. Well, here is what the Lord spoke to my spirit from them being taken in tandem:
1. When we (I) seek to be avenged of our adversaries, who are we to say that we (I) are the righteous? How do we know we are not the adversary to the same person or someone else?!
2. It is really and truly a self-righteous attitude to have to think that we (I) are the victim and need to be avenged. Also, this parable warns about exalting ourselves.
It was then that I began to think of King David. David was a man after God’s own heart. Yes he sinned, made mistakes and got into trouble some times, but nevertheless…his heart was right. The Holy Spirit brought to light two particular stories about David. They are from 1 Samuel 24:1-20 and 2 Samuel 16:5-11.
In 1 Samuel 24:1-20 we see Saul hunting David to kill him. If there has ever been anyone throughout history that knew what it like to be ‘persecuted’ it was David. The Lord had already anointed David to be King because of Saul’s rebellion. Yet David would not take it by force. Saul constantly tried to kill David, yet David still loved him and refused to raise his hand against him. David loved God’s Kingdom, but he was not going to take it by force.
Essentially in this account, David and his men were hiding in a cave. King Saul came into relieve himself. While he was vulnerable, David’s men encouraged him to kill Saul and put an end to this persecution. David could not do it. Instead, he simply cut off a piece of the King’s garment so that he could show him that he was not seeking to harm the king.
Here are some of the interesting verses from this account as it pertains to what the Lord was teaching me:
Vs 5 “And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.”
Can you imagine having the heart that would feel guilty just for cutting off a piece of the king’s robe that was seeking to kill you? David’s own heart smote him. Here I am waiting for the Lord to avenge me and thinking up scenarios of how God may judge these people, and righteous King David felt guilt and remorse for damaging the garment of a man that was hunting him like a dog.
After David bows to Saul and speaks kind words to him, he says in verse 12, “The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.” No matter what, David was not going to seek harm for a man that God had anointed…even at the expense of his own life.
This was not just an isolated incident demonstrating the godly heart from David, it was part of a long pattern we see throughout Scripture. David would not take the kingdom from Saul by force, though he had been anointed king. After David had become King, David’s own son Absalom, raised up against him to take the throne. Again, David would not fight to take the kingdom by force. Maybe he felt it was of the Lord.
During this second exodus into the wilderness, we find a descendant of Saul cursing David in 2 Samuel 16:5-8:
“5And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. 6And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: 8The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.”
So here you have this man cursing King David and actually throwing rocks at him and his men. He is also bringing upon him railing accusations that are not true. David had nothing to do with the death of Saul or his children. David actually had the murderer put to death (2 Sam 1:15). So David is being falsely accused and persecuted once again for something that he did not do. Those around him were also suffering with him as Shimei was throwing rocks at them as well.
So how did David respond? Well first. verse 9 tells us how his men of war wanted to respond: “Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.” I believe there is probably a little Abishai in all of us, but not David. Here is how he responds to Abishai’s request in vs. 10-12:
“And the king said…so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? …let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.”
This is a man after God’s own heart. Notice the two lists below regarding Davis’s Actions:
What David Did Do
- He righteously endured unrighteous treatment.
- He understood God’s sovereignty in the matter.
- He knew God Himself may have caused this to take place.
- He hoped in a future glory as a result of enduring this.
What David Did NOT Do
- He did not seek to set the record straight.
- He did not seek to justify himself.
- He did not tell that he was God’s anointed.
- He did not seek relief from this man
- He did not seek harm to come to him.
- He did not pray to be avenged of this man.
I do not know about you, but I probably would have had 90% of those items in the opposite columns.
The final thing that the Lord showed me was probably the most powerful. It has to do with our spiritual armor, specifically the Belt of Truth. This is probably the most painful truth to date that He has revealed to me.
In Ephesians 6:14-15 we find the following familiar verses: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” (NIV)
Notice that we have three pieces of Spiritual Armor (4 counting the helmet of salvation). They are: (1) The Belt of Truth, (2) Breastplate of Righteousness, (3) Shoes Fitted with the Gospel of Peace. What the Lord put into focus for me dealt with the Belt of Truth.
If you read any basic commentary or lesson on the armor, it will likely mention that it was the Belt of Truth that holds all of the other armor in place.
