I recently read a book by Hannah Hurnard called Hinds' Feet on High Places. It was one of the most encouraging books I have read, and it is now one of my all-time favorite books. It is an allegorical story to our Christian walk with the Lord. The main character's name is Much Afraid, and at one point on her walk with the Lord, He leads her down into the desert (Eygpt). There Much Afraid saw a woman pounding bread corn with heavy stones. She saw what a LONG process it was of pounding the bread corn by hand before a fine white powder was formed- which was the finished product and was now ready for use. In the book, the Shepherd says to her "though corn bread is bruised, no one threshes it for ever, only until the bruised and broken grain is ready for its highest use." This is exactly as the Lord does with us. We are shaped and formed through trials and tribulations. But through heartbreak and loss, bruises and threshes, through our tears, He is making us into who He wants us to be. And this continues through our entire life here.As I was reading this section of the book, I immediately thought of the maize mills in Malawi. I photographed one maize mill at the Selengo MOH center. They had just installed a generator not long before we arrived, and this took so much of the work off of them. Previous to the generator, the grinding of the maize was ALL done by hand!! The generator was such a blessing to the fact that the fine white powder they used to make their staple, Nsima, was ground at a much faster rate and in much larger quantities. Here are some images from the maize mill:
Much Afraid at first didn't want to go down into the desert, as the path lead away from the high places. But look at what the Lord showed her, what He taught her. Later, Much Afraid says "You are my Shepherd whose voice I love to hear and obey, and that it is my joy to follow you. You choose, my Lord, and I will obey."
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Maize mill,
Malawi 2008,
Ministry of Hope
We tend to get waves of feeling uncertain or... DOUBT... about all the things that have to happen before seminary next year. It is so easy to let those feelings take over. God usually never lets us feel that way for long. He is so good. One morning as Ryan was driving to work, he tuned in to Charles Stanley on 640 am. Immediately upon tuning in, he heard Charles say (something very close to this... as Ryan remembers it...):
you're a 36 -year-old, you have 3 kids, a house, a job, a car. One day you come home and tell your wife you have a call to go into the ministry. What do you have to do..... you have to sell your house, sell your car, you probably have to move to another city. You have to rely on God for all these things to happen. You have to rely on Him to pay for seminary, for the funds to come in, to get a job there to support your family. It won't make sense by the world standards, the way the world thinks. They will question you... Why, would you do this??? The math won't work, the math will never work, but with Him, it will work.
Awesome!! Ryan called me that morning after he heard this and was almost in tears. This is EXACTLY our situation. He really felt the Lord talking to him and encouraging him, and saying... yes, Ryan, this IS your path. Walk in it! How gracious the Lord is for His encouragement.
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Praise and encouragement
One of the specialty treats that is sold on the side of the roads are these toasty little critters.... rats on a stick. Apparently the natives love this snack, but I could not do it. Even the sight of the scorched rats made my tummy go upside down. yuck. The Malawians will light fires inthe many surrounding fields to chase the rats out of their burrows and catch them, then cook them up and sell them. I saw them- mostly kids- doing exactly this as we drove back and forth from our MOH (Ministry of Hope) centers. The man holding this stick of rats was from a missionary family living on the ABC (African Bible College) campus, where we were staying. He nibbled a tail.
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Malawi 2008
Selengo was my favorite feeding center. This center fed the orphans of close to 100 surrounding villages!! Yet, it seemed the cleanest, most well-kept and organized. I've mentioned this before, but, I'll mention it again- one of the biggest blessing about this mission trip was the kids. Reading the Gospel to them, talking to them, holding them, playing all kinds of games with them- soccer being one of them- was such a tremendous encouragement to them, and such a tremendous experience for all of us who went. I have never met kids like these. They are beautiful little souls who help to take care of each other, especially their siblings, who will sit and listen attentively, who eat with their hands, who play soccer with a ball made out of wrapped up plastic bags. I drew pictures on a pad of paper for a crowd of kids and they told me how to say the things I drew in their native tongue, Chichewa. They laughed at my sorry little drawings. God has given me a passion for photography, but free-hand drawing is not a talent I posses. I laughed with them. The fellowship with peoples from another land, another culture, another 'time' was touching to my soul. I want to go back to tell them more about Jesus. For it is not us (the missionaries) who convert when telling others about the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Praise God for this. How scary it would be if it were completely up to us. God works in all things and through all things. In John 14:15-18, Jesus says "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." How awesome to know that He is always with us. He works through us for His glory and His will!
The team read the Bible stories and crafts with this center, as well as the medical mission and hygiene clinic. I got to read scripture and pray with the older kids! (the picture of my group is the very last image in this post) Ryan and Andy got to meet up with us at the end of the day, as they stayed at Katondo every day to work on the chicken house, but they joined us in playing with the kids, and of course, playing soccer, until it was time to go. Nobody ever wanted to leave. Leaving was the hardest part.
Labels:
Malawi 2008,
Ministry of Hope,
Selengo
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