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