Last Thoughts

I'm sitting here in my room at Lake Malawi, watching the World Cup and thinking about the last couple of weeks. The days have flown by and it seems like so much has been packed into the past 2 weeks. Tonight we ate a buffet meal under the stars and then were entertained by a live band, dancing acrobats and then unfortunately hired Guli Wonkulu dancers. Guli Wonkulu is literally translated as "big dance", but when you've been chased by the real things in the village and understand the darkness behind the dance, there is no joy in it. I guess tonight summarizes the week well...amazing times, food, people, country and yet pockets of darkness. It's like this all over the world, I guess for me though, seeing images of darkness right in front of you can be a haunting thing.

I feel like we have made a great impact in the village and I have seen how our people have been forever changed. When you "go into all the world" not only are your eyes are opened but your heart as well. I took a final picture with the chiefs but as I reflect on our time I realize that there is so much work left to do. From half a world away, I will need to be praying for them everyday and equipping those left behind to continue in the work we've started.


I'm wondering what is next. Do we bring back 100? Come back every month with smaller groups? Start a school? Send people to come for a month at a time? To be honest, I have no idea, and I'm totally ok with that because when its time to know, we'll know. The main question I've been asked on this trip is, "what are we doing later today?" my answer is always the same..."beats me" because I've learned that God sometimes has things on the agenda that i didn't know about. I was reading today in James about how our lives are but a mist and that we need to not worry about our lives because God should control our moments. There is a saying here in Malawi, "you azungu's wear all the watches but us Malawians actually have all the time". I have learned that that "our" time isn't actually "ours" but God's and we need to make sure we use it well...for Him. We came here with a certain list of agenda's but will be leaving with so much more accomplished than we ever could have imagined.









See you on your side of the world in a couple of days!

Speak love, Act love, Live Love.
Change the World!

Paul


- Posted from the other side of the world

Water and Age

I learned two things today, 1) I'm not as young as I used to be and 2) you CAN put in two wells in one day! I'm more excited about the second than the first. We spent the entire day in the village as wells were dug and fixed, a medical team saw 215 patients, our soccer team almost beat the locals (I pulled my hamstring and my groin...hence the me getting old part) and our eyes were opened in more ways than one.

Tonight I'm exhausted. It's nearly 9:30 and I've just now arrived in my room, taken a shower and sat down to reflect on the day. At 7:30 this morning the drilling company called and said that they were ready to dig, so we quickly finished up breakfast and drove out to the village as fast as we could. For the rest of the day the company drilled the new well as the locals and our team checked in on them from time to time. Finally, around 4:30 water began to shoot in the air and everyone yelled, it was a pretty amazing and fulfilling feeling. Now I've been to a lot of third world countries and very rarely do things come together like this. On one side of the village a well is spouting water, ready to have a pump installed, and on the other side a brand new pump sits where for the past 2+ years the broken one has sat dry. Later in the day, each chief took a turn pumping clean water from the new well and smiles were on all of their faces.

And now...my body is done, but my spirit is pretty full. I'm ready to go home and see my wife and kids and recover both mentally and physically. But it is in weeks like this that I know why I have been placed here on this earth. Often the paths that God leads us on are scary or confusing, but when we step into them we see Him do amazing things. Wherever you are, know that God can do more with your life if you let Him.

The last thing I did in the village was give Chief Chimpapha (the main village chief) my Live Love bracelet. I told him that sometimes we Christians talk to much and don't live out Christ's love enough. I told him that I hoped he saw Jesus in our actions and words this week and that for me Christ gives me purpose. I told him that I hoped he found the same because it's an amazing way to live. I then told him that I would be back soon, but to know that we would be praying for all of the people in his village. He smiled, thanked me and then said "Khalani Chikondi" which means "Live Love".

Speak Love, Act Love, Live Love.
Change the World.

Paul


- Posted from the other side of the world

Half way

The past couple of days have been interesting, full, crazy and good, all mixed together. The Internet has been down here for two and a half days, water is shut off randomly every day or so and the country has been without diesel for the past three days. All these things combined lead to an eventful last couple of days.


This morning we visited the local school by the village we have been working with and were welcomed by 300+ children screaming "Azungu" (white people) over and over again. We then played kickball, parachute, futbol and other activities with them. At the end of the morning we had a massive mob trying to get dum-dum's from us. I knew it would be crazy but this was a little over the top.


I picked up Chief Malika from the village to come see what we were doing. She was going to have me visit with the main chief who is over all 42 villages in the area but he was out working in one of the other villages. Tomorrow we will stop by again and I'll give him a Grove Export 10 shirt and spend time with him. We will have two futbol (soccer) games tomorrow, one in the village against the teenagers and one at the school.

