We celebrated Rachel S's birthday with a simple but nice dinner on the terrace of a restaurant (we had the rats walking the beams above our heads, but hey: it's Africa). It was great. Another thing that is great is that Frank's perforated eardrum is healing really well. This week we kept low in order for everybody to restore. Rachel L and Karen are almost there but not quite yet so your prayers are welcome!
Yesterday was a day off so most of the group went into town to do email and eat pizza and ice cream (spoiled missionaries). Frank and Sandra were the whole day with the local Ywam team for they had their start-up weekend. Today we went to the baptist church to encourage the local Christians. It was good they didn't knew we were coming because now they had arranged a speaker and all of us could just sit.
We are going to do some planning now on the program in order to speed up the ministry-side of outreach a bit. We haven't seen quite the number of sick (except for those within the team) and wounded that we want so we will device a plan. From the 5th to the 10th we will go to Itepela where Ywam has a micro lab. We are looking forward to spend time with that team and hope we can put all our knowledge into practice.
Love you all
The Team
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
a million things to tell
And finally back online, with the latest updates on the strange adventures of our IPHC team. So we went to lake: frank, sandra, rachel L and judah in front and rachel s, lyn, jill and karen in the back on top of our luggage. We went away in the pouring rain and that is not an easy drive over dirt roads. But as we came closer to the lake the sky cleared and we arrived (shaken but not stirred). We had to walk the last 500 mtr to our 'personal beach resort' and whilst doing that we were greeted by a lone Hippo that was very curious about our team. That was a fun welcome.
With help of the two local guys we settled and prepared the beds and nets and prepared our evening meal. It was just absolutely splendid to be there. On saturday Keith (the neighbour) dropped by with his speedboot and the waterskeeing fun started. It was also the start of some less fortunate moments. Frank decided to fall into the water at full speed with his ear first and by doing so got his eardrum perforated. However that they was wonderful and we visited the Meponda village and bought some more food supplies.
The next day however Karen was vomitting, Rachel had serious tummy problems, Frank came down with malaria and Sandra was exhausted by the heat. What a sorry bunch we were. But a few of us made it to the local church and shared and encouraged the little christian community among all the muslims. But still the surroundings was beautiful and we enjoyed the group of monkeys that came to visit us in the mornings. On monday we decided to forget about the ministry that we planned to do in the village because of too much outreach within the team. With a lot of groaning and puffing we made it safely back to Lichinga.
Today the team with exception of Karen and Frank visited the Iris Ministry base here in Lichinga and had a great time seeing their work and received some awesome words from the Lord through this team. God is good, since our team was struck with disease we felt to focus more on worship just to brake away from feeling sorry for ourselves and focus on Jesus.
Good news! Frank and Sandra's two lost suitcases our now in the possesion of the Ywam base in Lilongwe. We just have to pick 'em up (400k away). Tomorrow is another special day: Rachel S celebrates her birthday!
Love to all of you
With help of the two local guys we settled and prepared the beds and nets and prepared our evening meal. It was just absolutely splendid to be there. On saturday Keith (the neighbour) dropped by with his speedboot and the waterskeeing fun started. It was also the start of some less fortunate moments. Frank decided to fall into the water at full speed with his ear first and by doing so got his eardrum perforated. However that they was wonderful and we visited the Meponda village and bought some more food supplies.
The next day however Karen was vomitting, Rachel had serious tummy problems, Frank came down with malaria and Sandra was exhausted by the heat. What a sorry bunch we were. But a few of us made it to the local church and shared and encouraged the little christian community among all the muslims. But still the surroundings was beautiful and we enjoyed the group of monkeys that came to visit us in the mornings. On monday we decided to forget about the ministry that we planned to do in the village because of too much outreach within the team. With a lot of groaning and puffing we made it safely back to Lichinga.
Today the team with exception of Karen and Frank visited the Iris Ministry base here in Lichinga and had a great time seeing their work and received some awesome words from the Lord through this team. God is good, since our team was struck with disease we felt to focus more on worship just to brake away from feeling sorry for ourselves and focus on Jesus.
Good news! Frank and Sandra's two lost suitcases our now in the possesion of the Ywam base in Lilongwe. We just have to pick 'em up (400k away). Tomorrow is another special day: Rachel S celebrates her birthday!
Love to all of you
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Out of reach
After our first three awesome and intensive weeks we have decided to go for a little break this weekend. We will travel to lake Malawi (Meponda for those who want to google it) for some well deserved rest. Consequence of this will be that we will be out of reach until monday afternoon! So do not worry if you do not hear from us or cannot reach us, we are fine and enjoying ourselves!
