The Beginning of a New Road

As Thursday morning rolled around, we finally had our first real break from projects and activities. Our team was wearing down from all the hard work that we had put in over the past several days, so it was a well-needed rest period for us all. After a morning of restoration and some laundry, we spent some quality time with our sponsor kids. The COTN staff had rounded up the kids and brought them over to Njewa, where we shared a cheerful meal together and simply enjoyed each other’s presence. As we butchered the language of Chichewa and tried to speak English to several children, we still had plenty of fun with card games, sports, and lots of silly hand gestures to cross the language barrier. It’s an amazing experience to just sit next to children of a completely different background and have a sensation of pure joy without fully understanding what they’re saying. Their smiles were all we needed to feel the love and spirit of God at work. Our afternoon of smiles, laughter, and interaction is something that I’ll never forget. As we ended our luncheon with our sponsor kids, we headed out to visit Chitipi, which is home to several orphans sponsored through COTN. Within Chitipi, there are two homes: one for the university students, and one for the younger children. Although I had spent much time at Chitipi during my trip last year, this was the first time I had seen the home for university students, which was established back in December 2012. The university students were out doing ministry when we visited, but the house mom was kind enough to show us around the facilities. Afterwards, we walked across the street to the children’s home that I had become so accustomed to last year. As we arrived, we were welcomed with joyful faces and outstretched hands. Hand in hand, several of the kids led us to the common room, where introductions were made and the history of Chitipi was shared. Then in typical COTN fashion, the kids displayed a showing of what they do best: dancing! It’s truly amazing to see how much fun these kids have while simply dancing to a drum beat with no music. After their performance, we spent some time just playing and talking with the kids. I had a personal objective of playing with my favorite chubby, little trouble-making buddy from last year, Thomas! And just as I had remembered, he was just as chubby, rambunctious, and cheerful as before. The fact that he was living off of water for six days and is now this fun ball of joy is something that will always bring a smile to my face. We left Chitipi with smiles on our faces, but in my heart I had a bittersweet moment when I realized that I wouldn’t be spending any more time there during this trip. The next day, Daniel was given the honor of leading the end of the year devotional for COTN’s secondary school. He was clearly nervous about giving his first ‘sermon’, but once he was up in front of the crowd, he delivered a great message on the parable of the talents. The rest of the morning was spent visiting the widows’ ministry of Mtsiliza, which is one of the most life-giving ministries I’ve ever seen. We got off the bus to a train of women who were singing, dancing, and inviting us to join their celebrating. They brought us into their shop, and shared that all of the widows are either teaching or being taught how to sew, crochet, knit, various items to be able to provide for their children. It’s quite empowering to hear how these women have overcome adversity and have become leaders in the community. Once the singing, dancing, and sharing were over, we were able to support their ministry by purchasing their products and thanking them for their skilled work. Just as they had welcomed us with song and dance, they saw us off with the same joyful acknowledgement. In the afternoon, we headed down to Chirombo for a friendly soccer match against the village’s soccer team. As competitive as our team is, we wanted to put on a good showing. However, as Azungus (white people), we weren’t exactly fit for such a showing. In the end, we all had a good time playing as a team with the secondary students of COTN, and were amazed to see the community of Chirombo come out in full force to enjoy the match. Chirombo won the match 3-1, but we shared in the victory with a round of sodas and said our final farewell. When Saturday arrived, the team was excited to take a retreat to Lake Malawi. The two hour drive was well worth the wait, as we stuffed our faces with westernized meals and desserts, and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and laying out on the beach. On our way back, we stopped by a row of huts to shop for memorabilia, which was an event on its own. All of us bartered and purchased our way into bags full of artwork and artifacts. To some of us, the experience was a fun game, while to others, it was a stressful ordeal. But in the grand scheme of things, the items are well worth the skilled labor put into making them, and are a great way to share a piece of Malawi with friends and family. On our last full day in Malawi, we checked out a traditional Malawian church, Calvary Family Church. The few things that stood out to me about the service were the worship songs where almost everyone was dancing with a smile on their face, the wedding announcements where the couples sat several rows apart from each other, and the amount of time that the service actually took to complete. The three hour service was great to experience, but I’d be lying if I said I was attentive throughout the entire time. When we returned to Njewa, we spent the rest of the afternoon with our sponsor kids for the last time. And as we all spent our final afternoon together, I couldn’t help but reflect on our mission as a team, and how we had achieved more than we could have ever imagined through our partnership with COTN and its sponsorship program. Not only were we able to visit our sponsor children, paint a few rooms, and reach out to village communities, but we were able to establish and extend meaningful relationships that most people could never fathom, while discovering a different culture and loving a unique way of life. The COTN sponsorship program has received people like Callie and Taylor, who saw God’s call to help His children in need, and has brought them face to face with the ones whose lives they have forever transformed; and in that experience, have also been transformed themselves. The program has introduced people like Daniel, Jake, and Kirsten, who were moved to compassion upon meeting impoverished, yet joyful children; so much so, that they decided to take on the responsibility of sponsoring the children on their own, and forever impacting four more lives. And the program has welcomed me, someone who was initially looking for an escape and an adventure, but fell in love with a community of God-loving, self-sacrificing, joyful, spirit-filled individuals that consist of village children, sponsored students, in-country staff, traveling consultants, altruistic volunteers, and passionate team members. After my second trip to Malawi, I can see how God has worked through me and increased my faith and passion by leaps and bounds. And yet, when all the goodbyes and tionanas have been said, I know that this is only the beginning…