What the Lord was showing me is that I have the tendency to want to take off the Belt of Truth and use it as a weapon…not a weapon of righteousness mind you, rather a weapon for self-justification, making my case and bludgeoning other people. This has been a pattern with me that I believe the Lord wants desperately to break. Allow me to explain.
Spiritually speaking, we Christians only have one weapon listed in the inventory in Ephesians 6 and that is the Word of God. (I know prayer is our weapon as well). The Scriptures refer to itself as ‘the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (NASB - Hebrews 4:12)
I have seen this plank in my eye and the same speck in others. When we use the Word as it is intended, we do not always see the effects outwardly instantly. Metaphorically speaking, we do not see flesh cut with a real sword. The Word of God cuts inwardly, below the flesh. So since we do not see outward evidence that the Sword had any affect, we take of our Belt of Truth and begin to bludgeon the person with it.
Allow me to give an example, the other day I was talking to a sister in Christ that made a very derogatory and judgmental comment about a young man that told her he was homosexual. She began to recount how she had shared politely the word of God and what it says about that particular sin. When the young man seemingly brushed off the Scriptures, she put away her ‘Sword’ and took off her belt of truth and began to bludgeon him with it. Speaking the truth in love is what we are called to do; that is the proper use of the Word/Sword. But when we put our sword back in its place and take off our belt of truth, that is when it turns into ‘Bashing.’
When the Lord first saved me, He gifted me with the ability to understand how to speak on Creation & Evolution, cults, false doctrines, etc. The problem is that when I would speak with most people, it started out as ‘the truth in love.’ However, if they kept ignoring the truth, the belt came off and there was a beat down coming. I won many arguments with that Belt of Truth, but lost the souls of the people as a result.
What the Lord is showing me clearly is that when you take off your Belt of Truth, there goes your Breastplate of Righteousness, and there goes your Gospel of Peace. You are left spiritually naked and exposed vulnerable to every attack of the enemy. Keep in mind that the point of the spiritual armor is so that we may stand firm. There is nothing to protect us if we have stripped off our God given armor. I dare say that is exactly what the enemy likes for us to do…misuse the armor to leave ourselves vulnerable for attack. If we lose our Breastplate of Righteousness, that makes our heart susceptible to attack. This may allow the enemy an open window to plant tares in our heart. If our Shoes fitted with the Gospel of Peace come off, how can we stand on Holy Ground? Will we not lose our footing and be on our backside?
At times past and present, there have been people that have used things like ‘unity’ to hide from the truth. They used a cloak of unity to keep the truth from coming out about certain sins. This made me even more desirous to take off my Belt of Truth to demolish what I saw clearly as their web of deception. I could even come up with dozens of Scriptures to justify my actions, but ultimately the obvious danger is to think that we (I) are serving God as a spiritual vigilante. James 1:20 warns about this. It says, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
We can take of our Belt of Truth and misuse it in order to be personally justified, gain vengeance, exact justice or to expose sin. The question we have to ask ourselves is does this glorify God or just make our flesh feel better?
Truth is good. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth. Jesus calls Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life. Something worth noting however, is that Truth is rarely alone in Scripture. Typically we see it paired as Grace and Truth, mercy and Truth, etc.
In closing, there are a few main points I hope we all take away from this:
1. The belt of truth is to for defense not offense. It is to protect us, not hurt others. Truth should never be used as a weapon.
2. Truth is something to be bought not sold (Prov 23:23). We will never have to sell the Truth. If we are having to make a case for it, and convince someone of it…we are selling it.
3. Just like Hannah, the Lord promised in that first parable in Luke 18, to avenge those that cry to Him night and day…not to others. When we air our hurts and pains to people instead of God, we are damaging the Kingdom and keeping God’s hand from delivering us. This quickly turns to gossip, slander, malicious talk, back-biting and murmuring.
19/04: Divine Appointment
Maribeth, our Sister in California that will be leaving for Malawi in June, sent me an email that I received this morning. Here is a portion of it:
"Also, don't know if she called you but I met a friend of yours- a divine
appointment- Sue Nyugen from Savannah, Georgia. Wait till I tell you the whole story. Jesus rocks the house. She is coming with me to Lakeside on Sunday."
