Pictures from Village Project #1 (Day 4)

All 400 bags had to be carried from the packing room to the vehicles. The children from Good Samaritan carried most of them....and boy were they heavy!


The first village project was at Bvoomue (Voom-Way). This is a picture of Simion who is from this village. He is standing beside his sister Ethel who still lives in the village with a family friend. It was so difficult to see the contrast....like rags to riches. All of us wanted to scoop Ethel up and bring her back with us. She suffers from epilepsy and her condition was very unstable when Good Samaritan was picking children to come live at Good Samaritan when it opened in 2003. Simion was critically ill at this time and the decision was made that he needed our help more and we couldn't manage both. It was a tough decision. Maybe one day we will have the room and finances to bring her to Good Samaritan.

Here are the adults and children gathered around for the bible story.

This is Blessings! I met him last year and took a bunch of photos of him. I brought the photos with me, hoping to see him again. I was afraid that he might not be there. The sad reality is that many of the children I met last year had died....but Blessings was there. Here he is holding the picture of himself.

Here are the people holding up the care packages after they received them.

We were able to give the pastor of this village 10 bibles.

Quick Update

After about a zillion attempts I finally was able to reach Thandie this morning. I usually call Thandie everyday but Sundays, unless I am calling to get an update on someone who is ill. Ida has been continually on my mind and I was really wanting to hear how she was doing. Thandie did see her this morning and said she was sitting up and had a bit of an appetite, which is a good sign. The bummer is that she is in the hospital over the weekend which pretty much is useless as they don't do anything on the weekend. She still hasn't even been tested for Malaria which is extremely concerning to me as the time frame of having Malaria and getting the treatment before you die is very short....like 5 days.

The Millers left this morning and are probably already on the second flight of their journey.

Brother and Mrs. Carrier worked on the tie-dye t-shirts again with the kids yesterday. Today Mrs. Carrier watched Savannah-Hope after church so that Thandie could go to a funeral. The nanny is now returned from her day off, but I don't think Mrs. Carrier has handed her over quite yet.

Thandie said Brother Gentry was "good", not sure how good....but "good" is better than "not good". Please continue to pray for his health.

Thandie sent two sets of new pictures, but I didn't receive either set :(

The Miller's Head Back to Florida

Brother and Mrs. Miller leave Malawi tomorrow, Sunday Sept 30th. Please pray for them as they leave Malawi and begin the long journey back home to Florida.

Please Pray For Ida

Here is a picture of our sweet Ida. She was hospitalized last night with a high fever, dry mouth and severe headache. Thandie spent the night with her at the hospital. She is being checked for Malaria and the doctors plan to do a spinal tap if the Malaria test is negative. Please spend extra time praying for her this weekend as not much intervention happens in the hospitals over the weekend.

Those of you that are new to this blog may not remember that Ida is the older sister of Ivy who we lost to AIDS on January 5th of this year. Ida is very sick and like her sister she has a compromised immune system. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, finances to pay for what she may need that the hospital doesn't have in stock, and for her healing.

Milk Does A Body Good

I can't tell you how much I miss these two girls!

Savannah-Hope is consuming formula at a rate that is mind boggling! A blessing but a costly one. I am so thrilled that she is responding so well to it. I am not willing to consider going to a homemade concoction that most baby orphanages use. I am a big believer of breastfeeding, but since that is not an option for us at this point, the formula continues. I have to say that I am so happy with this particular formula. It doesn't bubble when you mix it, she has no gas, and her # 2 diapers look so close to those of babies on breast milk. Please be in prayer for the financial costs of this sweet baby. We have had her at Good Samaritan for 21 days and it has cost just over $1200 for her daily care. And this does not include the donations of clothes and baby items brought with the Millers and the Carriers or the box of goodies I sent.