VBS, Painting and Underwear Distribution

Monday morning we walked to Mgwai village (our second trip to Mgwai) where we were met with the normal warm Malawi greeting (shouts of Azungu, smiling children, etc.). While at Mgwai we worked with our translators and helped fill out a number of COTN children profiles. Jake was the workhorse of our group filling out the most profiles while Jason “Butcher” Mak showed off his business acumen and efficiency skills completing the most profiles per hour. Monday afternoon we started our VBS activities at Chirombo. Through our translator Emily and using a children’s bible story book we read the Good Samaritan story to approximately 200 children. While reading the story we also acted it out to the great enjoyment of the children. After reading and acting out the Good Samaritan we organized three legged races with the kids which was a big hit! By far the best part of the day and potentially our entire trip, was distributing underwear that Kirsten was able to get donated by the students at Mira Mesa Christian School where she teaches. During our 2+ weeks in Malawi we never saw the children as excited as they were to receive the much needed underwear; their smiles, cheering, grateful reaction and even dancing ;) was a big blessing to us. Seeing the children so excited to receive something so basic was a good reminder of how much we take for granted in America. Tuesday morning we started our painting project at Njewa, painting the large meeting hall and two classrooms. The afternoon we spent at Chirombo with VBS activities; again using the children’s bible story book and a great Chichewa interpretation by Henry, we read and acted out Noah’s Ark and Jonah and the whale. The approximately 300 children in attendance really enjoyed the stories and were able to tell the group a number of lessons from the bible stories. We finished the afternoon with games, playing sharks and minnows (a favorite Malawian children’s game, but of course they have a different name for it) with the kids. Wednesday was a full day of painting, finishing the hall and two classrooms. With our translators help we finished our painting project one day ahead of schedule. The staff at Njewa greatly appreciated our work expressing their gratitude for our work over and over.