This is a lady that we were able to share the Gospel with 2 years ago at our Thrift Stores. We have lost touch with her over the past year and had no way to reach her.
For the past 4-6 weeks I had had her on my heart and began praying for her in my spirit...not sure why the Lord had laid her upon my heart. Now by the Grace of our Sovereign God she ends up in California with my Sister in Christ, Maribeth.
* Divine Appointment meeting Sue
* Divine Appointment meeting Maribeth in California
* Divine Appointment Sue meeting Maribeth in California
I cannot wait until she shares with me the rest of the story. Folks, our God is a Great God! Amen!
19/04: He Chooses
I just cannot even begin to share now all our Great God has done and all of the the things He is preparing to do. It is making me tear up just writing it.
What a humbling thought that the Lord desires to include us in His plans and use us for His glory...and that He chooses and desires to use us.
I know that I am so unworthy of His Grace and His Mercy and should be sitting on the bench as I know there are much more capable Soldiers in His army than I. Yet still...He chooses...
What words can a human pen to give God all of the Glory He deserves? Can every positive and Holy attribute of God even be spoken in a century long lifetime?
What deeds of obedience and service can ever merit one ounce of God's Grace, one drop of His mercy, one sensation of His all encompassing love?
What amount of cleansing, purification, or whitewashing can ever make such a sinful heart so worthy as to be a temple for teh very Spirit of our Living God?
Yet still He chooses...still He chooses...
Who's Who on the Acts III Global Ministries Staff in Malawi
Be sure to click on each picture for a larger and clearer image. They have to be scaled down for this page to make it load faster. Enjoy!!!
Above we have Pastor Frank Gama and his wife Ethel. He is our friendliest pastor. His nickname is Abusa Kululu - which means "Pastor Bunny." They say he has a lot in common with rabbits. He is the fastest of all the pastors.
Next we have Pastor Frank Maini and His wife Esther and their three boys. Their oldest is Frank Junior, next we have Luke and finally Martin. Frank is our Senior Pastor.
Here is Grey Mnunkha, our administrator and project foreman, and his wife Caroline, sister Tendai and dughter baby Ruth..
This is Bosco our youngest and largest pastor, his wife Edith and daughter Rebecca, and Son Gabriel.
Here we have our Pastor Aubrey and wife Madalo. Randy married them last year in May when he was in Malawi.
Last, but not least, is Pastor Matthaias Kankhwani & his wife Beatrice and their three precious children.
Notice anything suspicious about these people? Look below to see the real pictures.
The pictures are small because they have to be scaled down for this page to make it load faster. Please keep them in your prayers. They need them day by day.
Above we have Pastor Frank Gama and his wife Ethel. The were recently married back in February of 2008. Frank has had it very rough for the past few years. He lost his 2nd child and his wife within three days in October 2006. The year before that he lost his 1st child, 'Blessing.' Frank feels led to oversee the orphanage for Acts III here in Malawi. For the past 5 years, he has been the main Acts III worker starting and operating and working with orphan care centers (like day care for orphans.) Frank Gama has been with Acts III since the beginning in 2003. He currently serves as the Sr. Pastor at our Nkolokoti church.
Next we have Pastor Frank Maini and His wife Esther and their three boys. Their oldest is Frank Junior, next we have Luke and finally Martin. Frank is our Senior Pastor both for the ministry in Malawi as well as the Ndirande church. Frank has been our Senior Pastor for 1 1/2 years. He has been with us since the beginning as well. He is probably our most powerful preacher and gifted evangelist. Frank allowed me to pick the name for his second born. I chose Luke after the man of God that the Holy Spirit used to pen the Books of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts in the Bible. They named Martin for the great reformer, Martin Luther.
Here is Grey Mnunkha, our administrator and project foreman, and his wife Caroline, sister Tendai and daughter baby Ruth. Mr. Mnunkha has also been with Acts III since its beginning in Malawi. He is our primary interpreter and translator. Even though he serves in an official capacity as our Administrator and Project Foreman, he too is a gifted man of God equipped to preach, teach and evangelize. Grey and his wife Caroline began taking care of Tendai, Grey's sister, after his parents died. They also raised Thomas, Grey's younger brother, but he is now an adult and out of the house. They named baby Ruth after one of our Board Members, Ruth Brown, that travelled to Malawi on a mission trip in June of 2004. It was a great honor for Ms. Ruth.