In the mean time we have been very busy of course with all kinds of stuff. On wednesday we rounded up the paperwork with the authorities. Sandra has official permission to work in Lichinga and can bring a team to the big hospital, all the health posts, maternity wards and we can even teach on schools about primary health care. This is not just nice for now but lays a foundation of future possibilities. We celebrated with a nice cup of coffee in town. In the afternoon we went to our guards neighbourhood to do a teaching on diarrhea and dehydration. We had a fun time teaching and was nice interactive. We also weighed a few kids and treated a foot wound and a child with impetigo.
This morning we visited a couple of missionaries nearby who do amazing things in three areas: malaria, malnutrion and sanitation. They use local materials and a lot of natural medicines and it was really exciting to see what they have developed over the years. In the afternoon we did another dental care teaching in Ntoto, the village of our translator Elidio. He had gone round to gather his neighbours and we had a wonderful time of teaching, drama, explaining and listening to their answers and questions.
We do have a thing to pray about. On the last night that Tinashe was here and he walked back to the training center he was stopped by five persons dressed in police uniforms demanding that he would empty his pockets and leave his torch and his shoes. He was smart enough to just leave his shoes and torch and made a run into the dark. It was quite a scary experience for him. I have reported the whole issue to the police but they seemed not impressed nor interessed. Please pray for safety and health for the team.
Tomorrow we go to the lake and I (Frank) are really looking forward to a nice break in a beautiful environment. We will tell you all about when we will get back!
In the mean time we have been very busy of course with all kinds of stuff. On wednesday we rounded up the paperwork with the authorities. Sandra has official permission to work in Lichinga and can bring a team to the big hospital, all the health posts, maternity wards and we can even teach on schools about primary health care. This is not just nice for now but lays a foundation of future possibilities. We celebrated with a nice cup of coffee in town. In the afternoon we went to our guards neighbourhood to do a teaching on diarrhea and dehydration. We had a fun time teaching and was nice interactive. We also weighed a few kids and treated a foot wound and a child with impetigo.
This morning we visited a couple of missionaries nearby who do amazing things in three areas: malaria, malnutrion and sanitation. They use local materials and a lot of natural medicines and it was really exciting to see what they have developed over the years. In the afternoon we did another dental care teaching in Ntoto, the village of our translator Elidio. He had gone round to gather his neighbours and we had a wonderful time of teaching, drama, explaining and listening to their answers and questions.
We do have a thing to pray about. On the last night that Tinashe was here and he walked back to the training center he was stopped by five persons dressed in police uniforms demanding that he would empty his pockets and leave his torch and his shoes. He was smart enough to just leave his shoes and torch and made a run into the dark. It was quite a scary experience for him. I have reported the whole issue to the police but they seemed not impressed nor interessed. Please pray for safety and health for the team.
Tomorrow we go to the lake and I (Frank) are really looking forward to a nice break in a beautiful environment. We will tell you all about when we will get back!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday update
Yesterday we taught the kids a wonderful song about washing your hands, and then the song got stuck in our heads for the next 48 hours (we are still humming it). However, it was lovely to do IPHC teaching with a small class of kids sitting on our veranda. We had a great time and the kids loved it. We also quickly repeated our dental-care teaching with them.
Today we went to Mitawa again to be with our elderly ladies. The granddaughter was there again so we could look at her burn-wound again. It had developed into a wound three times the sizes and with loads of liquid ouzing out; it was not a pretty sight. Jill was definitely up for this challenge and treated the wound and changed bandages like a pro. We gave her antibiotics against the infection that had started. We went over the right dosage several times with her grandmother until we knew certain that she understood how to administer the medicines.
This afternoon we did a prayer walk in the area around our house which fun and good at the same time. Sandra is still hunting after papers, authorisations, stamps from officials etcetera in order to open the doors for us to work with the health posts and hospitals. This is quite a proces but we are doing fine so far (keep un praying please!).
Lyn has recovered enough from her malaria to come and beat me with a pillow when I called her 'old' so we think she will make it. We played a game last night and have a good time together in general.
Tinashe unfortunately has to go home because of the situation at home. His father, who is already of high age, is seriously ill and Tinashe wants to go and meet up with him and his family. We support him in his decision but really do not like to see him go because he is a great asset to our team (he is the only one that can cook proper mais porridge for us). Tonight we will pray for him and early tomorrow he will start his journey. Please pray for him!
