Over the whole trip the theme of caring (or Care Givers) kept coming back to me, in my devotional times but especially out in our communities. On the Holy Home Visits I went on in the two communities I visited, the stories which impacted me most were that of the Care Givers, those who live with our vulnerable children providing care to them in their homes.
I met one lady, named Eleeza, who had taken in her sister’s son, Naris, after she has died very soon after Naris was born. Eleeza then nursed Naris during his infant years to ensure he would survive without his mother. Now, 3 years on, he is still alive and loved very much by his aunt Eleeza. I also met Tanji who cares for her 3 children and her sick husband, who contracted some kid of disease late last year and now finds it very difficult to walk. He, therefore, cannot work so Tanji has to provide for the family by working in a nearby field. As well as all of the above she also cares for her own mother who is very old and sick. At the time of her visit, Tanji’s sister was also sick so was helping to care for her and her children. As I sat on this Holy Home Visit, it really struck me the heavy load that Tanji carries. I encouraged her that Jesus helps us to carry our burdens when we cannot manage. The Care Workers and I also helped in a practical way by de-shelling some of Tanji’s beans that she had harvested the day before.
Another way in which I saw the theme of caring was through our SC team in Malawi. One example of this was regarding the way in which the SC team advocate on behalf of the most vulnerable in our communities. On one of the days I spent in community, we arrived at the Life Centre and noticed that there were a number of primary school age children present. This was unusual for morning as they should have been in school. After asking a few questions, our SC team realised that these kids had been chased away from their school because certain school fees had not been paid. As soon as that had been said, Prince, one of our SC team members, jumped on the motorbike and rode to the nearby primary school to plead with the principal to let our kids back into school on the promise that the school fees would be paid in the next couple of days. When we returned 2 days later, we found no primary school age children at the Life Centre so knew that Prince’s words to the principal had not been in vain.
For this particular trip, Dan travelled with me to Malawi. Dan and I had not travelled together before so I was looking forward to spending some quality time with him. One of the highlights of my trip was to see how Dan cared for our SC team by encouraging them on numerous occasions. From publicly thanking individuals to sending personal messages, Dan always had his eyes open to encourage our SC team. It was a challenge to me and I asked myself the question, how far do I go to encourage our SC guys? It is something I definitely need to work on!
It was difficult to be away from Morgan and Finn for those 2 weeks but we were able to keep in good contact and I felt very blessed to be able to have those 2 weeks in Malawi.
Soon after I returned from Malawi, Morgan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary by spending a night away (without Finn) in a nearby mountainous town called Dullstroom. It was great to be able to spend that together especially after having been apart for those couple of weeks. It is incredible to think back over the past 5 years to see how God has grown us individually and together. We are very blessed!
This past week, Morgan, Finn and I had the opportunity to travel out to one of our South African communities, Share, with some visitors from UK and Canada. It is always special to be able to get Finn out to our communities and start to expose him to the life that so many people in our world live.
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| Finn having dinner with all the 'Hands kids' |
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| Eleeza (left) with Naris (right) and a local Care Worker (centre) |