This is Pastor Bosco Msweka, his wife Edith, daughter Rebecca, and Son Gabriel. Bosco has the distinction of being both our youngest and by far our largest pastor. Bosco has been with us for about 2 1/2 years. He currently serves dually as an Associate Pastor in our Ndirande church as well as the Assistant Forman at the orphanage project.
Here we have our Pastor Aubrey and wife Madalo. Randy married them last year in May when he was in Malawi. They had a little baby boy a few months ago and even named him Randy after me. He was premature when he was born and died in the hospital of complications. It broke all of our hearts. They are doing well but still need your prayers. Aubrey was overseeing our church plant in Montopone, the village that gave Acts III nearly 50+ acres, until his wife began to have complications. He currently serves in Nkolokoti assisting Frank Gama. By the end of this month, he and Emmanuel will begin to travel to Motopone again on alternating weekends to continue the church work there. Aubrey also coordinates the Acts III - Soldier of Christ Disciple Training Ministry in Malawi.
Above is Pastor Matthaias Kankhwani & his wife Beatrice and their three precious children. Kankhwani has been with Acts III going on three years now. He is a plumber by trade, but gave it up to serve the Lord full time with Acts III. He currently serves as SR. Pastor of our Chirimba church.
Finally, we have the newest addition to our Acts III family in Emmanuel. Emmanuel is the man that was saved and healed when we laid hands on him last May. At the time he was a Muslim that worked hard at destroying the faith of Christianity and the name of Jesus. Like Paul, when the Lord opened his eyes, he had to preach an suffer many things for His Name's sake. He has a burden to evangelize to the lost people of Islam that know not what or who they follow. His current role is Evangelist. His wife is currently in the Hospital in Lilongwe, the capitol of Malawi where she is recovering from a severe head injury due to an overturned flat bed truck accident. The same accident took the life of their baby girl, Love. Please keep her in your prayers for healing. She is having some mental problems as a result.
18/04: Spend & Be Spent
Each day, I walk around on top of the fence (some would say testing God due to my clumsiness ;o), and always children begin to yell to me calling my name and run across the bridge from Ndirande just to 'play.' Here you will see a picture from Wednesday as I was documenting the Lord's work here at the Orphanage property. Notice the children that followed me for 30+ minutes playing. They are so precious.
They followed me around the entire perimeter of the building twice. They ran back and forth shouting out Chichewa phrases that they have heard me say to them before. It was as if they knew my entire Chichewa vocabulary and wanted to just hear me say them. They would shout a phrase, and I would repeat...and the next phrase & repeat. It gave them joy, maybe a little too much ;oD, to hear me try and repeat their phrases in a broken south Georgia hick attempt at Chichewa...all while I was trying to walk on a narrow wall at times racing them. Some would climb the fence to touch my leg, others were just wanting to shake my hand...they were just glad to have the attention.
After awhile they began to grab long pieces of weeds and began messing with me with them, so of course, me being the adult that I am...fought back...it was on...I took on a thousand little Malawi children from high on the wall (it could have been only 10-12. I can't really be sure as it was the heat of battle). There were weed whips, weed arrows, weed spears and weed whackers. In the end, they won. I fell off the inside of the gate. Round two is scheduled for Friday.
Here is a picture of a young girl that was gathering water from our storm drain (that dumps into our neighbors property). She is so precious.
I just gotta tell you. I love these people. Not just the orphans and children, but these pastors, their familes, strangers, the poor, the sick, the dirty, the naked, the blind, the lost...the Malawi people as a whole. Just as Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:15, by the Grace and Calling of God, I am willing both to spend and be spent for these people. That would be a good test for anyone that feels called to a certain area in Missions, are you willing to spend and be spent for them? The same for pastors of churches, are you willing to spend and be spent for your flock? The same for all Christians, are we willing to spend and be spent for the cause of Christ and the Glory of our God?
