June 23, 2007 - From Lilongwe, Malawi

Mwadzuka Bwanji -

First of all, the internet access that we have access to is very, very limited. So therefore we are unable to keep you as up to date as we would like. We have actually had to come to the capital city of Lilongwe to send this e-mail. So it might be awhile until you can hear from us again!

Being completely immersed in another culture has been great! We are slowly learning the basic phrases of the language and are able to at least communicate with the people we pass along the street. I opened this email with "How is your morning?" to which you would respond with Datzuka Bweno, Kaya enu?

We have only been in Malawi for just over a week, but yet it seems like so much longer! There has been so much that we have seen and done already and we still have a lot of time here!

We have already given you a brief update on our first couple of days in the village of Matapila and our drive out to Nkhoma. The biggest news since then is that we have all been able to do what we came out to do and that is teach our brothers at Josophat Mwali Theological Institute (the name was changed from NIFCOTT in 2005) and Michelle is able to teach in the primary school.

First for the guys. When Steve and Fletcher first arrived it didn't look like we would be able to teach anything. However, we are pretty much teaching ALL the first year classes!! There are even a couple of fourth year classes that we are teaching. The only hiccup that we have had is that their semester ends on July 4 and they have finals after that. So even with only two and half weeks of teaching we are trying to get in as much stuff as possible! Some of the professors have given us lists of items we can lecture on, whereas some classes we have been given free range!

For the most part all of us are teaching around 14-15 class periods (45 minutes each) covering the subject areas of Old Testament, New Testament, Church History,Systematics and Preaching. Personally I am doing all the Preaching classes (10),three OT classes and two New Testament. So really what my main goal in this trip was to use Dr. Johnson's book "Him We Proclaim" as a textbook and I am able to do that! From what we have seen thus far, the idea of Christ-centered preaching is very much needed and I hope that I can do justice teaching that!

It was fun because on the first day the Steves (Steve Roberts and Steve Bussis) gave to the first year students copies of "Him We Proclaim" and Berkhof's "Summary ofChristian Doctrine", most likely their first theological books. They applauded when they realized that they we able to keep the books as their own! We also gave copies of those books to the professors, and the remaining copies to the library.

Michelle is teaching English to the "Standard 6" grade at the local primary school which is just down the road from JMTI. She has all her classes in the morning and therefore has her afternoons free, but hopes to fill those with some other work, maybe at the hospital or with the wives of the seminary students. She has three sections of about 60 students each section!! But as she has observed the students are a lot more disciplined than back in the States! At the end of class sessions the teachers give their students an assignment and then LEAVE the room. And all the kids actually do their work! The school is much different then those in the states, the children sit on the ground of an old torn down building or on the ground outside. Thursday the Headmaster of the School introduced Michelle to the whole school (~2,000 kids,most come from the surrounding villages) and for the rest of the afternoon when ever kids around town saw Michelle they yelled "Madame Vander Pol!!". She has achieved something of celebrity status for the time being!

Our days have fallen into something of a routine and will at least until our teaching duties are completed. In the morning we have breakfast together as a group (usually consists of a fried dough "puff" that we buy from the market) and then headout. Michelle has to be at school at 7:20 and the guys have devotions at JMTI at 7:30. Lunch is usually around 1:00 and then the rest of the afternoon is filled with preparing our lessons for the next day. A couple afternoons we had the pleasure of talking with some of the students from the seminary, It was great getting to know more about their culture through these talks. After dinner (we cook ourselves, and have done fairly well!) we might continue preparing lessons, but we always leave time to play a card game or two. Bed time is usually around 9:30-10:00.

One neat thing that we have enjoyed doing is going to the market. It is an open-air market with the vendors all displaying either their wares or their produce. The food choices are fairly limited, but so far we have been living off of Peanut Butter and Jelly on White Bread and then making different things with Potatoes, Cabbage, Tomatoes, Onions, Rice, bananas, and eggs (Mark even ate a banana!!). Now that we are in Lilongwe we are going to go to the "supermarket" and buy some other things wehave been craving like meat (Mark has been craving), cheese and other fresh fruit. Overall most things are really cheap compared to the States. Food for five people for a good two days ends up costing us $4-5! The one thing that is not cheap is making a phone call to the USA! An eight minute call is around $10! Therefore, don't be expecting too many phone calls!

The next time I might be able to get an e-mail out will be on July 9 when we bring Michelle to the airport. There might be an earlier time, but don't hold your breath!

Things are going great and thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Take care, we love you all.

Tiwanana (Good-Bye) from the warm heart of Africa.
Mark and Michelle