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

Wes Gunn and I has an incredible trip to India to visit the Mercy Home there.

The children are doing GREAT!! And the facilities are first class.

While in India we conducted leadership training for area pastors, spoke at the Bible school graduation services and spoke about missions at Life Fellowship church Sunday morning.

The humility of the Indian people is always overwhleming.

For days they pray and fast before our arrival.

The children serve constantly and are extremely curious and well behaved. During the 3:45 hour graduation service none of the 25 children acted disrespectful or talked! And any time they were given an assignment, they did it immediately.

(For those of us in America that last paragraph may sound foreign. There is a lot we can learn from Indian culture about respect and expectations. )

Sunny Lukos from RIMI was our host and guide for the trip. His heart and focus for reaching the people groups of India and helping orphans is amazing. His constant prayers of thanksgiving shows why this work has been so successful in this region.

SP Samuels is the director of the Mercy Home. His strong leadership and humble spirit are a powerful combination. His heart for the Lord and his love for the fatherless shows in every action and word.

SP lives the spirit of our Father – Deuteronomy 10:18 “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.”

Blessings!

Paul