Malawi 2008
'day off'
John woke up feeling better and the whole team took a walk into the market, were we went for supplies in to Shop rite, a cheap alternative to Tesco. The girls bought flip-flops each for less than £1, and Lynne and Ian went to visit a school run by one of Lynne’s friends. The other 6 members of the team braved the market place, which was full of wooden ornaments and jewelry, as we walked into the market place; it was obvious we weren’t local so we attracted attention straight away, as we are a little pale in contract to them. Haggling with the stall owners is a must, and we purchased many nice gifts, which I’m sure some of you reading will receive, (but you’ll have to wait and see.) After spending enough money for the day we decided to go back to the hotel and have a dip into the cold pool, but we looked more like polar bears according to Leanne. Lyn and Ian returned after having a great visit round the S.O.S. School and were very impressed by the organization, she will tell you more when she gets back. They both ate somber (fish), sema (maize) and tomato dip with the principal of the primary school and Lynne will be returning to visit again before we leave.
Then some of team were invited with Jim and Diane to watch the rugby in a friends house, as we entered the house the first thing we saw was 2 huge giraffes very beautiful craved from trees from the garden, some of the team suggested we could smuggle them home but they would definitely be over our baggage allowance.
The previous night the whole team had been discussed what food they really were missing, and most of the team agreed that spaghetti bolognaise would defiantly be a hit, Lynne's strong desire was coleslaw and Rachel was craving mayonnaise (as always) and Leanne would have loved any kind of pasta. Margaret really wanted ginger nuts and the other guys were hungry for a take away, and we did send a little prayer up to help our craving.
So this evening we were invited to Jim and Diane’s for a meal, and we found out that we were having spaghetti bolognaise and coleslaw most of the team salivated in excitement among the giggles. God had obviously heard us. The poor Canadian lad that was visiting them that evening was mobbed by a bunch of scousers, and struggled to understand all the members of the time. He shared that his sister is married to a man from Manchester (bless her), and he said he would visit her soon, so we invited him to st. Andrews and gave him Steve’s phone number (sorry Steve). We also visited peters house (Pete is the driver and new member of St Andrews if I can fit him in my baggage) he also lives on the complex with Jim and Diane on entering his house, which consisted of one room, contained a large piece of sponge on the floor, 2 stools and a table. We felt very sad inside how very little he had, but he always had a smile on his face, as it doesn’t matter to him, it’s not an issue. He doesn’t have a radio, communication, or a computer, but he says he has enough as he has God in his life.
We then fellowshipped with Jim and Diane, the guys and Rachel washed up and left for the evening and retired back to the Korea gardens. Jim only then informed us that we would be preaching leading worship in front of the village early the next morning… Panic set in!!! Then we had to roughly plan our morning service before we all fell into bed, exhausted, however Lynne and Ian had slept while we were at the rugby and relaxed by the pool before going to sleep.