Most of the costs were initial and one time costs to get her set up at the children's home with cloth diapers, hygiene products, and so on. Also there were several costs due to the legal paperwork including Malawian government fees for the passport and guardianship papers and lots of fuel! Her costs now seem to be about $300 a week. None of this money has come from the Good Samaritan Budget or Victory World Outreach. Savannah-Hope is staying at Good Samaritan and they have been so generous to allow Savannah-Hope to use the vehicles and staff to help with her care. Good Samaritan is not a baby orphange. Savannah-Hope is a special case and is staying in the staff quarters, the room provided by Good Samaritan. All of Savannah-Hope's daily costs are being covered by the adoptive family, with a little help from Aunt Chrissie. Please contact me if the Lord lays it on your heart to help with some of the financial costs. The plan is to have Savannah-Hope in America no later than December 1st. So this is a temporary cost.

Brother Gentry is feeling better. The Carriers had a stomach bug, but Thandie says they are feeling better now. Ida continues to be sick....please don't forget to pray for our Ida.

Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?

The telephone issues continue. It turns out that the problem lies with the pre-paid international long distance program I am using. It is just not working right now. But they assure me they are working on the problem and just because I am such a treasured customer they added 3 minutes to my current balance. Through this program it is only 8cents a minute to call Malawi. I am currently making lists trying to narrow down the best way to spend this tremendous gift of 24cents. Any ideas?

Since I was desperate for an update I broke down and had to use a calling card. I was only able to talk to Thandie for a couple minutes. Here is what I gathered:

Wesley and his wife have named their son Takondwa, which means we are happy. There have been no new babies born since this little guy.

No funerals so far this week.

Brother Gentry is feeling better and today made the trip to the new property. There is no keeping this guy down.

Brother Shanaberger is busy meeting with contractors and property owners. He has not yet been able to begin the actual digging for the wells. Please pray that he is able to get started soon. His time is limited and I know he can't wait to get started.

Brother Singleton, the Millers and the Carriers are all doing fine.

All the staff kids are doing well and Heather gets her cast (back-slap) off today.

The children at Good Samaritan are all healthy and doing well except for Ida. Ida has been sick since the day I left....well she was sick while I was there too. Now she is fighting a fever and headache. Please pray for her.

Please also pray for Thandie as she works on her dissertation for her community development class. Since she lives on campus it is so hard for her to find time to work on this project, as there is constantly someone at her door needing one thing or another.

Please also pray that the Court approves Savannah-Hope's guardianship this week as the Court is closed the entire month of October. The Court order will give the parents in Tennessee guardianship over Savannah. This will begin a case file for her with the Court. Through the guardianship, the adoptive parents will be able to prove their ability to provide for this child as the responsibility for all of her care including the cost will turn over to them once the guardianship is granted. Of course they are picking up the cost now, but there isn't a formal case started to show that they are providing for her. This hopefully will make the adoption process go smoother on the Malawi Court side. Also pray that the social worker who is supposed to be making weekly visits at Good Samaritan will actually show up. So far he hasn't visited her. His weekly reports become part of the case file and add to the documentation that Savannah-Hope is thriving and having her needs met while she is at Good Samaritan through the commitment of the adoptive parents.

New Staff Baby

Wesley, a mechanic at Good Samaritan and his wife welcomed a baby boy on Sept. 24th. In Malawi, the parents don't know the gender of their baby until its born. Wesley was sure it was going to be a girl, although he was really hoping for a boy. Thandie and I were sure it was going to be a boy by how his wife was carrying her pregnancy. And we were right! Of course this is not an exact science and we were wrong just a couple of weeks ago when we thought for sure that Rackson would have a girl....and he had a little boy (Heath). They don't live on campus so it will be a little while before I get a picture of this new little guy. I will post his name as soon as he has one. This picture was taken at Village Project #5 in Jacket, Wesley's wife's home village.

