Guest Blog Post: Raqel Cherry

Raqel is originally from South Africa, so for her coming with the TMC team to Malawi is almost coming home. She encapsulates here much of what the team has been thinking about and doing while they’re here – wrestling with suffering, considering the role of compassion ministries, and loving the church.

(Raqel Cherry) The pace is a lot slower here in Malawi, in everything from the internet connection to tasks we are trying to get done. I found it really easy to feel right at home here, and not just because the Floreen’s have been the most amazing host missionaries, but also because a lot of the culture is very similar to South Africa and there are a lot more familiar sights like rooibos tea, nutticrust biscuits and green cream soda.

TMC Team Ready to Leave for Mozambique

Our main project here is to help Matt find out what local ministries are around and who is doing them well. Our team has been wrestling through how we can really be helping.  Through team time, conversations with Matt, and a book he’s having us read, I think all of us have a new perspective on many aspects of missions work, and how we can really help without hurting here.  Malawi is a new culture to us, we cannot begin to expect to understand in our short time here.

God is teaching me a lot about His sufficiency, not only for us but for those in great suffering. It is one thing to accept Christ’s love but a grave danger to forget how much we don’t deserve it. The devastating effects of a fallen world became very apparent when you walk into an HIV/AIDS clinic and see the downcast faces of those in true suffering, God’s role as comforter to the broken hearted takes on a whole new depth when you put it in this context. It is incredibly overwhelming to feel helpless in the face of others suffering and so we all feel like we need to make some temporary fix by throwing money or even our time into different ministry efforts. While this may be well and good it can sometimes just be for our own guilt relief and become more selfish than selfless as it may appear.

Raqel in Mozambique

Something I have a deepened respect for since being here is the role of the church and the demand for us to be committed and serving. The church is Christ’s body and the home of the Gospel, which in all reality is what people need more than any life-saving drug or steady supply of food.  It’s hard to say that because even after experiencing salvation from the Gospel and reveling in its depth I still just want to give some kind of relief to anyone I can, but I’ve seen how while this can be a good thing, it isn’t the best thing.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers, we truly appreciate them so much. I pray that God is blessing you, and you are having a joyous summer (or winter in South Africa).

Youth Camp 2011

When we first moved to Malawi, Matt was hesitant to teach the youth at church because he didn’t want to get labeled as “the youth guy.”  Over the last couple years, we’ve joked about this frequently because we quickly grew to LOVE the youth groups!  Matt now teaches one group every Tuesday night, and he also jumps in occasionally to teach the older youth group on Fridays nights.  This youth camp was a combination of both groups, but mostly for the older youth.

 

Matt Floreen speaking at camp

The theme for this year’s camp was “Do You Love Me?”  It’s the question that Jesus asked Peter in John 21:15-17, and so we looked both at that and at the book of 1 John asking ourselves “Do I really love Christ?”  It was a great topic for the weekend, and applicable to all of us.

 

Questions and Answers Follow-up at Camp

Another element of camp is the Q&A time both nights around the campfire.  The youth submit questions anonymously to the question box, and Matt goes through and answers all the questions in the group setting.  The questions these guys were asking are great!  Here’s a few: 1) How can I truly repent?  2) I have heard that being afraid is not trusting God.  Is that true?  If is is, does that make it a sin?  3) Why did Jesus have to be resurrected?  Wouldn’t he have paid for our sins even if he had stayed dead?  4) When does talking about others turn into gossip or slander?  Matt is careful to direct the students to God’s Word at every point so that the answers he gives come from God’s Word and not his own opinion.  Some of the questions turned into discussions over the next days as the students considered how to apply what they had learned.

 

Lake Malawi at Camp

You can’t have camp without a little bit of fun!  We had our own little section of Senga Bay at Lake Malawi, with rocks to jump off of and plenty of space for water games.  Not to mention a great view.

 

Abigail at Camp

Abigail came along for camp too, though she was definitely more interested in the grass, bugs, and sand than in what Dada was saying…

 

Camp Group Shot

We loved the chance to get away to the lake for a few days with this great group of students and youth leaders!  We’re praying that the Lord will use His Word to pierce and change their hearts, to cause them to grow in their love for Christ.

The Next Few Months

We’ve just been through another period of no-internet, but we’ve been so busy that we’ve hardly noticed.  We have some crazy months coming up, and this is our last week to get ready before the busyness begins.  Here’s what’s coming…

TMS Team: 7 guys from The Master’s Seminary coming to consider joining us here in Lilongwe to help with the seminary that’s in the plans.  They’re all staying at our house and Rachel’s cooking for them.

The Kopps: Some friends of ours from southern California are adopting from Ethiopia and “stopping by on the way.”  It’s a quick visit, but they’re jumping right in and Matt Kopp is going to teach a session at youth camp while they’re here!

