Malawi Time

Some things just take forever around here. The electrician came on
Thursday around 1:00 in the afternoon to fix our hot water heater. He
never actually made it into our house, though. He told me that he
would be here on Sunday to fix it. I asked him, why not tomorrow? He
said it was Saturday and it was his Sabbath. I asked, why not right
now? He explained that he had just come in on a bus from Lilongwe and
was tired, so he would see us on Sunday morning at 8:00.

On Sunday, he worked for about 30 minutes before realizing he would
need parts from Blantyre. "See you tomorrow!" he said as he walked
away from our gate a second time. To my surprise, Sunday evening he
returned with the part around 4:30 in the afternoon. I told him to
come in thinking we might get to take a warm shower. Nope. He was
tired and would be back tomorrow.

Hopefully, when he returns this morning, he will be able to fix the
hot water heater (geezer.) Cold showers are really getting old.
However, we are very thankful to have running water, as this is
certainly a luxury around here. The water tank and solar pump are
supposed to be installed at Esther's House soon, so the workers there
will soon get to experience what this luxury is like.

PICTURES:
Yesterday we attended church at Esther's House. It was a wonderful
service where many of the choirs from local villages sang for us. The
kids lasted for the first hour, but Erin took them outside before the
message started. Some of the orphans from the local village, Madzangi,
were outside the gates. They came in and our kids started trying to
teach them English. Easton enjoyed playing with Precious, one of the
boys staying at the orphanage.

Addis is sitting next to Hope, a little girl that Pastor Phiri adopted
two years ago. Her parents died in a car accident, so the local
village headman was going to kill the baby because no one in the
family wanted her. This is a common practice, unfortunately. Hope is a
perfect example of why we need Esther's House.