Savannah-Hope's siblings

Nine years ago today I met Shane and Crystal Johnson, who are the parents anxiously awaiting the arrival of their newest addition, Savannah-Hope. The Lord has blessed them with four children who are tickled pink about the pending arrival of their new sister. They have already decided amongst themselves who will do what when Savannah-Hope arrives. Amelia is going to dress her, Zach is going to rock her to sleep, Zander is going to play with her and Izabella is going to feed her. Mama is stuck with the dirty diapers.

While Shane and Crystal couldn't be more excited to bring Savannah-Hope home and long to hold her in their arms, it is bittersweet for them knowing that she is leaving behind two sisters with uncertain futures.

................Sidala.............................Tamandani

These are Savannah-Hopes twin siblings that remain in the village where she was born. They are 2 years and 5 months of age. The parents are from neighboring villages. Sidala is staying with relatives in the father's village while Tamandani is staying with the mother and grandmother in the mother's village. I think the father goes back and forth between the two villages. Sidala looks much healthier that Tamandani but they both are malnourished and under developed. Please pray for these precious girls. There eyes just pierce my heart. Savannah-Hope had the same sadness in her eyes when we found her.

Today Savannah-Hope had her second well-child exam. She weighed 7 lbs. 7oz. Another pound in just one week! Of course she isn't even on the chart for a 4 month old, but I couldn't be happier with her progress. She got two shots and is currently having some swelling and leg pain as a result. Thandie sent some new pictures! And I can tell from the new pics that she received the package I sent last week. I was so nervous yesterday when the DHL website said that the box had been delivered to Peter. Who is Peter? Thandie sent Lloyd to DHL and the box wasn't there....Peter had it. Who is Peter? Well DHL delivered it to another children's home with a similar name. But Peter returned it! Praise the Lord!

Can you see her hairbow! The pictures next to her are part of a family photo album I sent her so she could get familiar with her forever family that is waiting for her in Tennessee.

Could she be any cuter?

Yes a shameless plug for Aunt Chrissie

The phones are down right now so I don't have an update on the staff, children or American visitors at Good Samaritan. So you will have to just tollerate yet another post all about Savannah-Hope.

Thandie's Surprise

I got a wonderful surprise today from Thandie! With the help of Mrs. Miller, she emailed me some updated pictures. I had no idea she was working on this. I know from being there how difficult it is because you have to compress the file size and then Thandie is using a dial-up connection on her pre-paid ground phone....and it takes many of her units to take the time to attach a picture.

Peace and Savannah-Hope

Savannah-Hope with Brother Miller. She is wearing light weight cotton pajamas.

The tradition in Malawi is once the children are 3 months old they can be tied on to your back. Usually they get tied on to older children first so that the babies legs get used to being stretched across the persons back. So Peace has happily volunteered to be the one that carries Savannah-Hope until her legs are strong enough to handle being tied on to an adult.

UPDATE:

Brother Gentry has a high fever. He has started taking antibiotics that he had at his house. Brother Miller will take him to the doctor tomorrow if he doesn't feel better.

It is 95 degrees today in Malawi. Shh! Don't tell the Malawian mama's but Savannah-Hope took a nap today in just her diaper.

The Carrier's are continuing to complete the tie-dye project with the kids. The children are enjoying it so much!

Summer Time in Malawi

Here are some of the babies I met in Malawi. It was at least 85 degrees when these pictures were taken, if not hotter. And there is no air-conditioning. I am not saying that it is wrong for them to wrap their children this way. I wanted to show pictures so you would have a better idea of the contrast.

This is Heath, Rackson's baby. This is him "unwrapped" so I could see his face for the photo. He was a complete burrito when I first approached.

Notice that the mother is wearing short sleeves.


This is how all the younger babies look when tied to their mama's backs. Hopefully you can get a better picture now of what they must have thought seeing Savannah-Hope in a onesie and socks. The funny thing is I was thinking "poor baby" when I saw the Malawian babies so bundled and they were thinking "poor baby" when they saw Savannah-Hope un-bundled.

