Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Email from Mathews Banda-Save Orphans Ministry

I received the following email from Mathews Banda with Save Orphans Ministry. Mathews assisted in driving our team to the SOM AIDS clinic in Ntcheu. Mathews was a great help to our team and we really appreciate all that he did for us. He was worked for SOM for over 6 years.


Hi, Brian.

Hope you traveled well back home, and you really enjoyed your stay here in Malawi as i did. You were a blessing to me and i thank very much, my wife too and my children say hie to you and the family, looking forward to see you angain. Pass my greetings to the entire group. Brian i was amazing to see you producing DVD at short period of time, hope when you make several of them you send me one. Thanks once angain for the gifts you gave to me, may God continues blessing you all the time as you continue helping others through your ministry. I am insipired the way you people courangeous you are, thats the ministry Jesus told us to be doing as it stated in matthew 25v35.
In him

Matthews.

Matthews Banda
Private bag B456,
Lilongwe 3,
Malawi.

Thank You

We made it back home safely. I want to thank all of you that have followed our trip. It was an indescribable and humbling experience that will forever change very member of this team. I will be posting lots of pictures on Flickr. I will post the link on the blog as soon as I get the picutures loaded. We have a lot of pictures so it may take a day or two to get them all loaded.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers.

God Bless All of You

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Pictures of SOM AIDS Clinic





Back from Ntcheu-Visiting SOM Aids Clinic

We are back from Ntcheu. Sorry I was not able to update the blog the last few days. We were out far away from any internet access. We had an amazing experience visiting the Save Orphans Ministry Aids Clinic for Orphans. I have lots of pictures to share. and I will post some of them later this evening.

Below is some information about SOM.

Save Orphans Ministries is a non-profit Christian organization with community based programs and is registered by the Government of Malawi. SOM was set up in 1996 by a student who was at the time in his second year at African Bible College in Lilongwe-Malawi-Africa. Save Orphans Ministries is a member of Evangelical Association of Malawi and Council of Non-Governmental Organization of Malawi and has a board of trustees.

One year after the set up only five orphans were supported and by October 1998, 200 orphans were reached. To date more than 6,000 orphans 400 caregivers are benefiting from the organization's programs with our Bible Clubs reaching 15,000 children who meet once every week.

More info:

www.saveorphansministries.com

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Ministry of Hope Crisis Home for Abandoned, Orphaned and HIV Positive Babies






Today the team visited the Ministry of Hope Crisis Center. This is an infant home that was established to rescue and provide shelter and crisis care to babies at risk-i.e. those who are abandoned, neglected or abused, those affected with HIV/AIDS as well as those with critically/chronically ill mothers who can no longer care for them.

We learned today of Talandira Hope. Talandira is one of the babies who had no hope in her life. She was found dumped along Lilongwe River crying for help. One night a private guard went to the river to wash his face; there he found the baby crying for help without any guardian around. He reported the issue to police who alerted the crisis nursery to rescue the baby. When they arrived at the scene, the baby was just crying and and her eyes were filled with fear and hopelessness.

The time she was found, she was full of charms around her body. It is believed that those charms were put for good luck. Since her rescued by the Crisis Nursery, the baby has been doing fine. Now because of care and love she is getting the baby is always smiling. With Prayer and God doing great things in her life, Talandira Hope has now seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Today Talandira Hope is under foster care in Malawi.

While we visited the Crisis Nursery we spent two hours feeding and playing with the 13 of the 16 Babies that are currently being cared for by the Crisis Nursery. It was a wonderful experience for all of us. The pictures cannot begin to explain the emotions we all felt today holding and playing with those little babies.

More Mtsilitza Village Pictures


Mtsilitza Village Pictures




Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Second Day of VBS and Mtsilitza Village

We completed our second day of VBS and it was another success. The kids had a great time playing games, decorating T Shirts, making crafts and eating Snowman treats made out of graham crackers, marshmallows and candy. Yours truly got to dress up like a penquin today and entertain the kids with some moves I learned from the movie Happy Feet.

After we finished VBS in the morning we visited Tazili Village about a 30 minute walk from ABC. Walking thru the village and were greeted by dozens of children wanting to have their picture taken. They also wanted to hold our hands and walk with us. By the time we reached our destination in the center of the village we had over two dozen children of all ages surrounding us. It was an incredible experience. I will try to update the blog with pictures tomorrow. The internet connection is very slow and it will not let me upload pictures tonight.

When we reached the center of the village we helped Children of the Nation feed orphans. After singing songs with the children we helped the kids wash their hands and we served them their one meal of the day.

In addition to feeding the orphans we met a group of widows that are part of an organization called The Widows Club. The Widows club trains widows in trade such as baking or sewing so they can eventually support themselves. When I get back to the States I will post video of today on you tube. You will not want to miss this video. It is very moving. I also have video of Pastor Mark speaking to all the Orphans just before they ate their meal.

Please visit Children of the Nation and consider sponsoring a child. http://www.cotni.org/71-mtsilitza


Tomorrow we are visiting a crisis nursery to hold and feed sick babies.

God Bless

Monday, June 29, 2009

End of Day 1



Hello from Malawi. We are wrapping up our first full day. It was a very busy day. We started with the VBS and then took a trip into the city of Lilongwe to experience the culture of Malawi. Visiting the city and experiencing Malawian culture was an amazing experience. We visited a very busy open market, purchased a live chicken for ABC and crossed a river on a bridge hand made out of wood planks and tree limbs. We rode to the city on public transportation which was a minivan jammed pack with passengers. It was quite the experience.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. It is very evident everywhere you look. Despite the poverty and the challenges the country faces, its people are very friendly.

