We have arrived!

Hi Friends!

Cheryl and I have finally arrived in Malawi, Africa - The Warm Heart of Africa. It was an adventure getting here for sure - 2 days worth. However, as we were loading our ridiculous amount of luggage (oh, let's just say we had over 40 pieces of luggage so you can imagine the spectacle we caused; I think we were for many this days reality TV show) on the roof of the little car that was taking us to our hotel, a school group of little children, probably the ages of 4 - 8, were having a "field trip" to the airport and there was probably 50 kids. They were dressed in their school attire; some were looking at us with curiousity and others would smile and say hi. It didn't take us long to wipe the sleep from our eyes and defeat the fatigue in our bodies as we watched them skip along swinging their arms and laughing while their teachers tried to keep them all safe and in the group - it was like watching cats being herded. All of us were smiling and laughing as well and it just instantly changed our attitudes and reminded us what it is we are here for.

The hotel is fun. We had the electricity go out about 5 times already. It doesn't last long but it is still interesting depending on where you are in the building. ;o) It didn't take me long to take my small flashlight every where I go!

We are excited to start our work here with Operation HOPE. Dr. Thomas, Sandi, and the medical team are amazing. For now I just wanted to let you all know we arrived safe and sound and ready for God's work! We can't thank you all enough for your support in getting us here. Without all of your contributions - be it time, resources, or gifts we would not be able to help these beautiful people, and especially the vulnerable children. Malawi has a staggering 1.5 million orphans due largely to the AIDS/HIV pandemic - a number we were told this evening will grow if something is not done to over 2 million by next year - remember Malawi is no bigger than Pennsylvania. But also, disease and sickness runs rampant as the water and food crisis continues here. We will be working in the communities with Somebody Cares-Malawi an organization that is run by an amazing woman named Theresa Malila.

Please come back and follow us on this journey. Please pray for us that we can be God's eyes and see what it is He would like for us to see. Our hope is that we can partner with local community leaders - such as Theresa - and assist in the communities to help set up an infrastructure that will provide transformative solutions to empower the people and let them know that we care and that everyone deserves a few little drops of grace during hard times. God Bless.

Peace,
Diane