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