4 adults and 8 kids make our home

Last September I posted a blog about a very emotional reunion which we had with our previous gardener's wife and children. While we rejoiced in seeing one another again it was apparent to Stefan and I that their current residence without their father ( he continues to work in South Africa and has had no contact with his children for 5 years) and staying with their grandfather, the village "medicine man" was not making us comfortable. The medicine man uses local herbs to heal but intertwined in this herbal healing comes superstition and witchcraft - a very far cry from trusting in the Savior from sins and a life lived in service to the Almighty God.
As our lives carried on we often asked Maxwell, our gardener and Uncle to these village children, how things were going and if they were healthy. We kept them in prayer. At Christmas we sent them a package sharing with them the story of Luke 2 of a true Savior and healer of sins.
By May we learned that their mother had also left for South Africa in pursuit of " greener pastures". These were the words I received. In my opinion, how anyone can seek a better life and leave their children behind is beyond my comprehension. Stefan and I spoke with Maxwell and Esther about the idea of bringing them here to live with our family. It would require them to take on 3 more children in addition to their 2 sons and it would mean a total of 8 kids between our two families living on the property. We were all up for giving it a try !
It's now been two weeks since Fresda, Filmon and Philip came back into our lives and a blessing it has been indeed ! We are helping to supplement the needed food for extra mouths and our kids dug through their closets and easily found extra Tshirts and shorts to share with these children who arrived with 2 sets of clothing and nothing else.
It took but a few minutes for all 8 children to form a bond and every afternoon can be seen playing a variety of games - follow the leader, building houses from bricks and stones lying around the property - sharing in chores to feed the chickens, guineas, dog and cat and taking turns to open our gate when someone is coming or going !
More importantly, they are witnessing what a good marriage and family looks like living with Maxwell and Esther and their " brother" cousins as well as our own family. And most of all they are hearing God's Word and accompanying their new family to church each week.

When I returned from the visit to their village last September I felt concerned about this "medicine man" and our spending time in his home. A Malawian friend assured me, " Kathy, you are covered in the blood of Jesus. His ways have take no effect on you. " Now - these children are covered by Jesus love and the Holy Spirit is working in their hearts too.
To God be the Glory - Amen !


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Blantyre, Malawi

Holy Spirit at work......

Two years ago my husband made a trip to Malawi – a place he longed to see again after leaving with his family in 2008.  At the time of his trip he was employed in Wisconsin working in a Group Home for mentally disabled individuals. While on his visit to Malawi he was reacquainted with an old friend.  This friend, Hamilton, showed him what was keeping him busy these days in addition to his wood carving business.  There, in the midst of a poor Malawian township with children running along dirt paths, goats and chickens darting across the road, make shift homes of bricks and tin and roadside vegetable vendors alongside piles of rubbish, sat a Shelter for the disabled.  It’s called “ Tidzalerana “ (caring for others). A safe and clean environment for 15 mentally and physically disabled residents who were otherwise cast out and unwanted by their relatives.  Stefan was intrigued and excited ! I’ll never forget when he phoned me back home to tell me of this amazing discovery !

 

Fast forward two years and our family has once again relocated to Malawi.  Our ministry with Kingdom Workers has gotten off to a successful start bringing in volunteer teams for programs such as VBS in village congregations within our sister synod the LCCA as well as computer training and Youth outreach.  Stefan joined the Board for the Tidzalerana Shelter and together he and I hoped and prayed for a way to reach the “lost people” (disabled) of Malawi with God’s saving Word.  Enter into the scene and guided  by the Holy Spirit’s fire came Jesus Cares Ministry.  The two JCM reps who visited us with tireless energy last October took our hopes and shared our excitement home which brought about the Team which is working and ministering presently here among the Shelter and eventually with 8 LCCA village congregations! What’s happening is nothing short of a miracle.  Malawians who clearly share a love and desire to help those less fortunate in body and mind among their own people !  An acceptance given to them that it is okay and good and desirable to care for these individuals as one cares for himself  and most importantly to reach them with God’s saving Word! 

I see the fire of the Holy Spirit which sparked one afternoon two years ago and which has gained momentum  - moving- building – bringing it together – reaching out and gripping souls !  I spent a day this week with the Team in two village churches.  Tears strolled down my cheeks as one by one the disabled villagers were brought to the church doors – slowly hobbling in on crippled feet with a stick for a cane, getting a ride down the dirt road on the back of a bicycle, carried in with the aid of 3 or 4 and laid at the front of the alter,  “ should we begin Pastor or are there more?”  “ There are more, can we wait?” “Yes, we can wait……..we will wait”.  The African sun was hot that day  - everyone seemed a little unsure – and then a few more arrived.

 

  We began……..God’s Word was taught directly to them.  Songs were sung in praise to our Saviour for them.  Sitting quietly a few shaker instruments were passed out to help them praise God too – soon the church was filled with voices and shakers and singing and clapping !

