Hello all,

Em and I are sicky poo- no scratch that we WERE I think we’re on the road to recovery though.  It happened yesterday morning, before getting ready to leave for our third island tour we both spent the day puking our lives away.  Luckily the tour island is super close to the big island, so everybody else (who is alive, well, and very healthy) got dropped off there while we b-lined it for the big island.

Thus the technology exposure 2 weeks early.  There isn’t much else to be said except that everybody is learning a lot, about themselves, each other, other cultures.  The stories will definitely be endless when we get home.  So, keep us in your hearts and don’t worry when you don’t hear back from us in a long time- we aren’t do back as a group to the big island until July 14th/15th.  That said, there will be a 2 week drawl of silence- but think of it this way- no news is good news.  The fact that you heard anything about us at all is because there’s bad news (illness) so keep your hearts happy and continue to pray for health and safety as we drawn this trip to a close.

Love ya’ll

Kirra

Hello!

I hope this final update finds you well! We are all safe and well except for a few sicknesses.  Breanna went to the clinic yesterday and found out that she has a sinus infection.  The doctor put her on lots of antibiotics.  Pray that she is well before the long flight home on thursday.  Emily got another bloodtest and found out she is Malaria free! Praise God.  You can also pray for a boy that has been living with us named Madalitso.  He has various health problems including kissing knees (meaning that his leg bones did not develp properly causing problems for him in walking).  We took him to the clinic yesterday for the cuts he had on his legs, which we found out were septic wounds.  He is on antibiotics and with God’s help will hopfully be well soon. 

Yesterday, while looking for naan bread at the market, trever found some aerial fireworks (yeah, the ones that are illegal without license just about everywhere except africa.) he decided that they were ridiculously cheap, and purchased some. so last night we put on a fireworks show for the children at the orphanage. the kids were screaming and laughing and crying all at the same time. it was great. some of the team was also able to spend the night at the orphanage. It meant a lot to the kids and caretakes that we wanted to spend the night there and we got to wake up at 5 am to chatting children and a beatiful Malawian sunrise. 

As our time comes to an end here in Malawi we are sad to leave new relationships behind, but we go forward with the hope that we will soon return. 

We probably won’t be in touch again until we arrive in NYC.  We leave Malawi Thursday afternoon.

Thank you for your prayers,

Emily and Josh

Time flies when we’re all having fun and now we’re left with only four more days in this beloved country. God has blessed us all so much, and has really protected our time here. We thank everyone for their unceasing prayers and support.

These past few days have been spent mostly at the orphanage. In addition to spending time with the children, we’ve also been assisting the carpenters who are building 25 bunk beds. Orphanage three has been finished. Buildings two and three are identical in their construction. The floorplan includes three bedrooms and a common room. The idea behind these smaller buildings is that there would be more attention and supervision for the children, as each building will have a caretaker living in it.

As our time is drawing to a close, we ask that you pray for God’s continued hand of guidance and protection for our team and our hosts. Also, please pray for Breanna, as she is under the weather.

And if you haven’t already, please take the time to visit the Grace of God Orphanage’s Website at, http://www.myspace.com/graceofgodorphanage, also REVO’s website at http://www.startarevo.org. Consider sponsoring an orphan on the website. We can assure you, as we’ve seen it first-hand, that 100% of your funds will go to the children. For example, if your sponsor child is currently living in the orphanage, your money will go to the feeding program and school expenses. If your sponsor child is not living in the orphanage, your money will go to the building project.

Thank you.

Josh and Team

Halo Meestah!

In kira-kira sepuluh jam (approx. 10 hours) We will be leaving the comfort of busy big island life for the wilds of smaller less populated island.  I’ve been to more malls on this trip than I have in my entire life and it is astounding to see the plethora of products available.  For some reason I was expecting some po-dunk little island, but instead I find that local children who can afford cell phones are just as hooked to them as kids at home.

We have been sent on many adventures, they take hands on learning to a whole new extreme here, and I love it.  Today we went on a photograph scavenger hunt taking pictures of all sorts of random buildings.  The great thing about a hot climate culture is that when you ask for directions and the person you’re asking doesn’t know, they don’t want to disappoint- so they send you on a wild goose chase.  We asked three such individuals where our next place was and ended up going all around one of the malls (this one is the happiest place on earth) looking for a travel agency.

The creature comforts are about to go out the window though (we’ve been able to shower everyday).  The nightly trips to the mall will end (we lost our shock factor as tourists after the third time in BCS).  The squatty potty adventure will begin.  AND I’M SO STINKING EXCITED THAT IF I HAD TO WAIT ONE MORE DAY I WOULD HAVE TO- actually forget that… I’m excited…really excited- we’re ALL excited.

Seeing as heat makes people cranky please p for our health, safety, and patience (we’ll need a lot).

Selamat Tidur

Kirra

P.S. Since we’re going up up and away this means you won’t be able to contact us for about 3 weeks.  I mean, if you try hard enough telepathy might work, but if it doesn’t just be forewarned that we’re just out n about island hopping.

Much Love.

Captain’s Log:

The call is going off right now.  Two are overlapping and it is a sound that will be missed.  We leave for basecamp tomorrow and I can’t wait!  Between running around the big island learning Bahasa by talking to locals in the malls I keep remembering that we have a whole new adventure ahead of us on the islands.  Today we trekked (jalan jalan) all over on a scavenger hunt for different shop signs.  We got lost in a mall because people kept giving us different directions to the next place, but it was still amazing and hilarious.

Crossing the street= being SUPER aggressive and Frogger like.

Adventures galore- and because of that we may not be able to contact ya’ll for a bit.

We’re bartering machines.

Much Love and such, pray for our team dynamics and patience with each other and the other people we’re working with.

Kasih Kasih!

Kirra

p.s. SPU people are pretty fun.