Catching up with the Ketchums

Friday Chapel

2009-12-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

One new thing this is that we get to have chapel in the new outdoor pavilion that Josh helped to build last year and completed when we returned. My class gets to have chapel with 2nd - 5th grade every Friday for an hour. Each week different classes teach the lesson, sing a worship song, and recite their memory verse for the week. It is such a great time for the kids and it is so fun seeing what the different classes come up with. We also have guest speakers like Bob Stauffacher, parents and other interesting people in the community.

Here are some pictures of our chapel time:

Back in Malawi

2009-12-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

Well it has been both hard and great being back in Malawi for our second year. This is my first blog post since I have been back because the Internet has been so bad and I just do not have the patience. It has seemed a little faster lately and I thought that I would give it a try. We have been enjoying being back here in Malawi and have delved back into the culture and our work here. We love our church (Flood - church plant from S.D.'s Flood) and we wanted to give you some pictures in case you are curious. These are from a couple of Sunday's ago when we had out communion service.

We have been going through the book of Acts and Ephesians looking how we can can be changed and help effect change in out community through Christ's example. Our pastor Shaun is a great teacher and has a gift how applying God's word into real life situations and for being a huge encourager in a place that can be very oppressive and dangerous at times.

Josh and Cody have been driving the big ABC bus full of the college students to church every Sunday. Their ministry is really starting to thrive and they have begun to pick up some people from the village near by as well. Two of the guys who have been coming have started their own discipleship group in the village. It is such a blessing to hear things that that and seeing people growing in out church!

I have been serving in the children's ministry teaching in the 7-11 year olds. The kids are super cute and I love the diversity in the group. We are totally blessed to have found a church here that is helping us to be stretched and grow. We are looking forward to the Christmas Outreach we are going to have again this year. People are invites from all over Lilongwe who are not going to have nice Christmas Dinner and we feed them, play games and just celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!

2009-05-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Josh's Current Constuction Projects

2009-05-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of some of the projects Josh is currently working on in addition to all the maintenance issues of the campus! He is a busy, busy man but I know that this is exactly where God wants him to be! He works long hard days and has many frustrations but is getting a lot done here at ABC with God's help.

This building is going to be the cafeteria for the Academy School. Josh and the workers are putting up huge trusses so that the roofs can be thatched with hay. It is hard work without cranes and large equipment, but these amazing guys get it done somehow! Check out these amazing pictures!

Amazing Avocados!

2009-05-23T02:33:00.001-07:00

Tis the season to eat avocados! Look at the size of these things! God knew that we would have to go to a place that would give us Californians the avocados we so love! What a blessing! It is amazing the things you get excited about here in Africa.

Run-in with a Spitting Cobra! YIKES!

2009-05-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

Driving home from Bible study last night we saw a huge snake on the road and Josh sped up to run over it. When we got out to look at what type of snake it was, we found out that it was SPITTING COBRA!! It was still very much alive and he and Bob poked at it with a stick a few times and just couldn't help teasing it!!

Yes, Amy and I decided they are officially crazy and take no responsibility for their adventures! :)

Farewell to William!

2009-05-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

Josh's partner William, that he has been working with since August, left last month to go work for SIM building houses and churched in the bush of Sudan. He was such a great guy and Josh and the workers miss him so much already!! To say thank you for all he has done they decided to give him a "Malawian Farewell"! Bob and Josh and the boys bought a couple of goats to roast and they had a great party! Here are some fun pictures of the party and the goat slaughtering. The big pile of white stuff on everyone's place is called encima.

Encima is a maize mush kind of thing that is the staple food here in Africa. They always tease and say they are not full or you did not feed them if your meal does not include Encima! They love it! I have had it many times and it is really not bad!

Enjoy the pictures!

