The last couple of days have been packed with excitement.

On Saturday, we were able to go to a Game Park Reserve with Pastor Nancy and Brother Chinooka. It was something that Pastor Nancy has not been able to do yet, so it was fun to be able to go. We were able to see Impala, Bush Buck, Water Bucks, a Hippo, Warthogs, Bush Pigs, and Elephant. The guide we were with found out where the elephant were so we went chasing them to see if we could get close enough to see them. We ended spotting one and the guide let us get out of the vehicle for a walk into the bush. We ended up getting within 75 yards of 2 bull elephants. It was very exciting to be able to see them so close.

Yesterday, we were able to go to the village of Metakata in the Zomba district. This is where the 2nd Noah's Ark Orphan Care is located here in Malawi. We arrived there in time for the church service and then they had a special program for us to highlight what the kids there have been able to accomplish. The program there started in January of this year and already has made tremendous progress in the schooling of the kids there. They feed 52 children twice a day.

The building project is coming along great. Most of the brick around the perimeter is up. By Thursday, they should have all of the brick for the first floor (including the interior walls) up.

Evelyn has come out of the coma and is eating, but she is still in a lot of pain and still in the hospital. Jeff and Pastor Chisala are going to try to go up and see her Wednesday or Thursday.

Our flight leaves here on Friday morning, so if we don't get to post any other updates before we leave - We are looking forward to seeing everyone at home very soon.

The building project is still going good. They poured the inside columns and have started the brick work on all of the walls. It is starting to look like a real home.

The little girl that got hit by the minibus is still unconscious. She appeared to be getting better after a couple of days, but has not regained consciousness. She also appears to have a problem with her hip along with the broken leg. Please keep praying for her recovery.

We went to World Vision headquarters last week. Jeff met a lady prior to us coming that sponsors 2 kids here in Malawi. She asked him to take 2 soccer balls to the World Vision office to give to the kids since we were going to be in Malawi.

Tim and Anna sang "How Great is Our God" on Sunday with 2 of the Noah's Ark kids (Adson and Lamek). The people really enjoyed it.

We visited Fresh Water Malawi. This is an organization that digs wells in rural areas. We checked into having a well dug in a village in south Malawi where the 2nd Noah's Ark Orphan Care is located. The well would give fresh water to 350 people who do not currently have fresh water.

Things are going well and everyone is in good health.

The building project is coming along well. 11 more columns are done, so that makes all the outside columns are completed. On Monday, they will start doing the brick work and the inside columns for the walls. They are able to buy the bricks from a deacon in the church, so that is a blessing to his family. He lost his wife about a year ago and he has 5 children.


On Thursday, we had 3 more kids start coming for food every day, two girls and a boy. On Friday, we found out that one of the little girls, Evelyn, was hit by a minibus. The sister had come to the orphan care center to get help. Pastor Chisale and Jeff were able to go to the Hospital and make sure that she was getting the proper care. She ended up with a concussion and a broken leg, but it appears as though she will be okay. Please keep her in your prayers, though.

We have had a very exciting week.
Today they will be framing in the first 7 columns (pillars of Hope) on the building with wood so that tomorrow they can pour the cement into the frames. Then, they will continue on assembling the next 7 columns (they only do one side at a time to make sure they are keeping a straight line).

On Saturday, we took all of the kids from Noah's Ark Orphan Care in Blantyre to the Mirichu Game Preserve. This is the first time any of them had gone to something like this, even though it is only about 1/2 hour away by car (2 1/2 by walking). We were able to see many monkeys, some bushbuck and climbed over a boulder field where hyenas were hiding. That was interesting. We walked on the trails for about 2 hours and the kids enjoyed themselves. They even had a little building with some educational information such as skulls of some of the animals, and different pictures and facts so the kids were able to learn about some of the native animals around them. On the way back, the kids started singing praise songs (some even in English so we could sing along).

We do have electricity and running water in the Orphan Care center where we are staying, but we don't always have them at the same time. We have a lot of candles nearby and buckets of water so that we will never be without light or water.

Well, we have been here for 5 days now. Everything is going very well. Things are going slow on the work, but they had to order the steel on Monday, then it was delivered yesterday, and then it was cut today. Tomorrow they will get the colums done with the steel and wood frames for the first floor. Then they will need to order cement to fill the columns and then will need to set for couple of days. Today we washed our clothes for the first time by hand. Everyone but Anna was involved. It was fun watching the guys help. We had an 8 year old little girl showing us how to do it and helping us and laughing at us. Her name is Linda. She is very cute. The food has been good. They eat a type of porridge in the morning made of maize (corn) and a thick porridge for lunch and dinner of the same maize. Well, the internet is slow, so will need to make this short. Love and blessings to everyone. We will still try to get some pictures on here, but a little hard to get.

We are in Johannesburg on our way to Malawi. Everything is going good. We leave in a couple of hours to go to Blantyre, Malawi. We will hopefully get some pictures of our trip so far on this for all of our support team back at home. God Bless Everyone! Jeff, Sara, Anna and Tim (Rosa).