Africa 2013 Day One

So, after 24 hours of flying and 15 hours of layover we arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Lilongwe, Milawi. And even though we kinda took the long way to get here, God blessed with sleep on the flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg so we hit the ground running. Thank you for your prayers...keep them up though...we've had a couple of bouts with nausea on both of our parts while traveling and Jenna, Nathan's wife has been sick which has proven to be a drain on his mind and heart. But for now Jenna is better and we are both well and almost rested. Oh yeah, and Nathan's main suitcase is somewhere in the bowels of some airport. Pray that it catches up with us soon. We got settled at the IMB guest house and headed for Hope Children's Home a place for hurting kids established by Nathan and Jenna after a trip where God broke his heart for the many orphans in this area. On the way we were confronted on the dirt road near the home with two men who were dressed in strange robes and head dresses made from maize stalks and shucks. They came right up to the window of the car and were shouting strange incantations as they made lewd gestures toward us. They are a part of a tribe in the area that worships evil spirits and these rituals are done regularly in an effort to appease the spirits. The same group came by a couple of hours later led by two men under a large blanket with the head of a donkey. They were followed by a group who were chanting in the same melodic but sinister way. Please pray against witchcraft in this area it has been here for centuries and still hold sway over thousands who are afraid to offend these demons who blind and destroy them. We arrived at the church to the same chants we get in Uganda...Mzungu, Mzungu as a large group of children followed the van into the parking lot of Calvary Baptist Church located on the same property as the children's home. This was Nathan's first time to see the beautiful home that is almost completed that will house dozen's of hurting kids when it opens it's doors later this year. Please pray for the funding to come through to finish and furnish this amazing place that will greatly affect a generation that is so fragile. We came at a good time because the children were having choir practice and the sounds of their sweet voices filled the air in this place that is quite remote and isolated in the African bush. Choir was dismissed and I brought out rolls of stickers with Jesus stuff on them and of course they loved it. Soon Nathan and I were standing in front of the Hope house surrounded by children and their mothers and believe it or not they were each one politely waiting to get their sticker which you would have thought was something precious and valuable. Then the moms began to dance and sing songs about The Lord and it was awesome to see them worship so passionately in an open air display of their love for The Lord. This is one of those villages that only a few years ago had no church and no gospel witness and now they have their own piece of land and their own church building. We left the church site and headed off much further into the bush driving down narrow dirt roads which in may places were a single lane. We drove for an hour and finally in the pitch black of night we turned into the drive of a primary school to see 300 people watching the Jesus film in their native language. Nathan turned to me and said: "you're up" and I had the awesome privilege of preaching the gospel through an interpreter and we saw over 60 people pray to receive Christ I want to stop now, after just one day here and thank all of you who prayed and gave to get us here. As we were bouncing along those roads and often bottoming our our car I realized that this really is my chance to live out the command to take the gospel to the uttermost!