Our trip!! (through Jessie's eyes)

Our trip to Malawi was awesome!!! It's hard for me to put into a few paragraphs how it went, but here it goes...

We left Thursday night and got to London on Friday morning. My friend Kim from Rollins met us at the airport and took us around London for a few hours, which was amazing!! I haven't been there for about 4 years, so my heart was very happy and at home there. Neal had never seen it so I was glad he was there to see my favorite city. We went by Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and a few other places including a pub. It was really nice to have time in London... I am so thankful for that layover.

We got into Malawi at about 5:00 Saturday night. We stayed on a farm in huts that were pretty nice. That night we went to the Chitipi orphanage (the one we worked with the whole time) and the kids sang and danced for us for about 30 minutes. It was so great!!!!!! Everyone in Malawi can sing and dance like you wouldn't believe. I had chills thinking about what all of them had gone through, yet they were so joyful. They took us around the house afterwords and around the farm behind the house.

The next morning we went to church, which was quite an experience! It lasted 3 hours. It was an Assembly of God church, so it was very lively. Every time the preacher or anyone else said something that someone agreed with, they would walk up and throw money at them! It was great. I think we should do that here. They sang and danced A LOT which awesome. These people have very little and yet are so joyful and filled with the Spirit. My friend Heather and I got up and danced with a few of the women mid-service. The people in Malawi are so warm and welcoming!!

Monday through Wednesday, Neal and 2 others from our group led some counseling sessions with 18 care-takers (aunties) from 2 orphanages nearby. God really showed up at all of those meetings. The kids at the orphanages have so many issues that the aunties and uncles thought couldn't be changed (disrespect, stealing, anxiety, etc.), and Neal and the others gave them some basic skills to help them love the kids better. The feedback from them was that they had hope now, and they were anxious to get back to the kids and put what they learned into practice. I am SO encouraged by what God did through my friends, despite the vast cultural differences.

While those 3 did the counseling every day, the other 7 of us went to the Chitipi orphanage and did some maintenance work and spent time with the kids. Three of the guys put new screens in the windows, which will hopefully help prevent the kids from getting Malaria from the mosquitoes. The rest of us painted 3 rooms in the house. The first day, the kids helped us paint which was so much fun. Then it turned into chaos with paint in places it shouldn't (on the floor, colors mixing, etc.) so we decided we should just get it done ourselves so it would look good and they could be proud of their home.

While some of us painted, others played with the kids. That was my favorite part of all. These kids were awesome! Stephen (my friend Ann's boyfriend who has been in Malawi for 9 months) said that the kids haven't connected with other teams like they did with us. He said they seemed really comfortable and happy, which made us feel really good. There were around 34 kids at the home. They went to school for different times, depending on their age, so we saw the younger ones more. We sat outside and sang songs, read books, played games. I connected with 3 of the girls in particular, who were between 12 and 15. They were so selfless- it was incredible. When I would be wiping paint off of my hands in the bathroom (it was oil-based and really hard to get off), they would come in and start scrubbing my hands. I didn't even ask for their help. That touched my heart.

On Thursday we went to Lake Malawi with the aunties in a bus. It was so much fun! People were dancing and singing on the bus. I will really miss that- constant singing- for no reason. We stopped on the way home from the lake at some markets and shopped. It was crazy and overwhelming!! When they see white people they think: $$$. Malawians were in our faces begging us to look in their hut at their stuff. I tried not to make eye contact because once you did, they would hound you about buying something. But we got some cool stuff and I'm happy we had the experience.

Another highlight was dancing with some of the aunties who stayed at the farm with us. They taught us some traditional songs and dances, and we tried to teach them some cool songs and dances, like the Macarena and Electric Slide. There's no comparison- but we gave it a shot. They actually liked those dances.

I was really sad to say goodbye to the kids on Thursday night. But the best part was that when we were going outside to our bus, the kids got on and the bus driver turned some music on and the kids danced for like 20 minutes. They were so happy!! They were shaking their booties and having the best time. I think that's what heaven will be like- just singing, dancing, laughing, being together. I hope so at least. It was a good way to leave, as I was really sad and it was hard to be sad watching these kids have so much fun.

I would love to go back and spend more time with the kids. I wished we had a few more days there. They are so hungry for attention and love, and I would love to give that to them...

Thanks for your prayers and for caring about me enough to read this long thing. I love you all!

Jessie