Jake's Work in Malawi

Last fall, I met Debbie Clark at a COTN info night in San Diego, which is where I learned about an ongoing fish farming project at one of the children's homes in Malawi. After speaking with several folks at COTN and learning more about the project, I decided to join a team and go with the intent to determine the current status of the fish farm and figure out ways to rejuvenate the project in going forward. Thus, for the past 4-6 months in the US, I have spoken with and even made some direct contacts with folks in Malawi doing rural aquaculture. In the past 2 weeks prior to going to Malawi, a lot of things including meetings and so forth were still up and the air which I've learned is the natural progression of things in Malawi : ). The Lord however came through as always and provided settings to meet with folks in country who have really good experience in this venture. For three days I traveled with the Malawi in country liaison, Jeremy Macias, and the Malawi farm manager, Foderick. We embarked on our journey on Wednesday a few hours late because the truck Foderick took from Chechere broke down on the way. On the way to Blantyre, we stopped for 'Bewa', which is field mice boiled in salt water for an hour and then sold generally in pairs of 3 for around 100 kwacha each. In this case we got all 3 mice for 200 kwacha which comes out to less than 1 USD. Jeremy slurped his mouse down in no time while Foderick choose the littlest and possibly sweetest one and finished his as well. After taking a bite into the head and realizing I was chewing bones and teeth and washing them down with salty stinky fur, I was only able to take 2 more bites and had to throw out half the mouse in fear of getting car sick. It didn't help I didn't have any water either. In Blantyre we met with Abudala, a native from Zimbabwe who has spent the past 5 years in Uganda doing fish farming. We also met with his 2 other project managers and got to then visit an ongoing community fish farm near Blantyre. We learned about some of the predators farmers must deal with and got to watch a 10ft + African snake slither across one of the ponds while one of the farmers quickly broke off a large limb to try and capture it. We spent the night at a lodge in Blantyre which was interesting, the water in the shower didn't work and the TV stations could only be changed if we called the receptionist and although we purchased the executive suite which holds 3 people, we were only given 2 continental free breakfasts :(. All in all it was comfy and the people were nice and it ended up not costing all that much. We then traveled to Zomba to meet Hastings, a PhD who heads a research group at the Malawi national aquaculture center. After asking approximately 500 questions and touring his facility and getting to see the fish they were raising there, he took us to his private farm about 8 km away. We viewed several ponds under construction along with about 8 ponds he was currently raising fish in. We also met the families of the workers he was employing to manage the farms. From Zomba we traveled back home to Njewa and spent the night at COTN again. In the morning we traveled to meet Lucy who is a private farmer in the Dowa district who raises baby fish, also known as fingerlings, which he sells to several nearby farmers in Malawi. From there we went to the marketplace in downtown Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and navigated the busy alleyways to finally find the fresh fish corner where iced catfish and chambo (tilapia) could be bought. From there we traveled to Chitipi farm to take more pictures and do a soil analysis of the ground there to determine if the clay content was sufficient to have a fish pond. Some of the hired laborers quickly dug down about 3 feet and low and behold, the soil was distinctly clay which is what we needed to see. This concluded our travels and from here I will put together a final summary of all we saw with recommendations in going forward. I am hopeful that I can return to Malawi to help get this started and get some of the men or women at ICA interested and involved in the project. The most interesting part of the whole thing was seeing the names of businesses around the country. After the first 4 hours of driving, I decided to start writing some down which I've listed below. God first enterprise House of miracles and intercession Blantyre manadazi shop 'king of kings' reform enterprises Praise shop (music store) Acts shop Peace welding shop God is able phone charger Genesis shopping center Go bless investments God bless rest house Jesus is the answer butchery shop todos de depende de Deus video ( in Mozambique) God knows shop God can do anything shop God is good mini shop Jesus is the answer clinic favour investments Advent music store blessed venture Jesus is coming soon wholesale shop Lords best collection Trinity autoparts Jesus is definitely alive and His name is being glorified in this country. jake minich

How I Met My Child

When our team had downtime in the afternoon, I (Taylor) decided to walk over to a nearby village, Mgwai, to meet my sponsor girl. (Don't worry mom, I also brought someone over to translate for me.) I have been sponsoring Florence and writing letters to her for the past three years, so of course, I was excited/nervous to finally meet her! As we walked through the village, children we didn't know would walk up to us and hold our hands as if we were their best friends. They sure do know how to make you feel special! Everyone knows everyone, so it was easy to ask where Florence lives and find her house. As I walked up to her house, I recognized her right away. For a couple seconds, she looked confused as to why a white girl was walking towards her, but then jumped with excitement and gave me a huge hug! It was an incredible moment to meet her and her family and definitely something I'll never forget. She told me about her studies and that she wants to be a nurse. She loves to sing worship songs and dance, so I told her that she will have to teach me. Although I couldn't stay long, I promised I would be back soon, and then she proceeded to walk me all the way back to where I was staying. I couldn't get enough of her sweet smile and laughter as I tried to speak Chichewa to her! On Sunday morning, we went to Flood Malawi. Before we got there, I was told the church service takes place in a little Chinese restuarant, so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, the moment we walked in, it instantly felt like home. We were welcomed as brothers and sisters and it felt like one big Flood family. The worship was amazing and full of life. Everyone was on their feet and clapping along. Pastor Sean gave some humorous relationship advice and preached an awesome sermon. It was really cool to see with our own eyes the connection between our church back home and Flood Malawi, and to see the fruit of God's work thousands of miles apart. Sunday afternoon, our sponsor children came to Njewa (where we are staying during our trip) for some tea and snacks. We played "knock" (equivalent to Uno in America), sang worship songs, took pictures, and gave them their gifts that we had brought them. It was so good to spend quality time with each of them. I love just being around them even though we had a language barrier. Another great moment was when my new friend Joanna and I went into Mgwai village and cooked Ramen noodles for one of the families there. Most families in the villages only eat nsima (flour and water in a mashed potato consistency) and vegetables. Only on special occasions do they eat meat. When we told them we had noodles to cook for them, they all smiled. I am constantly amazed at how generous they are, they had asked us to have some of it before they ate. We thanked them and explained that it was for them to enjoy. We cooked 5 packets of chicken-flavored noodles and it was gone in 10 seconds flat. It was so life-giving to be able to serve this family dinner and know them. Tay Tay