 

“Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.  For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” Psalm 149: 3-4

 We might not be certain of what we are doing all the time and we are not patient in wanting to see the results of our own efforts. It is, at times, exhausting but what is sure is the Holy Spirit is at work here amongst us.  It is humbling for Stefan and I to see how mighty His Word is and encourages us to rest in the assurance of His promises.  “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”  Deuteronomy 31:8

Please pray for the "lost people" of Malawi and for doors to continue to be opened to reach them with our Lord Almighty’s saving Word.

 

Another house - will soon become our home

I think we've reached a record - we've packed up our house in about 48 hours with the high majority of the work being done by Stefan himself.  That guy is a very hard worker.  I, myself, had procrastinated to the very last possible minute and yesterday began dismantling and organizing our things to be moved.  MOVING?  Yes, here we go again.  It's what we do every year about this time.  In fact I figured out that for 7 years in a row we've moved houses right around June and July.  Sigh......our daughter Anna is turning 7 this summer so that means every single year of her life she has changed homes.
Now, some of these were simple house to house moves.  This one seems relatively easy as we pack up house - make 25 trips across town - settle into the new house.  Life itself......school, church , friends all stay the same.  One of the other 7 years we simply moved out of my sister's house ( who graciously let us live there  - in her attic - for an entire year) and into our very own rental home.  This was a monumental occasion as we finally unpacked boxes which had sat in storage for a very long time.

Of course there were the international moves. Be it Malawi ( 1st time 'round) to Canada or Canada to Germany or Germany to the USA.......plenty of those.  Maybe too much  - when I think about it.

The variety of homes we've lived in is really quite astonishing.  Let me share a few photos:

3rd floor up - windows to the left ( a one bedroom apartment in Germany )

A very modern home in Canada - using a Uhaul to move. Imagine.

Sharing a room at Auntie Debbie's house  ! ( thanks for making it fun Deb and affordable !)

 

So here we are again - moving homes.  I'll admit that I am losing energy for this moveous lifestyle.  I sometimes find myself deep in thought about what it would be like to live in the same place for 5, 10 even 15 years in a row.   I am amazed, year after year, that the Lord gives me contentment - even excitement to settle into a new "living quarters" once again and make it our family home. 

Our "new" rental house in Blantyre, Malawi

 

The View (zoomed in)

 

The  heaps of rubbish ( 5 truckloads) that were removed from the property ( including one large snake)

 

The family who moves with us and lives in a "Quarters" behind our home.  Maxwell is our gardener, Esther our househelp and William and Wilson who are like brothers to our own children.

 

Their home left of the brick wall ( this corridor between our home and theirs has rooms for our washer/dryer and storage)

 

What will happen next year about this time?  I won't say " Hopefully nothing out of the ordinary" - haha.  Hopefully, nothing much at all, to be honest. 

Finally, it is the most tremendous reminder of what IS to come - Eternity. In Heaven.  No tears or frustration.  No sore backs.  No material things.   Just a never ending contentment and joy - such that we have yet to even begin to comprehend.  Praise be to God for the greatest move we'll ever experience and is yet to come :)

Hippo kill

It all started upon our arrival to our favorite camping spot in the world -


and a place we hadn't been to in 4 years. As we got there I said to Stefan "Look there are those rocks that we always thought looked like a hippo in the water" and Stefan replied " That IS a hippo"......


"OH! Sure enough !" To be honest we've seen hippos here before ( right Bartz family?!) and were told not to be too worried although our kids were a little skeptical. ( as was I ). There were a few village kids nearby fishing only a few meters away but we still kept a keen eye on the hippo as we began to set up camp - everything in our favorite camping spot in the world seemed as though it hadn't changed at all. A bit later on I went to check on the kids who seemed a wee bit too close to the shore and we discovered a man setting up a forked branch to use as a gunstand and was aiming his gun right at the hippo. Was he really going to try and shoot that thing? I began to envision all sorts of horrible drama should he miss and and an angry hippo charging right at us....we backed away to our camp and I got out the binoculars. What I discovered: That hippo was a MAMA and had a little one nearby!! so by this point Stefan had gone to discuss the ensuing drama with some locals and was told the hippo was too close to land and dangerous to people so an official government approved shooter was brought in to get rid of it. (nevermind the baby hippo). At this point a very brave man hopped into his dugout canoe to stir the mama hippo up out of the water - of course to give the shooter better aim). We were at our camp about 20 meters away and I was poised with my lens zoomed in.






RIGHT as she opened her big ole' jaws the gun went off and the hippo went down! Seriously?! He went down with ONE SHOT! We were amazed....everyone waited in silence. As Stefan headed closer to survey the scene I prepared the kids to be ready to jump in the car should an angry hippo come charging out of the water. But he didn't. After about 10 minutes some brave villagers hopped in a boat to check it out. After poking a stick around for awhile they suddenly let out a cheer and villagers appeared from everywhere jumping up and down and cheering wildly !!





