Harms’ Happenings

We are entering our last week in Malawi and naturally it brings mixed emotions.

I am so incredibly ready to be home in the US and with family and friends. I wasn’t prepared for how lonely I would feel here. We were gone for 9 months which is a little too long and a little too short. Its too long to be away from all the friendships I have developed over my life and it was too short to fully start putting down roots and developing true relationships here.

I have of course been blessed with wonderful people here who have become friends. I thank God for the staff and students here in Malawi that I have been able to get to know and enjoy spending time with. However, these friendships are much different from the family and friends that I have known for years. I am ready for that sense of community and the ability to spend time with my dear friends!

I am sad to leave the home that I have spent the last 8 months building here and the people who we share it with. I will miss the noise and the hustle and bustle of the Bible students as they go about their classes and work projects. I will miss the smoke from the kitchen as they prepare the next meal. I will miss the sound of a student knocking as they bring Emma up to the house because she fell asleep in the middle of the walkway because she was too busy playing.

The girls will miss their playmates of both the kids and the students. They have built beautiful friendships with everyone here. they will miss the freedom of waking up and going outside to eat breakfast with the students even before mom and dad have woken up. Being here has made them very independent little girls. Unless they decide they are “little” and they can’t put on their own shoes today!

life be different for them. Nora only has vague memories of our house and when she sees pictures of her room she asks if someday we can go play there again. There will be more activities and outings but less unstructured playtime and less unsupervised kid time. not having me hovering around them as they play outside has taught them to problem solve and navigate conflict in a safe environment. At home the kids are very rarely greater than 6 feet away from me! I would say that I am fairly hands off in my parenting but I have learned to be way more hands off here! The poor kids will have to get used to having more adult interference in their lives!

I will miss the slow lifestyle we have lived here. It drives me crazy not having things to do or places to go but I know it has really strengthens our family relationships because we have time to just be together. I have read more books to Abby and spent more time with Nora and Emma than I would have in the US. Robby and I have also seen a change in our relationship. We have had so much time with each other because he works on the same place we live so he is home for breakfast lunch and dinner! I have no outside stress or pressure. My job here is caring for my family and as much as it drove me crazy it was a refreshing change.

We look forward to the next chapter in our lives and what God has in store for us! We are open to whatever may come! (At least I keep praying that I will be.) I will be starting work the week after we get back and Robby will be putting in new floors and we need a new roof and new car… the list goes on. We pray that we can remember to slow down and rely on God for everything as we have done here in Malawi.

My role here in Malawi has been cooking, meal planning, cleaning and food shopping. So today’s post is going to be dedicated to my life here. I do all these things at home as well but everything takes twice as long here because I have to work with less than favorable elements such as not being able to walk across the street to a fully stocked grocery store. I may not have running water for a good chunk of the day and in order to wash dishes (all by hand) one has to walk down to the outside kitchen to fill a five gallon bucket of water. Our stove is propane run so I don’t have to worry about the frequent power outages affecting my cooking thankfully! We also hired a former Bible student to come and help with the chores which allows me to have some time to go for a walk or do some batch baking while she does the dishes. We all love “Auntie” even Emma runs to her now and asks to be picked up. Emma doesn’t even ask Robby to pick her up! Having her in my life has me questioning how I will ever go back to life without her! Although at home I will have a dishwasher and reliable water to run it and do laundry! Some days if we haven’t had water for a while I will walk down to the kitchen and fill several buckets with water to go fill the washer and run it. I’m still pretty spoiled because I’m not washing the clothes by hand!! But the amount of clothes this family goes through… have you seen how dirty Emma and Nora get?

