Thank You

Hello my dearest friends and family! I would like to express my gratitude for your prayer and support for me during my time spent in Malawi! I am truly thankful for your support, whether financial or prayerful. I have praised God for the way that He has provided through you. I would not have had the ability to pour our His love in Malawi without you. The work that COTN does in Malawi is wonderful and comprehensive. It is: teaching, parenting, raising orphans, supporting widows, feeding the hungry, nursing the sick, sharing the good news of Christ, rebuilding the broken, and raising up leaders that will inspire transformation in years to come.

And with your support, I have lived in Malawi and poured out the love that God has given me. I saw God do beautiful things, changing hearts, mending the broken, and bringing light to the darkness. I did not do any of that, but rather, it was God who is at work.
I would wonder sometimes if anyone in the village was seeing Christ in me, or feeling His love pour out of me. I would wonder if I was even showing the love and grace that is given to me so freely.
And one day, my friend Blessings (age 12, in the above picture, closest to my left shoulder) told me that he loved me so much! He repeated it again with an earnestness that is incomparable. He did not speak English, and I do not speak Chichewa. So, I know that surely that it was Christ's love that he saw in me, because His Love surpasses all words and understanding. I told Blessings that I loved him too, and "Yesu amakukonda" (which is "Jesus loves you"). Blessings smiled and squeezed my hand. I think he knew that Jesus loved him, and that Jesus loved me, and ultimately, that is why I loved Blessings and he loved me. And that is a beautiful thing.

I would wake up each day and focus on what Jesus commanded me to do:
1. Love God
2. Love others.
God kept His commands simple for me, because I am weak and because those two commands alone demand my life, my all. And that is what I got to do in Malawi. I loved God, because He first loved me. And I loved children who desparately needed a Love that truly satisfies, God's love. I was able to freely give away what God has given me. Namely, His grace, His love, my heart, my soul, and my strength.

So, thank you for supporting God's work in my life and in lives of the children of Malawi. God has changed many lives and God has changed my heart forever, and He has opened my eyes to see Him in a new way. But He is the same God, whether I am in America or Malawi, and this brings me great relief.