This is Savannah-Hope riding in the car. This is as wrapped up as she likes to be. Now let me just say here that if Savannah-Hope was used to be wrapped up when we found her and enjoyed it....I would have done it. But because she is hot natured and sweats like crazy, she stayed un-wrapped.

Pics from Day 3 (Aug17th)

We were able to give bibles to the Good Samaritan Pastor in the village or closet village to where the village projects took place.

The older boys from the Children's Home helped sort and pack the supplies!

You can't tell by these pictures but it was getting dark outside and there was no electricity while we were packing.

There was somewhat of an assembly line, more like an assembly circle. Everyone had something to put in the bag and someone to pass it off too. We packed 400 bags this day in less than 2 hours. It was enough for village projects 1 and 2.

Here we are counting bags and planning a strategy for vehicle loading for the next day.

Quick update

Today the Carriers from West Virgina are tie-dying shirts with the children from Good Samaritan. Last night Mrs. Carrier made one for Savannah-Hope and she is wearing it today. When I spoke to Thandie the project was underway and the children were having a great time.

Tomorrow is the ice cream party.

Brother Shanaberger arrived today and immediately went to work on digging the wells.

Wellness Update:

The respiratory plague continues to spread through Good Samaritan. Mrs. Miller says that she is over it now and is completely better. Brother Gentry is doing better but still has a little congestion. Today was the first day that Bobby Singleton has felt better. As far as I know the Carriers haven't gotten it.

Several of the Malawian staff members have it now including Pastor Betah, License and Rackson. Many of the staff are in Monkey Bay for a revival. Please pray for their health while they travel.

Savannah-Hope continues to thrive. Her nanny is enjoying her so much that she refused to leave for her only day off.

Pictures from Day 2

Here are the picture from Day 2 (Aug 16). We purchased the supplies for village projects 1 & 2.

Paying the money! Each village project cost $700. The funds were generously given by my family, friends, church members and Good Samaritan Supporters. Thank you!

Loading 80 boxes of soap

1200 bags of Sugar! There were also 1200 bags of salt, but missed the picture.

Here is Peace looking so cute in her school uniform waiting for an extra vehicle to help us transport the supplies.

Heather gets a baby doll.

Have you seen my heart? What about my brain?

Today (Thursday) was my first day back at work. My heart and mind weren't there, but at least my body showed up. The body gets the paycheck, so that's a good thing. Don't get me wrong I am grateful to have a job, especially one that allowed me to have 5 weeks of paid leave. But I left my heart in Malawi and lost my brain somewhere between there and here. I have been faking it the last few days blaming most of my adjustment issues on jet lag. But the reality is I feel like I am trying to fit back into the puzzle but my shape changed....and I am not fitting back in the same way.

There are so many things I miss about Malawi but the two major things are the people and being used in a mighty way for God. It was so amazing that God allowed me the privilege and opportunity to find Savannah-Hope and nurse her back to health. To see her go from near death to thriving. In just one month I saw two new churches get planted, ministered to hundreds through the village projects and saw thousands of souls get saved.

I am so blessed to be so warmly welcomed back into San Diego by my family, church, friends and co-workers. I appreciate your patience and prayers as I acclimate back to life in America.

Personal Medical Update:

Yesterday I went to an orthopedic specialist to have my leg and foot examined. The bones have healed fine. The muscles and tendons are still healing and were described as stretched and loose. I was given an ankle brace that I am supposed to wear for three weeks to protect my foot from another injury.

I also visited the primary care doctor regarding my ears and respiratory issues. In Malawi I was diagnosed with eustachian tube dysfunction. Apparently it isn't a good idea to fly with this problem let alone take off and land 4 times within 30 hours. So now my eustachian tubes are depressed causing temporary hearing loss especially in the left ear. Apparently they don't have Prozac for eustachian tubes, so I have to just wait around for them to get happy.

