2009 Malawi - Day One... Travel...

WOW! What a group... the energy from them was contagious...

With the sun rising above the mountains in the background, all 30 of them departed by carpool from Northside around 6:15am this morning. Prayers, tears and well wishes were plentiful.

It's bittersweet for those of us 'Left Behind' (we have electricity at the flip of a switch and needless to say our 'facilities' will be much more desired than theirs). But, we're all looking forward to hearing how God is working in and thru all those involved in this Missions Trip.

At approximately 12:00 noon they arrived @ LAX. The 'count off' confirmed that all had arrived and were ready for check in.

2:00pm - all 60 bags have been checked in (with no overage charges, thanks to our church scale and the hard work of those weighing and tagging this morning). And now they wait... most likely with cellphones in hand, texting everyone they know (BFF's included).

2:40 - they're boarding the plane @ LAX.

To be continued... as I receive information from Pastor John, I'll send an email to everyone when the Blog has been updated.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Below is their flight itinerary:



LUFTHANSA 21JUL LOS ANGELES CA FRANKFURT 255P 1040A

LH 457 TUESDAY INTL 22JULS ECONOMY

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 747-400



LUFTHANSA 22JUL FRANKFURT JOHANNESBURG 1035P 845A

LH 572 WEDNESDAY INTL O.R. TAMBO INT 23JULS ECONOMY

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 747-400



AIR MALAWI 23JUL JOHANNESBURG BLANTYRE 1225P 235

PQM 202 THURSDAY O.R. TAMBO INT CHILEKAK ECONOMY

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737



AIR MALAWI 05AUG BLANTYRE JOHANNESBURG 800A 1125

AQM 201 WEDNESDAY CHILEKA O.R. TAMBO INTK ECONOMY

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737



LUFTHANSA 05AUG JOHANNESBURG FRANKFURT 655P 525

ALH 573 WEDNESDAY O.R. TAMBO INT INTL 06AUGV ECONOMY

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 747-400




LUFTHANSA 06AUG FRANKFURT LOS ANGELES CA 1005A 1240

PLH 456 THURSDAY INTL INTLV ECONOMY

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 747-400

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Next Up: Malawi, Africa!

Our high school students and sponsors are about to embark on a life-changing mission to Malawi, Africa. Carole Bowers, the executive assistant at Northside, is going to be giving updates while they are gone.

So just where exactly is this country they are going to? Well, here's just a little bit of info on the beautiful African country of Malawi...
Malawi is a landlocked country located in southeast Africa that is surrounded by Mozambique, Zambia, and Tanzania. Lake Malawi occupies nearly all of the country’s eastern border. The north-south Rift Valley is flanked by mountain ranges and high plateaus. In the higher elevations, Malawi is pleasantly cooler than many other African countries, but the lowlands are hot, humid, and tropical. Natural resources include limestone, hydropower, uranium, coal, and bauxite.

The British protectorate of Nyasaland was established in 1891 and became the independent nation of Malawi on July 6, 1964. Following 30 years of one-party rule, Malawi held multiparty elections in 1994 when a new constitution was instituted. The population is comprised of several ethnic groups, including Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, and European. English and Chichewa are the official languages, though others are spoken regionally.

Increasing political corruption remains an issue. President Bakili Muzuli’s government is believed to have sold 160,000 tons of reserve maize in 2000 despite signs of an imminent famine. Malawi’s food crisis has reached a point where most families do not have sufficient food to meet daily nutritional requirements and 3 million people are near starvation. The president declared a state of disaster in his country in February 2002 when a drought followed by heavy rains destroyed two seasons of crops.

In May 2004, Bingu wa Mutharika, an economist, was elected president through an election process that many consider irregular.

Nearly 90 percent of people live in rural areas and are engaged in farming. Agriculture products include sugarcane, cotton, tea, vegetables, nuts, cattle, and goats. More than 55 percent of Malawians live below the poverty threshold, and the inflation rate is 28 percent. Malawi is a very poor and densely populated nation and is ranked as one of the world’s least developed countries. Despite attempts at economic reform, the government continues to face challenges due to a rapidly growing population, the increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases, limited and poorly managed natural resources, recurrent droughts, environmental degradation, and food insecurity.

The economy of Malawi relies on substantial economic assistance from the World Bank and other nations. The government is attempting to develop a market economy, improve educational facilities, and address environmental issues, as well as deal with the escalating problem of HIV/AIDS. Adding to this, access to adequate health care is limited. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a significant impact on Malawi, where the prevalence rate among adults is 14.2 percent. Approximately 900,000 people in Malawi are living with the disease, and nearly 84,000 infected die each year. In addition, life expectancy has dropped, infant mortality has risen, and more than 400,000 children have lost one or both parents to the disease. From World Vision

Malawi is a beautiful country filled with beautiful people who both love God, and some who still need to hear the Good News of Christ. Join us in praying for our team as they are out there being the "body of Christ."

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Saying Good Bye

On our final day, we visited a few tourist spots around Nairobi, enjoyed a nice lunch even with a latte! This picture includes Larry and Judy who hosted us, they have been in Africa for 42 years! And our wonderful driver, Stephen. Our flights were all on time and we arrived at home at 7:30pm. We will miss our new African friends, but it is also nice to be home.

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The Amazing Masai Mara

After our 4 session VBS program and 4 adult training sessions, we headed to the Masai Mara for a couple days of relaxation. During this time of year, everything is so green and pretty. We saw lots of lions, zebras, elephants, giraffes, cape buffalos, and many other amazing animals!

We are now back in Nairobi where Jim and Jimmy will be preaching at two different churches.

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The boys love Jimmy!

And Jimmy loved them! These children have been blessed with so much more than any material "thing" could give them - they have been blessed with love and the gift of community. We can learn so much from them!

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Preparing to worship at Migori VBS

Another amazing VBS at Migori's Upper Hill Christian Church, nestled in a beautiful agricultural area of Kenya, located in the middle of sugar cane and tea. We taught over 150 children about the love of Jesus. They really enjoyed the new American songs we taught them and we enjoyed learning a couple of their wonderful praise songs.

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Migori VBS - Jim doing card tricks for the children

The children loved watching Jim perform his card tricks and other magic tricks. What a blessing it was for Jim to be able to share even through the language barrier.

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