Day 15
Sept. 9, 2010
Lifeline Malawi Mission House, Ngodzi

So, here we are.  It’s hard to believe that we are spending our last
night here at the guest house at Lifeline.  We arrived 2 weeks ago –
strangers some of us and old acquaintances for others.  But we leave
friends.

A final reflection was shared for the morning devotions with staff by
Hank.  He encouraged and challenged the host team to fix our eyes on
the prize – the author and finisher of our faith and to run the race
towards Christ throwing off all that hinders.

Marilyn was delighted to be asked to name a beautiful newborn baby
girl. She chose the Biblical name Esther.

Connie and Sarah were escorted by James into Salima to purchase some
soccer balls to leave at the compound and school.  They also purchased
some buckets to leave at the latrines at the local Chilambula School.
It didn’t seem right to do a health talk on the importance of proper
hand washing when there was one bucket to share between 700 plus
school children.

Our final day at the clinic was bitter sweet as we worked alongside
our new friends for the last time.  It’s hard to believe our time here
has come to an end. It was interesting (to say the least) to work in
the clinic during the power outage. The flashlight (torch) sure came
in handy!

John (who attends the church in the village where Sarah and Victoria
attended on Sunday) went above and beyond the call of duty today.  He
located the newly converted Muslim man, who gave his heart to the Lord
on Sunday when Sarah and Victoria were present.  He also brought along
the church elder who gave testimony of his conversion from Muslim to
Christian faith.  Sarah and Victoria had both been wondering how the
man was getting along and concerned that he was being discipled.
Unknowns to them, he too was requesting prayer from them.  It was a
wonderful experience to be reunited at the Lifeline mission house and
to be able to share and encourage and have a time of ministry through
prayer.

The clinic renovation project was “handed over” to the village leaders
with a short ceremony.  It involved speeches by our team, as well as
words of thanksgiving from the village chief.  Some work remains to
complete, but we have been assured by Lifeline that it will be
finished in a timely fashion.

We were graced by Pastor Matemba at the supper hour who came to
deliver a final farewell and deliver a note of thanks to the team. We
were delighted to share the supper meal with him – traditional nsema.