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 A Rainbow Warrior shares love in Malawi
Click to read about her latest journey
Just an update
I will share more when you come and visit!!
I have not seen Blessings for over a year since I found him on my last mission trip to Zambia where he was chained to a tree for three years.(A Malawian missionary, Jar, sought to give him a new life and 'aopted' him into his family home). This trip, however, was on my own to spend time with Jar and see Blessings and work closely with them and other caregivers in assisting them with fine and gross motor coordination and basic rehabilitation instruction needed for Blessings recovery, as well as getting to know the family...and also because this is my ministry- reaching into the lives of people in Africa or wherever God takes me (which without the support of my beautiful husband and girls would not be possible).
Arriving at the house - a little plastic bowl with roses and a beautiful welcoming note .. semi detached and small, with corrugated roof, but very neat and tidy, very sparse - cupboard with mealie meal and a tin of baked beans (no can opener) no dishwashing liquid, no hot water cylinder, basic utensils and furnishings; boxes for tables and storage; no fridge (temps climb to above 35 on many days); peeling cracked walls and floors with moss growing on the outside, and mud front and back ... this is home.
My trip was a very humbling and at the same time an incredibly blessed time for me. Getting to know Blessings was not what I had envisaged at all. I was met with much enthusiasm and delight by a small crowd of welcoming brothers and sisters in the Lord ... the midday heat was incredible and it took me almost an hour to get from the little airport customs to greet Jar. Blessings sat very quietly all the way back to the house just playing with his plastic car - turning it incessantly around and around in his hands. His movements and focus is slow and there was no recognition of me from a year ago. Eating slowly and chewing is difficult for him as every meal is treated as if it were his last - wolfed down in a matter of seconds - using a small spoon is encouraged to control the amount of food and chewing, but this still needs to be monitored closely to stop him choking. Blessings has little to no reaction to most things..little focus or eye contact - verging on autistic. Regarding remedial/rehabilitation, this was immensly slow and difficult. On a positive note, from the materials I had gathered over the year from occupatonal therapists and psychologists and my own intensive research, I was able to put together a comprehensive teaching and 'home schooling' plan covering all aspects of basic development for a grade 1 learner, together with physical development and evaluation targets to work towards. Trudy (Jar's Aunt), who Blessings trusts, will be working with him on a regular basis and we are trusting that with a more hands on and structured and routined approach his progress will improve.
Night times are difficult and Jar - four out of seven nights (2-4am)on average are spent washing sheets, clothing, showering and disinfecting ... it is so hard to imagine that this little fellow was a 'normal' school going kid - reading and writing and functioning until the age of 12. Jar has things well under control, and when I saw what he does for Blessings it truly humbled me - made me think of Jesus' sacrificial love for all of us. There is so much I could share with you all.
Visiting the orphanages was so appalling - money pours in from Netherlands, but never gets to the right place ... so there is corruption all over the world - money just does not go to where it is intended. Kids share beds with torn mattresses and dog blankets - the stench of urine permeates every corner of the building - little scraps of clothing tucked under the mattresses - maybe all they have...a heavy black pot on outside coals boiling water to cook their meal which comprised chopped up pumpkin leaves (no protein) ... some kids followed us down to the polluted river to bathe as the water had been cut off at the orphanage - even the toilet had been broken in half from an iron bar from the ceiling falling onto it - what struck me the most was how the children adapted and played together and laughed in spite of their circumstances. There was some sort of unconditional bond between them which amazed me.
Katie, (Jar's fiance) is beautiful and talented and organised - she lives at home with her siblings and pretty much manages their (her families) lives. Her parents live near Lake Malawi, and they come through to Blantyre most weekends to spend time with their children. Jar and Katie will be celebrating their engagement shortly and still set for end November.
Sunday afternoon (having been welcomed in front of 5000 people at the regular Sunday worship, we were taken with a fellowship of brothers to a little rural church at Chiradzulu (about 50 mins drive away) that Jar planted last year ... what an amazing sight this was. The worship was beautiful, and The Holy Spirit was so prevalent - rivers of living water flowed as hearts were released from bondage and filled with His love. I wonder at the smallest of children and it never ceases to move me deeply to see how they imitate in worship and are so disciplined in their behaviour - time with Jesus is no chore, and their little eyes and white teeth just sparkle when they sing and dance. I have such special memories or these dusty little heads and torn clothes .. in a dark school room with little natural light and a few rays of sunshine trickling through broken glass windows and bouncing off the smooth cracked cement floors onto these beautiful little faces. It is hard to tear one's self away from the beauty of this quiet simplicity and the intensity of God's presence in the humblest of far-away places.
So much to see ... so much to experience in this short time - walking miles to catch a minibus (often overloaded and seldom even roadworthy) - our four hour trip to Mangochi in a minibus with 28 up including babies and small children - chickens and fish - all part of the journey ... frequent stops to change passengers while at every stop dozens of hands clasping slap chips, samoosas, mealies, fried and dried fish, sweets, combs, knives, oddments and refreshments push through the windows - everyone trying to make a living, children and adults alike - life is not easy.
Spending two days with Katie's parents and spending a morning at Lake Malawi was wonderful - we almost did not make the trip as Blessings decided just before we left to take himself off for a little walk while we were tidying up - Jar found him in a ditch at the bottom of the road, cut above his eye, and some ladies trying to pull him out, much against his will!! Children have disappeared and are often used for medicine - a big concern in that Blessings does not speak (yet) and would not find his way home.
I gave a wonderful therapeutic massage workshop with a group of ladies who do caregiving and want to use this as part of their outreach ministry to AIDS patients and in the clinics and homecare groups. We also met for a leadership bible study and had an amazing time of prayer. AIDS literature and teaching tools were given one-on-one to leadership to share with the children, teens and to teach and empower community leaders to go on with - this was also great and they had never seen such well developed literature (thanks to SA department of education who finally got something right!!!)
Most evenings after Blessings had gone to bed Jar and I just sat and spoke about the day and days to come and vision for the future and prayed for hours - what a priviledge to just share like this.
There is just so much I could tell you, but I could go on for pages - visits, meetings, stories from Jar's friends, Lots of photographs - Lots of experiences - But above all, it was such an honour to be able to walk and talk and share and encourage and be encouraged by my brother and to be part of his family and ministry and experience just part of his humble life. Blessings is no orphan in this family, he is "son, brother and ministry".
The harvest is so ripe, and the work that Jar is doing is so amazing - life is hard, but God is so good, and I have seen His hand in so much that I experienced and in so much that has happened with Blessings and the lives, testimonies and miracles through this unconditional love relationship. Please continue to pray for a miracle for Blessings' healing - and for Jar in his ministry to bring the word of God.
Thank you to my friends who made this trip possible for me and for helping me to see my way clear in terms of practical support in so many ways, and thank you to those who help Jar and Blessings - I wish you could see and grasp the true impact you actually have in their lives and those they touch - you will one day - of that I am sure.
I love you all!
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