Malawian cooking is done almost exclusively outside. This makes sense because it’s over an open fire and it would heat up the house terribly! They build a fire and place three bricks or flat stones around the fire to balance the pots on. The diet here consists of a white maize based food called nsima. It’s a paste consistency and it is the main dish of lunch and dinner. The sides or “relish” consist of beans, greens, tomatoes cooked in oil, a soy based meat or a few times a week some meat. Rice is also eaten, mostly for special occasions. The saying here is you haven’t eaten if you don’t have nsima. They feel like no meal is complete without it. Most food is fairly bland seasonings are cooking oil and salt. Nora and Emma adore all Malawian food including the snacks of sugar cane, cooked dried maize kernels, boiled maize on the cob and mandasi which is a flour and yeast dough that is fried in large pots of oil over the open fire. Abby likes the food as well but she is older and a little more accustomed to variety. During boot camp we ate lunch and dinner with the students for a week and by the end Abby was asking to eat anything else, she didn’t care what as long as I cooked it. That was a first!

Because the local diet is fairly limited the local shopping is also limited. Within walking distance is the market if I need fresh veggies, mostly tomatoes, cabbage or potatoes. But if we need more western food staples it’s time to drive! 30 min away is Salima where there are small grocery stores where I can get pre plucked frozen chicken and bread and most other essentials. If we want more luxury items like cheese yogurt, real butter, lunch meat or Cheerios then it’s time to go to the capital city two hours away. Here I can find pretty much anything I want including chocolate chips! The grocery stores are fairly westernized and easy to navigate. But like most things here I can never guarantee they will have what I want in stock. Some trips they don’t have the type of peanut butter I want or they are low in stock of milk. But I feel very lucky to have such access to an abundance of food. There is also a store here called “Game” that is supplied by Walmart and has a lot of household and recreational things, like swim mats! Prices can be high there especially for kids toys. A little cheap baby doll that would be maybe 10$ in the US is about 40$ at Game.

Daily life is pretty laid back here, even if I feel like I never stop working! We wake up around 6:30 or 7am. We do breakfast and get dressed because we have morning chapel at 8am. On monday and Friday there are staff meetings so those days start a little earlier. After chapel I go in the house where I start a load of laundry if there is water. Because I am doing cloth diapers with Emma I do at least a load a day if not more. I take 30 min or more to have a quiet time and then start in on the dishes from the night before. I used to do them at night but the amount of gnats that are attracted to the kitchen lights and the water make it difficult. The girls go outside to play with Auntie Cathy until 11am and that gives me time to go for a walk myself or start baking. If I want to do a big baking batch it’s best to start early to avoid heating up the house. I have also worked on organizing the staff medical supply’s and weeding out the outdated meds. There are our finances to log and office work to help with. Then it’s time for lunch and rest inside for everyone. After lunch Cathy comes to clean. She washes windows, helps keep the bugs at bay and mops the floors. It’s necessary to do so much cleaning every day to keep the dirt and bugs away. My afternoons consist of making sure the kids are safe and not destroying things… Nora has already tried to wash the girls dorm floor with laundry soap and water as well as attempting to get live coals to start a cooking fire. She is my wild child and she is thriving here but I have to check frequently that she is still alive. I also have been working on removing all the hard water buildup in the bathroom and the kitchen. I always forget to take before pics but the tap water here is very salty and creates incredible build up in the sink, toilet and on the tile so I use vinegar and a scraper/razor blade to remove the brown salt buildup that makes everything look permanently dirty. After the days work it’s dinner and baths. Well pre bath showers and then bath because otherwise the bath would be mud. Then it’s bedtime! We tuck everyone in and cover them with mosquito nets.

That’s the average day in my life. During boot camp I was able to make up the first aid kits for each team as well as teach a basic first aid class which was such a nice change. The hardest thing here is to feel like I am doing the same thing every day and not really making a difference. I knew before we left that my role on this trip was taking care of the house and the kids to allow Robby to do the plumbing and welding work. I have had many trips where I have been the one doing the hard satisfying work that has visible results but this trip is different. Even though I knew that and prepared for it I still find myself looking forward to being home in the US and being back at work and feeling useful! I am also homesick for my friends and family and church community at home. I miss being able to go to a store and find everything I need in one trip, I miss just going to the park with the girls and having green grass to sit on. I have to remind myself that God has a plan for me being here as well as for Robby.

