Central's Mission to Malawi

Entry for May 13, 2008

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:34:51 GMT

Photos from the Malawi Mission Trip are available at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/malawipictures

Entry for May 2, 2008

Fri, 02 May 2008 22:41:04 GMT

We have arrived safely in Chippewa Falls, Bloomer and Eau Claire from our flights... we will update everyone with pictures and blog entries, but for now our priorities are warm showers, some sleep and time with our families.

Thank you all for your support, your prayers and your kind words!

Your Malawi Missionaries

Entry for May 2, 2008

Fri, 02 May 2008 13:36:26 GMT

We have arrived at JFK in New York and have a couple of hours before our flight leaves for the Cities. Internet works here!

Here's a photo from our day at Mvua Camp at one of Malawi's National Parks. Our overnight there was much needed for rest and as you can see, the sights were incredible! The picture shows two elephants playing in the Shire River... at least, that is what our guide told us.

All of us slept some on our 18 1/2 hour flight from South Africa and as soon as we cleared customs there was a mad dash for cell phones, McDonald's and bathrooms with honest to goodness toilet seats! The comforts of home will not be taken for granted soon by our faithful crew.

Your Malawi Missionaries

Entry for May 1, 2008

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:44:48 GMT

We have had no internet access for several days, but we are all well. We are sitting in the Lilongwe airport awaiting our departure for Johannesburg, where we will connect to our flight to New York and then to Mpls, arriving at about 1:30 on Friday afternoon when our drivers will meet us for the journey to C.F.

We served over 700 people yesterday at our last clinic and that was only a 1/2 day clinic. We have learned so much! We served over 2,000 people in our time in Malawi. We will do more blogs when we return to the States with more pictures but it doesn't work well here. Here is a picture of people waiting to see the doctors at one of our clinics located at Phalombe in south east Malawi.

We miss our families, but will miss Malawi more than we can put into words. It is the "Warm Heart of Africa" and we have been blessed by God every moment of our journey.

Continue to bathe us in prayer as we begin the journey home to our families.

Entry for April 27, 2008

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:03:47 GMT

Entry by Diane Hoyme...

Today was a lucky day! I was able to talk to Rick this afternoon.

The group is unable to connect to the internet and it's possible there may not be any other opportunities to do so before they come home. Here's a brief summary of what I can recall from our phone conversation (except for the parts about "where did you put the key to the garage" and "are you remembering to give the dog her thyroid pill?").

Today they attended worship services at the Zomba Parish Center. He said the worship experience was incredibly moving. The music was awesome with beautiful harmonies. Afterwards they held what was supposed to be a "mini-clinic" and they served 200 people! It sounds like they are getting pretty good at their assigned tasks but they are all pretty exhausted at the end of the day.

They travel tomorrow to another clinic in Balaka, which is a township of about 14,000 people. (Zomba's population is about 100,000.) This will be their last clinic, as the Tuesday clinic at Lilongwe was cancelled. I think he said they decided to cancel because of the difficult travel conditions. Evidently the travel is nearly as exhausting as the clinics because of the road conditions and the number of people and animals walking along the highway, making for very slow travel. On Tuesday they will instead take a side trip to Lake Malawi. Wikipedia says it is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide, so it's just a bit bigger than Wissota!. On Wednesday they will begin the preparations to come home. Yeah!!

The group asks for your continued prayers for another safe week of clinics and travel.

Diane Hoyme

Entry for April 24, 2008

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:43:03 GMT

Today we had our BEST clinic... we didn't serve as many people, but we have learned the limits of our energy and realize we have a long way to go. We were in Phalombe parish today and served people from three Lutheran parishes. It is hard to compare, but the people today were so warm and so grateful. We were able to help a young boy who was legally blind to see for the first time. Dr. Steve Hoyme said that until today, that little boy had never seen the leaves on a tree.

Today, as we have every day, was started with prayers for patience and for the pastors and our guides who had to tell people they could not be served because there is simply not enough time. Our prayers were answered...

One of the strangest things in this journey is traveling two hours and at the same time traveling from the 15th century to the 21st century. We have been in churches with no electricity and the local women have to walk several kilometers for water to cook their food and wash their clothes. We return to Blantyr and are sitting in an Italian restaurant typing on computers and ordering pasta with our "Coke Light".

Tomorrow we leave for our experience in the national park called Liwonde. We are all ready for some rest and the experience of seeing Malawi the way it used to be and many of their native species like hippos, elephants etc.

Our crew is growing closer each day and have learned our own strengths and growth areas... there aren't many secrets left!

Keep up the prayers and we will keep you informed.

If it works, the picture above is one of the men we have served. The picture tells the story.

God is good... ALL the time

Your Malawi Mission Team!

Entry for April 24, 2008

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:27:49 GMT

Here's the picture of Glen that we tried to put on yesterday...

Entry for April 23, 2008

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:45:51 GMT

We have 'survived' another day! We served over 200 people today at a lovely church surrounded by cotton, corn, bananas and sugar cane. We left our hotel at 8 a.m. and returned to Blantyr by 6:30 p.m.

The picture is our 'grandpa' Glen Geissler with one of his many 'adopted' grandchildren. Every child is precious and some leave each day with glasses that will help them learn to read and lead a full life. Each day we experience the heartache of sending people away we cannot help, but our new motto is "we are doing the best we can."

Last night our weariness began to show in a little testiness toward one another but we began today with prayer and giving our relationships over to our God, and God was good. Our meal tonight was marked with laughter and new friendships with our drivers and interpreters. God is good... all the time. Pastor Rick was invited to give the sermon on last Sunday and taught the people of Malawi our phrase that God is good... and through the interpreter they repeated it just like we do at Central, only in Chichewa, which is their language... by the third time through, they had smiles that brought light to the room!

Tomorrow is another full day clinic and more new friendships with our hosts.

Continue to pray for us and those we serve... pray for our safety as every journey on the roads carries it's own dangers, but our drivers are good.

All of us continue to be healthy and are growing to love the meals of rice, chicken and the local food called nsima... today, as it is each day our noon meal is prepared by the 'church ladies' outside over small fires. Today we got to witness the 'harvesting' of the chicken that was served, which to our hosts, is a great sacrifice. The poverty is overwhelming, but God has blessed these people in ways that can never be measured by financial wealth.

Entry for April 22, 2008

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:43:33 GMT

We had a long, hard, rewarding day. It was the first clinic where we had to turn people away because we simply ran out of time and day light. The small church where we were located had no electricity so when it was dark, we were done. We had a noon meal in the 'parsonage' and watched it being prepared in the back yard. No kitchen, no running water, no nothing. Just warmth and hospitality.

Another clinic tomorrow... more people and more hope... we are out of time and must head to our hotel for much needed rest. We hope to have more time at a restaurant tomorrow night with internet access.

Keep praying for us and the people we are serving.

Safe in Blantyre

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:38:02 GMT

After a long, scenic and sometimes harrowing drive to Blantyre we have arrived at a restaurant with internet access. After eating we will head to our hotel which will be our headquarters for the next four nights... and tomorrow we will begin our next round of clinics. Hopefully, pictures will be coming when we have time and connections. All of us are in excellent shape and looking forward to tomorrow.