Youth Camp: Matt’s the main speaker at our church’s youth camp again this year, so we’re all going out to the Lake for 3 nights to spend some time with the 13-18 year old crowd.

TMC Team: 7 college students from The Master’s College coming to help scout other ministries in Lilongwe so that we can make a list of credible, helpful resources, organizations with whom we can partner and to whom we can refer people.  We’re also going to take them to Mozambique to spend some time helping a missionary that our church supports there.  They’re all staying at our house and Rachel’s cooking for them.

The Floreens: Matt’s parents are coming to visit us for 2 1/2 weeks.  We’ll put them to work a little bit, but we’re also going to take some time away with them.

Grace Church Team: 28 high schoolers and leaders from Grace Community Church coming to help with construction projects related to the upcoming seminary.  And yes, they’re all staying at our house and Rachel’s cooking for them.

MABC Classes: Matt’s taking his first full year of classes pursuing his MA in Biblical Counseling.  He’s doing pre-session work from now through June, we’ll all be traveling to California in July for 3 weeks of classes, and then he’ll do post-session work through October.

Whew!  These things aren’t all at the same time, but they do all overlap, so it’s going to be pretty busy around here.  And it starts this coming Saturday with the TMS Team!  We’ll post as we go and try to keep you updated on all these things.

We Love What We Do – Part 2

(Rachel)  Previously, I shared a bit about our ladies’ Bible study in the book of Ezra.  Another major women’s event at our church is a Biblical counseling series I’ve been teaching on Thursday evenings.  We just finished a series on the philosophy and methodology of Biblical counseling, wrapping it up by looking at 2 specific topics, Marriage Problems and Eating Issues – Anorexia, Bulimia, and Over-Eating.  We did this series a couple times last year too, and looked at the topics Worry, Fear, and Anxiety, and Abuse.

Rachel and Jen

My goal with this series is not that the ladies will be able to go out and set up shop as counselors, but rather that they would be better equipped to care for one another right where they are.  As women, we talk with one another about a lot of things, and we do counsel one another, for good or bad! My hope is that these series would help the ladies to turn to Scripture as all-sufficient for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), and that the conversations we have with one another would be edifying, encouraging, and wise.  This is the third time I’ve done this counseling series, so the base of women who understand these concepts is growing! Pray for these ladies who are encountering new truths about themselves and God’s Word, that they would apply what they’ve learned in their relationships with others. Pray for us as we make plans for the next series – at least 6 more ladies are interested!  And pray for me also as I prepare two new topics, that God would make my study of these topics profitable in my own life, and that He would grant me the ability to communicate with the ladies clearly and accurately.

We Love What We Do – Part 1

(Rachel)  I love spending time with the ladies of our church. I like getting together with them for tea, or chatting with them after the service on Sunday, but most of all I like studying the Bible with them. I feel like I’m sounding over-spiritual when I say that, but here’s what I mean: I believe that the Bible is true and that it changes my life as I study it. It’s full of deep, thought-provoking, soul-challenging truth. When I study it with other ladies, we share the experience of God’s Word and His Spirit changing our lives. We learn things together and help one another know how to apply what we’ve learned. It’s a group context, but what happens is deeply personal. The ladies I study the Bible with are the ones who know me, and I know them. I laugh more readily with them, and I cry more readily with them, because I know their hearts.

These past couple months I have had 2 opportunities every week to study the Bible with the ladies from International Bible Fellowship Church. I’ll just talk about one of them today: our regular Tuesday morning Bible study.  We’re about to finish a study of the book of Ezra.  This study is pretty intense with lessons and homework that involves lots of searching through the Bible to understand what’s happening in the book and what God is doing in the grand scheme of history at the time this book takes place. When the ladies showed up at our house a couple weeks ago, I thought they were going to mutiny!

“Do you think I went to theological school?!”

“Rachel, this is hard!”

And you know what? They’re right. It is hard. But by the end of the morning, the comments were a little different.

“This is good for us.”

“We need to get our mushy brains going!”

“Vacation is over; we have to study now!”

I’m so thankful for these ladies and that they’re willing to work hard to understand the rich truths of God’s Word!  Please be praying for us that we’ll be faithful to study diligently so that we can present ourselves to God as “workwomen” who do not need to be ashamed, rightly handing the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

Church Christmas Parties

We hosted the church Christmas parties again this year and had a great time with the church family.  We read the Christmas story, we sang Christmas carols and played games, but most of all, we had a chance to be together as a church family and enjoy a time of fellowship and friendship.  We love our church!

We had 90 people come to the Christmas parties, so split the group up over two nights.  Here are a few pictures of the evenings:

Matt reading Luke 2

Matt read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  Pastor Brian had taken a few weeks to preach from this text, so we all had a greater understanding of the passage as we listened to the story together.