What happened over the next 15 hours was just crazy for us " azungus" ( white people) to witness.
I was most worried about that baby hippo ( not that I was about to go rescue it). I saw him come up for air once and take a dive underwater.....never to be seen again. ( still kinda wonder where he went)
THEN the boat guys attached a rope to that poor lifeless mama hippo and dragged her closer to shore where villagers charged in and started jumping up and down on it like a trampoline !! At this point my camera batteries were going bad and I learned from talking to a nice local guy that it was too late in the day to butcher so it would all happen in the morning. Lucky for us (?!) they brought the hippo much closer to shore a mere 5 meters from our tent and tied it to a tree....the excitement of the hippo trampoline died down after awhile and we slept in some sort of peace knowing that the hippo so near to our tent was just a big, bouncing mass of lifelessness floating nearby and not really a threat of danger. ( still, a bit wierd....and you can imagine the questions about hippos, dead or alive, the kids had for hours on end). We ate chicken that night, btw.


The next morning went from interesting to grotesque! But I had new camera batteries and we all leaped out of our sleeping bags ready and waiting....as by then a few villagers were already there for one last bit of trampoline fun. Pretty soon the chosen ones ( I have no idea how that works) lined up to attempt to roll that massive mama even closer to shore. We all watched for some time.




Finally, she was just too heavy so what better time than to just start hacking away. All 4 legs went first....this took about an hour...one bloody leg at a time !
( the photos will start to get progressively worse so bug out now if necessary).





This grotesque hacking continued for some time......so while initially we azungus got in with the crowd ( Stefan in the orange shirt - of course he wanted to go touch the hippo leg and give a little advise on how best to roll her in)



Stefan also spent alot of time talking to this guy ( see below) - the hunter himself who was hanging around to get a good look at the bullet wound that brought the hippo down. Apparently Stefan asked too many questions.....and was told it was enough. (he was enquiring of what KIND of gun and size of bullet and how often he has shot hippo before) But he did learn that the hippo teeth are protected and would be taken in for government protection). I showed him my photo of the hippo with his jaws open which at least brought a smile on his face.


Eventually the odor became so horribly overwhelming and the sights too much for me to allow my children to see......






(if you care to see a photo of the hugest intestines I've seen in my lifetime....let me know!)

So we headed back the 5 meters to our tent and did what any westerners might do at this point, that is, sit in our lawn chairs with our insulated coffee mugs and watch from a safe distance.



Eventually it became almost boring....and I began to wish it would all be finished. Our own kids started entertaining





And then the Manager of our camp and nearby Lodge arrived and told them this shouldn't be happening on their property. ( about 12 hours too late). So they hooked up that intestine exposed carcass and dragged it behind a motorboat to a different part of beach......and while I had renewed shock about this next turn of events, I was just glad it was nearly over. ( keep in mind, we usually swim in this lake......usually)



Unfortunately the hacked pieces sitting nicely on the palm leaves remained for QUITE some time with several locals guarding them. Eventually, in the distance, we heard another cheer and a truck arrived to load it up. Of course the truck with hunks of hippo hanging off its side drove RIGHT past our tent as it came to load up the chunks remaining on our beach....I had wrongly assumed that meat would be thrown out to all these happy locals - but it turns out it was going for 500 kwacha per 1 kg. That's a little over a $1.50. ( for one insane moment I entertained buying some......at this point we were just too grossed out to take part)
Once the truck took off for good there was another half hour or so of people selling off chunks to their friends and people coming back for the bits they stole and hid under tree leaves (all of which we were first hand witnessed to) and THEN IT WAS OVER.
Eventually we took in 3 more days of beautiful sunshine, pool swimming, and gorgeous lake views.......sans hippo kill !







Thanks for sharing our adventure !

Location:Blantyre, Malawi

Hippo kill

It all started upon our arrival to our favorite camping spot in the world -


and a place we hadn't been to in 4 years. As we got there I said to Stefan "Look there are those rocks that we always thought looked like a hippo in the water" and Stefan replied " That IS a hippo"......


"OH! Sure enough !" To be honest we've seen hippos here before ( right Bartz family?!) and were told not to be too worried although our kids were a little skeptical. ( as was I ). There were a few village kids nearby fishing only a few meters away but we still kept a keen eye on the hippo as we began to set up camp - everything in our favorite camping spot in the world seemed as though it hadn't changed at all. A bit later on I went to check on the kids who seemed a wee bit too close to the shore and we discovered a man setting up a forked branch to use as a gunstand and was aiming his gun right at the hippo. Was he really going to try and shoot that thing? I began to envision all sorts of horrible drama should he miss and and an angry hippo charging right at us....we backed away to our camp and I got out the binoculars. What I discovered: That hippo was a MAMA and had a little one nearby!! so by this point Stefan had gone to discuss the ensuing drama with some locals and was told the hippo was too close to land and dangerous to people so an official government approved shooter was brought in to get rid of it. (nevermind the baby hippo). At this point a very brave man hopped into his dugout canoe to stir the mama hippo up out of the water - of course to give the shooter better aim). We were at our camp about 20 meters away and I was poised with my lens zoomed in.