Zomba

2009-04-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

On the last week of spring break I was invited by some friends to go to one of the most beautiful places I have ever been....ZOMBA! WOW! It was like Africa, mixed with Oregon, mixed with Julian and Big Bear. I don't know how else to describe it but it wasn't like anything that I thought existed in Africa at all. My friends Dan & Beth and their baby Elijah invited me and my friend Michelle to come along since Josh was still in Tanzania on the outreach trip with Bob. We got to stay at a little rustic cabin for as cheap as $7 per night per person and the food shopping between the five of us was super reasonable. While we were there we really got to rest and relax. It was pretty chilly because we were up in the mountains, so we made a fire every morning and night which was a nice change. It just felt like being home for a few days for some strange reason? Anyway, we went hiking to the top of the plateau and stopped at many beautiful dams and waterfalls on our way up to Queen's view at the very top. It was a little foggy, but so beautiful! We could see all of Zomba and it was a treat for the eyes!

The dirt in Zomba is a deep rich red and has a texture similar to clay. It got a little slippery at times and it did not help that I brought one old converse shoe and one new converse shoe to hike in!! He he he! Oh well! Here are some pictures of some of the unbelievable African men who walk up to the top of the plateau (several hours each way) every day to cut wood, load it on their bikes, and then walk it all back down the mountain stacked ridiculously high. Some of these guys do not even wear any shoes at all and I just can't get over how beat up and different their feet look from ours! Ouch! We are so wimpy, at least I feel wimpy compared to these guys! Check them out! They do all of this for maybe 700 Kwatcha a day (about $5 US dollars).

Anyway, after hiking and visiting the trout farm, we got to go horseback riding the next day through the beautiful wilderness. A lady right across the street from where we were staying had horses so it was the perfect thing to do on a fresh, crisp morning.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the hike but they do not do this place any justice at all! I was grateful for a few days away from campus life! It can get a little claustrophobic around here during the holidays when everyone is away. It was a wonderful blessing that I will never forget! Here are some more pictures of our fun time!

Putzi Fly! Oh my!

2009-03-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

So last week was one of the coolest, yet grossest weeks of my entire life. I left to go on my first little safari get away and I noticed that I had some strange bites on my thighs and my leg. I just figured it was some random bite, because it seems like you have a new one each week, so I left on the safari and the next day the bumps started to turn into little boil looking things that were really painful. The first thing that popped into my mind was that it might be the dreaded Putzi Fly! My friend Michelle had one on her leg and she said it was horrible. They are little flies that lay their eggs in damp clothes that have been left outside. When you put these damp clothes on the eggs hatch upon contact with human skin. After a few days you get a maggot that starts growing in your skin!! I hoped to God that this is not what I had, but when I got home and went to the clinic the diagnosis was confirmed - 8 Putzi Fly maggots were in my legs!! Gross!! To get the maggots out of your skin you have to smother them with Vaseline and then squeeze. The little maggots just squeeze out but it is very painful and horrible! The maggot also leaves a lovely hole in you skin that I am sure is going to leave huge scars! All eight are now out of my body, but now they itch horribly and it is very uncomfortable! The doctor here is great and I am going to back tomorrow for a re-check. We also got our dryer fixed which was the whole reason I got them in the first place! This is just one of those wonderful African memories that I will never forget!! Thank you God for getting me through!

Here is a picture of the first four maggots that came out of my skin!! Enjoy!

Trip to the Beautiful Village of Dzuwa

2009-03-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Josh and I am some of our friends went to stay the night in the village with some of our Malawian friends that have recently graduated and left ABC to become missionaries in some nearby villages. The couple is Ronald and Ulemu, Ronald is the guy who Josh took over for when we came to ABC in July. They are an amazing couple who serve whole heartedly in the village of Dzuwa. Ronald is now working with the local pastors and doing some mentoring and teaching and Ulemu teaches at the small school in the center of the village. She made is possible for us to be able to do a mini VBS for the 200 kids that live there. The kids saw us drive in and they just waited outside the house for the "uzungus" (white people) to come out and play with them. There were so many kids! It was great!! We had the best time with the kids just singing, dancing, skipping and playing. It was nothing like the VBS days in America, but somehow it was more fun than I have ever had with a large group of kids like that. We had nothing but a guitar and ourselves, but we had a blast!

Here is Ronald and Ulemu and some pictures of the adorable kids!!

