Disclaimer: Print this off and read it in the bathroom. It’s going to be a long one!
Here we are in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi! We had high hopes of being able to blog everyday, to share pictures, stories and even video with you. Our hopes have been squashed like a bug! You have to pay by the minute for phone and internet and it is very slow. We are currently blogging from a place called “Old Town Mall.” We bought a prepaid wireless card for $7.00 that will allow us 1 hour of wireless internet time to be used throughout the next two weeks.
We praise God for our safe arrival here in Malawi. 
We were amazed at how smoothly the three flights went. The kids did great and slept most of the time. Maybe the Benadryl helped? We left Seattle on February 7th and we finally arrived in Lilongwe on February 9th. We praise God that all 18 pieces of luggage arrived with us and in great condition. We were met at the airport by Henry and Bonnie Church (Africa Area Directors for Free Methodist World Missions). We had no problems coming through customs and immigration. In fact, Ryan hit the ground running by talking to the customs officer and inviting him to church. He gave Ryan his name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Ryan is getting a charge out of speaking to the people here. They are very warm and friendly. After all, Malawi is called “the warm heart of Africa!”
We are currently living at the Free Methodist Bible School (“Great Commission School”). It is a beautiful campus and has been a good place to adjust to life here in Malawi. We have enjoyed spending time with Henry and Bonnie, the yard workers, night watchmen and the pastor and his family who also live on the grounds. Curtis and Kara have enjoyed playing with their kids, Esau and Oblay. It is summer (the rainy season), so we have had to adapt to some very humid weather and daily power outages. As we ate dinner with Henry and Bonnie by candle light the other day, Henry called the power company to ask when the power would be on. The man said, “The power will be on anytime from now!” We were glad to get such a definitive answer! 
Changing time zones can be a little difficult, especially for children (Malawi is 10 hours ahea
d of Seattle). We were all absolutely exhausted when we finally arrived, and fell asleep as
as we walked into the house. The kids were out cold for almost 4 hours!
It was culture shock for us right out of the gate with so many people on the roads. The bicycle and your own two legs are the primary mode of transportation for most Malawians. All but the main roads are dirt/mud with many potholes (we are told they are worse during this rainy season). One absolutely needs a good 4 wheel drive vehicle here. We are learning to drive on the left side of the road (which means shifting with your left hand!) and find new meaning in the phrase “aggressive driving.”
Our hearts have been deeply troubled as we observe the poverty all around us. We have been preaching about this and our responsibility as Christians, but now we come face to face with poverty on a daily basis. Our prayer is that our hearts never become hardened to the needs of the poor. Driving down the street, we regularly see women carrying babies on their backs (Kara is trying this with her dolls now), people carrying fire wood on their bikes, and hauling water or most anything on their heads (Curtis has practiced with a cup of water). Many do not have shoes or adequate clothing. It is difficult to see people working so hard for just a few cents a day. The “lumber mill” was amazing! There were men using hand saws to cut the huge logs…pushing and pulling for hours just to cut one log. We observed men & women working in a gravel pit…sitting with their hammers or some hard object and pounding on rocks until they were broken into little pieces to make gravel. Can you imagine sitting all day and pounding on rocks for about $1/day?
On Sunday, we attended church in Malawi for the very first time, in a nearby village. At this particular church there were about 15 people who greeted us warmly. We were told there are usually many more, but there was a funeral in town and many of the people were there instead. Funerals are very common here because of AIDS and Malaria. As missionaries, we were their honored guests and were asked to sit up front on the cement pew in front of everyone one. The service lasted about 1 ½ hours (torture for an active 2 and 3 year old). Please pray about this for us. Most churches do not have any children’s programs. Henry and Ryan were asked to give a few words of greeting. After the service it was back onto the bumpy roads. We drove the pastor home, but she usually rides her bike an hour each way!
On Tuesday, we traveled to Blantyre, a large city 4 hours south of here that will be our new home in April. We were able to look at some housing options and meet with Superintendent Subiri of 
the Southern Conference. He was thrilled to finally meet us, as this part of Malawi has not had Free Methodist missionaries living down there. His wife even gave Jen a hug when we left, which is very rare for Malawians to do.
Thank you so much for all of your faithful prayers and support…the ministry of prayer is vital to the effectiveness of our ministry here.
Prayer requests:
• Pray for Curtis and Kara as they continue to adjust and make new friends.
• Pray that God will give us the ability to learn the language quickly & easily.
• Pray for Ryan as he will preach this Sunday at the FM Church on the Great Commission School campus.
• Pray for a home in Blantyre that will be just the right size and location for our family
• Pray for the Malawian Free Methodist Church to regain their passion for the lost.
• Pray for wisdom, physical health and spiritual growth.
• Pray for safety in travel.
• Pray for some other kind of high speed internet option.
• Pray for the Bartlett family who will come and direct the school in April/May. They have raised over 75% of their needed support!
i was so excited to hear from sarah that you had posted. we are just about ready to head off to leavenworth for the night. i am so glad you arrived safely. i called you mom to make sure you got off alright and that she was doing okay. we love and miss you! did you hear about tremper baby? carson michelle born val. day, 9 lb 13 oz. :)
Posted by: ryan | February 16, 2007 at 11:39 AM
Great to read your post! It's wonderful... as are the photos. You might consider a flickr account to upload your photos so that many can see.
I'm proud of you! Let's figure out a time when we can skype, or IM.
-Eric (ericspangler.typepad.com)
Posted by: Eric Spangler | February 17, 2007 at 04:47 AM