It has been such an exciting time at the village! Many of you are aware that one of our sponsors, Katie Sanderson, who is a nurse is here doing first aid classes and physicals at Mtendere. 2 weeks ago she was very sick and had to go to South Africa due to kidney stones. She is back with us and doing wonderful. The kids & staff gathered together every day to pray for her until she was back on Malawi soil. They truly love and appreciate ALL who come and serve!
The past week we have been blessed to have 27 sponsors come to Mtendere and serve! The volunteers have been really focused on giving the children extra classes to help them pass their exams this upcoming week with flying colors! We have also had many wonderful nights with our teen girls during our devotion time. Many of our volunteers shared their life story with them. The girls were amazed at how similar we truly are to one another. They were very open about their hurts from the abandonment and abuse they experienced before coming to Mtendere. A lot of healing has taken place and has been absolutely beautiful (o’congola)! God is truly at work!
Also, on Saturday the children threw a very elaborate surprise birthday party for ME ( with the help of little Alley, Katie, & Phyllis)! I have truly NEVER experienced such a party! Lots of speeches, songs (even my favorite song by Creed), prayers, presentation of birthday cards, eating, & dancing! Everyone was served rice, greens, chicken, & coke (This was a HUGE honor for an orphanage to have as a meal) and then a Malawian DJ came and played music and we danced until we couldn’t dance anymore!
This upcoming week is our big exam week for our children in grade 1-8. Please keep them in your prayers! Our house mother, Elinali, is still at home on bedrest. Also please pray for our new assistant, Towangay (She has taken the place of Ruthie & Grace who died in the tragic car accident in September). Towangay’s brother drowned on Saturday and she is burying him today. He was like a son to her. He had just graduated from 12th grade.
Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers! I will post pictures as soon as I get a good connection with internet!
Dana Blanchard
100X Missions
Dana,
How exciting to read about the lights in Mtendere, your birthday party and the update on Katie’s recovery. The 2 weeks that Susanne and I spent with all of you at Mtendere this past June are memories that we both treasure daily! The first night we arrived you invited us to the girls devotional. There by the light of lanterns, we experienced the most amazing outpouring of love for our Heavenly Father through the amazing voices of the girls of Mtendere. It was such an honor for me to share with them the idea of defining goals for themselves and the importance of writing them down and including them in their daily prayers. Gathering all of the children and teaching them how to make kites and then watching their delight and squeals of laughter as they watched them take flight was such an amazing experience! The last night of our visit, the children all gathered and sang and prayed for us. We left so much richer than we came! We would love to return as we promised. I would love to connect with you about how I can share the ongoing stories of Mtendere and your work there with others. Could you call me at 480-235-4321 or send me an email? Thanks so much. Please give a hug to Alley for us and Phyllis too! Love Chris