Tomorrow the well company will also supposedly be showing up at the village to drill the well and fixing the broken one on the other side of the community. I was told that when they show up to dig the well the entire community gathers to watch and then 3 to 4 hours later water is shooting into the air like an oil drill. I can't wait! Hopefully, the diesel shortage won't prevent them from showing up. Last week, I knew that this was something that we were supposed to do but wasn't completely sure how we would pay for it. I really believed that we needed to take the first step of drilling the well and then trust that all of you would show up and help pay for this. I've been amazed by the emails of commitment and am really stoked to see this completed. Last year, I talked with Malika about this need and now because of almost a hundred of you we will be making this happen. There is still a need for donations, if you are interested please make checks out to Live Love http://www.whatislivelove.com

One of the students last night was bothered, he said, "we are helping this village, but what are we supposed to do about all of the other ones who are still suffering?" I told him after we put this one in, we might just have to put in another one and then another and another and another. I told him I was glad that he was bothered by what he had seen, now it was his job to go home to the States and make sure he didn't forget. When we forget or are oblivious to the world around us, "our world" becomes stale. He then asked if it ever felt hopeless to me. I didn't really understand the question and so he said that it just felt like changing the world was an impossible task. I told him that until the day we die we should do whatever we can to bring change and hope and love to all the world around us. If that means we do it one well at a time then we follow God's lead each step of the way.

Speak Love, Act Love, Live Love.
Change the World.

Paul






- Posted from the other side of the world

Malawi day 4 - Well Water & Guli Won Kulu pt. 2

Water shouldn't be a privilege, it should be a given. Everyone should have the ability to drink water free of parasites and disease, unfortunately this isn't the case.


For the past couple of years I have been visiting the Chimpapha Village and am hoping to see this relationship continue for years to come. I believe that in order to better another person or community you need to be willing to walk through life with them...over a long period of time. This can be an incredibly difficult thing to do, but the end results, so often, are eternal. As I've gotten to know the people of Chimpapha better, I am frustrated with the amount of death that they have to deal with because of treatable problems. I was told that death is so normal here that it has become a neighbor to them...this shouldn't be.

By starting with the basic needs we can begin to bring long term change, so we are addressing malaria and clean water. Today, we brought 250 nets to distribute to the church members in Chimpapha and will be hanging about 200 more in the huts of those who don't attend the church tomorrow. The village is divided into two sections, one for the Christians and the other for the Guli Won Kulu's. The Guli Won Kulu cult is a very dark religion that is practiced by most of the people in the rural communities. Each net will have an invitation written in Chichewa that says, "Given to you by the Chiuzu CCAP Church", which our high school students are currently making as I write this.

For the past year I've been thinking about the water in the village. I'm angry at myself now that I didn't take care of this problem sooner. It's easy to go back to normal life in America and push the struggles of the world to the back of our minds. I write about this often but I still just get so bothered when we/I complain about "uncomfortable situations" that we live through; if we have water to drink and food to eat then we are blessed. I've been having long conversation with Chief Malika about the struggles that they deal with. Last year she walked me through the village and showed me the pump that is broken and the location where a new one is needed. I've thought about this need all year long and am bothered that they are still drinking water that is full of filth. It's a simple fix...drill a hole...find clean water and then change an entire community. The only barrier is money.


I pulled a bucket of water up from the well as 50+ people from our team stood and watched. When the water finally came to the top there was a unanimous sound of disgust. The water was brownish in color and was filled with swimming bugs, what if this was the only water you had to give to your children? Would you give it to them, knowing that it could kill them? As we talked about this later, our team was bothered...which is a good thing. At dinner two of our team members committed $4,000 to help build the wells, shortly after that another came and said they would give $500. My goal is to raise at least $12,000 by the time I leave Malawi. Here's the thing, change only happens when people risk and step outside of their comfort zone. I believe that more people on our team will step up to cover this cost but I also feel that many of you reading this need to help as well. I can't get online much here but I will be checking my email, paulguntherjr@gmail.com, and waiting to see how much you will be giving. Dr. Jack Chinchen (the founder of The African Bible College) said that you need to expect God to do miracles, I believe that you will help this village see a miracle before I leave.

I'm meeting with a man named Hassan Makdu tomorrow morning. He drills wells and I was given his name from someone here. I am praying that he will commit to drill these wells for us before we leave...I'll figure out how to pay him later!

Finally, on a side note (seem to have one of these every day), I had another face to face interaction with a Guli Won Kulu. As we were driving to one of the chiefs houses I heard a deep guttural scream that sounded like an evil scream from the caricature Chewbacca from Star Wars. I looked to my left and in full witch doctor outfit was a man running toward us. His face was painted white and was was dressed in full Guli Won Kulu tribal gear. He ran right by our vehicle, freezing each one of us, and then began to chase the villagers for money.

It's a dark world we live in...I'm glad that I have been blessed to have found the light.

Speak Love, Act Love, Live Love.
Change the World.

Paul


- Posted from the other side of the world

Malawi Day 3- 200 years old

At the end of the day today, we stopped by the COTN feeding center and were absolutely blown away by what we saw. 100's of children danced and yelled all around us as we pulled into their compound and about 20 widows all dressed alike were singing in unison as well. Almost every person there had lost most of their family to Aids or Malaria and yet there was still joy. Not happy joy, but life changing Jesus joy that is too often missing in our lives.

