Mai ministry, working at ground level

Mr. Whiskas has been our housekeeper every time we have stayed at the Assembly of God guesthouse. Last year, he retired after over 40 years of service. He is in his mid 70s. We had resigned ourselves to not have his cheerful, energetic nature as part of our daily routine. Ah, but things are good and he decided to come out of retirement to work for us! He will come ~3 days a week and we have told him to only do those things that he enjoys doing and to not over-do anything. We are blessed than he enjoys washing dishes and doing ironing. You will see a photo of him with Joseph (aka Jose) in the kitchen of the house. The cute Texas apron is a gift from us a couple of years ago.

We are still trying to get a more reliable Internet – at present we will have service for ~10-15 minutes, then nothing for hours. Makes it a challenge at times. We did get our car legal today (yeah) so we are ‘free to move about the country’. We also found a station with some petrol, so topped off our tank. For a couple of hours this morning we had both power and water, but the rest of the day we have been without one or the other.

This afternoon we went to visit Michelle Clark. She is currently with AIM mission and is doing quite a work in Malawi. We have known Michelle for several years, and actually saw her current place in the early stages. She has built a house outside a village on the outskirts of Lilongwe. She is teaching the local village ladies how to read and write, both English and their language, Chichewa. She has classes one her kondi (porch), usually daily. She also is teaching permaculture and has turned all of her ‘yard’ into gardens for the ladies to experiment with. She hopes to have chickens, rabbits, turkeys and pigs in the future. The best teaching methods seem to be by demonstration and hands-on instruction. She lives alone, although her Mother often visits from the states. Her ministry (funded through AIM) is called Mai (for ‘lady’), as she has targeted the women of the village. She is in need of support, as are so many of the missionaries here. The recession in the US has made many folks (and churches) decrease or even stop their donations. I know sometimes you wonder ‘is this really doing any good?’ – I can tell you that it is!! Contact me if you are interested in supporting her and I will hook you up!

The photos today include Joseph and Mr. Whiskas, Joseph and Michelle outside her fish pond, cabbages growing in the permaculture garden (sorry, that is in there twice and I don't know how to get it off!) and me, sitting on Michelle’s couch – we thought this was funny because it is so high and I am so short! My feet did not easily touch the floor!

Tomorrow we will leave a little after 8 AM to do a village clinic. Keep us in your prayers, for travel safety and that adequate fuel is found!