Day 1

Hello from Malawi.
Tuesday, Wednesday and most of Thursday were spent traveling. We flew from Nashville to Atlanta. Atlanta to Dakar (note: we didn’t get off the plane) and Dakar to Johannesburg. In Johannesburg we spent the night, and then got up early the next morning to fly to Malawi. The Lawrences were waiting on us at the airport with the other girls. The are all so welcoming.

Tonight is my first night in Malawi. The missionaries and girls I am working with are all wonderfully unique. I am enjoying every minute with them. There will definitely be challenging times in the future, but that happens when 7 women live under one roof. God is going to be doing amazing things.

We spend the day driving around the city and going in some shops. There are some fun things that are REALLY different. First of all, with any British colony, the steering wheel is on the right side, you drive on the left. Unlike most British colonies, people walk all over the place, all women wear skirts (government law) and they sell rats to eat. (This is kinda weird: people, mostly children will stand on the side of the road with dead mice on a three foot long stick hoping people will stop and buy them to cook and eat. I’m adventurous, but that is one thing that will probably go untested.) My goal is to keep a running list of things I think are interesting and hopefully look back to see how different they really are.

I will probably check my email only a few times a week. Certainly not everyday, but keep them coming and I will try to respond as quickly as possible. If the email says it is from Mat and Janet Lawrence, it is really from me. Send replies to their email and put my name in the subject line. If you continue to send them to my GMAIL account, I will get them, just not as fast.
I am really nervous about teaching. I don’t feel like I know enough about AIDS, the people here, the culture here, or the schools to teach as effectively as possible, but I know that whatever God has planned will happen. Please pray that I will be able to teach God in EVERY lesson. I am teaching physical science, and I want every lesson to be so centered on God that there is no choice but to share the Gospel everyday. That would be an amazing blessing. I am feeling a little jet lagged but for the most part I am feeling good.

God is good. I love you!!