The word translated as 'be spent' means, 'to be fully exhausted;' or 'to expend wholly'...it means to give your very life...every last ounce of your being.
As of this morning before starting work, here is a list of what the Lord has done since last week when we came:
- All of the drainage ditches have been dug around the property.
- One side of the drainage ditch has a 75% cemented base. After the cement base is done, we will begin building the walls up on each side with bricks and plaster.
- The Dr. Rick Thomas Honorary Drainage canal has been extended around 15 feet to accommodate the ground water leaking under the fence and to serve as a retaining wall for the lower terrace round gazebo.
- 75% of the interior side of the fence has now been plastered.
- The laundry area walls were erected and completed.
- The entire exterior of the building has been plastered (all that was suppose to be.)
- ESCOM (the Malawian power company) has visited our site and is ready to install our power pole, wires and meter for the main building.
- The roof on the main building has been completed except for 2 small pieces of flashing that should be installed Monday. This includes the ridge vents and flash bang.
- The entire main building & guard house has been plastered at the base.
- The old pit latrine has been destroyed and filled in and a new one erected away from the building.
- 4 of the 5 front Exterior doors have been set. Of the remaining 3 exterior wood doors, 1 will be delivered and set on Friday and the other 2 are scheduled for delivery and installation on Monday. The 2 remaining Iron gate/doors will be installed on Friday.
- We have ordered the 2 non-movable burglar bars to close off the back two openings of the breezeway, and they were delivered today. They will be installed on Friday or Monday.
- The four man holes in the interior of the building's hallways have been fully plastered and are ready for connection by the plumber.
- The main electrical connections have been made in the interior of the building. We are only lacking the main breaker box in order to have the power connected from ESCOM. It was scheduled to be delivered today, but is being promised by Monday.
- We have re-worked and moved the exterior man holes outside the boys hostel (dorm).
- The soak away (drain field) system has begun to be dug.
- All of the initial plumbing and electrical supplies have been ordered and received.
- 2 of the interior rooms for the house parents have been 75% plastered and are scheduled for completion on Friday (today).
- One room is being completed today (Friday) for Emmanuel to live in for now.
- We are getting our final quotes for the first water tank. Our masons will begin building the water tower on Tuesday once we get the needed dimensions and the labor crew digs down for the foundation.
It has been unreal to see how the Lord has multiplied the funds that were given just before we left. Costs have risen here greatly since we I was here with Whitney last year. Yet still the Lord has granted us favor with nearly every vendor to get out materials for drastically less than we budgeted and paid last year. We have also been able to rework many of the labor budgets to save usnearly 250,000mk (roughly $1,700).
Here are some more pictures from Thursday of the orphanage project.
Above is the drain that comes down the side of the boys hostel and turns down. For now it has stopped at the drive path marked out for the septic tank truck. We will dig across that drive and then build a means for the vehicle to cross the drain. Click on it for a larger picture. The large opening you see will have a iron security door like the ones in the front.
Here you can see the concrete base for the drainage on the girls side of the orphanage building. It will be complete by Friday (the Good Lord willing).
Here are 2 more new doors for the front of the orphanage. The wooden door leads to the girl's hostel (dorm) and the iron gate leads down the hall-way / breezeway between the dorm and main building.
Above is a simple layout that may help understand how the building is designed. The white areas are hallways. Below is a key to the Letters:
A = House parent suite (Bedroom and bathroom)
B = House parent suite
C = Office of Orphanage Director
D = Office of School Director
E = Reception for visitors
More on Saturday morning before I leave.
Here are a bunch of pictures of what the Lord has done in the past week.
Here is the drain to catch the roof water on the girl's side of the building. We finished digging it out today and the brick mason you see seated in the picture was able to use the large pieces of broken bricks to piece together a perfect foundation on which we can lay the concrete gutter. There will be several courses of brick up the sides as well. In order to save space and loading time, you can click below to see other pictures of this side of the drainage. Girls Drain 1 - this shows how we had to curve it to meet the low part of the Dr. Rick Thomas Honorary Drain ;o) Girls Drain 2 Girls
Drain 3 (this is a larger picture of Drain 2)
This is the extension for the Dr. Rick Thomas Honorary Drain. This was again necessary for the amount of water coming through the ground in this one area. You may click on it to see a larger one.