We have been in Malawi for a month now. The time has simultaneously gone incredibly fast and slow. It feels kind of like the first month after having a baby. The girls have gotten into a good rhythm. They are up and ready to play at 630am… I am not! The early mornings and the constant outside play makes bedtime amazing. Usually Nora barely makes it into bed before she falls asleep. She had a hard time transitioning to a new bedroom at first but now she is the first one asleep, tonight she crawled into bed by herself and was asleep at 6:30pm. Abby also falls asleep quickly but because of her “advanced age” she stays up a little longer and listens to an audio book or music. Emma is starting every night in her crib and ends up in bed with me around 2am. We are just grateful there is less bedtime screaming and crying than when we first arrived. I’m sure our neighbors are too because our apartment walls are pretty thin! The girls have done a great job staying under the mosquito nets. They have still gotten some mosquito bites most likely from before bed. I pray that our anti malarial meds work!

Speaking of anti malarial meds. That is a fun thing that we get to take every day. The nurse told me before we left that they were bitter so to mix it in applesauce or jelly. To say that they are bitter is a horrible understatement. I wished I had video of the girls reactions. They were crying and scraping it off their tongues. It is incredibly bitter and “spicy” as Nora describes it. I mixed Emma’s in some juice and she promptly spit it all over Robby’s shirt. Oh and the pills are a fluorescent yellow. So we do that every day. I did buy another type that you only take once a week. We will switch to that once I have used up the ones we have. It has gotten easier now because Abby has learned how to swallow the pill while. Nora has almost learned but prefers if I crush it up inside a corner of a peanut butter sandwich. The sticky peanut butter masks the taste better and she can swallow the bite of sandwich without chewing much. Emma is still a bit of a struggle because she will cheek the sandwich, go outside and spit it out.

We were able to go visit a couple orphan rescue units. Stations where local kids that have been orphaned are able to come to learn life skills such as gardening and raising livestock as well as receive basic first aid and uniforms for school. Many of these kids have some family to live with or a home to stay in but they are treated as second class or servants because their parents have died and often they have died from AIDS. for more info about the rescue units check out the teen missions website and read about the work they do.

We were able to purchase a car! We have a little white hatchback that Robby drives us around in. I am not brave enough to drive. Robby says to imagine driving in San Francisco but remove all the sidewalks and bike lanes and double the amount of pedestrians and bicycles. And then just for fun have everyone drive on the left side of the road! But he is doing a great job navigating and getting us where we need to go.

We celebrated Malawi’s Independence Day on the 6th. Everyone had the day off and we ended the night with a big part full of food, music and dancing. The kitchen prepared sheep, chicken rice and nsima, the staple of the Malawian culture. It is maize meal boiled into what looks like very sticky mashed potatoes. The girls absolutely love it and ask every day to go eat nsima with the Bible students. Abby and Nora love hanging out with all the students and the students seem to love having them around. Abby is learning to speak some Chichewa and Nora is overcoming her shyness and will occasionally talk to them. Emma tends to stick close to me but when she isn’t strapped to my back she enjoys wandering around to find a sunny spot to sit and watch everything.

Robby continues to teach the students welding. The students learn the basics and then practice fixing tools that have broken. Eventually they will move on to larger projects but right now they are doing a great job. He has also been working on the plumbing and fixing several broken pipes. Finding the supplies he needs can be challenging so he has been creative with making what he has work. I continue to enjoy his labor in our apartment as I bask in the luxury of our washer machine! It is so wonderful because I feel like all I do is laundry. The kids are absolutely filthy because I’m pretty sure they roll in the dirt. So between that and cloth diapers I am so grateful I have the washer.

We extended our visitors visas with no problem and have them now through the end of august. Then we will apply for temporary residents visa so we can stay until the end of January. Pray that that will go smoothly.