Below are some pictures from today's VBS. I will add some pictures from our visit to the City tomorrow.











Hello from Malawi Monday June 29th 6:00am

Sorry for not updating the blog yesterday. We arrived in Malawi Sunday at around 2pm. We had a very busy day and I could not get connected to the Internet. We received a warm welcome from the Spencer's. (all 10 of them) At the airport they had a huge banner hanging from the balcony welcoming us to Malawi. I will post a picture later today. We immediately felt welcome.

The ride from the airport to the African Bible College took us through some very poor areas of Malawi. It was a little overwhelming. We saw men on the side of the road selling mice on a stick. Yes...I said Mice on a stick. Evidently it is very popular here in Malawi.

Immediately after we arrived at the African Bible College we started preparing for the week. We had some time to visit with our host the Spencer's in the evening. We were very tired last night and everyone got a good night sleep.

It is 1:00pm in Malawi right now. We just completed our first day of VBS and it was a great success. The entire team did a great job and the kids had a lot of fun and the weather has been great. We are about to have lunch with the Spencer's and then we are heading into the local village.

I will update the blog with some pictures later today when we get back from the Village.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Sermon In Shoes by Ruth Harms Calkin

Do you know, O Christian, you're a sermon in shoes?
Do you know, O Christian, You're a sermon in shoes?

Jesus counts upon you to spread the Gospel News;
So walk it, and talk it,
Live it, and give it,
Teach it, and preach it
Know it, and show it,

A Sermon in Shoes.

Update Saturday June 27th.

Cheryl made a new friend on the flight from Dakar, Senegal to Johannesburg.














Mark showed off his Cardinal Jacket, he needed it, the temperature when we landed was a cool 55 degrees.


We took a team photo at the airport while we waited for the hotel shuttle. We just had dinner at the hotel and everyone has retired to their rooms. We leave early tomorrow morning for Lilongwe.
Enjoy the pictures.

Arrived safely in Johannesburg

We just arrived at our hotel in Johannesburg. Thank God that we had no issues. The flight was not that bad. No delays. Baggage arrived in good shape and we made it safely to the hotel. We are all looking forward to lying flat in our own beds tonight and getting some rest after sitting for 16 hours.

I will update the blog with more pictures later today.

God Bless!

Friday, June 26, 2009

President and First Lady




President Obama and First Lady Michelle stopped by the airport for a quick photo opportunity. Mark and Ray took advantage of the opportunity to give him some advice.

Two Weeks In Africa

The Journey Begins





We arrived this morning at Lambert Airport at 4:45am. Everyone was on time. It was a good thing because we had to wait in a long line to check our luggage. The check in process took 90 minutes but went very well.

The only glitch is when we got to security the majority of the group did not have boarding passes so we had to trek back up to the United counter to get boarding passes

Cheryl wants me to mention it was the guy at the counter that messed up on the boarding passes. We really do know what we are doing!

Mark Mehlig is enjoying some of Ray's delicious Barbecue ribs for breakfast. Yes. Ribs for Breakfast.

Our flight to Washington leaves in 1 hour.

Bo, Abby, Nick and Jake.....I love you!

Rachel and Rebecca....Mom says don't forget to pack your swim shoes!

Mark Mehlig just asked if they had FM radio in Malawi!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Leaving in 5 Days





The excitement of our trip has been growing for the last few months and we are now just 5 days away from our departure. The team has worked very hard to get everything ready. Our Journey starts Friday morning from St. Louis. We will travel from St. Louis to Washington Dulles Airport. In Washington we have a 6 hour layover. From there we board a South African Airlines flight that will take us directly to Johannesburg South Africa. The total flight time is 16 hours and 30 minutes. We will arrive Saturday afternoon and spend the night in Johannesburg. Sunday we will board another flight from Johannesburg to Lilongwe Malawi. Total air time from St. Louis to Lilongwe is 22 hours.

While in Malawi I will be doing my best to update the blog regularly.

PLease keep our team in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this amazing journey.

Brian

Friday, May 1, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

Save Orphans Ministry Video

Check out this video below. It is a documentary from a church that worked with Save Orphans Ministry in Malawi in 2006.

Our team will also be working with Justin and his wife Ruth from Save Orphans Ministry.

Justin and his wife are in the first part of the video. Our team will be meeting with Ruth next month to discuss how we can help this organization while we are in Malawi.

Save Orphans Ministry Video 1

Save Orphans Ministry Video 2

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Team Dinner-Tam Tam African Restaurant


Two weeks ago the Malawi Mission team ventured to a local African Restaurant called Tam Tam to try some native African foods and enjoyed an afternoon of fellowship. Tam Tam serves authentic African food. We had a great time.



We had a great waitress who provided us a lot of information on the background and source of the many foods on the menu. We learned a great deal about African foods.



I had goat steak for the first time and my wife tried the Tilapia served African Style. Whole including the head. My wife Bo was a little surprised when it was served.



See the attached pictures.



Our mission team is made up of the following:



Mark Mehlig-Pastor and Team Lead

Suzie Mehlig

Kim Smith

Marilyn Williams

Cherilyn Washington

Ray Washington

Cheryl Anthonis

Shelly Williams

Friday, January 23, 2009

Travel Date Change/Shots

Our dates for the trip have changed. We are now leaving for Malawi on Friday June 26th 2009 and departing Malawi on Monday July 6th 2009.

I got my first series of shots last week! Ouch!!! I unusually don't mind needles but I would be lying if I said it did not hurt. I had to get two in each arm.