When we first arrived on Saturday we got to pick Maze corn for our dinner in the fields for our very first time. It was surprisingly a really fun experience and I feel like I learned so much about the plant that I stare at everyday while driving around town. Maize is the staple food for 90% of the population in Malawi and we got to see how it is dried and made, really cool! We spent a lot of time cooking in their outdoor kitchen - really hard work. I don't know how Ulemu does it everyday for all three meals? WOW what a great wife!! That is sacrificial love ladies if I have ever seen it!

We were able to stay the night and go to church the next day which was a great experience! We met another great couple who lives next door to Ronald and Ulemu and Josh and I ended up sleeping in their house. Their names are Eliot and Gloria and their cute baby is Chico for short; her full name I cannot remember, but I know that it means providence in Chichewa.

The next day at church we could not understand a word that was being said, but the singing was beautiful and the service was really interesting and different. We sat on concrete seats that were lined up without a lot of legroom, but we made it through the two hour service and really had a very good time. W They are wonderful people and we are looking forward to visiting at least once a month. It is only a two and a half hour drive and maybe if a team comes to East Valley next year we can go and visit for a night!!

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T06:21:00.000-08:00

This year had turned out to be one of great change and unexpected adventure! Looking back to where we were was last year in January and the direction that we thought our lives were heading is a little mind blowing. It just goes to show that nobody knows the future except for God. No matter how much you plan, and organize and pursue the things you think are best, God usually has a different plan. We are so glad that He has brought us to Malawi and that we have this opportunity to get a different perspective on life. My New Years Resolution is to pursue that whole heartedly and for the first time try not to get in the way of what He wants for my life. It is a such a relief to just surrender and be in this place right here and now! So I will go on teaching these amazing students that God has given me and Josh will continue to work on improving and building the ABC campus and ministering to lives of all he comes in contact with throughout his day.

Here are some pictures from this year and some of people and places around us that we have gotten to visit. I hope you enjoy them...

Fishin' with the Boys

2008-11-08T23:26:00.000-08:00

We came across some boys fishin' so I had to stop and checked it out. It looked like a little cesspool with no fish that could possibly live in their.

So after a lengthy conversation, which consisted of the only sentence they knew in English, "Give me your money", (which when there 5 is kinda funny, but when there 35 can get a little uncomfortable.) I decided to take their pole and show them how it's done.

Ah ha! Success! I know it doesn't look like much, but you know what they say, the camera takes off 10, or 20 pounds.

OK, OK so you caught me again the boy actually schooled me! I tried to catch one for about 10 minutes, gave the pole back, and in 10 seconds he hooked up. He was nice enough to let me hold it up for the camera though!

Reading Day

2008-10-15T00:52:00.001-07:00

October 6th was Reading Day at ABC Christian Academy! This is an amazing day devoted to getting students excited about reading! It all begins weeks before when students are deciding on their favorite character and how to make or find that costume. It myself was Pocahontas because I did not bring a costume and that is the only one that I could find. Others were so much more creative and came up with some great stuff. A picture is worth a thousand words so here are some pictures of the parade that we did first thing in the morning when all the kids got to school.

This was such a great day. In my classroom we moved all the desks aside and brought in our favorite blankets and pillows! We made one huge bed on the floor and lounged around a read all day. I had a lot of parents come in and read stories to the kids and I read a lot of my Teacher Read Aloud book Wayside School (the kids love it!). We also had the parade and a special Chapel just for Reading day where the kids got nominated for different awards for their costumes. It was a great start to the school year and a wonderful way to motivate the students to read, read, read!

The Joy of Teaching!

2008-09-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks but I feel like I am finally starting to the hang of this teaching full time thing! There are so many details and so much responsibility! I feel like this week I have been able to catch up and get ahead of myself a little. I had a rough first couple of weeks where I felt like I was just drowning, but God is so gracious and he is carrying me through.