I did our first months budget totals. And it was such a wonderful feeling that even with some unexpected expenses, we have to pay out of pocket for full health care insurance in the US while we are here because we don’t qualify for a waiver under the covered California policy and we will have to pay 8 thousand in fines if we don’t have insurance…. but even with that expense our our budget was almost exactly spot on, we had a slight surplus that I will keep track of so at the end of our trip hopefully we can contribute to a project here in Malawi. God is so faithful and has blessed us so richly. Thank you everyone who has made this trip possible we thank God for you all.

We spent last Saturday swimming in Lake Malawi. The girls loved splashing and swimming in the clear, warm (compared to our beaches) water. The Lake is the ninth largest lake in the world and the third largest lake in Africa. The water is brilliant blue and clear and apparently is home to colorful fresh water fish like those you would see snorkeling in Hawaii.

The news here is that the borders of Malawi are now closed to all incoming travelers who do not have a residential visa. This is due to the rise in cases in surrounding countries and slight increase in Malawi. We are thankful that we came when we did and didn’t delay our trip with all the things that were happening when we left. We should be able to extend our visas since we are already in country.

Robby is working on some welding projects. He has more details on his Facebook page. But basically it is a challenge because the electricity constantly surges and causes uneven welding power… or something. But it will be wonderful when he is able to do the welding because he is making the upper balcony rails safer with more bars which will keep the kids safer as they play. Right now it is covered with chicken wire which is functional but not very nice looking and it is rusting quickly so it will not last.

Abby has been pretty intent on catching butterflies and chicks. She has caught many butterflies and a few chicks with the help of a few willing adults. The property here has quite an abundance of animals. There are always chickens with their chicks following along. They also have goats, pigs, cows and some guard dogs. Not to mention all the monkeys that live in the trees and love to peek in the windows and torment the kids in the hopes of a banana. We also have plenty of bats above our ceiling. When the sun goes down the girls say, the monkeys are in bed and the bats are awake! They are both noisy but I prefer the monkeys…

Robby looked at a car this week that looks promising. It won’t be available until July so we will keep looking but if we don’t find anything else we will hopefully have a car in July!

We are continuing to do home renovations in our little apartment on the weekend. Our current project is to tile the countertop in our kitchen. It previously was bare wood which was difficult to keep clean. I covered it with clear plastic so I could at least wipe it clean. But Robby bought us some beautiful tile and we are working on getting it installed. Our hope is to leave the apartment more functional so those who use it after us can enjoy it!

We have all had colds for a while. It has made everyone irritable. I just started getting it this week and I have no patience. So pray that it goes away quickly!

That’s our week!

We have been in our new home for two weeks now. it’s still new and an adjustment but we are slowly settling in.

We took our first trip to Lilongwe to go shopping for household essentials and groceries. It’s a two hour drive to get to the city from where we are but once we get there we have access to most everything we could need.

The grocery stores are similar to home, the brands are not! I am able to get pretty much everything I need here so that is nice. The girls will eat pretty much anything but it’s easier for me to be able to cook what I know! I have been doing a lot more baking and cooking from scratch which is fun but also a little tricky because our oven is a little temperamental and what should cook in one hour usually takes two! I purchased an instant pot which makes it feel a little bit more like home! I can use my credit card for most big purchases but when I don’t it is a challenge to get used to the currency. The exchange rate is roughly 800Kwatcha to 1USD so you quickly get into the ten thousands when making large purchases. And the largest bill they have is 2000 so you have stacks and stacks of bills. If I make 100$ purchase then I owe 80,000 and have to give a stack of 40 bills. So I have organized my wallet into stacks of 10s for easy counting. I am so used to using a calculator for all my math that I am really rusty on basics but slowly it’s coming back!

Emma got a permanent cast placed and it is solid plaster. She unintentionally uses it as a weapon and I have been hit with it too many times! it’s not as cute as her little pink cast but I am praying that it does it’s job and she heals well this time. They said she can get it off on the 17th but that seems a bit soon to me so if we do get it off then I will most likely keep it splinted while she plays.

