DAILY ITINERARY
Sunday Nov 1 - International Arrival
Welcome to Kamuzu Airport at the Capital city of Lilongwe. Upon arrival you will clear immigration, visa control and enter the baggage area.
After you collect your bags and emerge into the public area of the airport you will be met with your guide holding a sign that says “CHURCH ON
THE WINGS”. He will have a list of everyone arriving. You won’t be left behind! A bus is waiting for you. Malawian Pastors are already on board.
You will drive to your initial destination on Lake Malawi. You will be tired from your long flight to Malawi. Try to relax.
As the group arrive to the hotel you will share a light meal together under a star lit African sky, with Lake Malawi shimmering beside you. Settle
into an early evening and well-deserved sleep. The gentle waves of Lake Malawi will be shimmering in the moonlight as the mission begins.
Overnight at Makokola Retreat
Monday Nov 2 - Discussions
After a group breakfast we will convene at the tikambilane conference center. To help Pastors in their care for orphans we need to help the
Pastors from each branch develop an income that allows them to be self sufficient. The Pastors from each church have selected ideas for a local business they desire to start. When you applied to join you disclosed some of your talents. The list you chose from is the list of business desires they have! Following some general discussions and information exchange we will break into groups.
Those of you with electrical skills will help with discussions on “how to” start a business as an electrician. Others will be plumbing, retail sales, sewing, farming, and so forth. You will facilitate the discussions. Be patient and soon you and Malawian Pastors will start to get ideas. Your ideas, prayers, and motivation will be valuable to the Pastors. By noon the local temperature will be pleasantly hot and an outdoor lunch will provide the energy for continued discussions until 4:00 P.M. At 5:00 P.M. we will all meet as a group on the beach for a group game while the sun starts to set on Lake Malawi. Group Dinner begins at 7:00 P.M.
Tuesday Nov 3 - Safari
Early morning we board a bus for an adventure. A safari at Liwonde National Park is our destination. It is a miracle that African wildlife still exists here in southern Malawi. Previously, poaching left elephants, lions, rhinos and many other animals almost extinct in the region until a local Malawian bought a small portion of land, reinvesting profits from tourists to expand the park to what it is today where wildlife now thrives and grows. Liwonde National Park is now a national treasure. To get a flavor of the efforts made to restore this slice of nature visit: https://vimeo.com/460093196
In similar ways prey animals like lions and cheetahs are now roaming Malawian land once again, right here in Liwonde. Return to the hotel for dinner together as we watch the sunset over the lake. Sit together as a group, each of us united to help Malawi.
Wednesday Nov 4 - Rest Day
Today is a day of rest. Get together with one of the Malawian Pastors. Sit on the beach, Go for a swim or kayak on the lake. The key to this day is to build relationship. This is not a time to vacation! Do that at another time.
Your meals are included. Eat when you want. Take a walk. If you wander off the property don’t be worried – you have a language interpreter with you. It will be important to make connection during the previous day
at the Safari so you know who you will get together with on this date. Remember, that to a person in Malawi, you are wealthy beyond measure. Be truthful if discussions turn to financial situations. There is no apology
for God’s provision but recognize the limitations of people in Malawi.
Thursday Nov 5 - Travel Day
Today is a day of travel. After an early breakfast we all board the bus. We are traveling most of the day to the northern City of Mzuzu in the Northern region of Malawi. We make a short stop at Mua Mission. It was originally a Catholic mission in 1905, but the center is now a showcase and museum of the cultural history of the Chewa, Ngoni and Yao people of Malawi.
We make another stop in the capital city of Lilongwe. Pastors from the central region will leave us as they depart for their homes and prepare for their Sunday church service. We arrive after sunset to our hotel
Friday Nov 6 - Market Day
Today we join Florence Mkisi at the market as she shops for food and supplies for the kids at Upendo Children’s Village. This is open air, noisy, with smells and sights you may never have experienced. This is duplicated in all cities of the other Pastors in Malawi. Most shopping is face to face negotiation. Only big capital cities have supermarkets. This is typical Africa. Remember it. Let it sink into your memories. Those few scoops or pails of beans, or rice, or that skinny chicken is what stands between starvation and a meal for people in Malawi. There is no government hand-out, no safety net for the disabled, or unemployed. This is hard living – but not for orphan children if we can help it.
Saturday Nov 7 - Upendo Children's Village
Gone are the comforts of a lakeside resort. You are in the reality of life in Malawi. At Upendo there may be electricity and running water or not!
Long before sunrise there were the sounds of a hand water pump. Pails are being filled for use with toilets, for bathing, for cleaning. The house
mama’s are already hard at work preparing food for 55 young hungry mouths. You are the foreigner visiting their village. Put on your jeans, shoes and bug repellent. If you arrive early enough help with breakfast. The mornings are humid in November. When you arrive you will be swarmed with kids!! RULE ONE…have empty pockets - give no money, sweets or gifts of any kind. Problems arrive in the dynamics of young lives when you show favoritism. Don’t be THAT American. They know, or are beginning to know, that their only savior is Jesus Christ, not an American.
Let the kids be kids.
At 9 AM we all meet in the open area in front of the Central building. All 20 of us plus all kids start an orientation. Today, the kids are not at school.
We walk to the site of the school that Bishop Mkisi is building for high school students. Stop and pray for the continuation of this school and for funds to pour into Bishop Mkisi to help support orphans, widows in Mzuzu. Pray for the other Pastors you met and pray they can duplicate this effort for the children in their cities. Walk down the road to see the home Bishop Mkisi has been trying to build for the past 6 years close to the Village. Return to the Village. Let the kids take you around to see where they live, play, be with them as they do their chores, having their lunch and dinner and let them take you around the Upendo property, it’s unfinished walls and hear what they like to do. By now your heart is bursting for these kids. You yearn to know how to speak their language. Rest well. The real work is taking place in your heart.
Sunday Nov 8 - Church
Today is your last full day in Malawi. Get dressed up and get on the bus to church. Greet those you know at the church. Worship in song and prayer and your offering of sacrifice to God. Let the message lift your spirit to be closer to God. You will recognize the kids in the choir, some of the members of the church and you will feel the pull. The pull to be at home, to loved ones, but also the pull to be part of Africa, being a witness to the growing nation of Malawi and the continent of Africa. Greet people with the local cultural greeting you have learned by now. It is a moment of reflection.
After church board the bus that will drive you through the afternoon to your hotel for the night in the capital city of Lilongwe. We will have our final dinner together at the hotel.
Monday Nov 9 - Leaving for Home
After an early morning breakfast a shuttle will take us to the airport arriving there at 11:30AM. This will be a joyful time. You are on the way home, but it will also be a time when memories of the past week floods you with memories that only you will have experienced. The trip is long, as you will already know, so wear comfy clothes and find some time to write some notes, post some pictures, talk to a person you met on the trip.
You may return again but if you don’t you will be able to say you have felt “The Warm Heart Of Africa” Malawi.
Tuesday Nov 10 - Arriving Home
The sun starting to shine through the airplane windows means you are close to arriving in New York City. Soon you will be back in your regular routine. Has the trip changed you?
Do you feel God bringing new revelation to you? What you do next is what brings value to the time spent in Malawi.