My students are wonderful and each one is so unique and special. It is so strange teaching them an American curriculum because they have never even heard of 75% of the states in America and almost know almost zero about our history and founding fathers. To make it even better, I am also teaching them about U.S. dollars and our system of measurement. I have never felt so foreign in my life - yikes!! One thing that I am definitely experiencing here is an awareness that there is a bigger world than San Diego or even California. There are amazing, interesting things that I never took the time to notice and learn about when I was absorbed into my own little world.

We have a great staff of teachers who are fun, creative, loving, and supportive! I am enjoying getting to know them all and sharing in our morning devotionals. We meet 3 times a week and they are just the right way to get your morning started off right. I have also started going to the girl's bible study that all the teacher's go to at our friend Annie and Megan's house. We are studying the Beatitudes and I am really enjoying getting to know everyone on a more intimate level.

After school is also a busy time. ABC has a great sports program and the teachers all have to volunteer one or two days a week to help make it happen for the kids. My wonderful neighbors Marley and Bech that are here for a year from Mississippi helped start some new clubs. Marley is teaching ballet to the younger girls - so cute! Bech and I decided to start an outdoor Arts and Crafts Club that has been very successful so far. We have been building our own fence to enclose the area where our garden is going to be. We are going to prepare the ground for planting, make compost, plant and harvest our own fruits and vegetables. We will also do some basket weaving, tin making, macrame, painting, pottery and all kinds of other great stuff. I will keep you posted on how it is going and try to take a lot of pictures. I will work on getting some more stuff for you guys to see. Sorry we are not posting more but life is super busy and we are doing our best!

Our Club

Pumping septic tanks in Africa!

2008-09-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Wondering how septic tanks are pumped? So was I and I thought maybe they used a bucket or something, nope they have septic pumping trucks here -PRAISE GOD!! So I think I've been here about a month or two and already we've pumped 3 septic tanks. One thing is for certain no one's shy about getting messy. If there's a job that needs to be done, just jump in. So to break it down, pumping a tank cost 7000 Kwatcha ($49 US dollars). This includes everything and I think that's pretty reasonable. The actual process of pumping it though is quite procedure. First you locate the concrete lids for a small tank (there are two 2 1/2' x 2 1/2'). The lager tanks will have 3 lids, the third lid is huge being a lid to a separate the tank. Next you dig them up, open them, and grab a long skinny tree trunk to unplug the leech holes and begin to stir the mush. After it is all stirred up nicely, in goes the snorkel tube! It then sucks up the waste and off you go! Fun times here in Malawi at ABC!!

maintenance, maintenance, maintenance

2008-09-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

Did somebody say maintenance? Well there's definitely not a shortage of things to be maintained and built. I want to share with you whats going on on the building end of things. I will start with some of the new and exciting things.

Here are the new ABC guest huts, this is where short term teams and guests stay, the huts are pretty much done but the main lodge is still underway. The huts are very cool, and are very nice inside. (I will get some pics of the inside some other time)

Here's the inside of the main lodge, all the trusses and beams are tree trunks and the roofs are thatched!

Scaffolding in the main loge.

This particular part of the project will also temporarily serve as the preschool. The loge was divided in half by a partition wall, so the front half will be a classroom, and the back a kitchen and dining hall. The kitchen may have to wait to be finished though as the funds for this project are still being raised.

There are 2 more new buildings going up on campus, a pediatric ward (it will be the first and only one in in Malawi) and a 2 story building which will host a science lab, Art room, and a couple of other rooms as well for the Academy. These buildings are being managed by a Man named William. He's in charge of construction/maintenance of Academy and Clinic but for the next few weeks I get the privilege to help out with these while he is back home for a little visit.
(Back of PED Ward) (Main Entrance) (Plans)

The money for the Ped Ward was donated by a Church in Whittier CA.

Academy building
A whole lot of brick, steel, cement, sand, rock! So thats it for the new construction.