Robby has been working inside our apartment during the evenings and weekends to make it more efficient and homey. He just finished putting p traps in the sink so we no longer have sewer gas smell(most of the sinks here do not have pee traps) I don’t think he could have done anything more romantic for me, ever. He gets to claim that as an anniversary gift for our 7yr anniversary on the 20th! he also hooked the washer up to drain into the waste line so when I do laundry I don’t have to empty the water from the plastic garbage can into the shower. It originally had the water draining into the can and I would have to watch it carefully so it didn’t overflow.

We took a trip to a wildlife preserve and saw zebras, baboons and some African deer type animals. The girls were mostly just interested in when we would eat next. That’s usually what they are interested in just in case anyone was interested in what they were getting out of the experience…

Our next step is to buy a car. We are watching the listings and trying to find the right one. One that is big enough for all of us, reliable and I would like it to be automatic but that’s not essential because I probably won’t drive!

Pray that we stay healthy and Emma continues to heal. We miss you all!

We have arrived! It was a very long journey.

It all started Thursday afternoon when we got the phone call that Robby’s grandmother had passed away. We knew that there was a good chance it would happen while we were gone but to have it happen the day before we left the stars was difficult l. Knowing that we could just get a flight back to California and postpone our trip was tempting but Robby was confident that we should still continue as scheduled. We spent the rest of the day packing, cleaning and loading all 9 duffel bags into the van. We had everything clean and ready to go because we were leaving Friday morning at 3am. Around 1130pm Robby and I went to try to get a little sleep and as my eyes started to close I felt something move on my scalp. I was able to pinch it and look under the light at it while Robby googled what do lice look like. I kept trying to convince myself that it was something else, maybe a bug native to Florida. But no it was indeed a louse. Robby checked my hair and found another one so he went in search of a 24hr cvs that was about 20 minutes away. This all happened around 12am so by the time he got back with the treatment it was almost 1am. We quickly treated our own hair and threw all the clothes and bedding that we hadn’t packed yet into the dryer so we would have something to wear on the plane. We then woke the girls up one at a time and washed and combed out all of their hair at 2 in the morning. Nora and Robby didn’t have any and the rest of us only had a very few eggs. After finally being lice free and heat drying all our clothes and car seat covers we were only 40 min late leaving for the airport. Thankfully I had put an hour cushion in our departure time. We got the airport with plenty of time and checked in all 9 fully packed duffels full of expensive tools and multiple large rechargeable batteries. That was just the beginning.

As we boarded the first flight Emma tripped and I was unthinkingly holding her left hand. The one we had just took her cast off and were celebrating the healed fracture. As she tripped I pulled her hand and immediately heard a pop and she cried. I felt sick to my stomach and I knew that I had just refractured her wrist. We sat down and tried to game plan what our next step was. Either we delay again and get her treated at our next stop in Washington DC or we continue on and get her treated in Malawi. I messaged the Missionary in Malawi to see if we could get X-rays and castings done when we landed and she reassured me that we could. So I asked the flight attendant if they had ice and a first aid kit, all while praying hard that they would have what I needed to splint her wrist. When she brought me the kit I opened it and printed right on top was the directions to splint a fracture. They had all the supplies and I was able to get Emma comfortable and prevent further damage.

As all of these events happened and the feelings of discouragement and utter helplessness started to feel overwhelming all I could think of was the the way God had taken care of us so far. He had provided everything we needed up to the point. We were easily able to raise the support needed for this trip because God was caring for us and showing us His love through our friends and families. Our house was rented out quickly, we were able to sell our car quickly, we both were able to leave our jobs with hope to return. Our health insurance coverage through Robby lasted right up to the day we left the US. Even through the insanity of last years delay due to covid God proved faithful because it allowed us to get Robby’s symptoms of dizziness and nausea diagnosed as a mild seizure disorder that without treatment could have progressed to full seizures. The pattern of Gods faithfulness helped me continue on and have faith that this was still the right path even through these trials and feeling like everything was telling us to turn back. And through these events each time God provided us with clear thinking and the ability to find exactly what we needed to treat the problem.

