Greetings from Malawi

by Kara Oliver

We are settling into a routine here in Blantyre. It’s been three months now; the kids are in school; we are learning the language (3 hour classes every week); rarely forget which side of the road to drive on, and even have some favorite restaurants.

We have begun the first of our 22 circuit visits and are witness to great need but even greater passion, commitment, and ingenuity in the pastors and lay leaders of the Malawi United Methodist Church.

Thank you for praying for our family and the young church here in Malawi. We especially thank you for commissioning and supporting Marie Claire Bryant. Claire Marin and Carter love having a new big sister, and Jeff and I are immensely grateful for her time and care of the kids that enables us to participate fully in the life and ministry of the church in Malawi without worry or concern.

If you are not following Marie Claire’s blog (http://bryantinthebush.wordpress.com/) , you will enjoy this insight into our daily lives: Malawi in the early morning. Ahhhh. There is busy-ness in the streets, men on bicycles carrying loads of large plastic packages full of whatever item makes their daily income, and minibuses swaying dangerously around every turn. Just another morning in sub-Saharan Africa. Next to me is Jeff Oliver, and behind me are Claire and Carter Oliver. We roll along the road and it’s typically quite silent except sometimes."Daddy?!""Yes, Carter."... (silence) "Carter?" "Daddy, when are we getting a pet?" "I don’t really think we’re getting a pet." "Yeah but like what kind of pet are we getting? Like a kitty or a doggie or…" "Carter, I don’t think we’re getting a pet." It’s during this time that I can think about my day and pull my head together. Occasionally I look out the window and count people staring at me. But mostly I just enjoy the serenity and think about everything there is to think about. "Hey, daddy?" "Yeah, Carter." "Do warthogs, uh, do warthogs sleep?" Sometimes I roll the window down and breathe morning air. Then a car turns in front of us and exerts a ridiculous amount of exhaust in our direction making it almost impossible to see and quite difficult to breathe. "I have a Kwatcha!" "Great, Carter." As we pass a sign that says, "10 mph," we know we have advanced into the developed world that is Saint Andrews International High School.