Here's a project a hard working man can appreciate. A mile of trench with a 4 inch water line in it to help the water pressure challenge in the upper part of the campus. Now you may be thinking, man, that's allot of trench, and you're right! It would take couple weeks for a trencher to trench that ditch, whelp try a pick and a shovel!!!!!!! Can you imagine
digging that by hand? (the pic only shows a portion of the trench)

I find this next pic amusing for the simple fact that it makes me think of some taco shop food, yeah you know a fat carne asada burrito mmmmm! The problem= you cant get any real mexican food here, and mexican corn tortillas are non existent. Some have tried using maze flower but it's not the same, so with the corn tortilla shortage there's no normal tortilla chips. Luckily the Mexican San Diegans that we are, Amy Louise has developed a chip using the limited recourse's we have! Taste a little different, but its a crunchy triangle tortilla.

Blantyre or Bust!

2008-08-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

So this weekend we took a trip to a major city named Blantyre where there are a lot more cars for sale than Lilongwe. It was a four hour drive and we got to see a lot more of Africa than the quick trip home from the airport. We drove through many villages and saw a lot of interesting sights and activities! It looked a lot like Lilongwe, but there was some beautiful mountains and countryside!

The drive was a little crazy because the roads are rough and there are so many people packed into cars and riding their bikes on the narrow roads with no bike lane!! Yikes!

We stayed the night at a hotel in town and then went car shopping at the local Game shopping center (similar idea as Wal-Mart, but NOT!) We made some calls and people started bringing us cars to test drive. We drove a lot of them and were not sure if we were going to find anything. The last car that was brought to us was perfect and was also the right price! Here is a picture of our 1998 Toyota Rav4. It is in great condition and is more than we could have ever hoped for! God is so good and we are blessed to have out own means of transportation again!

On the way home we were all a little tired and cranky but we managed to find some things to make us laugh!!

Praises

We got an amazing car! - thanks for all the prayers!
I was super sick for a few days and I am feeling much better (MS - Malawi Stomach)
Orientation starts next week and we get to learn a lot about the history of the college and our role here at ABC. We also get to meet the rest of the new people who have arrived over the past week!
The Academy's container came that had tons of school supplies and personal things for some of the missionaries that just arrived!

Prayer Requests

On the way home Josh was feeling like he was getting Malawi Stomach too! :(
Please pray that we learn a lot this week and have the time and energy to get everything together before school starts next week!

Figuring out life in Africa

2008-07-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

Mulibwangi - (hello/how are you in Chechewa)

So we are actually feeling back to normal today!! It has been an interesting couple of weeks trying to figure out the crazy system that this country functions on!! Things are going really well and we are actually learning how to do so many things like exchanging our money and how to use it and convert it in our head. Kwatcha is the Malawian currency and the exchange rate is 1000 Kwatcha = $7 U.S. dollars. Their highest bill is 500 so everyone has to carry around huge gobs of money and you feel like you just robbed the bank or something!! Here is a picture of their currency and also a picture of our huge house key!

Another thing we are learning how to do is drive on the opposite side of the road!! It is so different and it does not help that everyone is a crazy driver!! They have a lot of round abouts and it can get a little sketchy trying to decide who's turn it is and what way you are supposed to go. Here is picture of the truck that ABC is going to let Josh use for the two years as a work truck and here is Josh driving on the opposite side of the road - scary :)!! We are hoping to get another small car that we can have for personal use, but this will be great for now! We drove it home from the first night we were here and it is getting easier!! I thought I might be able to walk to ABC or ride a bike, but it is a little scarier and a little farther then we thought.

We also went into the downtown area and got to go to a bunch of different stores and grocery stores. Here are some pictures of the places we visited. This might help you get a better sense of the town and everything. Yes - there is a store called 7-11 and it is fabulous!! It is much more than the simple convenience store it is in the states! They even have a butchery with some pretty good meat - who knew?

Here are some other pictures of a really nice restaurant that the "uzungus" (white people) go to. It is called Mama Mia's and they had some really yummy pizza and gelato!! It is also located in a really nice shopping mall that has an expensive grocery store that reminds me of Harvest Ranch or something. There is not other place around here like this so it is kind of weird to go through the gates and see something that feels like you are in America. I call it the "Fashion Valley" of Malawi!!

