Christmas PLAY

We will be having a Christmas Play on the evening of Dec. 13. Please leave a comment if your child would like to participate. We won't be having rehearsals until after Thanksgiving, but we will practice the music during Children's worship on Sundays. We will post everything you need to know on this blog! I hope you will be part of this great evening!! Blessings..Tricia

Fishing For the Word

Okay...we are having way too much fun on Sunday mornings at 9am. Today the word that Sam Sam the Fisherman found for us was "Kindness". And this is the video we watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYRNy_7qCLw

New Sunday Format

This last Sunday started the first Sunday of 2 worship services at HopePointe. That also means 2 worship times for children. So they are at 9 and at 11:10. Also there is a Discipleship time at 10:00. I will get some pictures up of our new stage. It is really fun!!

Porridge and Formula

This is the sweet conclusion of all the pennies that were raised by children at Hopepointe Church in The Woodlands,Texas. The money was sent to Malawi and spent to buy 100 pounds of porridge and 35 cans of powdered formula...enough to feed the babies at the Crisis Nursery for 4 months. Mary Moore Lowenfield spoke to Hopepointe church. Link here to listen to her talk.http://hopepointe.org/index.php?nid=89549&s=gl Thanks for sharing Mary Moore! You helped us to vicariously share the love from Africa and in a small way, be part of your time there. Fiyfi is sitting on top of 100 pounds of porridge!
Mary Moore with little Ruth.
Mary Moore with her favorite little baby.

Oh the Babies!!

It's so much fun to keep discovering pictures of our little friends!! And Mary Moore hasn't even come back yet!! Put August 16th on your calendar to hear Mary Moore speak at 10am Hopepointe Church. She gets back Monday the 10th at 2:30 pm. Please pray for travel mercies and that it won't hurt her heart too much to leave the babies..

Mary Moore and Chiosmo Joseph

Never did i really expect to find treasures on Facebook, but tonight I did!!! The first photo I have seen of Mary Moore holding one of the babies in the Crisis Nursery in Malawi. This is Chiosmo Joseph of whom we told the story in an earlier blog. He is a little miracle saved and safe in the arms of those who minister at the nursery....sweet.

Mid Week Children's Program

We are considering a mid week children's program from something like 5-7pm including pizza. We would learn songs and skits that we could then perform for hospitals or anywhere and we might later on use this time for rehearsing parts of our Christmas play.

So... here is the question: does anyone want to suggest the best night of the week for this?

Precious Money Gets Spent

Today was the day that all the money got to exactly where it was intended for. Mary Moore went with a driver and a nurse to the factory where porridge is made. Well the dry stuff that gets made into porridge. She was able to purchase 4 twenty five pound feed sacks full for a grand total of 100 pounds of porridge. That cost was 18,000 Kwachas!?

Then they went to somewhere else and bought 35 cans of dry formula that cost the rest of the money and that was that. She said that should take care of the 17 babies currently there for four meals a day for at least 4 months. Yeah!!!

And we all helped !!!

When Mary Moore returns (soon) we will have photos of all this. In the meantime...you will just have to wait.

Oh... I just realized that there has been no way to comment on posts until now. So feel free now to leave some thoughts.

404 dollars is about 60,000 kwacha in Malawi, Africa

This cute little picture reminds me all the cute faces that came to Vacation Bible School and raised $404 which converts to 60,000 kwacha!Doesn't that sound like alot?! Mary Moore is being taken by the driver of the lady-Mwawi who is the head of the Crisis Nursery, today to get the money from an ATM and then to go buy formula and porridge. She will let us know how much she gets with all those kwachas. She said 100 kwacha buys a coke. But somehow I'm not getting a picture of how that relates to formula and porridge.

I don't know why, but I am soooooo excited for her shopping adventure. She promised to take photos so we could all feel like we went with her.

Mary Moore will arrive back in the USA on Monday August 10th. She promises she will bring lots of stories and pictures from the babies. I can't wait!!

Mary Moore's Birthday in Malawi, Africa!!

Fun fun this world of cyberspace... I got up early this morning in search of Mary Moore because it is her birthday and because she has been in a remote village in Africa with no power and no shower for 5 days!!! And...suddenly I saw a liitle box pop up on my computer screen that said "mama!!". So so happy that made me!!