The flight itself was uneventful. The girls slept, played with toys and watched hours of movies. There were only a few tears but mostly when we woke them up to get off the plane. When we landed in Malawi we unloaded our circus of 5 people and multiple carryons. All three girls were crying and just melting down after more than 22 hrs of travel. Nora and Emma insisted on being carried, Nora on Robby’s shoulders and Emma in the car seat. Abby refused to wear her backpack or carry any of the pillows and blankets so I was wearing two backpacks, carrying a snack bag, rolling two suitcases and an arm load of blankets. Again God provided through an airport employee who saw us and took pity. She grabbed one of my bags and took us straight to the front of all the lines to get checked through customs and visa processing. When we went to get our bags to go through customs they were all piled together and she grabbed 4 other people to get luggage carts and help push all the bags through customs and put to the truck that was waiting to pick us up. I’m not entirely sure what we would have done without her.

We met the missionaries who will be our hosts and then immediately went to the hospital to get Emma’s wrist crates. She did refracture the bone and the splinted her and will do a perm at cast on Thursday. After this adventure we continued on our two hour car ride through Malawi. Driving here is like most places I have been, narrow roads, incredibly fast traffic all dodging and swerving around the pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles and animals. It is the thing that anxiety nightmares are made of.

When we got to our apartment we did a through re check of everyone’s hair and all was clean except we found one almost dead louse in Abby’s hair. So we retreated everyone just to be safe and then quarantined all our clothes and soft items for two weeks. We boiled a few clothes for ourselves because our washer, (which how great is it that we have a washer?) Does not have hot water. I am praying that we will not get reinfected. Lice is my absolute worst nightmare and it happened and I am still standing. So far.

We are getting to know the people and the area and we are looking forward to settling in now that the crisis is abating. Facebook messenger is the best way to contact us and we would love to chat! Thank you all for your prayers. God is faithful!

The girls are starting to settle in and adjust, right as we start preparing to leave again! Abby is working on her swimming skills and just recently told me that “God only made her body to doggy paddle” she is always full of quiet wisdom… today she told me that she is an expert on jungles and forests. My every day job with her is to balance keeping her humble and in reality without stifling her spirit.

Nora is working on her sticker chart for good behavior and it has been fairly successful. She loves to preform for us as long as we are not actively watching. As soon as we look directly at her she stops until we encourage her. She adores Emma, much to Emma’s disdain. All Nora wants is for Emma to be a baby so she can take care of her.

Emma is in the beginning stages of being two. Her new trick is to run and hide in the closet. She slams the door behind her and screams. It’s slightly hilarious. She is talking so much and still loves to tattle on her sisters. Her arm has healed and we took the cast off. She has no pain in her wrist unless you ask her and then she looks sad and tells you it hurts. But she says the same if you ask if her other arm hurts!

We did our covid tests so we can fly out on Friday morning. Almost $800 later we are all negative! The girls did “Ok” getting swabbed. Abby freaked out the most and refused to look at the nurse and I had to hold her head as she sobbed. The other two didn’t really mind, Nora didn’t even flinch and probably would have slept through it if I hadn’t woken her up from her nap.

Pray that our flights will go smoothly and that no luggage will be lost or contents will be flagged. Robby is bringing several expensive power tools that we are praying will fly unnoticed. They are allowed in luggage but can always raise red flags or easily be stolen.

Pray also that we go through customs and get our visas easily and that we have all the necessary paperwork!

We have been in Florida for one week now. We are starting to get a routine down and settling into life.

Flying was uneventful, the girls enjoyed the plane rides and only complained a little bit about the pressure on their ears. The only time it was a problem was one flight where Nora and Emma were both sleeping and the pressure change woke them up. But some mints and gum helped quickly. Only one out of 5 planes were full so we were able to claim an extra seat for Emma and that made for a much easier time! The flights were less than 2 hrs long so I’m still apprehensive about our international flights!

