College, Church, and Academy

It has been a long time since my last update. Many things have happened on campus since school started. I have gotten much better at lesson planning but am still basically going week to week since I am teaching a total of 5 classes. It will be nice if I teach some of the same classes next year since I will have a better starting point. The second week of school we had an ice cream social for the entire college. I was the MC and hosted a few, fun games before the ice cream started. One of the games is a tradition. It is a blindfolded, banana eating contest with each of the classes represented. The only thing is it is really a trick on the freshmen and the upperclassmen just smash bananas all over his head. This “game” has gone on for many years on the ABC campus in Malawi. Seems like a weird “welcome” game for the freshmen but everyone loves it.

A college basketball game followed the ice cream social and the students were loud and proud of their ABC Lions! Vincent, one of the players, dunked twice during the game and the students went wild! Earlier in the afternoon the soccer team had a match and won 1-0 and many of the students came to watch the soccer game. When ABC scored, students ran on the field in celebration. The sporting events have made the college campus really feel like a college campus. The pride that the students have in their school is the same as in the States.

I have practiced with the soccer team some but I am really out of shape. It is fun spending time with the students in a more laid back atmosphere than the classroom. We are also starting basketball on Tuesday afternoons for the staff and friends, which will be an experience since I am not a basketball player.

We are attending a church called Flood and have really liked it so far. The pastor is an ABC graduate and so is the worship leader. Some of the ABC students attend there, and I found out today that one of the soccer players is the leader of the kids during the service. I am starting to pray about getting involved with children’s ministry at the church and possible holding a Bible study in our home for the people who work with the children since they miss out on the sermon every week. It would be really fun to be involved in training (and learning from) the students who are interested in ministering to children.

We have made some friends and are really enjoying our time in Malawi reaching out to people. The biggest prayers are where do we get involved to have the biggest impact for the kingdom of God (Bible study, children’s ministry, outreach in the community, etc…) and having the opportunity to build relationships that will help people grow in the Lord and come to know the Lord. We constantly thank God for everyone who prays for us and supports us because it is very real to us that we could not be here without many people who love and support us. The love of Christ shown through His people is an amazing thing and we are very grateful for it shown to us. Thank you for always being an encouragement to us.

I pray that God would be glorified as we serve Him in Lilongwe, Malawi, and that you would be encouraged because of the grace He shows in using common people (Jeff and Carson) to spread the gospel all around the world.

Because of Jesus,

Jeff