So this is what she told me... she is is back to the city where the nursery and babies are. She took her first shower in 5 days. (What a great birthday present!!) The group from Ministry of Hope that picked her up from the village brought signs that said "Happy Birthday" and that was a strange sight in the village as they don't celebrate birthdays. They don't even know when their birthdays are! She said everyday is the same, they don't really keep track of them. I asked her if they use calendars and she said "sort of".

But the sweetest thing was that they made her "special porridge" not because it was her birthday, but because she was leaving the village... She was the first white person to ever stay in their village... Happy Birthday Mary Moore!!!
Mary Moore in Oxford, England on her 4th birthday.
Mary Moore in Charleston, South Carolina on her 2nd Birthday.

Mary Moore went back to the little village in Malawi, Africa with no power or modern conveniences yesterday and will be there until Friday which is her birthday.

We spoke to her on Sunday and I asked her if she was studying up her scripture in anticipation of this week. She said that actually what had helped her was all the notes she had taken over the years in her Bible. She said that as they called her to do her impromtu teachings last she realized that if she turned to a page with lots of writing on it, it wasn't that hard to teach. So... remember that the next time you have the opportunity to write notes in your Bible. You never know when it will be needed!

Unfailing Love

Well, wouldn't you just know it...Mary Moore cam back from a few days in the Village with no modern comforts at all and said her eye was healed. Just a little bruised on the eyelid! It probably looks fabulous, just the right shade! So, thanks for the prayers!

She shared in our online chat yesterday that she taught preschoolers, widows and teenagers! Was asked by the teacher to give 5 inpromtu Bible studies (at different times) and learned to make and eat nsumi made of flour and water. She goes back to the Village on Monday. I do wonder if she will be studying up on some Bible this weekend?! She is back with the babies for the weekend though. I can't wait to hear how all the little ones are doing.

He Carries then Close to His Heart

It is important as you read these wonderful stories from Malawi, Africa that we remember how much the Lord loves these babies. He has a plan for them. Yes, he called one little baby girl home this summer, but oh He loves each one and you and me. Pray for them as you read their stories.

And please pray for Mary Moore as she was hit in the eye with a soccer ball yesterday and lost her vision for 30 minutes and has a swollen shut eye. She left today for a week to 10 days in a poor village with no shower or toilets. She is going to be teaching some preschoolers and then will return to the Crisis Nursery for the remainder of her time in Malawi. Please pray the eye stays clean and protected. Thanks.

More Malawi Stories part 5- Ruth

Is this one of the cutest babies you have ever seen? Her name is Ruth and I think in an earlier post there was a picture of her in a black and white cow print. First of all Ruth has alot of style as you can see in her choice of clothes!! Mary Moore shared a little insight into this baby girl: ruth, i dont know her exact story...but she was so malnourished when she got to the nursery that her hips and legs are like jelly, she can't use them....they do phys therapy on her everyday. she is 8 months old and looks like a newborn.

So... continue to pray for all these children. I feel so blessed to have a bird's eye view into their little lives and so proud of the children at HopePointe church for bringing in their pennies to help these precious ones.

More Malawi Stories part 4 -Chisomo Joseph

This is a photo of my new friend Katie who has shared with me many of the photos from Malawi. She is holding a precious boy named Chisomo Joseph. Mary Moore shared with me a story about him.... there is the story i told you about chisomo joseph.....how his mom died during childbirth, his father and uncles blamed joseph for it, and were going to bury him alive in the coffin...and his aunt found out and escaped with him in the middle of the night to the crisis nursery. he's been there ever since. he just turned 1.

This was definitely one of the stories I could not share with the children at Vacation Bible School, but I wanted to let you know. The Crisis Nursery tries to place these children back in their villages after they can eat porridge (6 months) if they are well babies, to be cared for by someone in their village or by a family member. This little on can never return to his village. Please pray for a safe home for him. Thanks.

Porridge and Fiyfi

In the previous post I was talking about porridge and guess what? I found someone who had been at the crisis nursery in Malawi and was feeding a baby porridge!!

Also in the same group of photos was a picture of Fiyfi...the little one and a half year old twin that started walking last week! Actually Fiyfi is also the baby eating porridge!!

There is also a picture of Mary Moore singing in the church choir!!

Vacation Bible school 2009

Gosh what a funny feeling not to wake up and rush to church for VBS! Well the gift goes on even if our week has come and gone. I have gone to the bank 3 times with a big red bucket to deposit all the pennies raised for the children in Malawi , Africa. Mary Moore Lowenfield is there this summer and is using all the money to buy much needed food, books and clothing for the babies.

