Lanny's Journal Entry - August 13, 2014

1. 
   

   Malawi Sunrise Letter to Steve and Faye 

   8/13/14 Wed  

   Location: Outside the Ivory Room of the Baptist Guest House, Lilongwe

   
   

   Local Time: 5:46a Sunrise

   
   

   I awoke this morning and my first thought was to write a letter to Steve and Faye.  I grabbed my journal and headed to the back porch of the Ivory Room where I sat every morning at the Baptist Guest House watching God’s glorious sunrise before doing my devotionals. This Wed am on Day 9 of our Malawi mission trip was an exceptionally beautiful display of God’s wonders. I opened my journal to the next blank page and I wrote the following letter in my journal:

   
   

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   Faye & Steve,

        THANK  YOU, not just for Malawi but for who you are as people and the beautiful way you as a couple live your lives for Jesus. Before coming to Calvary on that Wed eve, Deb and I were busy “Church Workers” but our “works” were not feeding our Spirit. We were spiritually tired and hungry when we arrived at Calvary and our hearts leaped for joy that first Wed we visited for our souls were washed in the Spirit as Steve broke the Bread of Life with us and Faye filled our cup with Living Water! Here in Malawi as I sit here on the east side of the Baptist Guest House on the back porch just outside the Ivory Room watching the beautiful Malawi sunrise and listening to the song of the birds, I smell the wood smoke of the gate watchers and I thank my God for the good night’s sleep and the refreshing of my Spirit. I think back over our time at Calvary and tears pour from my eyes as the joy of my heart cannot be contained - I realize that Steve and you have been “gate-keepers” watching over our souls. You have fed us the Word and you have poured the Love of God into our thirsty hearts. We now have learned the Miracle of Malawi - God teaches all that the Mystery of His Love is that the more you pour out, the more He fills you up! From the bottom of my heart that has been totally surrendered to God’s Love, I thank you for both the direction you have given our souls and the dedication with which you have lived your lives. You are perfect examples of how Christians should live their lives towards others, and because of your Love for God we enter also into the Joy of Serving the Kings of kings. Now, thanks to you & Steve, Deb & I can truly sing “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go”.

   
   

   Love in Christ,

   Lanny

   
   

   PS. Faye --- The first day God sent a bird to sing a song which over the course of our time here in Malawi, God has written each line and He has made it clear to me that it was your prayers for Deb & me that put flight in the birds wings and directed the bird to land in the branch over my head and sing to me a “new song” on Day 4 – Aug 8 that will forever be in my heart!
   

   
   

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        As soon as I had finished writing the sunrise letter to Steve and Faye I bowed my head and started to pray but words would not come as the Holy Spirit overcame me and I wept with my head bowed and my heart bursting with the Love of God! As I raised my head, a man approached me, introduced himself to me and asked if I would talk to him about Jesus?  The bird started singing  the same song that I had heard the first morning so I shared the Bird Song story with him and his heart was filled with joy!  I then said that God had sent me to Africa to deliver the message of His Great Love and I asked if he knew Jesus? He said yes he knew Jesus but wanted to know more and begged me to “Talk Jesus” to him. I started to share and he asked me to wait until he went and relieved the night watchman because he was the “Gate-Keeper”! It struck me that I had just written about comparing Steve & Faye to being spiritual “Gate-Keepers” and here God had sent the actual Gate-Keeper to me asking me to “Talk Jesus” to him. The gate-keeper stopped and said “You must talk Jesus with me” so I asked him his name (Medson) and when did he want me to “Talk Jesus” with him and he quickly said “Now!”  He then said I will be right back and he quickly relieved the night watchman and returned. We made a formal introduction and he sat down at my feet and we “Talked Jesus” --- we talked until time for our morning devotionals and as I was leaving Medson said, “We (the gate-keepers) watch the missionaries come and go out to the villagers but you never stop and talk Jesus with us, why?”  God made it very clear and impressed upon my heart at that instant that we need to quit “driving by” the gate-keepers in our lives and stop and “Talk Jesus” with them and to thank them in the name of Jesus for doing their jobs day in and day out as our gate-keepers!

   
   

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   After writing the Sunrise Letter to Steve and Faye and my divine appointment with the Gate-Keeper, I returned to my room to gather my morning devotional readings and once again I was overwhelmed when I pulled out Sister Faye’s card she had written weeks earlier for today Aug 13 – Wed  because it read :

   
   

   Day 9 – Aug 13

   Psalm 65:8

   
   

   “Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in Awe of Your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, You inspire shouts of joy.”

   
   

   “Lanny, isn’t it a blessing to see the African sky? The sunrises and sunsets are spectacular! May your heart be filled with shouts of Joy today. 

   We love you, 

   Bro Steve and Faye”

   
   

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   What overwhelms me is that God had this morning sunrise in Malawi planned for me since from the beginning of time when He “…made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day; and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also… So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” So God on the fourth day of creation put the sun in its place and started the cycle of sunrise & sunset for each day from the beginning of creation until Wednesday August 13, 2014 so that I could sit in Malawi watching the beautiful sunrise in the African sky and shout for Joy at God’s creation just like King David wrote in Psalm 65:8 and Faye on Day 9 – Aug 13 (2014) --- God is GOOD!

   
   

   
   

Malawi DeBriefing at McDonald's Farm

We met Thursday night, September 11th, at Faye and Steve's house for a meal and time of reflection and sharing. Not all of our team could make it; Brandon could not get time off from work and Laura was in the middle of a very important project, but the rest of us had a wonderful time together, sharing our thoughts and remembering our time in Malawi.

Lanny will be sharing excerpts from the journal that he started a few weeks before we left for Africa, so look for that in the coming days and weeks.

Also, Joe Veal will be visiting our church on September 28th and I will certainly post some pictures and information about that. We are so anxious to see him again...we are family now.

The McDonald's home is floor to ceiling a testimony to our Lord...Beautiful!!

Steve is right at home in the kitchen...

And Faye's teasing kept us all laughing!

Because we had a smaller group than expected 

we were able to all fit around the dining room table.

 

This is my kind of selfie :-) I AM in the picture!

...in the mirror...

We had a scrumptious Italian meal!!!

You can tell that none of us were enjoying the meal at all...

How do I manage to get everyone chewing?

Anthony's "doggy bag" of red velvet cake!

So very true...

Remember to look for Lanny's journal entries in the days to come...

We thank You Lord for sending us to Malawi. We ask that You help us to focus on the work You have for us here at home, in our families and in our community. May we never forget the great gift you've given us or fail to share it with all around us!

We love You Lord Jesus!!!