Bless you all, love and hugs from the whole team
Today we went to Mitawa again to be with our elderly ladies. The granddaughter was there again so we could look at her burn-wound again. It had developed into a wound three times the sizes and with loads of liquid ouzing out; it was not a pretty sight. Jill was definitely up for this challenge and treated the wound and changed bandages like a pro. We gave her antibiotics against the infection that had started. We went over the right dosage several times with her grandmother until we knew certain that she understood how to administer the medicines.
This afternoon we did a prayer walk in the area around our house which fun and good at the same time. Sandra is still hunting after papers, authorisations, stamps from officials etcetera in order to open the doors for us to work with the health posts and hospitals. This is quite a proces but we are doing fine so far (keep un praying please!).
Lyn has recovered enough from her malaria to come and beat me with a pillow when I called her 'old' so we think she will make it. We played a game last night and have a good time together in general.
Tinashe unfortunately has to go home because of the situation at home. His father, who is already of high age, is seriously ill and Tinashe wants to go and meet up with him and his family. We support him in his decision but really do not like to see him go because he is a great asset to our team (he is the only one that can cook proper mais porridge for us). Tonight we will pray for him and early tomorrow he will start his journey. Please pray for him!
Bless you all, love and hugs from the whole team
Sunday, January 16, 2011
African Church Record
Hallo dear people,
Today we went to an African church: our Yao-translator invited us to come. We think we timed a record because we were home 5 to 12! An unheard of short church service, but a good one. We had a Malawian preaching (in English) so that was perfect for the team. They did need some portuguese translation so I (Frank) had to kick my language skills into gear and was asked to translate for the whole church. I am sure I have butchered almost any grammatical rule but the people understood the message so it got the job done. The singing was wonderful as always so we really enjoyed.
We have an interesting phenemenon going on in our team. Instead of doing health care with the team we have to start doing health care within the team. First Sandra had a short virus for a day, yesterday evening Lyn started Malaria and this afternoon we took jiggers out of Rachel S's foot. We hope that the rest will be spared from further illnesses.
We are still busy filling our program and for that we do need contacts and approval of authorities so it would be great if you could help us pray for that. We love you all, thanks for following us and praying for us.
Today we went to an African church: our Yao-translator invited us to come. We think we timed a record because we were home 5 to 12! An unheard of short church service, but a good one. We had a Malawian preaching (in English) so that was perfect for the team. They did need some portuguese translation so I (Frank) had to kick my language skills into gear and was asked to translate for the whole church. I am sure I have butchered almost any grammatical rule but the people understood the message so it got the job done. The singing was wonderful as always so we really enjoyed.
We have an interesting phenemenon going on in our team. Instead of doing health care with the team we have to start doing health care within the team. First Sandra had a short virus for a day, yesterday evening Lyn started Malaria and this afternoon we took jiggers out of Rachel S's foot. We hope that the rest will be spared from further illnesses.
We are still busy filling our program and for that we do need contacts and approval of authorities so it would be great if you could help us pray for that. We love you all, thanks for following us and praying for us.
Friday, January 14, 2011
IPHC in action
Today was another good outreach-day: in the morning we joined the group of elderly ladies with Elias in Mitawa. We heard a short bible-study in the tribal language and then did a teaching on nutrition: food to go, to grow and to glow. You really have to adapt your teaching when the nearest ASDA is about 8.000 km away and people have no money to buy, are without transport and live on a poor mans diet. But even with the limitations, the teaching still stands. We had cassave, sweet potatoes, rice, beans, eggs, green leaves and fruits which are all part of the local diet.
After the teaching we sat down with them to listen to their physical complaints. All of them complain of an aching back but after a long life of hard work and no matress there is little we could do about that. We took pulse, temperature, respiration rate and blood pressure and listened to their stories. Two of them have asthma, especially in the morning and when it is cloudy. One has always has a burning stomach after eating and some of them have problems with their legs. One grandma brought her epeleptic granddaughter who had fallen in the fire and burned her leg so Jill did her first African wound care. Rachel was great with patient obs and I was helping, writing and translating.
Sandra has been sick for the last two days: she has almost recovered now but hopes that she will have energy to enjoy a free saturday. The team is doing great: we have set up all the rotas of work duties and menus and everybody is doing a great job. Today Jill and Rachel made chicken stew for us (Lyn and Frank did the shoppings as usual). We try to adept our western menu to a more African one. Last monday Tinashe cooked mais porridge with pumpkin leaves and groundnut sauce and it was super-food.
Of the two missing bags from Frank and Sandra one has showed up in Lilongwe (we will see how we will get it into Mozambique). The airline says that the guitar is still in Dar Es Salaam and we are very eager to hear that it has arrived safely in Lilongwe as well. Tomorrow is a free day and most of the team will go to town to explore, do internet and enjoy a coke or tea with cake.