She told us that the first food the babies eat is porridge! We really don't even know the term "porridge" except in fairy tales. But it does conjure up a sweet picture . Hopefully in August when mary moore gets back, we can see what porridge looks like and see some babies eating it!

She also said some of the babies were growing and can't straighten out their legs in their feetie pajamas. So she is looking for some bigger sizes for our little friends

More Malawi Stories part 3

Here is a sweet story from Mary Moore this week about a Mobile Medical Unit she was on:

It was our busiest clinic so far. 180 people to be seen, and there were 4 of us working, plus one doctor....made things interesting. I started working the pharmacy, which is basically a trunk full of medicine and ziploc bags. Pharmacy is so hard for me--the prescription is for 10 or 15 pills, most of the time something as simple as Ibuprofen. I always slip a few more in than the doctor prescribed...and sometimes I couldn't read what the doctor had written and would have to just guess what it looked like. Never good. I was relieved when Sydney asked me to swtich and go take weight and pulse.

So, in order to tell the Malawians that I want to take their pulse (don't know how to say that in Chichewa), I usually hold out my arms, palms up, so that they will do the same. A five year old girl dressed in a holey salmon pink sweater and navy blue skirt was next in line for pulse...and although she was very adorable, I wasn't too thrilled--most children scream when it comes to their turn, frightened at the sight of an "azungu" (white person). Something different happened this time.

I held out my arms, smiling to let her know that I wasn't going to hurt her. There was a brief pause--she looked at me, looked at my arms--then smiled and rushed forward to give me the biggest hug. She thought that's what I meant.

I was so touched. I hugged her tightly back, and held it for a little while, forgetting that her mother is right behind her, watching the whole scene. Quickly I let go, and said "Pepani" (sorry) to her mother, a little embarassed. I didn't take the pulse of either the mother or daughter, even though I was supposed to...I hated to spoil the moment, and by no means did I want her to think that my outstretch arms meant anything other than a request for a hug.

The clinic can be so exhausting...mentally and physically. It's draining to see the poor, poor condition of these people and know that we can only do so much to help them, and then leave. The hug completely released me of my exhaustion. It was such a sweet moment. Such a sweet reminder that God is amongst us. And that He loves us.

More Malawi Stories

This little love is Shown. Mary Moore told us about he and his sister when we got her live on the phone from Africa on Thursday of Vacation Bible school. This is their story from her:Shown and Fifi, the oldest babies at the nursery...they are twins, about a year and a half, and their mom died when they were born. Their family wasn't able to take care of them so they brought them to the nursery. they were supposed to go back to the village this year, bc the family said they could care for them now, but they had changed their minds so now they are stuck at the nursery indefinitely. fifi just learned to walk today and it was so exciting.

Stories from Malawi, Africa

The funds raised by the VBS (vacation Bible School) children are being used to buy porridge, clothes and books for the babies of the Ministry of Hope Crisis nursery. This summer our very own Mary Moore Lowenfield has had and still is having the most amazing experience of working in that very nursery. She received a grant from Davidson College (her school) to work and live in Malawi for the summer months. This is baby Ruth.uth, i dont know her exact story...but she was so malnourished when she got to the nursery that her hips and legs are like jelly, she can't use them....they do physical therapy on her everyday. she is 8 months old and looks like a newborn.
Mary Moore Lowenfield in Malawi.

Vacation Bible school 2009

A great week has come to an end aboard the USS HopePointe. The cruise started Monday July 13 and ended Friday July 17, 2009. The passengers included 50 boys and girls ages 3-sixth graders. I'm not sure how old sixth graders are!! Anyway, it was quite an amazing jaunt. The food was spectacular! Some of the most creative ship fare ever to be seen. I will post some of the recipes soon, if i can talk our fabulous chef to share her secrets!!

Then of course the ship's daily log was amazing, informative, creative, colorful, well any sailing cruise ship would

have been jealous and envious to have one even half as cute!

The games on board were fabulous, the crafts were too fun, the skits took us back to Biblical times and we did some singing and jumping.

But... the most amazing thing was the daily in putting to the blue and red buckets with pennies to be sent to

the Crisis Nursery in Malawi, Africa. Today $143 was sent to Africa and the final count is not in yet, but I will keep you posted.