So, I was sitting here this evening at the Area 47 house, just minding my own business. I had been to town, talked with some of my friends from last year and stopped at Shoprite to pick up a few more food items. After I came home I took a shower because I had bee sweaty from the walk and minibus ride. I was relaxing, had a Coke, watched an episode of the Office on my computer, decided to have a Pineapple Fanta and make a peanut butter and honey sandwich. To catch those of you who might not know, last year the Area 14 house had a bad rat problem. There were probably only 3 or 4 rats, but in my books anything over 1 is a bad rat problem. So, this year has been great! I’m speaking as though I’ve been here for months now. Anyway, I noticed yesterday that there is a little bit of a bug problem, no biggie. So, I get my carefully take a knife from the drawer, a plate from the cupboard and start to spread the sandwich with peanut butter and think, “Would some marshmallows go well with this?” Just then I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It happened so fast I didn’t know what it was. I just wrote it off as nothing because I’ve been seeing things since I’ve arrived, and my first I thought somebody moved my bed while I was on it and no one was here! Eh, maybe it was just an earthquake. Anyway, this is the first night I’ve worn shorts through the house, and only after my shower do I wear my Adidas sandals, the ones without the backs. So, in the time it takes my brain to process something in the corner of my eye, which I hear is faster than any computer can process, Goliath the Rat runs into my heel. He wasn’t feeling it as much as I! If I could have moved I would have been out of the kitchen before he was, but I couldn’t. All I could do was stand there, make some noises and pray Mrs. Goliath didn’t decide to make her presence known this evening as well. I finished making my sandwich and came back to my room very quickly. I thought I wouldn’t be able to make my heart stop racing. I finally calmed down, but I’m looking out for ‘em now! I’ve never felt chills rush through my body like that before. I think it made me focus better, I got the make and model of what he was driving. It was about 8” long and about 2 1/2 “ wide, brownish in color. If you see it, tell him to slow down and maybe he won’t run into anyone!

-Justin

Greetings from Malawi! Yes, God provided a safe and wonderful journey here! I’m currently staying at the Ministry of Hope office in Area 47 (it’s a housing section of Lilongwe), but should be moving to a guesthouse in Area 43 (not too far away). It’s probably 80-90 degrees so it’s actually kind of hot!

Our first team starts arriving on Sunday and I’m really looking forward to it! We will be traveling about four hours north to the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery. The Mzuzu Crisis Nursery was started a little less than a year ago when a family from the States, the Langdons, felt God calling them into this ministry. They recently welcomed their 10th infant to the Mzuzu Nursery. After the overnight visit to Mzuzu, we will start visiting all of the six Community Based Orphan Care centers (CBOC’s), spread out to the north and south of Lilongwe, for the group’s various ministry projects. We will also visit the Nkhoma Hospital where they have a medical work project planned. This should be a great trip and a wonderful time to grow with the Ministry of Hope staff.

I have been working alongside Daniel Moyo, because the things he does as Program Officer and what I do as Volunteer Coordinator overlap a lot. Daniel is a friend of mine from last year, so it’s a blessing to be working with him! Yesterday, I was surprised to see Shadraq (the Matapila CBOC Director) at the office. He is really excited about the recording project with the children’s choir! I hope to make it out there sometime in May, so please be praying that this will work!

God has blessed me with a safe trip so far, all of my luggage and a quick passage through immigrations and customs! I have remembered a lot of Chichewa (the language), the time difference hasn’t been an issue and it’s starting to feel like home! The Lord really looks after us! I’m heading into town (that’s why you’re reading this) to hopefully meet up with some of my friends from last year at the wood market. About 80% of them are Rastafarians, so please keep them in your prayers!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

-Justin

Well, if you somehow got to my Blog Page without reading, I will be heading back to Malawi. On April 10, 2007 I will be serving as the Volunteer Coordinator with Ministry of Hope until mid July. It all seems last minute, but many times that is exactly how God works! I will be coordinating the logistics of the short-term mission teams coming to Malawi from the US to serve with Ministry of Hope. The list of responsibilities goes on, and will probably grow a little more.

Over the next few days as I pack things up I will be raising support for travel. The cost for travel to Malawi is $2100.00. Ministry of Hope will be receiving my funds towards this trip. Please prayerfully consider financially contributing towards my service!

Please send financial contribution to:
Justin Manon c/o Ministry of Hope
P.O. Box 1462
Black Mountain, N.C. 28711

To donate online, please contact me at justin@amanonamission.org for more information.

Keep checking back as I will be updating though my blog. Please let me know if you would like to be included in any e-mail updates.

Peace only in Christ,
Justin
justin@amanonamission.org

Lee was a buddy of mine from work. I worked with him for over three years. We spent time hanging out inside and out of work. Today I was given the tragic news that he passed away. It happened this afternoon and, not knowing the full story yet, I think I will let it rest there. I spent many days at work conversing with Lee talking about many things. We spent time discussing faith and God, movies and TV shows and we always had time for many, many laughs! Lee was a hard worker and always strived to make the deadlines on many different projects. I would go to him (as I did with many others) to get help on the “how to” to the actual physical tasks. Lee supported me (again, as many did) when I headed off to Africa last April. His face is stuck in my mind.

It didn't seem to be enough that I would receive this new. Only a few days ago the thought crossed my mind to call him, catch up and see how he was doing. I hadn't spoken with him since probably around Thanksgiving time, maybe sooner. This thought of missing out on an opportunity, a final chance to reconnect thumps a single, low tone THUD in my head. Not only do I now face the grief of losing a friend, but also that of not making an opening in my falsely busy schedule. I wonder if things in any way would be different had I connected with him. At this point I have to remember the “should’a, would’a, could’a” mantra we sing so often in life. I didn’t call, and I should have, but there’s really nothing I can change now. After a few hours I’m able to accept this more and more.

What is it that makes us shake so much to learn of sudden death? Maybe it's because we didn't see it coming and we were caught off-guard. Maybe it's because we didn't get that final chance to speak our words to that person. I think part of it is also the realization of how fragile life is. From our first breath we start to die, and it takes us fifteen to twenty years to understand. Those who are young can be seen as growing up, while those who are old are sometimes seen as dying. I like to cling to the thought of growing up, even when we are old. We are always learning new things, experiencing different events and moving towards a goal. Yes, the goal is death, or more eloquently eternal life. It is death once, if Christ's return is not ahead of it, and eternal life to follow for God's Children.

I will rest in the Lord, knowing He has a plan and purpose for all things. There is a reason for every action, choice, and event that takes place in our lives. Lesson learned!

Never pass up an opportunity to do what is on your heart, because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

In joyful memory of Lee Fisher.

Justin

Whether you want it or not, it has arrived! Welcome to my new weblog! It's taken some time, but the payoff will be worth it!

The driving force behind my efforts to finally have a blog page was, not only for those whose requests have been heard that want to know a little more about what going on in my life, but also because of not knowing where I'll be from, what feels like, week to week. When I was in Africa I ran into the issues of dial-up internet. I hadn't used dial-up in probably 5 years, so it was pretty much impossible to update my website. So, as you may know, I resorted to using my guestbook as a way to communicate to the masses. It worked, but to be honest this really does look a whole lot better! This will also give me the ability, no matter where I am, to update everyone on the current events that are my life. Unless, that is, there happens to be no internet connection. What, me, with no internet connection? We’ll just see about that, but it’ll probably happen!

Over the next...rest of my life, I will be using this to post updates on my life, travels and other happenings in the world!

Please stop back from time to time and catch up on the latest!

Justin

Justin was taking pictures of some of the orphans at Ministry of Hope, Malawi, Africa