Thanks for following us and praying for us. We love you all!
After the teaching we sat down with them to listen to their physical complaints. All of them complain of an aching back but after a long life of hard work and no matress there is little we could do about that. We took pulse, temperature, respiration rate and blood pressure and listened to their stories. Two of them have asthma, especially in the morning and when it is cloudy. One has always has a burning stomach after eating and some of them have problems with their legs. One grandma brought her epeleptic granddaughter who had fallen in the fire and burned her leg so Jill did her first African wound care. Rachel was great with patient obs and I was helping, writing and translating.
Sandra has been sick for the last two days: she has almost recovered now but hopes that she will have energy to enjoy a free saturday. The team is doing great: we have set up all the rotas of work duties and menus and everybody is doing a great job. Today Jill and Rachel made chicken stew for us (Lyn and Frank did the shoppings as usual). We try to adept our western menu to a more African one. Last monday Tinashe cooked mais porridge with pumpkin leaves and groundnut sauce and it was super-food.
Of the two missing bags from Frank and Sandra one has showed up in Lilongwe (we will see how we will get it into Mozambique). The airline says that the guitar is still in Dar Es Salaam and we are very eager to hear that it has arrived safely in Lilongwe as well. Tomorrow is a free day and most of the team will go to town to explore, do internet and enjoy a coke or tea with cake.
Thanks for following us and praying for us. We love you all!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Week 2
Hello IPHC followers! Rachel L. here! I'm going to tell you about our last few days here in beautiful Mozambique. On Monday, we got to do a dental health teaching for a bunch of kids. They all did really well practising and had loads of fun spitting toothpaste all over our front yard. :) We were able to give each of them a toothbrush and a mini toothpaste. All the rest of that day we had kids coming, wanting toothbrushes, so we are planning to do another dental health teaching soon. In the mean time, Sandra did an impromptu english lesson on the porch and learned some chiyao (the local dialect) as well.
On Tuesday, we went to visit our friend Elias and a group of elderly woman that he's been discipling and helping. Elias is an amazing guy and has done much to help his 11 ladies. He leads a team that is working to make sure they each have a clean matress, food, medication, etc. They've also raised the money to pay for 5 eye surgeries, removing cataracts. Okay, so anyway, we got to meet with them and sit in on their Bible study. We then got to go into the village, Mitava, and walk around seeing what we might be able to do there in the future.
Today, we did a trip to town where the students were charged with the duty of finding prices of common foods. So, we said lots of "bom dia's" and "como se chama este aqui em portuguese?'s" Those mean "hello" and "what is the name of this in portuguese?" :) Later in the afternoon, we got to hear the testimony of one of our translator's. His name is Elidio and he's got a pretty intense story, yet he's such a sweet and kind fellow. After his testimony, he came with us to the house of Frank and Sandra's night guard. His wife had a baby about two weeks ago and didn't think she was giving her baby enough milk. We were able to do a health teaching on breast feeding for her and several of her neighbors. It went really well, even though it rained on our heads and anything said needed to be translated twice: from english to portuguese to chiyao. We hope to go back there again and do more teaching and visiting.
Woo! What a day! What a week!! Thank you for reading and come back again soon! We love you and miss you and can't wait to show you all our pictures!! :) Be blessed!!
On Tuesday, we went to visit our friend Elias and a group of elderly woman that he's been discipling and helping. Elias is an amazing guy and has done much to help his 11 ladies. He leads a team that is working to make sure they each have a clean matress, food, medication, etc. They've also raised the money to pay for 5 eye surgeries, removing cataracts. Okay, so anyway, we got to meet with them and sit in on their Bible study. We then got to go into the village, Mitava, and walk around seeing what we might be able to do there in the future.
Today, we did a trip to town where the students were charged with the duty of finding prices of common foods. So, we said lots of "bom dia's" and "como se chama este aqui em portuguese?'s" Those mean "hello" and "what is the name of this in portuguese?" :) Later in the afternoon, we got to hear the testimony of one of our translator's. His name is Elidio and he's got a pretty intense story, yet he's such a sweet and kind fellow. After his testimony, he came with us to the house of Frank and Sandra's night guard. His wife had a baby about two weeks ago and didn't think she was giving her baby enough milk. We were able to do a health teaching on breast feeding for her and several of her neighbors. It went really well, even though it rained on our heads and anything said needed to be translated twice: from english to portuguese to chiyao. We hope to go back there again and do more teaching and visiting.