I am also having bronchospasms, which sounds like a dying cigarette smoker and feels like an elephant on my chest. I have never had this particular issue, so this is an exciting new adventure complete with an inhaler with a whistle chamber apparatus. Very exciting!

So I left the medical office quite a bit poorer but with two new and very fashionable accessories.

Pictures from the first day

I have been going through my pictures and decided that since it was so expensive and difficult to share them while I was in Malawi, and now it is free and a breeze....I will share them now. Here are pics from day one.

Good Samaritan Children washing their clothes at the well.

This is the bakery house. It looks much different now, but this is how it looked the day I got there.

WooHoo! The solar hot water heaters. I had heard about them, but now I could see them in person.

Junior! Our very handsome trouble maker. This little guy keeps the staff on their toes. But you got to love that smile!

Container Pictures and update

Waiting to open the container.

It's open!

Unloading the bikes

Lots of bikes! A highlight for the kids!

Here is James on his bike. This bike was specifically donated for him. He couldn't have been happier!

I am surprised I don't have more pictures of the container opening since I had looked forward to it for so long. I have to say though that I was preoccupied on this day as I knew that the next day we would most likely be bringing home Savannah-Hope. Or Peanut as she was known then. I was amazed how God had already prepared for Savannah-Hope's arrival as things for her were off loaded from the container. The first thing off the container was a pack of size 1 diapers. The youngest child at Good Samaritan is 5, so diapers aren't usually sent on the container. There was also a pack n play and some clothes including a pink smocked dress. The container was sealed in April, but God already knew that in September there would be a need for those items.

American Wellness update:

Brother Gentry is feeling better and doing well. Bobby Singleton stayed in bed today but is feeling a little better. Mrs. Miller still has a bad cough.

Brother Chuck Miller when hut to hut soul winning today and lead 145 people to the Lord.

Savannah-Hope update:

She laughed for the first time yesterday. She is imitating sounds and is no longer crying during her bath. Thandie says that she her skin looks much lighter than when we first got her. Her hair is also growing and Thandie said she is going to need a hair bow soon. Good thing I sent some in the box that should arrive Friday.

Ice Cream Party and other news

The Sunday School Children from the Miller's Church, Bible Way Baptist in Milton Florida raised money to send to the children at Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan Children decided they really wanted an ice cream party. This will be a very rare and special treat for them. The party is scheduled for Sunday after church. I hear that the children at Bible Way Baptist will also be having an ice cream party that day as well.

Alex, one of the Good Samaritan Cooks lost his wife yesterday to tuberculosis. Her funeral was today.

Please pray for Bobby Singleton as he now has the respiratory infection that is spreading through Good Samaritan and Malawi.

I spoke with Mrs. Carrier today. She and her husband are doing well. They were able to go to a Jesus Film yesterday. It rained at the end of the film but most of the people stayed to hear the plan of salvation.

And it wouldn't be an update without mentioning how God is blessing our sweet Savannah-Hope. She went to the doctor today and has gained over a pound in one week! She is now weighing 6 lbs and 8oz. She was wearing the same outfit and same type of diaper, so I am feeling the weight it pretty accurate. Savannah spent her first night with the nanny last night, which is the room right next door to Thandie. She did much better with it than Thandie. Thandie was telling me how much she missed her until I told her that it was probably easier to miss her from next door than from the other side of the world. Mrs. Carrier went with Savannah-Hope to the doctor today and held her most of the day. She of course has already fallen in love with her. It is not hard to do!

It is so hard to be so far away and feel like there isn't a whole lot I can do for Savannah-Hope from America except pray. Which of course, prayer is probably the best thing anyone could do for Savannah-Hope in America or Malawi. But yesterday I did treat myself to some retail therapy and am on my way now to DHL to send a box to Savannah-Hope. I am hoping I don't have to sell my blood or my car to pay for the shipping. :)