Starting our Second Week of Vacation Bible School

Written by Shelissa and Alyssa

Yesterday we went to church at the Mulinga childcare center. The pastor spoke a few words from the Westminster Short Catechism about prayer. It was also nice to hear the pastor preach a sermon on 2 Samuel 14:1-13 which was based on one of the Treasured Meditation booklets we had gifted him - “The Best Friend” by John Owen. We had Sunday soup with Florus and Janneke and also tried a “paw paw” fruit which we found out tasted like a cantaloupe.

This marked our last day at the guest house in Mapanga which was kind of bittersweet!

Today started out early with a quick breakfast before we left Mapanga to travel to the Lower Shire Valley. We managed to fit us and our luggage into one LandCruiser! We enjoyed a beautiful drive through in the mountains through 2 national parks, with many winding hair pin turns. We stopped at the top of a mountain to stretch and enjoy a gorgeous view of the entire green river valley. The warnings about the temperatures in southern Malawi quickly proved to be true as the temperature dramatically raised as we entered the valley. We went though many remote villages and markets, and were definitely able to see even more poverty out this way. A lot of damage from recent floods is noticeable from all of the washed out roads, but we were able to make it safely to our childcare centers. According to our driver Peter, “Sometimes I wonder, where is the road?”

We were greeted at our centres, Mkhomabasa and Chigumikire by lots of very eager children! We spent the afternoon getting tours of the centres, meeting the staff, and doing our first session of VBS.

We enjoyed a delicious supper of chicken, rice, and chips at Kanzimbi Lodge - the place we’ll be staying until Friday.

We’re looking forward to another busy, fun-filled week of VBS!