It's the halfway point!

Hello again! We’ve reached the halfway-point of our stay in Malawi, and, if the second half is nearly as busy as the first half, we’ll be totally spent by our return date to the U.S. We had a strategy meeting with the pastors after our Bible Study this morning, and we will be shifting tactics as of this Easter weekend. The men are moving in fully accountable areas of responsibility, each one handling a different aspect of the project, each with a budget, a ledger to record their work, and a charge to act in the highest possible ethical manner in their dealings with me and with others. We have also given to Rhoda an accounting responsibility, managing the inventory with morning and evening trips down to the property. I have seen this tactic take hold, and am very satisfied with the results.

This morning, at the pastors’ Bible study, we finished Romans 13-16, then I opened the door for a teaching that will be given by Wanda and myself next Friday to a combined group of the pastors and their wives on two areas: 1. How to live in a culture that has valued lying, stealing and begging, using the book of Titus (written to Titus in Crete, full of liars, evil beasts and gluttons –see Titus 1:12). The key is to live uprightly in every way – living self-controlled (ethics within yourself), upright (ethics with others), and godly (ethics with your Master) lives, looking for the appearance of Jesus (maintaining an eternal perspective) – see Titus 2:12 & 13; and 2. Living out the original idea of marriage as found in the post-creation mandate to be totally unified with your mate, that is, valuing, respecting, and holding your mate accountable in a culture that still very much devalues women and downplays the importance of the marriage unit.

Yesterday was a strong day for Wanda, leading a ladies’ Bible study in Kolokot on Romans 12, the kind of life that Christians should lead with each other because of all that God has done for us. There were a good number of women there, and Wanda was pleased that, after she had finished teaching, Esther, one of the pastors’ wives, stood up and strongly admonished the ladies to follow this teaching. We feel that God has placed us here to plant seeds that Randy and then Shawn & Heather will be watering and harvesting.

I went to the bank yesterday (the funds are holding up really well as a result of the work of the pastors in improving efficiency in a number of areas), and, feeling a real heaviness about the contact with the Office of Social Welfare, I took Frank Maini and returned to that office to discuss further. This was an appointment made by the Lord, as the desk lady was gone for the day, and we were ushered into the office of the assistant district minister for the Blantyre area. She had our folder out on her desk when we arrived. She gave the same dim view of the orphanage, but acknowledged the need for more facilities for short-term placement. After she lectured for several minutes on the advantages of extended-family care, she gave us a booklet to review in order to properly complete a letter to be reviewed and passed on to the District Minister and the city assembly, as much as saying that we could apply for a license to operate the orphanage once the letter was completed. I have a photocopy of that booklet, and am preparing a letter that will meet their requirements.

We also went to the Portland Cement factory right there in Ndirende, and got a quote for 50 kg bags of cement at 1189 Kw a bag, even below the other estimate!! We will get it tax-free, and the factory is very near the property, making transport a real snap – 60 bags at a time. Again, this is the single largest expense, and the hand of the Lord in providing this break is very evident. If the truck holds up well, we will come in well under budget for the early phases of this project.

Today, the pastors went to the quarry for more gravel, leaving pastors Elton Jobe & Matthias Komkwani in Chilimba with myself, Wanda, and the girls – to hold medical clinics in the village (and I mean WAY in the village). We bought 15 bags of corn for the church members, then went into 2 different areas, seeing patients and dispensing limited medications, praying for some and trying to comfort others with conditions that could not be treated. We saw skin diseases, numerous ear infections, everyone had stomach problems and headaches, an elderly lady with a pneumonia, walking probably 5 miles on 8-10% grade roads (really just packed sand paths) in and out. Wanda and the girls were prep[aring and dispensing medications while I saw a continuous line of patients. We met the truck returning from a gravel run, then met our taxi friend, Miles Adam, for supper and were able to invite him to church on Sunday.

The project itself has been sitting on hold for the last 2 days, as we are waiting for an inspector from the city to come out and approve the footer pouring. The gate has been purchased, arrangements have been made to finish the last section of wall, put on hold after Grey absconded with the funds, and a better drainage ditch is being dug. I went down in the trench myself to work with a Malawian hoe and shovel in the mid-afternoon, and learned right away the difference between 20-year-old workers and a 52-year old worker. Pretty humbling, but I learned how to lean on a shovel and watch someone else work, so I guess I’m ready for a government road job in the States…

We are seeing the hand of the Lord everywhere we look. The problem we had with Grey apparently stealing money in December was meant by him (and by satan) for evil, but God intended it for good. It has become clear to both Wanda and myself separately that this man has been acting unethically for a fair length of time, and had been eroding the good foundations laid by Randy over the years, to the point that, when I arrived here, no-one was trusting that Acts III would do what it had agreed to. The ladies who bring sand up from the river did not trust us, because they had been burned before. KAMA construction did not trust us. National Bank did not trust us. The whole town evidently knew that this man was going sour long before he made his final move. We are starting fresh with these suppliers and workers, and are in a much better position than we were before. We pray for Grey’s repentance, but we are better off with a new start. If he were to return in repentance at this time, he would be accepted into the fellowship, but not welcomed into the project.

Next Tuesday will be a huge day, as we will be meeting with the title people for the property, the social welfare people (letter in hand), the traffic bureau to finalize truck insurance and licensing, and the Malawi Revenue Authority to finalize the tax-free status. This will be renewable for 6 months, so that it can be in effect for other aspects of the project. We will also be visiting the water board and calling for electrical connection. Pray for favor with each of these steps.

Our last 2 weeks will consist of more contacts with other agencies here, spending time with YWAM Blantyre, spending a morning with Asif’s family, hanging out tomorrow with Tendai and her cousins here at Grace Bandawe, visiting orphanages and dispensing meds and food in Kolokot and Ndirende. We are looking forward to the change.

Let me add a new note of praise for the Lord's protection in a certain matter. One of the girls was approached by a man at Grace Bandawe who claimed to be a Christian writing for a newspaper. The man worked his way into her good graces, then asked her for information on us: e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, and then was able to get our home phone number in the US and the length of time we would be here. She told us about the man, and, needless to say, I was not happy. I was even less happy when the phone number he gave was not a working number, and that the newspaper he worked for did not have a known local office. We felt that there was a risk to our security at home, since the home number could be used to find our address, so the police were notified, and we asked Sharon to secure our home. I also sent a blasting e-mail to the address given, threatening local police action. Evidently, something drove him out of the woodwork, as he and 2 colleagues showed up at Grace Bandawe the same day, apologizing and describing their collective effort to increase AIDS awareness through the media. We were very relieved to know that he was just a bumbling fund-raiser of the normal Malawian type, rather than a sophisticated information-gatherer. Incidentally, he was a Moslem writer and not a Christian (although he did claim to worship in all churches, Roman Catholic included).

Thank you for your support in prayer and your contacts through e-mail. We love you all.
Rick & Wanda