Woo! What a day! What a week!! Thank you for reading and come back again soon! We love you and miss you and can't wait to show you all our pictures!! :) Be blessed!!
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Sunday Morning
We are doing great in settling and organising our stuff: the broken water pipes have been restored and we hope to get the pump in by monday (that would mean streaming water!!!). We have set up our rotas of shopping, washing, cooking, cleaning and start to feel at home.
Also, yesterday we went into the little village right in front our house to meet with the people and discussed opportunities of starting our ministry. We also visited a local health post which is from the government but is run by a Herminio who did a DTS here in Lichinga. He was very encouraged by the visit. Monday morning we will go back to the village and do our first teaching on dental care. We will teach why and how you should clean your teeth and we have a childrens toothbrush and a small colgate for all the kids.
This afternoon we will go to church (run by Iris Ministries) and meet more friends and discuss ministry opportunities. Rachel Shields who is a friend of Lynn also goes to this church and she will be one of our contacts.
Please pray for:
- continued health
- that the first health teaching on monday will be a blessing to the village
- that we will find the right contacts and have many opportunities
Also, yesterday we went into the little village right in front our house to meet with the people and discussed opportunities of starting our ministry. We also visited a local health post which is from the government but is run by a Herminio who did a DTS here in Lichinga. He was very encouraged by the visit. Monday morning we will go back to the village and do our first teaching on dental care. We will teach why and how you should clean your teeth and we have a childrens toothbrush and a small colgate for all the kids.
This afternoon we will go to church (run by Iris Ministries) and meet more friends and discuss ministry opportunities. Rachel Shields who is a friend of Lynn also goes to this church and she will be one of our contacts.
Please pray for:
- continued health
- that the first health teaching on monday will be a blessing to the village
- that we will find the right contacts and have many opportunities
Friday, January 07, 2011
The eagle has landed
Hello lovely people,
We are safe and sound in Lichinga! We all met at Nairobi airport and boarded the second flight together as a team. Amanda and Elias were waiting for us in Lilongwe and it was wonderful to be spoiled with their hospitality. Frank and Sandra lost two of their bags that have not been recovered yet from Kenya Airways (please pray).
The flight had been good but still everybody was super tired. We quickly came to the conclusion that it would be smart to rest another day in Malawi before we got into Mozambique. The journey through Malawi was a split-operation. The team in public transport minivans and Frank, Sandra and Judah in their own car. Frank and Sandra made it quickly to the border but the team got into trouble with a cheating, lying and money loving bus driver. He lied about his destiniation and refused to drive any further. It was quite a mess and a very frustrating experience for the team. Three hours later than planned they made it to the border.
The border crossings were very easy and smooth, though we did have to wade through a river that had come because of the heavy rain. It was a fun experience with a huge crowd of people watching this funny team arrive on bicycle taxis and then wading through the water. Because of our late arrival transport to Lichinga had become difficult. In the end Tinashe and Elias slept in a guesthouse and arrived the next day. The rest of us arrived around 23.00 at Frank and Sandra's house. We quickly made beds and we all had a wonderful rest.
Today and tomorrow we will try to settle and get organised. We are all in good health and spirit and we are looking forward to what God has in store for us the coming weeks.
Love, hugs and blessings,
The Team
We are safe and sound in Lichinga! We all met at Nairobi airport and boarded the second flight together as a team. Amanda and Elias were waiting for us in Lilongwe and it was wonderful to be spoiled with their hospitality. Frank and Sandra lost two of their bags that have not been recovered yet from Kenya Airways (please pray).
The flight had been good but still everybody was super tired. We quickly came to the conclusion that it would be smart to rest another day in Malawi before we got into Mozambique. The journey through Malawi was a split-operation. The team in public transport minivans and Frank, Sandra and Judah in their own car. Frank and Sandra made it quickly to the border but the team got into trouble with a cheating, lying and money loving bus driver. He lied about his destiniation and refused to drive any further. It was quite a mess and a very frustrating experience for the team. Three hours later than planned they made it to the border.
The border crossings were very easy and smooth, though we did have to wade through a river that had come because of the heavy rain. It was a fun experience with a huge crowd of people watching this funny team arrive on bicycle taxis and then wading through the water. Because of our late arrival transport to Lichinga had become difficult. In the end Tinashe and Elias slept in a guesthouse and arrived the next day. The rest of us arrived around 23.00 at Frank and Sandra's house. We quickly made beds and we all had a wonderful rest.
Today and tomorrow we will try to settle and get organised. We are all in good health and spirit and we are looking forward to what God has in store for us the coming weeks.
Love, hugs and blessings,
The Team
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