Hello from Malawi, Thursday March 29th

Wow, do we have full days! There are so many details of the orphanage that come up, and SO much walking. We have contacted the area Congoma, and they (of course) tell us that we must belong to their organization (a gathering of different NGO's whose main purpose, it seems, is to collect a whopping 42,000 Kwacha annually from each member. ) - The fellow at the Congoma could not tell me what benefit is derived from membership, except that we could share information with other NGO's... ??? We will be following up on this some more.

We have obtained 120 Chichewa Bibles, and Erika and Liz are hard at work gluing "Moslem witnessing tools" that Randy has prepared into each of the Bibles. We have also obtained 30 songbooks from the Assembly of God Press in Limbe (possibly the LONGEST walk of my life - fortunately the girls were not with me), 6 pastors' manuals (written in English & Chichewa - a shortened version of our "Book of Common Prayers", and I slipped in a non-completed marriage certificate for our little pastor Aubrey, who is SO CUTE, engaged to be married to Madalo when Randy arrives in May - they are both very excited!

We have also obtained the first 100 bags of concrete, and I have formed a relationship of sorts with the suppliers, a cute older Indian couple running a hardware store in Blantyre. As I had expected, KAMA construction came back with a VERY high price for the ditch around the property, and I think they were surprised when I told them this was not acceptable and that we would do the ditch ourselves. I think shocked would best describe their reaction when I picked up an axe and shovel and started digging the ditch myself, followed by Bosco, Aubrey, and Frank Gama digging the expensive ditch in about 2.5 hours, even working through a HUGE downpour (which felt SOOOO good). I think the pastors were very amused at the whole thing - there was a big pile of large stones (50-80 pounds) sitting right where the ditch needed to be dug, and it did look like we'd have to go around it, but I just started picking up rocks one at a time, and soon the pile was moved. A real lesson here! (How do you eat an elephant?)

The best part of this story was the walk home. The other pastors were going in the opposite direction with their wet clothes, so I walked the 2 miles back to our hotel by myself, soaked to the bone and covered with mud. The sight of an old, "fat" white man with a pony tail (all the men buzz their heads here) often causes a stir, but imagine the same picture in soaked clothing and covered with mud, walking along a main road to town. I had to contain myself to keep from laughing outright at a couple of the looks I got. A minivan slowed down to see if I wanted to pay for a ride, then took off when they saw me!!

I have had, along with the orphanage-related issues, several excellent opportunities to sit and talk with key players in the churches here, and all of them are very receptive to suggestions and to teaching - in fact, they are begging for help. I have told them that the Lord is providing Shawn to fill this gap, and they are very anxious to receive the Wallace family. In a great many ways, I am simply preparing the soil for their stay here. I have sang/prayed/analyzed/encouraged/exhorted Elton, one of the pastors who is carrying around a great deal of hurt from past and present issues, and had an excellent opportunity to speak into several of the issues - much more work to be done here. I have been able to go deeper with Frank Maini, the senior pastor, and work with him on the idea that the best leader must be the best servant - that, becase he is in a position of leadership, we expect him to be the servant of all. I have spent some time with Rhoda and her "adopted son" (a complex name that I haven't gotten yet) , and Wanda will spend more time with her tomorrow. It just appears to me that the Lord is orchestrating each step in this process.

I know that I promised to send you a more complete prayer list, but that will have to wait, as the Icon is closing down. I had an amazing phone call with Randy, I am astonished at how the Lord is speaking to us so clearly. Pray, most of all, for this to continue.

We are really looking for wisdom as regarding the truck purchase. We have opportunities to buy nearly new trucks for $12000 equivalent or used trucks which may not function well for about $6000. We are researching these options at present, and praying for the Lord's will in this area. He will let us know. We have $6000 in the budget.

More later!

Rick & Wanda & girls.