Welcome back to the Malawi blog. This year we have a new team and we'll use this site to keep you updated as best we can.

The 2009 Team Malawi is now in the final preparations for our trip, which we'll begin on July 8th. This version of the team has 13 members, ranging in age from 17 to 70 plus. The range of experience also varies from several first timers all the way to 2 members going on their 3rd trip in the past year. We are led by Kari Kramer, making her third trip to Malawi but this time embarking on a new adventure as tour leader and guide. She has been busy for the past few months making the arrangements and preparations on two sides of the world at the same time.


The team includes a nurse, a couple of teachers, a retiree and several students. We have had several training meetings, preparing ourselves not only for what we hope to accomplish, but also what to expect on our trip. For most of us, we will see and experience things that were only imagined; from the beautiful country, to overwhelming poverty, to exposure and interaction with many new people and a completely foreign culture. Many of us have never been farther from home other than short trips into Mexico so everything will be new.

The trip will include stops at the ABC Pedriatic Clinic, orphanages, visits with our World Vision sponsored children in the Nkhoma area and helping pastors Amos and Vasco with their ministry efforts. We will be helping with Vacation Bible School on at least two occasions. The trip will also include several nights in the villages and a short stay in the Mvuu Game Preserve. Needless to say, we will remain busy but we believe this is where God wants each of us to be and our goal is to be his servants and be effective workers in whatever we are asked to do. As we continue our preparations, we ask that all of you who are friends, family members and otherwise supporters to lift us up in prayer.

The team members are (in no particular order) Kari Kramer, Fred Kramer, Lamar Kramer, Verna Berg, Sarah Conlin, Caitlin Dohoda, Sara Felix, Natalie Hope, Kelsi McAleese, Brenda Plasenica-Carrizosa, Melissa Stymeist, Emilio Tello, and Jennifer Wagg. As opportunity arises, we will take turns posting some of our thoughts and experiences to keep you updated as we can.

Another Update from Malawi

It is Friday night here but Saturday morning in Malawi. Kari said the Dedication ceremony was great. There was a children's choir who sang. Kari spoke during the ceremony and said she guessed it went well (according to Verna) but Kari doesn't remember what she said. There were a lot of the ABC students there, some of whom liked the clinic so much they asked if they could be patients there as they toured the facility and tried out some of the furniture. Friday afternoon they were able to visit the Crisis Nursery. One of the babies they met on the last trip was there but is not doing well medically ( I don't remember her name). They also saw a new baby there who only weighs just over 1 lb. When they delivered the blankets made by the women of WACC, the nurses there were very excited to be able to give them to the new mothers. Saturday they will also go to Children on the Nations to see Adidjia once more.

The clinic doctors offered Kari a job running the clinic but thankfully she remembered she still has a family back here. She did say leaving will be very difficult this time. The crew worked well together but they are tired. Verna said (only partially joking) that she wanted a wheelchair when they get back to LAX. They will leave there on Sunday and are scheduled to get back here Monday afternoon.

I know they will have mixed feelings when they return, glad to be home but sad to have left Malawi, possibly for their last time. They've made friends there and established a foundation that will impact many lives. There is so much that needs to be done and can be done if we are willing to get involved. Kari again asked me to convey her thanks for each of you who did get involved; you gave, supported and prayed. She said they felt your support while there. This will probably be my last update. Kari will give you a recap when she returns, probably in an e-mail or in the form of a slide show or DVD. You'll have to ask her for a copy a bit after she comes home.
Thank you
Fred

Email Update from Malawi

5 ladies from WACC returned to Malawi on October 23. They are working to finish details before the Dedication and Grand Opening of the Clinic on November 1.

Email from Fred, Kari's husband:
I've spoken to Kari a couple of times this week. The crew has been working late into the night each day, usually not getting back to their rooms until after 11:00 each night. Today, Thursday, is the last full day to finish all of the little projects before Friday's Dedication service. Kari said they are planning to finish things like hanging the mobiles, doing a lot of paint touch ups and Kari is concentrating on finishing the library. Kari asked for prayer for her words as she speaks during the dedication. They are not sure how it is all going to go but are excited to put the finishing touches on the building in preparation of bringing it to life this weekend.
She mentioned no new things but is grateful her migraines have not been an issue, but I'm sure she'll be icing her feet for a few days when she gets back. She said its been really hot there this time.
Thank you again for all of your support for her and the team. I'm sure they are excited to see all of their work come to fruition. I was re-reading the e-mail Kari sent out over a year ago when she started to work on this project and saw how those plans and expectations were either fulfilled or changed greatly. I can see what God will do when we place ourselves in a place where we let Him guide us and we are willing to follow wherever He takes us.
I'm sure Kari will send an update when she returns, which is scheduled for Monday evening.
Fred

Send your Sponsored Child in Malawi A Christmas Gift!

