April 12-16
Last Sunday the sermon at our church was delivered by Dr. David Morton, Assistant Director of the Nkhoma Hospital. He delivered a very thought provoking message on the Walk to Emmaus. David and Rebecca Morton, who were missionaries in Uganda before coming here, have 2 grown sons living in Seattle. After church we were invited to Trudy and Jon Van Tilborgh’s home for tea and coffee. We had refreshments on their lovely veranda overlooking a beautifully landscaped yard. Many of the missionaries have gardeners who do good jobs. On Tuesday we were back at Trudy and Jon’s home for a grand birthday party for Jon - lots of cake, cookies and pie. They had a Dutch couple visiting them. They are on a short missionary trip doing medical work in the Lilongwe hospital. That hospital deliveries 30,000 babies a year!!
Wednesday night 8 of the Guesthouse folks and Rhona, Jessie, and I were invited to Hennie and Elsabet
Smit’s home for a South African meal. We started with pumpkin soup and thin homemade spicy herb bread and guava juice. The main dish was like stew, chicken and many vegetables, cooked over coals outside. Just before serving a creamy sauce was stirred into the stew. Dessert tasted a little like banana pudding, but it was actually a pie. It was a delicious meal and the fellowship was great. The Smits are missionaries from South Africa. They have been here for 22 years. The missionaries are such wonderful caring folks. Example: Today I had a surprise visit from Rebecca Morton. She was on her way home from doing volunteer work in the Children’s Ward. A team of 8 doctors from the US were visiting in the hospital yesterday and left the hospital some sample medicines. Rebecca gave the medicines to Dr. David Morton. When he saw Avelox, he gave some to his wife, Rebecca, telling her that Dorothy is taking this, give it to her. I didn’t even know he knew that I had been to the doctor. ‘Twas like a gift from heaven. God continuously works in mysterious ways because getting a prescription is a difficult process. The fellowship with missionaries is so neat.
Barbara Nagy’s cook, Berea. prepares us a hot lunch Monday-Friday. It’s wonderful to walk into the kitchen with its mouth watering aroma after being with the preschoolers from 7-12 noon. A delicious tomato sauce with oil, onion and sweet basil is cooked with a green vegetable (eggplant, green beans, squash, okra or something we have found at the local market and don’t even know what it is). Sometimes Berea adds whole hard-boiled eggs. Most of the time the sauce is served over rice and occasionally over potato wedges or pasta. All our loaf bread is homemade by Berea and it is delicious.
I learned more about the water filtering system. The long process that I described sometime ago is done in the rainy season which is January – March or early April. Now we simply draw water from the spigot, and boil it before we put it in the filtering system that sits on the kitchen counter. The rainy season system was in use when I came so I haven’t seen how water comes out of the spigot at that time, but I have seen a picture of a tub of dark brown water! I’m most thankful for the filtering systems!
Last week the teacher of the 3 year old class left. I am now teaching that class as I train a teacher aide. We hope to have a lead teacher soon. The completion of the second phase of the school building is quickly approaching. We are in hopes that some expected funds arrive soon so the building doesn’t have to stop before the work is finished. We are planning the dedication of the new building for June when a Korean is coming with a memorial plaque for the building. This second phase of Ebenezer was built by Korean alumni of a Korean school built by the efforts of Raymond Provost, missionary in Korea. He became the Director of the school, and is now deceased. His wife, Mary Ella, member of Black Mountain First Presbyterian has been the force behind getting this phase built. She was a big helper also in getting the first phase of the school furnished.