Journey with Joy

Malawi Bound

Joy

I’ve been missing in action for a little over a week, due to the fact that we have been away from home. We are currently in Lilongwe, Malawi, where we are visiting and working with Ed and Lina Crookshank for a couple of weeks. August 12 we pulled out of our drive just after 3 a.m. and made the long, long drive to Lilongwe – all in one day. It was about a 15 1/2 hour trip. Malawi is experiencing a fuel crisis, which adds extra challenges when the work here involves much driving. In spite of that (sitting in long queues for a couple of hours) we’ve managed to keep on going according to schedule here.

This past weekend Lindsey and I, along with Lina Crookshank, went to the village of Salima for a women’s “retreat”. If the word “retreat” conjures up in your mind a place for rest and relaxation, then think again. There were about 800 women who came from as far as four hours away. Most of them slept on the ground, along with their babies, on a layer of dried straw, in a semi-enclosed area. Cooking was done over open fires and the softest seating available was the ground.

For most of the women, it was a retreat, since they had a break from their responsibilities at home and were served three meals a day. Lindsey, Lina and I were able to stay in the house of one of the local church members there, for which we were very thankful. They were very good to us.

On Friday morning Shupie, the young woman who does most of the translating for Lina, began the early stages of labor. She really did not want to miss the ladies retreat in spite of the fact that her due date was about 10 days away. By noontime, Lina decided that she ought to take Shupie back to Lilongwe, so that she could go to the hospital there. We weren’t sure how far along Shupie was in her labor, and Lina certainly didn’t want to get caught driving after dark. Neither did we want to have to deliver a baby out in the village, if we could help it. So, after lunch Lina and Shupie headed back to Lilongwe (about a 2 hour drive), and Linz and I stayed. That night Linz and I could do nothing but laugh at ourselves – out in the village, no vehicle, can’t speak the local language, and I almost ran out of phone minutes! George was nice enough to transfer some to me, so at least I could get in touch with him if the need arose. 🙂 Anyway, Linz and I made it just fine, although we do have a few stories to tell, such as….

Roaches in outhouse - how'd you like to visit here at night?

I spoke three times. My lessons were on the topics of 1) How Women Can Serve, 2) The Role of Mothers and 3) Loving Your Husband. Honestly, if I had known previously what some of the issues that are problems for the ladies here I would have chosen differently. You might think that the problems the Tanzanians have are similar to those of Malawians, and to some degree, that is the case. However, the Malawi women, especially those that come from the more remote villages, are so mixed up in their thinking concerning marital and family relations that one hardly knows where to begin. We also had some extra challenges because a number of the women were, to put it kindly, uncooperative. Food supplies disappeared, some went down to the lakeside beach (just a few hundred yards away) and publicly bathed topless or more (which, by the way, is not done by the people of this village, and the local church members were quite upset by it), in addition to other problems. The positive side is that there were definitely some who were kind and obviously had come with a genuine desire to learn the Word of God. We hope that we were of some encouragement to them.

Lindsey spoke twice to a class of young women, once on Works of the Flesh vs. Fruits of the Spirit, and the other on issues that challenge young women, such as commitment, jealousy, purity and modesty. She did a great job!

George, Jacob and Luke, as well as Ed Crookshank and Isaac (whose home Linz and I stayed in) drove to Salima Sunday morning for worship. Jacob taught Bible class and George taught preached. Both of my guys did a great job, of course. 🙂

Besides Lindsey’s and my adventure to the village, days have been filled with going to a different teaching point each day, where George teaches a four hour class on Personal Evangelism. However, Linz and I decided to stay at the house today to recoup from our weekend, which is why I’ve been able to catch up with online stuff. 🙂

Hope you all have a great week!

Chidren's Bible Class, Family Matters, Homeschooling

It’s That Time of Year Again…New Planners, New Books, New Resolve

Joy

It’s that time of year again when most American families are getting ready for another school year. Whether your children attend public school, private school, or you choose to homeschool your children, a certain amount of planning and preparation usually takes place.

We have been a homeschooling family from the time our children began their “formal” education. Our four have finished high school and so my official homeschooling mom badge has been laid aside. It is kind of bittersweet to read all of the mommy blogs in which they talk about their upcoming school year – the new planners, scouring catalogs and trying to decide what’s best for each particular child, crisp, new textbooks and other supplemental material in the mail, etc, etc. I do miss those days, but I thoroughly enjoy our place in life now. Although I’d love to reclaim a day here and there when my children were little – giggles, cuddle time, reading time, history time (me falling asleep while reading to them), I don’t think spending my time longing for the past is what God wants of me.

While everyone is making plans for their new school year, I thought it might be a good time to throw a few thoughts out there for consideration. While it is very important to provide an academic foundation for our children, our GREATEST task, in regards to our children, is to provide them with a spiritual foundation.

Proverbs 28:26 “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

2 Timothy 3:15 “and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

If our children come away with a solid biblical knowledge base which gives them the ability to confidently answer the following questions AND we have instilled within them the desire to live life accordingly, then we will have given them the greatest gift.

Where did we come from?

Why are we here?

Where are we going?

I realize that may be oversimplifying the complexity of life, but really, these questions address what life is all about and will help put things in perspective, and God, through his Holy Word, has provided the answers. Yes, our children need to be taught the academics, but don’t forget to keep things in perspective.

In the Kitchen

Aroma Therapy = Baking Bread

Joy

I love the smell of baking bread! It beats the smell of our neighbor’s hogs any day. Today I decided to add a little twist to baking bread, and that was to fill bread with pieces of beef (left-overs) and some cheese, making a stuffed sandwich roll. (I guess you could say they are like hot pockets, but really, there is NO comparison to the cardboard things called “Hot Pockets” found in the freezer section of your local grocery store.) I divided the dough into appropriate portions for individual-sized sandwich rolls. One by one I rolled out a piece of dough, arranged a layer of meat and cheese, and then rolled them up, being careful to seal the ends and edges. After placing them on the cookie sheet, seam side down, I let them rise again and then baked them. We each had one for supper, and I managed to put another five in the freezer. I wonder how long they will stay there?

Uncategorized

Sew What?

Joy

Lately I have been in the mood to sew. I’ve got quite an assortment of material that I’ve had build up, including some that has been given to me, and so I’ve decided to try and shrink my piles!

Here are a couple of samples of this week’s work:

I plan to give these to some children in the congregation here.

Here is a baby quilt I made last month. Some of it includes some quilting squares that I received from my Grandmother, which she had cut out years ago. I’m quite sure she never would have imagined that those little pieces of material would… end up in….

Africa!