Death to Mbuzi

Coming down from our excitement of arriving in Malawi, July 5th, we were introduced into the daily life of the villages.  Beginning our 'cultural immersion day', we were dropped off in a town market with a list of ten items needed to make a traditional Malawian meal.  With $3,000 kwatcha(~$10 USD), and a translator, we had to navigate the market, finding our items (in Chechewa) and get back to our van first ( Amazing Race COTN style).  Our final grocery item, mbuzi, (goat) was lead over to our van (live!) and literally thrown into the back of the van on top of the firewood.  We set off to visit our sponsor children's village, Chirombo.  Upon arrival, our team leader, Jason 'the butcher' Mak, slit the goat's throat (video to come) and it was then hung from a tree, skinned and butchered right there in front of the school!  The goat meat was divided and we brought that with our market groceries to our sponsor children families.  After meeting the family, we did some daily chores; we fetched water from the hand pump, washed dishes, mudded the front porch and prepared the traditional meal of nsima with veggies.  The  nsima (pronounced see-mah) is a combination of cornflour and hot water stirred into a sticky mashed potato consistency.  The meal is prepared indoors; starting  the fire and boiling water with a simple pot placed on bricks.  There are no pot holders to hold the scalding pot and they test the water temperature by flicking the hot water on their bare arms!  These women have such  hard lives, but they do it all with huge smiles on their faces and singing beautiful songs.  Even though my (Callie) sponsor child lives and goes to school at the COTN compound where we are staying, it was good to meet his family and see how far he has come.  His mother is a widow, with 5 children and often cares for other children in the village.  Once Yusufu finishes high school, he hopefully will continue onto college.  His mother and brothers and sisters are counting on him to get a job and provide for the family.    Spending time in the village, we also played soccer with the children and danced and sang.
Tionana,
Callie

Up Up Jesus! Down Down Devil.

After meeting at the San Diego airport and traveling to Dulles Airport (wherever that's at...no really, we weren't sure), we traveled all the way to Ethiopia. Woah, long flight! Several movies, tv shows, card games (such as B.S.), 3 meals (yes, 3) and 13 hours later we finally made it to Ethiopia. Then, off to Lilongwe the capital of Malawi! We got our passports stamped and then were warmly greeted by the extremly friendly and hospitable COTN staff.

We were jetlagged but we did not waste any time after getting to the COTN Malawi headquarters. We went to Mtsiliza, a small village nearby, and were welcomed by about 100 children with singing, dancing, laughter, and lots of smiles.

On July 3rd, we toured African Bible College (ABC), which was beautiful. Did I mention that everything is so beautiful here? I (Kirsten) have only really traveled in the United States, so everything here is new and so picturesque, and I can't seem to get enough photos of everything and everyone! Anyway, we toured through ABC's library, clinic, the fields, basketball/netball courts, and swimming pool and the elementary school.

After the ABC tour we were warmly welcomed once again in a village called Chirombo. "Azunga, azunga!" is what we hear when we travel around in the COTN van. Azunga means "white person." It is amazing how many children come running out of their houses to chase our van just to see us, hold our hands, and ask us our names.

On July 4th we shot off fireworks and sang America's National Anthem! Just kidding. We actually walked to Mgwayi (another small village) and visited 50 beautiful faces at a preschool and 250 amazing young kids at an elementary school. The Malawian children can't grab our hands and arms fast enough! It was neat hearing about the education here and the similarities and differences from the schools in America.