Overall, we are doing really well!! Trying to get internet and a couple of other things worked out has been a challenge, but God is really stretching us (and I'm glad!!) Last week we both really started our jobs and having a purpose again felt really good! We have been meeting the people who are on campus and we also got to hang out with a lot of the wonderful students who go to Bob and Amy's house all the time. I cannot wait to get to know them better and have a chance to really minister to them and also have the opportunity for them to minister to us!. The campus is really empty right now because it is still break until the 15th. It will be exciting to meet everyone that is still coming and see ABC in action. We have visited two different churches and we are going to try another one next Sunday before we decide where we want to go. We are missing everyone at home and praying for you daily! I will try and get some more pictures to send of our house, my classroom and Josh hard at work!! We love you all!

Praises:

We have internet in our house - finally!!
We are happy and well adjusted
We have everything we need - God is so good!

Prayer Requests:

We really need to buy a car because we cannot borrow the campus car for much longer
We also are missing our family and friends and need prayer that we will be clinging to God and each other like never before
We would love prayer for our jobs that are really starting this week full force!!
We also are trying to decide on what church we are going to attend

Our New Life in Malawi

2008-07-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Wow! This has been a crazy few days for us! Our 30+ hour flight on Ethiopian Airlines was very interesting and very long. There were so many new smells and new sights to see that it was almost overwhelming. We stopped in Virginia, Rome, Ethiopia and then Malawi. We arrived at about 3pm Malawi time on Monday and we were greeted by Bob, Amy, Nia, and Analise. They were a sight for our sore tired eyes and they were so helpful and wonderful. We waited expectantly for our baggage which took a long time to get off the plane, but it came!! We got all 15 pieces of luggage which is a rare thing for Africa!! Here is a picture of all of us at the airport with all of our luggage. The other picture is of Dennis and Moses who are two of Bob and Amy's friends from ABC that came to help bring all of our luggage home.

Our last week in America

2008-07-12T11:27:00.001-07:00

Well, we cannot believe that it is almost time to leave for Africa. It seems like just yesterday we were beginning to plan and prepare and here we are exactly one week away from leaving. We have gotten to spend a lot of time with family and friends over the past few weeks and we wish that we could cram everyone into this last seven days! I think we have gained 10 pounds from all the breakfasts, lunches and dinners we have been having with our friends and family :)

This last week we have made it a point to plan nothing so that we can pack up and do all of our crazy errands and last minute shopping trips. Tomorrow is our last Sunday at church and it is such a strange feeling to think that we are going to this far away land with a new church and new friends, but we find great comfort knowing that we are still serving the same God! We will write as soon as possible and tell you all about our 30 hour flight and I am sure we will have some stories to tell. Missing you all already!!

Our Apartment

2008-07-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed that the man who had the apartment before left us everything that you see in these pictures. We bought the refridgerator and the stove and he left all the furniture, dishes, drapes, everything! Wow! God is so good and he provides exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or hope for! We are only a few blocks from the ABC campus and we will probably be doing a lot of walking unless we are able to buy a car. This compound that we are going to be living on has a wall around it and there are many other people from ABC that are going to be our neighbors. We are looking forward to meeting new friends and we are so excited to just go and see all of this in person.

Pictures of our Apartment

2008-07-12T11:10:00.001-07:00

Catching up with the Ketchums

2008-07-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry we have not written since April! Who new that moving to another country for two years would take so much time and effort!! We are starting to count down the days until we go and reflecting on all that God has done to prepare us to go to Malawi. Our wonderful friends Bob and Amy Stauffacher, who are currently living in Malawi at ABC, have secured a very nice apartment for us. It is fully furnished and we are so blessed to have such a beautiful place. Here are some pictures that they sent to us.

Our Journey Begins...

2008-04-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

Wow! God is so amazing. At the beginning of this year we had no idea that God had plans for us to go to Africa and here we are less than three months away from leaving. The doors are flinging open and we have so many things to be praising Him for! The support is coming in and we are busy, busy, preparing to go. Please pray that we can sell our car quickly and that we can tie up all of the details and loose ends. We are so excited and we cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!