Malawi Floods

Malawi Floods, Feb 2015

Bryan has just returned from Malawi where he worked with Missionary Bill Johnston and the leadership of the Malawi Assemblies of God to provide food and other donated items to flood victims.

The latest estimates are that over 1 million people have been affected and more than 300,000 have been displaced by the devastating floods caused by heavy rains in Southern Malawi and Mozambique.  In one area of southern Malawi they received 39 inches of rain in 4 days!  A pastor Bryan met had survived the floods by climbing into a tree with his wife and two small children.  They stayed there for 3 days clinging to the branches while they watched everything being swept away.  The pastor showed Bryan photos on his phone of neighbors who were wading in the flood waters only to be taken away as he watched helplessly.  Tragically, the day after they were rescued by helicopter, their youngest child only 9 months old died from exposure to the elements.  They were thankful to be alive but have lost everything they owned.  The Malawi Assemblies of God is reaching out to the flood victims, providing food, clothing and plastic sheeting to cover whats left of their homes.  Convoy of Hope is providing food and water purification units to victims in the camps as well as those in our churches that have been affected.   

Cultural Field Studies

Students making a difference!

Bryan recently spent 5 days with a group of students from Rosslyn Academy working on a project for a Masai community in the Rift Valley.  For the past few years our family has been working with the local pastors and elders of the village of Kisharu to provide clean drinking water and a school lunch program thru Convoy of Hope.  This past weekend we worked with Pastor Lazaro and the elders of the community on a new income generation project.  The students, 11th graders from Rosslyn, worked on a new campsite for tourists and work teams.  They cleared rocks and brush to make way for a beautiful spot on the edge of a volcanic crater.  Mt. Suswa is a dormant volcano in Kenya's Rift Valley and the village at the top of the mountain, Kisharu, is home to 3000 Masai people.

We all worked hard during the day, and it was hot!  At night we sat around the fire, huddled as close as we could to the flames to keep warm.  A strange but beautiful place.  It hasnt rained in months so the dust was incredible but we worked on and gave it our best.  Soon the site will be ready for its first campers, and our family is considering a trip soon to try it out.  The crater at Mt. Suswa is home to a variety of wildlife including monkeys, babboons, antelope, leopard, zebra, hyena and even the endangered African Wild Dog.  Its a great place to visit and work.  Two years ago we helped plant a church in the crater and it is doing well today.  Our team attended church there on Sunday and ministered in word and worship.  At the end of the service Bryan was given a goat as a gift. It is at the home of one of our Masai friends staying with his herd of goats until we decide what to do with it.

We are thankful for Speed the Light which helped us with a vehicle that gets us to these difficult places and for BGMC who purchased the tent we use as a home on these extended campouts.