Upendo Ministries

I am in Malawi!! I’ve actually been in Malawi for several days now… I just haven’t been journaling.🙃 We arrived here on Monday afternoon. We flew through the night from Nairobi, to Ethiopia, to Blantyre. As we landed in Blantyre, there was a beautiful mountain right by the landing strip. Later in the evening, Josh, my cousin arrived. I’m so glad he came!🤩

Tuesday consisted of meeting Bro. Master and Josh and Dad going to two church services in different towns. Meanwhile, Mom and I stayed in Blantyre with Bro. Master’s brother, Mark, and going to the airport to retrieve our lost bag. That evening we met up at our hotel and we walked down the road to eat supper.

My first impression of Malawi was this: beautiful. Most definitely the most beautiful country I’ve ever been to. There are mountains surrounding you nearly everywhere you go.

On Wednesday I was so excited to hear the singing for the first time, but first, I got to meet Bro. Master’s daughter, Vanessa, who was named after me.😁 As we were arriving at the first location, the car was surrounded by singing voices in beautiful harmony. I then knew what all the hype was about! At the second location, a group of young people got up to sing. I can genuinely say, that was the most beautiful singing I’ve ever heard from nine voices. After that service, we drove to Zomba, where we are now.

Thursday is when the ministers meeting started. I stayed for the first session. After that, Mom and I went to use the facilities up at the house up the trail by the church. As we reach the house, we are met with a big group of women welcoming us with singing and tongue-rattling!😂 I asked Mom if I could stay up there with all the children. While not being able to understand each other through words because of the language barrier, we are now family. I even found out about another Vanessa who is about my age, so I have enjoyed spending time with her!♥️ I met three boys. Two were 20 and one was 18. I asked what grade they were in. They were in classes 5, 6, and 7. It truly made me realize how grateful I should be for the privileges I have.

That brings us to today. I was so excited to see the kids again! I went up to the house again and I got to spend more time with them. We played jump rope again, but we spent most of our time sitting on a mat made of sticks and just laughing and having fun. Yesterday, one little girl just started crying and just ran to me and curled up in my lap. Today she started crying again and did the same thing. One girl saw, so she got her piece of fabric and tied the fabric as a baby carrier.♥️ The little girl’s brother, Lonje, has also spent a lot of time with me. Anytime I’m walking down the trail, he’ll run up and hold my hand. Today, I realized why he and his siblings are so affectionate. I saw their mom just dragging them down the path and yelling at them for no reason. It is such a sad situation. I’m so thankful for this time I have to love on these precious children.

This afternoon I had a “children’s” meeting, but several young people joined in.😅 I had a lesson on Jesus calming the storm. We handed out punch balloons and sweets. I am so glad I was able to come!!

After the children’s meeting, we started the church meeting. There were so many people there, and it’s only going to grow! Dad preached on living water and there was a good response. 😊 I can’t wait for tomorrow!💞

-Vanessa Brooke