Friday, February 8, 2008
Day 10 – Friday, February 8, 2008
Back on Canadian soil after some flight delays in Toronto. We arrived at 4:30am and all our luggage did as well. These last 12 days were extremely productive and now we must take all the info we've gathered and continue to prepare for 080808! Stay tuned! Thanks to all who read these blogs and especially to those who prayed for us on our travels!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Day 9 – Thursday, February 7, 2008
We left Lilongwe yesterday afternoon to fly to Lusaka. From there our flight continued to Adis
Ababa, Ethiopia. After a layover in Ethiopia for a few hours our flight left on schedule for the overnight trek to Paris. We had a good flight and arrived in Paris early this morning. Due to bad weather in the Toronto area our flight from Canada was delayed so we have a few hours to kill in Paris again. The favor of the Lord was evident (as it has been all trip) as we were granted access to the Business Lounge for no charge. Homeward 
bound soon! (We hope!)...we did make it out of Paris and into Toronto where they've had lots of snow. We went out for a supper near the airport and then back to wait for the final flight home. We arrive in St. John's at 3:20am...ouch!
Ababa, Ethiopia. After a layover in Ethiopia for a few hours our flight left on schedule for the overnight trek to Paris. We had a good flight and arrived in Paris early this morning. Due to bad weather in the Toronto area our flight from Canada was delayed so we have a few hours to kill in Paris again. The favor of the Lord was evident (as it has been all trip) as we were granted access to the Business Lounge for no charge. Homeward 
bound soon! (We hope!)...we did make it out of Paris and into Toronto where they've had lots of snow. We went out for a supper near the airport and then back to wait for the final flight home. We arrive in St. John's at 3:20am...ouch!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Top 10 Memorables From the Trip
1. Favorite saying for the trip: “Why you gotta be like that?”
2. Junior wasting pop all over himself both flying to Malawi and flying back from Malawi.
3. Shane Simms teaching Tyler Wood how to speak Newfinese. Ouch!
4. Needs Convenience store (a.k.a. Tyrone) accompanying us on the trip.
5. The cockroaches at the “best hotel in the world”.
6. Peri-peri pizza!
7. Hindy, the Canadian taxi driver in Paris, and his world famous tours.
8. Junior, the Newfie taxi driver in Paris.
9. Tyrone and Jeff who are now both enrolled in conflict resolution classes.
10. Let’s give a big big big big big big “clap” for Jesus!
2. Junior wasting pop all over himself both flying to Malawi and flying back from Malawi.
3. Shane Simms teaching Tyler Wood how to speak Newfinese. Ouch!
4. Needs Convenience store (a.k.a. Tyrone) accompanying us on the trip.
5. The cockroaches at the “best hotel in the world”.
6. Peri-peri pizza!
7. Hindy, the Canadian taxi driver in Paris, and his world famous tours.
8. Junior, the Newfie taxi driver in Paris.
9. Tyrone and Jeff who are now both enrolled in conflict resolution classes.
10. Let’s give a big big big big big big “clap” for Jesus!
Day 8 – Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The final day. A meeting this morning with Pastor David and his finance director put the finishing touches on our meetings. Packing all done and everything secured (hopefully) we head to the airport at 10:30am to begin the long trek home. Pray for safe and uneventful travels!
Day 7 – Tuesday, February 5, 2008
This morning Jeff and Dean went with Pastor David Chigamba to meet with the Rev. Gray, director of EAM (Evangelical Association of Malawi) who is a key individual in arranging the support across the majority of denominations here in Malawi. Following that meeting we met
with the Team Leader of African Enterprise (the parachurch evangelistic organization that Pastor David Chigamba is employed with). We also were able to connect with the International Leader of this organization for a short meeting as well. He was highly supportive of the YC project and before we left prayed a prayer of blessing over us and YC. From here we travelled to The Cappuccino to meet with Junior and Tyrone who had spent the morning checking into security, transportation and other logistical information. In the afternoon Dean and Jeff met with Steve Bowler from Visionledd and Pat Laforet from Lifeline Malawi to discuss professional team options. One final meeting occurred with the booking manager at the Crossroads Hotel presented us with some excellent pricing for our meals and accommodations for YC. For dinner we all met with Pastor David 
Chigamba and the Woods for one final discussion on some remaining YC issues. After this meeting it was home to pack for the long trek back to Canada. Tyrone was not feeling well today so we prayed and we were delighted to see him feeling much better by later on this evening. God is good!