This gentleman is placing the flash bang (metal tape) over all of the nails on the roof. He is on the last section as of the end of today. The dude is barefoot on the top of the hot tin roof.
Above you can see we had to first of our metal exterior hall doors installed. They have been on site for months, but were not put in place. One thing we are working diligently towards is securing the interior of the building now that all of the wiring and plumbing are being installed. Click on it for a larger picture.
This is the drainage ditch for the boys side of the orphanage. It was just roughed in today. We had to remove the old man holes and pipes because the drain interfered because of the slope. Tomorrow it should be formed up and bricked in as the other side is now.
What a great view of the Ndirande Mountain just behind the orphanage property.
Above is a small view of the Malawi Orphanage front as of April 16, 2008. You may click on it for a larger one.
Over all the project is going very well. The Lord is moving the people to great craftsmanship and work ethic. What a blessing.
Our morning typically begins around daybreak as we are beckoned with the rhythmic tapping of an Ndirande neighbor. Whether this neighbor is fashioning metal in his trade or serving as a wake up call for the community, we know not. The result for us is that it lets us know it is time to come out from behind the thin dust covered veil of our tent and take in the Lord's majestic sunrise over Ndirande mountain that shelters the property.
Each morning there is a shadowy mist that settles over the river valley just behind us. The sun's rays break through the vapor in such a way as to make you feel like you can see each individual ray of light that has traveled the 93 million miles just to touch you. The cool temperature in the morning makes basking in the warm rays that much more soothing.
The dawn air is heavy with the morning dew and the fainting hints of extinguished camp fires from the night now past. Voices of the Ndirande children all join together as if they are forming one voice. This voice inspires us to continue on with the tasks at hand and reassures us that this is worth the time away from family, friends, and the comforts of home.
Around 6am we start getting ready by washing off with the cold water remaining from the shower bag from the night before (much, much colder). We typically skip breakfast and jump right into the process of finalizing the plans for the day. Around 6:45am our project leaders Grey and Bosco arrive ready and eager to meet the challenges of the day. We collaborate with them to plan out the tasks to be completed, the materials to go and negotiate and purchase, and which crews will be assigned to the appropriate tasks. The helpers report at 7am to begin the mixing and preparation for the skilled laborers such as the masons, carpenters, electricians, etc. The skilled workers report to the site at 7:30am. Each work crew has been assigned a productivity quota to earn a day's pay.
From this time until around noon, and one o'clock until five, the sounds of shovels digging, picks clanging, hoes clawing, bricks stacking, hammers driving and sand sifting can be heard throughout the orphanage site. There is always an abundance of day laborers and skilled craftsmen outside our gate wanting to have the opportunity to work at the project. They typically begin knocking on the door around 6:30am and do not stop until the day's long spent.
Michael and I work along side the men, primarily the manual labor crew digging the drainage ditches. A new phrase we have learned is 'Nzungu Wada' it means 'the white man is dirty.' We received this badge of honor because at days end, we are just as dirty from working as they are.
We will help to motivate and encourage the workers with frequent Chita wa bwino's being spoken (Good Job). Once the crews were divided into 1 skilled labor person and 1 helper, managing the site became much easier. Each skilled laborer is responsible for managing his laborer. If any laborer is not needed and has nothing to do, he reports to us and we reassign him temporarily until his skilled worker needs him again. This has made the project much more productive. It has been amazing what God has accomplished here in only 1 week of work.
When 5pm comes, the workers are mysteriously drawn to the large water reservoir like parched animals in the wild to a watering hole. These noble workers take turns washing and rinsing off the proof of their work for that day. Once rinsed, they begin changing out of their work clothes and into their 'good clothes.' See the picture below.
Once the workers are done, and headed back to their nearby homes, Michael and I will walk the site and take stock in what the Lord has done. We will then begin to make plans for the following day for our crews, pastors and ourselves. Usually by 6pm we will take our 5gallon bag of solar heated water into our non finished bathroom where we will work in tandem to hoist it up into the air so the sprayer is above our heads. While showering, we have to stand in a small 5 gallon wash pail to catch all of the soap and water as there are no drains in the floor of that room.
