From Virginia to Malawi

The call has come, go to Africa. And so to Africa we went. On November 23, I and my friend Paul Braymer, left America to work for 6 weeks in the local villages along the shore of Lake Malawi in Malawi, Africa. The following blog posts will be pictures from the work that God is doing there and the casting of the future vision that God seems to be giving for our work among the Chichewa people.

So first a little background: About three months prior to this trip, I met Dean Kershner, a mission- hearted, gospel-centered man seeking to impact the people of Malawi both spiritual and physically in conjunction with the ministry Gospelink. Gospelink supports native pastors, widows, orphans, and Bible students. Dean's work however centers on a small property located on the shore of Lake Malawi. As Dean and I got to know each other a little, he invited me to go over to Malwai and see the work fist hand if I was inclined to go. Long story short, while not at first, God worked it out for me to become inclined to go and then He took care of the details!

Our journey first took us to the home of Mike and Marion Clarke, a couple involved with Patomic Baptist Church in Virginia. Mike is an engineer who has been in Malawi multiple times with Gospelink assisting in the work there. Following an evening of fellowship, we spent the night and went to church there in the morning. We met meany people there who have traveled across the great Atlantic Ocean to the little land of Malawi.

That evening, Paul and I left American soil for our first trip to a new continent on a South African Airlines flight to Dakar, Senegal and Johannesburg, South Africa. 

 

Early morning view of Dakar - fueling and flight crew stop. 

Looking over the Atlantic.

We landed in South Africa and connected with a lovely older Christian couple, the Carrols. We spent a great evening with them, and then attended a men's Bible study the next morning before our flight out the next morning.

Jo-burg, as they call it, is a beautiful city, but ridden with crime.

 

 

 

 Well, that's enough pictures of that part of the trip. Next stop will be Malawi.

10,000 miles in 3 days - destination: South 13.405722 East 34.30386.

5:01 PM, 11/23/13, San Antonio International Airport depart for Washington Dulles International Airport.

Weather: Wind gusting to 28 mph, temperature in the high 30's, winter storm warning for ice and freezing rain.

Arrival time: 8:45pm local time, Sterling, VA.

Tonight, depart Dulles at 5:40PM. Next stop: Dakar, Senegal.

The stars tonight!

Helicopter fly by...

This streak is actually a satellite reflecting the sun as it flies over. 

When the Sun Goes Down on the Ranch...

Then other things which in themselves bare the Glory of the Lord come out:

This is what the sky looked like tonight. I took this at about 6500 ISO so not the greatest shot, but that is the Gospel in the heavens, the declaration of a good and beautiful God who made all things for His glory.

The clouds were beginning to move in in this shot, but the majestic Milky Way is still clearly visible.

And then some not so beautiful, but at the same time intricately designed things come out in the dark:

This little guy was about an inch and a half long. As you can tell, the little bug in front of him is one mighty little thing. Yet, as small as he is, he has more life in him than the smartest scientists in the world are able to make in a test tube. God then is a most glorious creator. 

Same guy without the flash on.

Just a few feet away from this guy, was another creature:

This mantis was only an inch long, yet intricately detailed as close as you could get to him.

And then the grand daddy of the night watchmen this evening, just a foot from the mantis was this 3 inch in diameter monster of the darkness:

And God made him too.

For the record, the scorpion saw his last night alive this evening and is now in a, shall we say, state of disrepair. All his parts are there, just rearranged into a less lively combination. The mantis is free and exploring the darkness. The tarantula is in a container in my living room, to be released at a later date.

Now, the other night, the moon was out so I took some moonlight pictures of the ranch. They turned out pretty nice for moonlight:

 This is really just moonlight. You can see the stars in the sky over the trees in these pictures. Pretty amazing!

  I decided to see just how well my camera could see in the moonlight so I boosted the ISO to the highest setting and did a handheld shot with moonlight only. That is the last picture, unedited, straight from the camera! The thing can practically see in the dark.

Oh, one last picture. I have a few guns for sale:

If anything looks interesting, let me know, and I'll send you the prices. Proceeds will be supporting missions in Africa and Asia.

To God be all praise and glory.