with the Team Leader of African Enterprise (the parachurch evangelistic organization that Pastor David Chigamba is employed with). We also were able to connect with the International Leader of this organization for a short meeting as well. He was highly supportive of the YC project and before we left prayed a prayer of blessing over us and YC. From here we travelled to The Cappuccino to meet with Junior and Tyrone who had spent the morning checking into security, transportation and other logistical information. In the afternoon Dean and Jeff met with Steve Bowler from Visionledd and Pat Laforet from Lifeline Malawi to discuss professional team options. One final meeting occurred with the booking manager at the Crossroads Hotel presented us with some excellent pricing for our meals and accommodations for YC. For dinner we all met with Pastor David 
Chigamba and the Woods for one final discussion on some remaining YC issues. After this meeting it was home to pack for the long trek back to Canada. Tyrone was not feeling well today so we prayed and we were delighted to see him feeling much better by later on this evening. God is good!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Day 6 - Monday, February 4, 2008
The day began at the Capital Hotel after a good night’s sleep…and a few cockroaches. Late in the morning we all left with Tyler and Angela Wood to go to Lake Malawi to check out options for the Canadian teams. It was a very rainy day but we ended up having a nice lunch at the hotel on the beach. On the way back we visited the some of the roadside markets where we bartered some pretty good deals for souvenirs with the help of Junior. Thanks to David Newman we had 
some Perrier to distribute to the locals. This evening we met with the Foxfire committee again to review our planning. Tyrone met with a catering team for food options for August. The Foxfire meeting went extremely well. This team has done their homework and is well on their way to making YC Malawi a great event!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Day 5 – Sunday, February 03, 2008
The Lord’s Day! Jeff preached twice this morning at Lilongwe Pentecostal Church – one service is held in English and the other in Chichewa through an interpreter. He preached a great sermon on “Risk” and was very well received by the congregation. Dean started the day at the Assemblies of God visiting a youth Sunday School class to tell them about YC. Both he and Junior headed to the Village of Ngona where Dean preached in a small traditional village church through an interpreter. The small room was packed with worshippers with only handmade drums accompanying the singing. One gentleman visiting the 
church for the first time gave His heart to Christ at the end of the service. Praise God! After meeting everyone for lunch at the famous Café’ Delight Dean, Tyrone and Jeff went back to LPC for a Foxfire youth service. Over 250 youth attended from many different churches. After some very lively worship Dean preached to the crowd and was also able to do some promotions for YC. There seems to be significant support from these youth leaders for this mission and they are excited to see what is about to unfold. This evening we landed at the Capital Hotel to review accommodations and to relax after a very tiring but very fulfilling day!
church for the first time gave His heart to Christ at the end of the service. Praise God! After meeting everyone for lunch at the famous Café’ Delight Dean, Tyrone and Jeff went back to LPC for a Foxfire youth service. Over 250 youth attended from many different churches. After some very lively worship Dean preached to the crowd and was also able to do some promotions for YC. There seems to be significant support from these youth leaders for this mission and they are excited to see what is about to unfold. This evening we landed at the Capital Hotel to review accommodations and to relax after a very tiring but very fulfilling day!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Day 4 – Saturday, February 2
Last night we stayed at the Crossroads Hotel – all complimentary. 
The hotel gave us 4 free rooms plus supper and breakfast (I think they want our business in August!). Jeff and Dean left to meet with the PAOM District Pastors and had an opportunity to bring greetings on behalf of YC and the PAONL. Tyrone and Junior spent some time at the VOH with the kids during this time. After these meetings we met with the Deputy Ministry of Water and Irrigation over lunch. Right after lunch we had a great meeting with the Bishop of the PAOM. We were very warmly received and the Bishop and the PAOM 
has 
thrown their full weight behind us. After some prayer and a definite sense of the presence of God we said farewell. Tyrone and Junior left for the markets to help feed some street kids that Junior works with here while Dean and Jeff headed home to prepare to preach 4 sermons tomorrow. This evening we visited Dr. Chris Brooks for a gathering of most of the Canadian missionaries on the field including Steve Bowler from Visionledd, Pat Laforet and Dr. Chris Brooks 
(Lifeline Malawi). We’ve lined up a number of meetings with these individuals for the next couple of days. We have also made connections with a Christian businessman who has a large shipping company that may give us an option for shipping the PA gear out of South Africa. God has provided us with so many amazing connections in these few short days that it is literally hard to keep up with what He is doing. To make things interesting as usual there was 
a typical 
Malawian power outage for only around 6 hours. With 
some final touch up on sermons it’s the end of another day.