After we both have finished our 2 1/2 gallon shower, we will fix a meal in our room. Most nights it is a peanut butter and honey sandwich. We tried jelly, but it comes in cans and there is no way to refrigerate it or keep it fresh, so we use honey. Other nights we have dry cereal with instant milk made with lukewarm water. After we eat, we have to wash our dishes in a small round plastic pan and then take them up the hill to rinse them from the water faucet.
By this time the mosquitoes are out in full assault mode so we have to hurry and retreat into the relative safety of our tents. The tents day by day are getting lost under a film of dust and dirt. Our windows have no screens and no glass to help keep the mosquitoes and dust out. Right outside of our windows are where they are sifting sand (to get the rocks out), and digging the drainage ditch in the front. Also, due to the slope of the property, there are mounds of loose dirt stacked within 15 feet of our door that tower above our windows. Most of the dirt stays on the outside of the tent but some gets in.
As we each huddle in our respective tents, we reminisce about the Lord's work for that day and the new testimonies that we have to tell. It is truly amazing to see what the Lord does when we let go. Seeing the Lord work so clearly everyday really makes me want to give up everything and just move our family here and live in tents at the orphanage with the children. I would gladly trade all that we have to see His hand move so clearly each day. It seems as though there is a fog of carnality that rests in the valley of prosperity that shields the Lord's rays from reaching us fully back home in our life of abundance. Our level of spiritual blindness may be directly proportionate to the amount of pleasure we derive from things that are not of God. I know this is true in my life. Maybe it is just me. I digress.
Generally around 11-12 we fall asleep. There is usually a race to see who falls asleep first, as we both are terrible snorers. The loser is left to lie awake and listen to the packs of wild dogs fighting, barking and howling until maybe 2am...then they seem to stop as if they have only been given a license to carouse until then...or maybe that's when our senses, so inundated with a plethora of noises, become dull of hearing.
The tents themselves are not that hospitable. Their packaging touts that there are 6 feet long by 5 feet wide. However, they are dome tents, so the higher up you go the smaller the length becomes. So on top of the semi-inflated air mattress, there is about 5' 4" of room to 'stretch out.' They do a fairly good job of holding in what little body heat we are able to generate throughout the night. Our nights sleeping are typically undisturbed with the exception of the constant wind blowing the canvas we have draped across the main window at night.
The really cool thing about all of this is that we are having a great time.
This is truly the Good Life in Malawi.
16/04: Free Delivery
His family is from Indian descent, but he himself was born and raised in Malawi. He lives in Malawi with his wife and adopted daughter.
He is the vendor that we use for the bulk of our supplies. Tuesday he visited our site at our invitation. He could not believe that Michael and I were staying on site in tents and doing the work ourselves alongside the Malawian crew. It truly moved him. He was use to seeing the typical missionary in Malawi with houses that are more luxurious than the vast majority in Malawi.
He invited Michael and I to dinner that night at an Italian Restaurant in Blantyre. He picked us up at his shop at 7pm and took us to dinner. We spent two hours in fellowship with him. What a precious soul he is. Micahel and I had spoken about the necessity to share the Gospel with this man.
Just like with the free land last year, we had to make really an easy decision. This man had already told us that he wanted to give us discounts for the work we wer doing and even call in favors with other vendors that we would need to deal with for better prices.
He is a Hindu as well and offered to go before their temple congregation and get support for our work in the form of funds and donations. What an amazing blessing.
But we also realized that it was a test from the Lord. Would we forsake sharing the Gospel with this man in order to make ure we did not offend him and lose these blessing?
By the Grace of God, we had a wide open window to share the Gospel with him for over 2 hours. He received it very well and invited more & deeper fellowship. He paid for our meal and took us back to the property well after 9:30pm.
The next day, today, we went into town to pick up our supplies from an order we gave him several days earlier. He ended up saving us even more money than he mentioned before we shared with him. In fact, he saved us $598 total on this one order of plumbing supplies.
And he threw in Free Delivery from now on when we buy from him, no matter how large or small. Not to mention, he will be taking me to the airport on Saturday. What an amazing blessing.
Pray for this man's salvation as well as his family.