We had just wrapped up another full day in the village and here at ABC and thought we were swinging by there for a quick stop. I remembered going to this feeding center 3 years ago and knew we were in for something special but not like this. Screaming and yelling all around us with kids holding our hands (3 or 4 at a time) and literally no room to walk because of the massive amounts of kids. It puts life in perspective when you see something like this. We complain about all kinds of frivolous junk on our side of the world and yet here you find joy in the simplest of things.

On a side note, when we pulled into Chimpapha Village I saw the widow I met last year. I honestly thought she was close to 200 years old last year, but there she was still going strong, pretty amazing!


I'm proud of our team and the change they are bringing! I'm proud because they are bothered by the things they are seeing and are doing something about it.

Speak Love, Act Love, Live Love.
Change the World

Paul


- Posted from the other side of the world

Day 2 - Village, nets, markets and driving

Today was supposed to be a slower day, a day to acclimate to the culture and the new time zone. Instead we drove all over the city, bought vegetables in the local market, exchanged money, bought 446 mosquito nets, visited Chief Malika in the Chimpampha Village, prepared for our upcoming VBS, played fubol with the ABC team, went to India Town, met with our COTN hosts and a whole bunch more. One day removed from standing in line at the airport to now we're all over the place. It's an amazing world that we live in.



What I've found out already is that when you have a ton of people with you who are passionate about serving, you can get a lot done!



Buying 446 mosquito nets was a pretty amazing thing to be a part of, specifically because of how the money was raised. Several of our students raised money on their own and others contributed to this cause. If you think about the numbers, it makes you want to be a part of something like this.

446 mosquito nets at a cost of $6 each = $2,676.
$2,676 = 462,948 Kwacha (Malawian currency).
Each net means that 4 people will live.
446 nets = 1,784 lives potentially saved from malaria.
As I reflect about this though I'm still bothered. Because honestly it's only 1,700+ lives that are being given hope. That number should be higher and it just makes me want to figure out how we as Americans can do more. We should give more, help more, love more and help bring joy, peace and hope to the world. Tomorrow we're going back to the village to hand out some of the nets, but one of the things I'll be doing is walking all of our team by the well that is broken. Because I think it should be fixed. I don't think it's ok that people die from malaria because of a mosquito bite and go years and years without clean water. I'm hoping that when they see the well `they are bothered and they are driven to do something about it. This is how the world is changed...by going...seeing...and then doing.

Speak Love, Act Love, Live Love.
Change the World.

Paul


*pictures wouldn't upload with this so I'll add them on facebook later today.

- Posted from the other side of the world

Let's Go

So we've officially traveled to the other side of the globe and are all doing whatever it takes to not fall asleep before 8. We took a 3 hour whirlwind tour of London, 3 hour pitstop in Kenya and arrived 2 1/2 hours later than expected in Lilongwe. One of the buses broke down on the way to picking us up from the airport so we piled bags and boxes on top of cars, vans and trucks and then squished into what little room was left. All but three boxes made it here (out of about 100 I guess that's pretty good odds). On a side note our pilot from Kenya to Malawi wasn't exactly the most skilled pilot I've ever seen. Apparently he approaches flying like bumper pool and finds joy in seeing how high he can make the plane bounce upon landing. I guess we should have seen it coming when he introduced himself over the sound system as "Captain Crunch".

Tomorrow we will be sending a small team to meet with the village chiefs to set up the rest of the week. We'll also be unpacking boxes, buying mosquito nets, exchanging money and purchasing supplies. Several of our students will also be practicing with the ABC "Futbol" team in the afternoon - pretty sure they are going to be ran into the ground!

I love traveling to a place multiple times, because it gives me the opportunity to build long lasting relationships with the locals. You really get to go through life with someone if you see them often and then keep in touch with them throughout the year. Cristoff is someone who I've looked forward to seeing all year. His story is powerful and tragic at the same time but I'll get into that another time. What you need to know about Cristoff is that he never stops smiling and when you look into his eyes you can see wisdom. He has been a driver here at ABC on my last two trips and when I saw him today, his face lit up. He gave me a hug and asked about all of his friends from The Grove. He asked about my family and said that he had missed me, relationships like this are one of the many reasons why I am driven to travel around the world. Richard and Blessings were translators from my last trip and they met us at the airport with hugs and then had dinner with us. They sat with our students and you could instantly see our kids become amazed by their stories. There are many others here that I've missed but I'll save that for later as well.

In the other room several of our students are playing pool with new friends they have met and are anxious about what tomorrow will bring. We are blessed to be able to stay at this unbelievable campus, but tomorrow will bring new images and stories for our team. Pray that their eyes would be opened and their hearts become filled with passion. I told all of our team that they have come across the world to Africa not only to bring change but to become changed.

There is joy here in Africa and I'm excited for our people to get the opportunity to fully experience it.

Speak Love, Act Love, Live Love.
Change the World!

Paul


- Posted from the other side of the world

Off to Malawi

In two days we're off. This is who we'll be visiting.





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Location:Chandler, AZ