October 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

We have exciting news to share. No, it is not another addition to our family, unless you count the birth of two kittens, seven rabbits, thirteen chicks, and a gift of one sheep. Jim has been working with the biggest soap company in Malawi, Unilever, to join the marketing of their product, “Lifebuoy,” with the water and sanitation program of the Synod of Livingstonia. A representative of the company came up from Blantyre, visited one of the sanitation demonstration sites, and was impressed enough with what he saw to agree to a publicity program to highlight a typical outdoor toilet, a water-conserving hand-washing device, and the use of a Unilever soap product. They also agreed that where Unilever has a billboard advertising Lifebuoy soap, Jim can publicize ecological sanitation and hand-washing.

September and October have been busy, with a wonderful visit by a group of doctors who came with Dr. Cosmo Storniolo, a doctor with whom we had worked at Embangweni. We also had a church and dental team come through with Dr. Don Arstein, a dentist who has often volunteered his talent at Embangweni. We really appreciated their work, company, enthusiasm, chocolate, and peanut butter!

Also in September, the first team from Marion Medical Mission arrived for the installation of shallow wells. The second team arrived October 15. It is a challenging time for the

Malawi staff and the American volunteers, and it’s also a time for building relationships and witnessing the excitement of people when they receive a supply of clean water. The short-term goal for the Synod’s Protected Water Program is a thousand new shallow wells. The long-term focus is to explore community-based methods for maintaining the functionality of all existing water points, including shallow wells, gravity-fed systems, boreholes, and protected springs.

We have also had a visit by Doug Welch, the area coordinator for Africa from PC(USA), and Ted and Sue Wright, the regional liaisons for PC(USA) who are based in Zambia. Although Doug and his family have served as missionaries in Blantyre, it was Doug’s first official visit since the changes at PC(USA) national offices in Louisville made Doug the coordinator of all of Africa. It was also an introduction and orientation visit for the Wrights. It was helpful, informative, and fun to have them here.

On a personal note, we had a very short visit by Jim’s brother and a friend of his. They were only with us one week but managed to fit in a variety of activities, one of which was supervising the joint birthday celebration of Salome and Selina. They spent the last two days of their visit with Chrissie Nyirongo in her village near Embangweni. Chrissie has been a close family friend since Jim’s parents began working in Malawi in 1988. Jim’s brother and his friend went to see her and stay with her for one night. It was during their stay with Chrissie that we acquired the sheep. In honor of the memory of their dad, Dr. Kenneth McGill, as well as to acknowledge the bond between her and our family, Chrissie gave Jim’s brother a sheep. Although Jim’s brother felt a sheep would be useful at his home in South Carolina everyone recognized that it would be difficult to import a live sheep into the United States. Therefore, it was agreed that it could come and stay with us in Mzuzu.

We will be in the States for six weeks beginning 16 November for our mid-term break. Although we will be checking our email, it will be a bit sporadic until we settle in Atlanta for the month of December. Our first stop will be Virginia for Jim and Michael to have medical check-ups; then we will travel to see Jodi’s family in Arizona; then we go to Atlanta to celebrate Christmas and the 80th birthday of Jim’s mother. We return to Malawi on January 11, 2007.

Please pray for the changes that are happening in PC(USA) and for us as we try to get ready to leave for two months.

Peace,

Jodi, Jim, Michael, Jason, Salome, Selina, John, and Joseph

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 337