I talked to Thandie!!! WooHoo!

My Rant:

Reaching Malawi has been nearly impossible the past few days. I used to talk to Thandie twice a day except for Sundays, when I wouldn't call at all. But for the past 4 months, it has been more difficult to connect and seems to be getting worse by the day. I have pretty much lost all hope of reaching Good Samaritan using Tel3Advantage. While I love the price, it just doesn't work. It went from working once in a while, to being able to hear Thandie but her not hear me, to not ringing at all. And after 10 minutes of trying and not getting as much as a ring, they have the nerve to subtract the 10 minutes off my card! And then they lie! They lie everytime I call to report the problem. They say "it will be fixed in the next 24 hours". Finally I told them, do not tell me that. You can tell me that you will TRY to have it fixed....but don't tell me it WILL be fixed....because it is a LIE!!!!! So I have been using my very expensive (in comparisson to Tel3) calling card from Costco. It usually always works....but costs to much to call daily, just forget the whole twice a day routine from the past. But for the last 4 days it hasn't worked either! I either get a very strange busy signal or just dead space. So yesterday I broke down and looked into the IDT program that Brother Gentry uses. Unfortunately I don't have a lan line to add their international long distance service to, so I had to buy their calling card called Penny Talk. Penny Talk offers 11cents a mintue to Malawi with a connection fee of 49 cents and a monthly fee of $1. So I add 25 dollars to my new Penny Talk card and call Malawi, totally expecting to hear Thandie's voice. But no! Instead I hear the automated Penny Talk voice say "the ballance on your card is $3". What?!? Excuse me, I just put $25 on the card 10 seconds ago. I stop and call customer services and they are closed for the night! Figures! So I decide to try and use the card to call Thandie even though I only have $3 on the card. Instead of a "Hi Chrissie!" I get a busy signal! I try again and again and again and again....busy signal everytime! So I gave up and went to bed.

This morning (1/2/07) I tried all three calling programs and got a busy signal or dead space from all three. Frustrated and getting a bit worried, I call Brother Gentry. He has recently spoken to Patel (lan line) and Chris (who called Bro Gentry), but hasn't had much luck reaching cell phones or using Tel3. He hasn't heard from Thandie. So I share my communication drama with him and head off to work. Tonight my phone rang and it was a number I didn't recognize with a very strange area code. I answer it and.....it was Thandie! WooHoo! She called me, I don't know how she managed it since it costs an absolute fortune to call from Malawi. I think she thought I fell in a hole since she hadn't heard from me since last Thursday night. It was so great to hear from her, and she gave me and update.....so here it is:

UPDATE:

Back in September, our 13 8th grade students completed their primary school exit exams. The results came in this week.....and they all passed! Praise the Lord!! Two of the children scored very high, what we would call "honors" in the US. A couple of the students struggled with one or two subjects, but overall scored high enough to pass. Today (1/2/07) was the first day of school! These 13 students will now be attending a private secondary school as Form 1 (9th grade) students. We also have 7 students attending this school in form 2 (10th grade). Malawi only offers free public school education up through the 8th grade. We have no choice but to send the children to private school. This is a HUGE cost for us but one that we feel is necessary and pleasing to the Lord. Please continue to pray for this need. The cost is $300 per child per semester.

>>>>>EDA<<<<<<<<>>>>>CATHREEN>>>
Cathreen and Eda both had headaches with fevers yesterday, but are feeling better today. There was no way Eda was going to miss the first day of school, even if it meant being carried there on a stretcher. She is so determined and made it through the whole day. She is one of our new Form 1 students. I miss her so much! Eda may have the opportunity to visit America sometime this year. Please be in prayer for this opportunity.

The children were thrilled to open their packages from the Carrier's on New Years Day. Thandie said that some of the children were so thrilled with the wrapped packages they didn't want to open them. They thought they were too beautiful to tear open. Then the children saw the other children eating the chocolate. One by one they caved in and opened their packages....but some opened it, age one piece of chocolate and then wrapped the package back up! Thandie was so thrilled that the Carriers thought to send enough packages not only for the orphan children but the staff children and caregivers as well. There are many staff children that live on campus, most not having much more that than the orphan children. Most often the staff children are forgotten when people send special treats or gifts. Thank you so much to the Carriers for their thoughtfulness.

The music director at Good Samaritan is named Friday. His mother passed away on New Years Day. He received a phone call from her village which is near Lilongwe saying that you mother had died and there is no money for a casket or funeral. The Good Samaritan staff collected some money and off Friday went to have the funeral for his mom. Please be in prayer for his family.

Savannah-Hope Update: Our little peanut is about to turn 8 months old. I really can't believe how big she has gotten....or that she is still in Malawi. I thought for sure she would be an "American Girl" by now. She has acquired the nickname "Vana" and has begun gesturing a "come here" motion with her hands. Thandie said her hair has grown long enough for little "puffs" and has even had braids! Just three months ago she was bald, I can't imagine her having enough hair for braids....she's getting too big too fast! I spent some time tonight begging Thandie for an updated picture. I feel guilty asking because I know first hand how difficult and expensive of a request it is, but I haven't received a picture that was taken after the 15th of October. There is no hope of Thandie getting her ground phone line repaired until after the rainy season, so I am not sure how she will possibly email me a picture. But I sure hope she finds a way. Please continue to pray that the conversation between our adoption attorney and the director of Malawi Child Welfare goes well. This conversation should take place any day now.