We are in Embangweni

Today was a long day of travel but everyone in our group did great. We were greeted at the airport by Kho Zimba. We were connected to Kho by a PCUSA pastor in Dallas Texas who has a member of their church named Helen Zimba, Kho's brother. I must say it was a leap of faith to arrive in Malawi and be transported by someone we've never met. The weather is warm, sunny, breezy and wonderful compared to what we left in Joburg.

Kho helped us load our six action packers and four large luggage pieces onto the top of the 4 wheel drive vehicle. The four oldest children were thrilled to sit in the back on two facing bench seats, Kim, Trey and Ben in the middle row and the driver, James, and me in the front. The ride from Lilongwe was beautiful and we drove as the big red sun set to show us amazing stars. We had heard from Frank Dimmock that it would be very common to see cooked field mice on sticks for sale by the side of the road and sure enough we did see the mice as well as cooked bats for sale on sticks too. Since it is winter here the fields have been harvested and it is a good time to find the mice holes. We did not learn from James about how the bats are caught this time of the year. We saw lots of people walking and riding bikes - but not many cars. We also saw a number of trucks hauling tobacco leaves and maize. Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, sugar cane, bags of maize, and tomatoes were for sale on the side of the road as we drove. The last hour of the four hour drive was on a dirt road and in the dark. Our second vehicle carrying Helen and her sister Mary followed on the dirt road to make sure our luggage did not bounce off the top.

The children were so excited to arrive at the guest house and exclaimed how wonderful and inviting it was to our tired travelers. A great place to call home for about two weeks. We are thankful to be here and look forward to meeting more new friends tomorrow and seeing Embangweni in the daylight.

Packed!

We are packed and ready to depart tomorrow.  While time seems to by flying it is hard to believe tomorrow is actually the day we leave.  We have felt extremely supported.  It was wonderful to be at church this past Sunday and have so many wish us well, safe travels, thank us for going and most of all pray for us while we are away.  As we packed items Monday night we reflected on how comforting this was and how humbled and surprised we were by the many "thank you for going" comments. 

We are thankful to be part of a church committed to mission and outreach as well as being thankful for the many members who have led us and set positive examples of how to live out your faith in the world.  We are also thankful for the prayers and support from our friends and family along with many Presbyterians we have met in the planning process through the Malawi Network who are all across the globe.

Did you know 2012 is the year that the PC(USA) church celebrates 175 years in world mission?  Where we are going is similar to what has happened in many parts of the world where mission has planted churches, started schools and built hospitals.  Embangweni is a great example of how the seeds were planted by missionaries and now are sustained by the people there.  We go to work in partnership.  Jodi McGill and the Chief Medical Officer of the Embangweni Hospital have helped us coordinate getting Kim and Trey Dubose registered to practice medicine in Malawi, the Head of Station has helped coordinate the children who will come to bible school, the Headmaster of the Deaf School has coordinated the chalk boards we will paint, and we will stay at the Guest Station which Jim McGill helped build.  We also will visit one of the health centers that Westminster helped build in the outlying area around Embangweni, called Kalikumbi.

We look forward to arriving and sharing updates from our trip.  So while it feels new to us, we go knowing that so many have already gone before following Christ's Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and His Great Commandment to love God and neighbor.

How did we get here?

We are just about one week away from our departure date and thankfully so many pieces are falling into place.  When I look back at the many months of planning and countless emails, phone calls and conversations it is clearly evident to see and sense God's presence with us throughout this planning process.  For myself and probably many reading this we don't really hear much if any news about the country of Malawi here in the United States.  Working here in the church has exposed me to some news about the country but I have learned volumes since our church decided to send a mission team and I became the main planner of the trip.  I will try and share some of what I have learned in an attempt to share with you the many amazing people that we have already met along the planning journey.  I feel certain that we will meet many additional amazing people in Malawi.

Malawi is a land locked country surrounded by Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.  From Greenville, to Washington, D.C., to Johannesburg, South Africa, we will fly into the capital, Lilongwe, and then travel by road to the town of Embangweni.  The town of Embangweni is located in the Mzimba district in the Northern Region of Malawi. It's population is approximately 5,000 people.


Martha Sommers, a PC(USA) missionary, that our church as known since she came to Africa was the first person that really challenged us to consider our involvement with Embangweni.  She came in September 2010 to visit our church for the weekend.  Below is a picture of Martha the weekend that she visited Westminster with Hots and Elliott Easley, Bill Kellett and Will Edwards.  For those of you who don't know Hots and Elliott Easley, Hots is the reason that Westminster became involved in Africa.  After retiring as an OBGYN in 1989, Hots went in 1990 to Lesotho, Africa to see PC(USA) missionary couple, Frank and Nancy Dimmock.  Hots recalls that his first trip to Lesotho occurred soon after Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa.  He received a call from the South African Embassy in Washington asking him what he would be doing in Lesotho.  He had been told to say that he was going as "a visitor."  Hots made the trip to Africa eleven times since he started and estimates that the total amount of time spent there equals about two years.  Once the Dimmock's moved to Embangweni, Malawi Westminster started mission trips to that area.

Will Edwards is an elder here at WPC who is our missionary liaison. Will does an amazing job with communicating with our ten missionaries and always helps when they visit the church.

Bill Kellett is also a retired OBGYN.  He and his wife Lydia have made three trips to Malawi.  When we met with this group of WPC Malawi veterans in the fall of 2011, I remember Lydia telling Trey and Kimmie Dubose as we discussed the mission trip for 2012, "This is the best thing you will ever do for yourself!"  At that time we had not decided to join them and I also remember thinking this was something I would like to do and a little pang of what we call in our house, "the green eyed monster."  I really wanted to see Africa.  As a parent it is interesting to me that sometimes it is the voice of a child that convinces you of what might be possible.  Without talking directly to our daughter, Ellis, about the trip, she began expressing an interest and possibility of could our family also travel with the Dubose's to Africa.  Ellis had been talking to Ellie Dubose at church about their family making the trip and the wheels began to turn as I tried to determine how and if we could make the trip.

On July 12 a group of eight from Westminster will travel to Embangweni, Malawi for a two week mission trip.  The church’s involvement started over twenty-two years ago when Hots Easley answered a call from missionaries, Frank and Nancy Dimmock to come to Lesotho, Africa.  Since that time Westminster has sent ten teams to Malawi with the most recent going in 2004.  The call from another long time missionary, Martha Sommers, came in September 2010, when she asked, “could WPC send a new generation to Embangweni?”  This time, Trey and Kim Dubose, answered the call and started planning towards a trip for summer 2012.

The relationships built over the past twenty two years have been an essential part of planning this trip.  Just as Westminster is known in the Greenville community for being active in mission, we are known in Africa as well.  In addition to the hands on work done by our members, WPC has also helped build the Kalikumbi medical clinic, supported the Deaf School, Ministry of Hope, and Embangweni hospital.  This trip could not have been planned without the help of our PCUSA missionaries who have all lived in Embangweni, but now live in other parts of Malawi and in Lesotho, Africa.

As we travel to the “Warm Heart of Africa,” we invite you to follow the mission trip from this blog.  Our time there will include working in the hospital and Deaf School, leading Vacation Bible School and (we hope!) visiting the Kalikumbi clinic.  We also ask that you keep the people of Malawi and us in your prayers.  Tawonga chomene – We thank you.

Here we are last Sunday in church, from left to right top row; Kim Dubose, Susan McLarty, and Trey Dubose, middle row; Cara Dubose, Ellie Dubose, and Ellis McLarty and bottom row, Ben Dubose and Jack Dubose.