Christmas Parties Photo Booth 2010 2

Christmas Parties Photo Booth 2010 3

Christmas Parties Photo Booth 2010 4

Matt had set up a photo booth in our dining room and left a remote control for everyone to take their own pictures.  A few Christmas hats and garland only added to the fun!
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A quick group shot from our second night.  We had a great time celebrating our Savior’s birth with our church family, and we’re already looking forward to next year!

That Rings a Bell

We’ve needed a bell for church.  We have tea time before church, and it’s difficult to get everyone moving into church on time, so we started looking for a bell.  The only one we could find was about $40, and we decided that was a bit much for a small bell for tea time.  Who knew it could be so hard to find a bell?  Then our friends the Taglieres found this beauty for us:

IBF Bell

Isn’t that great?!  It’s the top half of a wine bottle, and the clapper is the very top part of a soda bottle.  Add a string, a cork, and a little bit of wax to hold it all together, and you have a bell!  We’ll try it this Sunday!

Growth

A few things have changed around here, so it’s time for some updates…

Simba 4 MonthsOur cute little puppy of a couple months ago is quickly becoming a large dog.  Weighing in at around 45 pounds, Simba is now 4 months old, and this picture is a pretty accurate idea of what he spends his time doing – lying down and eating.  And if he’s not eating his food, he’ll gladly eat rocks, snails, entire maize stalks… anything that fits in his mouth!

Rachel 14 WeeksRachel is growing too, as she enters the second trimester.  Baby Flo is starting to make an appearance!

Baby Flo 14 WeeksAt 14 weeks, Baby Flo is doing great!  Matt got to come and see the ultrasound this time, and we marveled at God’s creative design as we watched Baby Flo lift up a hand to show us all 5 perfectly formed fingers – so tiny, but already there and moving around!

Green Rainy SeasonAnother thing that’s growing is grass!  The rainy season was very late this year, but it’s finally here.  We’ve had rain every day for a week now, and it’s so beautifully green!  It feels like we brought the green home with us from vacation!

Burned Voltage GuardsWhat’s growing here?  Our box of burned out electrical items!  Voltage spikes, brown outs, and all other kinds of electrical anomalies are a part of daily life here, so we try to protect our more important items (fridge, freezer, computers, etc) with voltage guards.  The guards lying on the ground are both dead due to a spike a couple weeks ago.  The one on the left has a little black hole one it where it burned completely through – but it protected Rachel’s computer!  The one on the right protected Matt’s computer, all his back-up drives, the printer, and the internet router, but when it burned up, it got so hot it burned the two holes in our wall!  On to the next set of voltage guards, and more lessons in Malawian electricity!

1 Peter WordleThe Ladies’ Bible Study on 1 Peter has been fabulous!  They’re 16 weeks into the study, and just starting chapter 4.  All the ladies have learned so much from this small book and God has grown in each of them a greater appreciation for studying His Word carefully, thoroughly, and in context.  The graphic above was generated by Wordle.net, highlighting the key words for the book of 1 Peter.

Monitor LizardAnd finally, though this has nothing to do with growth, a little glimpse into our adventurous lives here in Malawi – a Nile monitor lizard that we chased out of our kitchen last week.  He’s much smaller than other monitor lizards we’ve seen, but he made up for his size with aggression and snake-like movement!  We’re hoping this guy does NOT grow and come back for a visit!

A Visit from Bryan

A couple weeks ago, we had a fantastic visit from Bryan Martin. Bryan went to seminary with Brian Biedebach, and when the Biedebachs delayed their return to Malawi, Brian and the leadership of GMI started looking for someone who could come fill the pulpit for a couple weeks in their absence. What a breath of fresh air! Bryan came all the way from New Zealand to preach for 2 Sundays, to encourage us, and to see a bit of the country and the ministry here in Malawi. We also lined up opportunities for him to speak twice in chapel at African Bible College, to take the first week of Brian Biedebach’s Sermon Preparation class, and to spend time with many of the Malawian and expatriate families in our church and community. I don’t think he had 10 minutes of time to himself in the week and a half he was here!

But what a great time for us! We so enjoyed long conversations about Malawi, ministry, life, and theology. Bryan has a very evident love for people, and we were the grateful recipients of his care for the whole time he was here. Bryan, thanks for your willingness to come and serve us. You have truly encouraged our hearts for the ministry God has here!

Bryan Martin

Christmas in Malawi

Christmas in Malawi was fabulous! We did miss the cold weather and snow, but we had no lack of good friends with whom to share the holidays!

Christmas 09 1
We hosted 2 church Christmas parties in our home. We had about 60 people come to the parties over the 2 nights, playing games, talking, and eating lots of food.

Christmas 09 2
We sang carols, read the Christmas story together, and had a great time!

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We’re so thankful we were able to spend these days of celebrating Christ’s birth with our church family!

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We hope these holidays have been full of times for you to reflect on the wonder of God’s plan of salvation, and on the beauty of His Son, Jesus! We are truly blessed to love and serve Him as we head into 2010! Happy New Year, from our family to yours!