The hotel gave us 4 free rooms plus supper and breakfast (I think they want our business in August!). Jeff and Dean left to meet with the PAOM District Pastors and had an opportunity to bring greetings on behalf of YC and the PAONL. Tyrone and Junior spent some time at the VOH with the kids during this time. After these meetings we met with the Deputy Ministry of Water and Irrigation over lunch. Right after lunch we had a great meeting with the Bishop of the PAOM. We were very warmly received and the Bishop and the PAOM 
has 
thrown their full weight behind us. After some prayer and a definite sense of the presence of God we said farewell. Tyrone and Junior left for the markets to help feed some street kids that Junior works with here while Dean and Jeff headed home to prepare to preach 4 sermons tomorrow. This evening we visited Dr. Chris Brooks for a gathering of most of the Canadian missionaries on the field including Steve Bowler from Visionledd, Pat Laforet and Dr. Chris Brooks 
(Lifeline Malawi). We’ve lined up a number of meetings with these individuals for the next couple of days. We have also made connections with a Christian businessman who has a large shipping company that may give us an option for shipping the PA gear out of South Africa. God has provided us with so many amazing connections in these few short days that it is literally hard to keep up with what He is doing. To make things interesting as usual there was 
a typical 
Malawian power outage for only around 6 hours. With 
some final touch up on sermons it’s the end of another day.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Day 3 – Friday, February 1
Another great day is coming to an end. We started the day meeting with Pastor David and some of his leaders at the Silver Stadium where we will hold YC. We moved to the clubhouse immediately behind the stadium in an attempt to secure it for guest services. Pray for an open door and consideration by the management as they typically do not allow outside guests to use the facility. From there we explored other hotel options for our teams and with some healthy competition between some of the key hotels here we are confident this will work out nicely. The remainder of the afternoon we met with the executive of Foxfire to hash through the team ministry. A lot of ground work had already been done and we had a good time working towards a great plan for out teams from Canada. We also had the opportunity to visit the AG headquarters and meet with their youth director who assures us of their support. Sunday Dean will be sharing with a Sunday School class there on YC Malawi. Both Jeff and Dean will be speaking at local churches Sunday morning. We’re working on getting Tyrone to hit the evangelistic circuit as well :)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Day 2 – Thursday, January 31
Today the work began with meetings galore! We’ve reviewed some excellent options for accommodations for the teams and guests and may even have something to report in the next day or so. For those that are bringing teams we are looking at options where the accommodations facility will provide us with accommodations, breakfast, a bag lunch and a supper buffet. We are hoping to accommodate everyone under one roof if at all possible. This afternoon we connected with some missionaries from the Apostolic Church of Pentecost here in Lilongwe. This evening we met with around 20 of the Foxfire Committee who are the equivalent of our YC planning team. We met for 3 hours with the team discussing everything from the event promotions and planning to ministry team logistics. I’m delighted to report that the meeting went very well and a real sense of God’s presence was in evidence. The Foxfire team is sharp and has done a lot of planning and are very well organized. We’ll be meeting with their executive again on Saturday. 
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Day 1 - January 30
Day 1 
Well, after 2 days of travel we have arrived in Malawi safe and sound. Our route took us to Toronto, Paris, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Lilongwe. With our stop in Paris we had a chance to visit the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre (almost), the Notre Dame Cathedral among others. Our cab driver ended up being an ex-Canadian from Montreal so we had blast learning all about the French Capital from a fellow canuck. We flew out mid day on Monday and arrived mid day today so needless to say we are EXHAUSTED. Already
today though we met with Pastor David Chigamba and some of his team at the airport. PAOC missionary in Blantyre, Malawi, Glen Halliwell dropped by today unexpected but it turned into a great connection. Glen runs a radio program in southern Malawi that reaches more of Malawi than any other station here. He’s going to start promoting YC on that program and with the Leeland CD I was able to give him he will now start playing their music to raise the awareness of the event. We also stopped by the Village of Hope to check on the progress, visit with the staff and see our incredible kids. What a great reminder to see the difference that YC has already made in this nation in the lives of some precious kids that ha
ve a new lease on life. Tomorrow the real work begins!
Well, after 2 days of travel we have arrived in Malawi safe and sound. Our route took us to Toronto, Paris, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Lilongwe. With our stop in Paris we had a chance to visit the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre (almost), the Notre Dame Cathedral among others. Our cab driver ended up being an ex-Canadian from Montreal so we had blast learning all about the French Capital from a fellow canuck. We flew out mid day on Monday and arrived mid day today so needless to say we are EXHAUSTED. Already
today though we met with Pastor David Chigamba and some of his team at the airport. PAOC missionary in Blantyre, Malawi, Glen Halliwell dropped by today unexpected but it turned into a great connection. Glen runs a radio program in southern Malawi that reaches more of Malawi than any other station here. He’s going to start promoting YC on that program and with the Leeland CD I was able to give him he will now start playing their music to raise the awareness of the event. We also stopped by the Village of Hope to check on the progress, visit with the staff and see our incredible kids. What a great reminder to see the difference that YC has already made in this nation in the lives of some precious kids that ha
ve a new lease on life. Tomorrow the real work begins!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
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