Latest work party news
The work-party are now home. Here is their latest news....
The flight home and recovery from that can sometimes be a bit tough but fortunately with one of Leanne’s sleeping tablets I slept for 4 hrs and Leanne slept about 6 so we are feeling pretty good now after getting our sleeping cycles back into this time zone.
The whole experience in Malawi was fantastic, the teams were so God organised with each team having the skills for the particular jobs needing to be done.
This last team had Steven Turok ( Radisson manager) who didn’t know what he could do over here but with his financial and management skills he was able to help and train Robyn in her computer and spreadsheet skills and he ended up busier than most and has done a fantastic job. Another person who didn’t know what they would be doing was Christa Onyschko but she worked with her multi-talented son Daniel to paint and create a most magnificent mural on the new nursery school which has made the school a real attraction. Jarrod Quinn was able to organise and put together the Maize Mill which in Malawi is a real achievement with so many engineering pieces unavailable - good job. Brett Ubergang a roofer spent time fixing Robyn’s leaking pipes in Mzuzu then creatively became the ideas man making a Urinal for the guys, a ladder which everyone admired when they saw it, a towel post on the lake edge and of course he made a roof for the mill and helped set the mill up. Wes was our main man who was finishing everything off, he was still working at 5am the morning of departure setting up Robyn and Juliet’s offices. And of course we were blessed to have Leanne and Carolyn who worked all day, every day, preparing meals and smoko’s for us and the locals, with sometimes up to 18 people.
It was not just about work, although we did accomplish a lot in that area. We completed a nursery school, with office and storage, and a gorgeous mural of Noah and all the animals; Robyn’s office with doors, windows, desks, shelves and storage; the Maize Mill with diesel engine and mill and with a water system to keep it all cool, and about 500ml footings for the mill. We also roofed one of the village houses which looks great and will give Maude’s family their first dry wet season in a long time! There have also been a lot of other innovations made around the Mphatso grounds.
Many friends were made and the locals certainly lived up to their reputation of having warm hearts.
We were invited out to many homes, ate out at different homes, visited and were welcomed at different churches and villages and were constantly offered help in building or learning about culture, language and life. Whenever we went to markets or other places we were always escorted by friendly and helpful locals. Motives were not always honorable as sometimes there is a selfish agenda in the help, but that is understandable when you see what we have compared to what they live like.
All the heads of the Village came to our site on the final night to thank us for our visit and the way we had helped their community. It was most humbling as they asked us to pass on their greetings to our home churches and people like Bob and Alison, Barry and Liz and others who had lived with them in the past.
Of course I can’t finish without mentioning Robyn for the wonderful and inspiring work she is doing amongst these delightful people, to have us all living out of her home for 6 weeks and interrupting all the programs she runs and also to involve us in them and the life giving decisions she has to make daily is truly amazing. Keep praying for her health and wisdom as she needs both so much.
But most of all God is so a part of what is going on there, and it is God that gave us favour as we all enjoyed the time and kept in good health, even doing the miraculous at times, ask Jarrod how he got his passport and airline tickets back when they disappeared in the Johannesburg airport!
Hope to share more of the experiences when I see you all personally.
Bless you all
Geoff and Leanne
