Only a Week Away

I thought I would be more disciplined about writing, but then I got distracted. It is a week until I begin the later part of this journey to Malawi. For some reason over the past few weeks I have actually been distancing myself emotionally from the trip. I am not completely sure why, but I suspect that I am missing my family already, and if I put the trip to the back of my mind, then I won't think about missing my family so much. I have never left them for such a length of time and I really wish they could tag along. But this is a journey for me and the team and God has His plan in motion.

I feel as if I am on a roller coaster ride and the car is climbing its way up the rail. When one gets on a roller coaster, the car slowly moves up the rail the tension and aticipation increases, and whether you want to get off the car or not, you are faced with the crest and then the long way down, the thrill or terror of the ride. It takes a good measure of faith and trust in the car and track to get on a roller coaster and go on the ride. Well for me it takes a lot of trust and faith to travel to a foreign country. I am content to send others on missions and I am not an adventurous person. But I knew that God wanted me to go to Malawi, and although I am anxious about the ride, I know that I can put my trust in God and that He will see me to the end. The ride has already begun and soon the car will crest and the thrill part of the ride will begin.

What I have learned is that God continually asks us if we trust Him. He says, "Do you trust me Amy? Do you really trust me or do you think you have a better plan?" I want to say, "Yes Lord, of course I trust you." But the reality is that sometimes I lack that trust and do things my own way. I guess we all do that.

"Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey." The words of this hymn are so right on. If I were to say no to God and would have chosen not listen to Him and not go to Malawi because of my fears and insecurities, then I know I would not be happy. I would be feeling regret and wondering what I would be missing. So although I have anxiety and reservations and sometimes feel like I am not trusting as much as I could; I know deep down that I had to trust and obey His plan for me. For that is the source of my peace.

I am really excited to meet the boys from Safe Haven and share my love for them with a hug and a song. I know that my presence there will bring them hope and reassurance that they are not alone and that God does love them. I am excited to bring back stories and share with others what I have seen, heard, tasted, and smelled, because I know if they can feel what I felt while on this trip they will want to do something too. But I have come to realize that this trip was for my benefit too.  God wanted to heal me in some areas and help me to trust Him more; of this I am convinced. I have more to share, but I will write about that later.

Thank you for supporting me in prayer or otherwise. I am grateful for faithful friends and for your encouragement. Be blessed always in all ways.

Community School Concert

Today at the Community Music School there was a wonderful concert performed by the Vivace String Academy. All of the students performed beautifully and it was a real treat to listen and watch some of the students that I have know since they were 4 years old. They are 15 now. Wow time does fly. During the concert I had the opportunity to share about my trip and asked for donations to help me with my travel expenses and supplies. To my delight $103 dollars was raised today. Some people took flyers I had made and are planning on sending donations to my church. I am so thankful and humbled by peoples desire to reach into their pockets for this endeavor. Yes, it is all very humbling.

A Nice Visit Withe Malawi Fellows/Interns

The last few weeks have been very full. I have been shopping for the trip as well as getting supplies ready for making the musical instruments. Since I will be gone a long time between vacation and Malawi, I have been working on getting things in order for next years classes too. I haven 't sat down much or rested, but last evening and today offered the opportunity to get to know some amazing people. The Malawian fellows and interns from Urban Promise came our way last evening and we had a lovely time of fellowship at a friends house. The kids in the group as well as the fellows played a good round or three of Soccer and it was so much fun to watch them play with skill. Today we hung out at another house and had a BBQ and many swam.

Two of the young women came to stay at our house for the evening and they got the chance to sleep in and relax. We had a late breakfast and chatted for quite some time and I loved every minute of it.One of the gals said something so interesting. When she first came here to the states she was so taken back by the speed of life. It seemed as though people were being rude by not taking the time to get to know her or talk to her. After awhile she realized that they were not being rude, but simply going about life as they knew it in this faster paced culture of the north eastern part of the USA.

I must say that I often reflect upon the fact that we are all in such a hurry to get things done and checking items off of lists that we forget to stop and rest and just be. After all we are humanBEINGS. As much as I enjoyed the party last night and the party today, I really treasured the few hours talking with my new friends from Malawi. I am so excited to go and see the places they told me about and to meet the people they have mentioned. In a month from now I will be in Africa. The time is going so quickly.