Malawi Miracle Video

Definitely worth watching if you were not at WACC that Christmas, and even if you were there, it's a good reminder of how great our God is!

Thanks For Your Love & Prayers!

-Love, Team Malawi
(Verna, Char, Felicia, Lindsay, Lamar, Jan, Shelley, Marie,
Sherry, Joe B, Dee, Joe C, Janie, Linda, & Kari)
See more pictures from our trip to Malawi HERE

Now that we've had time to process...

Team Malawi has been home for over three weeks now. I think we've all had our ups and downs in readjusting back to life here. Personally, I had no idea there would be so much to process. I am still trying to figure out how I can hold on to what I learned in Malawi and implement it into my everyday, hectic life here. I still can't get over how long a day lasts in Lilongwe, Malawi, but how fast each day flies by in Whittier, California. I am so incredibly blessed to have a new family (the team) who shared the same experiences and is now going through a lot of the same things I am. I have such fond memories of each team member and love that we got to be on this journey together!

Since we returned home, I have received several emails from team members. So much of what they write, I feel as well. Reading their words may help others, as it's helped me, understand our trip a little better.

Dear ones,

We have been home almost a week and I am still sorting out what I saw and felt. Let me say first what a privilege it is to be a part of the Team Malawi 08 that WACC sent to a small African nation with gifts of love and friendship. This team represented the people of WACC well, but more importantly, they were Jesus with skin on to the people whose lives they touched. We went to Malawi with a purpose in mind, to get the clinic up and running. The clinic the people of WACC had built with their sacrifices and love. But God had other plans for our time there, for our team. Our team was an eclectic group ranging in age from 17 to 77 with a representative from every decade present. I can’t imagine a better team for the work at hand. We had lots of laughing in the woman’s dorm like a group of teenagers off on holiday. We had plenty of tears as well as we pondered why God wasn’t cooperating with our plan. I have no answers to why the container didn’t arrive in time for us to paint and carry out our plans, but God showed he is in charge; the container arrived on the campus of ABC and the clinic the day we arrived home from Malawi.

I can tell you what I know right now, we are so blessed to live in America, and there is no place like it. Lamar and I were talking yesterday about how lucky we feel to have been born in the USA. The poverty in Malawi is overwhelming, yet as I look at the pictures, I see people laughing as they walk along with a pot on their head or a stack of wood piled high over their back as they ride along on their bicycle... There are lots of images to process, seeing small children running after the bus and yelling money money, dollar dollar. Probably their only English words. It was depressing and such a feeling of helplessness came over us. Even if we had given every dollar we had it would not have solved anything. As in every culture there are the rich and the poor that will never change, but here in Malawi the poverty is everywhere... So much to think about, but the question I keep going back to now that I have seen the poverty first hand is what does God want me to do about it? I know the answer is not to throw away my TV and use a hole in the ground for a bathroom, but what can I do to help ease the suffering? The need is so great, where can my efforts make the most difference?
(taken from an email from Kari)

Greetings one and all.
It's officially been one week and I can honestly say, "I'm awake and on USA time!" Also, I want to say thank you all for your constant prayers, support and kind words on the blog. They kept me going halfway around the world. It's probably for the best that I had no cell phone on me in Africa or I would have been on it calling home a lot!

As for the mission; what a life changing experience! Almost immediately we were reminded of the Proverb 16:9 that says, "Man makes his plans but God order's his steps." All of the planning went right out the window and I was really taken back. The mission was changing and each day held so much that even writing a daily journal entry seemed to be a weeks worth of information. There was no way to keep up. I wanted the container. God says "No container." Man says "containers here at the port." God says, "No container." Marie says "OK God, if your eye is on the sparrow, then why can't you find a big red container in Africa?." God says, "Shut up." (not really) He says, "Be still and know that I am God. My ways are not your ways."... You see, everyday held highs and lows that were juxtaposed in such a way that I am still overwhelmed. The people. The sights. The sounds. The smells. All of it. So different from what I know. I mean, we went on a safari 72 hours after the container let down on Monday and I got to wake up to the sound of hippos playing outside of my tent! I'm on a sensory overload with this kinda stuff... Just today I sat with my dear friends and looked at 100s of pictures. l just can't explain what happened in Africa. I do hope that as the stories are shared and as the time goes on that God continues to reveal why He did (and didn't do) things, and that you will bear with me as I try to collide the 2 worlds together in this most humbling and life changing experience. (taken from an email from Marie)