RIGHT as she opened her big ole' jaws the gun went off and the hippo went down! Seriously?! He went down with ONE SHOT! We were amazed....everyone waited in silence. As Stefan headed closer to survey the scene I prepared the kids to be ready to jump in the car should an angry hippo come charging out of the water. But he didn't. After about 10 minutes some brave villagers hopped in a boat to check it out. After poking a stick around for awhile they suddenly let out a cheer and villagers appeared from everywhere jumping up and down and cheering wildly !!





What happened over the next 15 hours was just crazy for us " azungus" ( white people) to witness.
I was most worried about that baby hippo ( not that I was about to go rescue it). I saw him come up for air once and take a dive underwater.....never to be seen again. ( still kinda wonder where he went)
THEN the boat guys attached a rope to that poor lifeless mama hippo and dragged her closer to shore where villagers charged in and started jumping up and down on it like a trampoline !! At this point my camera batteries were going bad and I learned from talking to a nice local guy that it was too late in the day to butcher so it would all happen in the morning. Lucky for us (?!) they brought the hippo much closer to shore a mere 5 meters from our tent and tied it to a tree....the excitement of the hippo trampoline died down after awhile and we slept in some sort of peace knowing that the hippo so near to our tent was just a big, bouncing mass of lifelessness floating nearby and not really a threat of danger. ( still, a bit wierd....and you can imagine the questions about hippos, dead or alive, the kids had for hours on end). We ate chicken that night, btw.


The next morning went from interesting to grotesque! But I had new camera batteries and we all leaped out of our sleeping bags ready and waiting....as by then a few villagers were already there for one last bit of trampoline fun. Pretty soon the chosen ones ( I have no idea how that works) lined up to attempt to roll that massive mama even closer to shore. We all watched for some time.




Finally, she was just too heavy so what better time than to just start hacking away. All 4 legs went first....this took about an hour...one bloody leg at a time !
( the photos will start to get progressively worse so bug out now if necessary).





This grotesque hacking continued for some time......so while initially we azungus got in with the crowd ( Stefan in the orange shirt - of course he wanted to go touch the hippo leg and give a little advise on how best to roll her in)



Stefan also spent alot of time talking to this guy ( see below) - the hunter himself who was hanging around to get a good look at the bullet wound that brought the hippo down. Apparently Stefan asked too many questions.....and was told it was enough. (he was enquiring of what KIND of gun and size of bullet and how often he has shot hippo before) But he did learn that the hippo teeth are protected and would be taken in for government protection). I showed him my photo of the hippo with his jaws open which at least brought a smile on his face.


Eventually the odor became so horribly overwhelming and the sights too much for me to allow my children to see......






(if you care to see a photo of the hugest intestines I've seen in my lifetime....let me know!)

So we headed back the 5 meters to our tent and did what any westerners might do at this point, that is, sit in our lawn chairs with our insulated coffee mugs and watch from a safe distance.



Eventually it became almost boring....and I began to wish it would all be finished. Our own kids started entertaining





And then the Manager of our camp and nearby Lodge arrived and told them this shouldn't be happening on their property. ( about 12 hours too late). So they hooked up that intestine exposed carcass and dragged it behind a motorboat to a different part of beach......and while I had renewed shock about this next turn of events, I was just glad it was nearly over. ( keep in mind, we usually swim in this lake......usually)



Unfortunately the hacked pieces sitting nicely on the palm leaves remained for QUITE some time with several locals guarding them. Eventually, in the distance, we heard another cheer and a truck arrived to load it up. Of course the truck with hunks of hippo hanging off its side drove RIGHT past our tent as it came to load up the chunks remaining on our beach....I had wrongly assumed that meat would be thrown out to all these happy locals - but it turns out it was going for 500 kwacha per 1 kg. That's a little over a $1.50. ( for one insane moment I entertained buying some......at this point we were just too grossed out to take part)
Once the truck took off for good there was another half hour or so of people selling off chunks to their friends and people coming back for the bits they stole and hid under tree leaves (all of which we were first hand witnessed to) and THEN IT WAS OVER.
Eventually we took in 3 more days of beautiful sunshine, pool swimming, and gorgeous lake views.......sans hippo kill !







Thanks for sharing our adventure !

Location:Blantyre, Malawi