Speaking of flying we have our tickets for Malawi! We leave Florida on May 28th and arrive in Malawi on May 29th. Our total travel time will be just under 24 hrs with our longest flight being 13 hours. Which is a much shorter itinerary than the ones that I saw when I was researching them myself. We also booked our return tickets and will be coming back January 29th.

We are staying in a double wide trailer by the teen missions base. We feel like we are getting the full Florida experience! The weather is actually fairly nice. The humidity hasn’t been too bad and it has been breezy and tolerable to be outside. Robby goes to chapel in the morning and then works from 8-5pm. I get the girls up and feed them and we go to the pool to swim and play on the playground. We eat lunch with Robby and the other staff and then head home for naps and some light school/play. School ends for the other staff kids this week so hopefully there will be more kids to play with because both Abby and Nora are feeling homesick and have been asking to go home and play with their friends. This is probably the longest they have been away from home. We were able to have another family over for lunch today and the kids all played together so I think that helped the girls a bit.

Robby and I will spend a few hours each day next week doing cultural training and preparing to leave. I’m not sure what this entails but I’m looking forward to sitting down with the staff and getting all the details nailed down. I like things organized and planned out and although teen missions is very organized, the information isn’t always communicated to me as soon as I would like. But I’m learning to take it slow and trust.

We spent Saturday looking for work boots for Robby because that was somehow left in CA. Something had to get left behind right? We drove around the Orlando area trying to find something that fit but the were all sold out of his size. We ended up finding the boots at a store 15 min away from our house (insert eye roll here). Thankfully we were close to the beach and we spent a few hours playing in the sand and enjoying the warm water. There was a space X satellite launch that we got to see since we are right next to the Kennedy space center.

I’m going to try to update the blog every weekend even if it’s just a short update. I will also post small stories on IG and FB. Thank you all for your prayers and love!

We have a date!! Our official date to leave California is April 30th. We will be flying to Florida to train for a month and then we will head out to Malawi. All the details from the trip remain the same as last year.

We will be living on the Teen Missions base in Malawi while Robby works with the staff and missionaries. I will be doing whatever I can while caring for the girls. As sad as it was to postpone our trip last year, I am so happy that the girls are a year older and are s. Emma is walking, Nora is talking and potty trained and Abby is more aware of her environment.

If you are interested in what Teen Missions is doing in Malawi then you can find more info on their website https://teenmissions.org/malawi

There is quite a bit to do as we prepare in the next two months. We have started to pack up the house and get it ready for the renters. I am starting the process of sorting the girls clothes again… a year of size changes and summer clothes and shoes! We left quite a bit packed from last year but I still need to sort through it and make sure we have the things we need. I have to decide what to bring with us and what to leave.

We will be doing a presentation on our trip that we hope to be able to put on youtube on March 28th. If we can put it on youtube I will post a link here or on facebook.

We are excited as we start once again planning for our trip!

We have been receiving many inquiries about how coronavirus will affect our plans. Right now we don’t have a firm answer. We are praying and waiting to see what will happen in the next few months.

Malawi does not have any diagnosed cases of the virus yet and they are trying to prevent spread from happening as it could be catastrophic to their fragile healthcare system. The Government of Malawi has instituted a ban on all commercial international flights effective Wednesday, April 1, 2020 with no end date as of yet.

The Global Health Advisory has issued a travel alert of do not travel to prevent the spread of the virus. travel within the US is limited to essential travel as well and since in California we are currently sheltering in place we will not be traveling.

However, things change quickly as we have seen. We were planning on leaving end of May to Florida and the beginning of July to Malawi. So right now we are simply waiting, praying and resting in Gods faithfulness. If need be we will postpone our trip until it is safe to travel. We want to keep our family safe, but more importantly, we want to keep the people we will be serving safe.

Please keep lifting our world up in prayer as we weather this storm. Pray for those making the hard decisions during this time and for those who are living in fear and anxiety.

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)