Malawi News
We are so excited that Vision Hardware and Electricals Store in Nchalo and the high school in Samuti are open this month. The profits from the store will be used to develop the projects in Samuti and Chickwawa.
African Adventure
We have returned home from Africa, having accompanied John and Jesma O’Hara on one of their many humanitarian visits associated with the help and guidance that Neighbours Aid gives to people in Malawi and Kenya. We joined them and a group from Nambour Christian College when they left for Africa. Our destinations were South Africa, Malawi and Kenya. South Africa was merely a stopover but very welcome with good food, hot water and a toilet that worked all the time – along with free wi fi. This was a high point. Downhill from there on in material comforts but not in our experiences and blessings.
The trip obviously involved a great deal of travel and we were exhausted during, and at the end of the journey, BUT we were SO happy that we have done what we did. We have listed some of our high lights and interesting experiences during those three weeks of our emotional and physical journey and some of our lasting impressions.
• The vision of Neighbours Aid and what they are trying to and actually achieving in Africa.
• The realisation by both children and staff that education is the key to progress.
• Health and housing are important since there is no point in educating if the child is in a poor state of health and has no shelter.
• Neighbours Aid focuses on all three and does a wonderful job in allowing the children to reach their highest potential.
• I cannot speak too highly of the efforts of the Malawian arm Kenyan leaders. They are establishing the direction and Neighbours Aid provides the means to help those goals be achieved.
• Poverty, poverty everywhere.
• The poor infrastructure particularly in Malawi. HOWEVER, the people seemed to be happy and welcoming. They are wonderful.
• Arriving home was wonderful – even at midnight in Brisbane. We seemed to be gone forever but it was only three weeks in which we saw so much sacrifice and achievement. So much more needs to be done and it WILL be done.
Hugh and Coral McVean
I have been fortunate to travel to Israel twice now with Jesma and John and cannot believe the difference it has made to the way I read my Bible and listen to stories and sermons from the Bible. It had not been high on my bucket list, but after experiencing it the first time, I realized how important it was for me to have done this. It has brought the Bible to life, by giving me a much better perspective of the people of Israel, the culture, the climate, the landscape, the proximity of places … all things that I had read about for years, but had not really thought too much about. These are now real experiences that will never be forgotten. My decision to do this a second time was not hard … I had to return with my wife, Renee, and for us to experience all of this together, has been a treasured time for us inside our marriage.
BRAD ELLIOTT
Head of Senior School
Nambour Christian College
Eugene Peterson – “No matter how much we travel throughout the creation, no matter how many pictures we take of its flowers and mountains, no matter how much knowledge we acquire, if we fail to cultivate wonder we risk missing the very heart of what is going on.” – See more at: http://www.neighboursaid.com.au/read/e-news-1592015#sthash.7PYL9HGR.dpuf