Anyway, between the rat (more like a cute mouse) that rummages through the pots and pans each night as we worship and do our devotions, attempting to communicate using Chichewa, the power randomly going out (sometimes while in the shower...scary), and watching the children run after the bus just to be with us awhile longer, it's been quite an adventure so far! And it is so evident that God is moving and working in this place and through his children here. We are so excited to continue this adventure and experience here!

Our Stories

Callie-
I have always had a heart for Africa....this will be my 4th trip and second to Malawi!  The country and people are like none other; it really is the Warm Heart of Africa.  Two years ago I was able to meet my sponsor child, Yusufu, while backpacking through Malawi.  When Flood offered a trip to Malawi, through COTN,  I knew I had to go back.  The opportunity to serve, in this capacity, along with other people from Flood is going to be a new experience for me, as my first mission trip.  I'm very excited to get to know the other people on my team on a deeper lever, and of course see how Yusufu has grown!  It's so important to me, to convey to my sponsor child (and his village), that I am invested in his future, as well as the people of Malawi.

Jason-

I've traveled the world and seen many things in my lifetime. But one of the most enlightening and empowering experiences of my life was a mission trip to Malawi in 2012. I was welcomed with the most jubilant of greetings, and overwhelmed by the presence of the Spirit. I was immersed in compassionate relationships which broke through boundaries of all proportions. I arrived with an open heart, to share and to serve, but returned with life lessons of perseverance and humility. And for that, my life had been forever changed. One year later, I now have the opportunity to build upon that amazing experience with five new brothers and sisters. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!

Kirsten-

I am very excited to be going on my first mission trip abroad! I am looking forward to serving Children of the Nations on this trip and being able to spend time with the children in the villages through VBS, one-on-one time, playing soccer, and just hanging out with them! Learning about and being in a culture much different than my own is also something I am looking forward to. I can't wait for this 17 day adventure and to see how God is moving in Malawi! 

Daniel-

I am looking forward to our trip and learning more about Children of the Nations and the people and culture of Malawi.  I am hoping to be a blessing to my team and everyone we come in contact with in Malawi.  I have never been to Africa and I'm excited for what God will teach me through this short term missions trip.

Thanks for your prayers!

Jake-

Hello, my name is Jake Minich and I am going to Malawi for a few reasons. I've never been on a missions trip out of the country and I am really excited to spend time with followers of Jesus from another culture. For the past several years, I have been very interested in aquaculture and its potential in alleviating poverty and providing a sustainable source of protein in the developing world. Last fall while checking out a COTN info night in San Diego, I met Debbie Clark.. and she asked me why I was there and what were some of my passions or dreams. I shared with her how I would love to be able to use my skills learned in molecular biology/genetics to help fish farmers improve their yields and potentially get new farms started. COTN actually had a fish farm for several years in Malawi but had some technical issues with it as they did not have anyone specifically trained to help keep it going. For the past 6 months, I've been networking with others in Malawi to meet with them while I'm there to learn as much as possible and make in country connections. Ultimately I will put together a feasibility outline for COTN on continuing with new aquaculture activities. There is a great demand in fish throughout Malawi and with natural populations of fish decreasing over time, there is a huge economic opportunity within Malawi for fish farming which could potentially help generate income for the orphanages not to mention provide usable skill sets for men and women in the community. The Lord told Peter 3 times to feed His sheep. As followers of Christ, there is an urgent need to take care of the family of believers for those who cannot take care of themselves. 

Taylor-

I am so excited for this adventure God is about to take me on! I've always had the desire to go to Africa but have never felt the timing was right. Year after year, I came up with reasons as to why I couldnt go, whether it be lack of money or unable to take time off of work.  Once I found out Flood was hosting a sponsorship trip to Lilongwe, Malawi this summer, I knew The Lord was calling me to go. I made the decision to put all my trust in God that He would provide the resources and the time off work to go, and He did! God is so good! I can't wait to meet my beautiful sponsor girl, Florence, who I've been writing to and supporting the past 3 years. It will be a beautiful moment to finally meet her! I pray that I am able to lavish God's love on the children and people there. In return, I know I will learn more about the character of God and his amazing grace for all of his beautiful sons and daughters!