Our December 2017 Malawi Missions Trip Highlights
By Susan Bushard
Photos by Paul Mattson, Jill Mattson and Susan Bushard
 The 
degree of uncertainty when going on your first missions trip to a third-world country is different for everyone. I had a basket full of varied emotions as I prepared for the trip, but once we arrived in Malawi and I saw Shadreck and Yami, I felt like I was home.
As a team of six, we were abundantly blessed to be a part of so much the week we were there. We were able to journey to see the maize farm, and even though it rained and our vehicle got stuck in the mud, the experience of seeing that planted maize growing and meeting some of the "farm hands" was beyond "a-maizing"!!
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It was truly one of the most heart-piercing experiences...to see first-hand the fruition of those words God whispered to me back in 2011, "a lot of a little is a lot". To gaze at the maize and know because of many hands, many lives will be touched and perhaps saved.
We also were able to purchase two brand new Singer sewing machines that our friends at First English Lutheran Church in Ohio provided the money for. These sewing machines will allow our village women to sew Days for Girls Kits for not only the young ladies and women of our village but also to start a micro-business!
We ex perienced the celebration of welcoming us to the ministry site when we first arrived there. We purchased 120 +/- bars of soap and spent hours putting the Days for Kits together which we helped distribute to approximately 60 young ladies and also a dozen or so women. We did several different Bible lessons, we purchased 500 new plastic dinner plates and a couple dozen new plastic cups for the ministry. We participated in and spent the entire Christmas Meal day with our village orphans and widows, 
we worshipped
with some of the them at one of the local churches. We learned how to "mud a house" and pump the water well, we showed them how to use the sewing machines...and we played with the children and conversed with the women.
We made our own "drinkable" warm water. We sweated and prayed often for God to send a breeze. Some nights we slept without air conditioning or even a fan. We sleptwit h bugs in our room. We ate PB&J sandwiches for lunch. Our luggage was lost for a few days.
We took cold showers. Some showers (like mine) had no shower curtain. We worshipped in a church that had no pews and a dirt floor. Grocery
stores and malls
had armed police.
Traffic consisted of vehicle
s, bicycles, bicycle taxis, van taxis, people walking, various animals and frequent police "check point" stops. Yet none of these "inconveniences" meant a thing. The entire trip was an incr
edible blessing to be a part of a
s we put our Faith into
action with "boots o
n the ground" and love in our hearts. It's a week I will forever cherish...and never forget.
Note: There will be a special presentation of the mission trip during both worship services on Sunday, March 18th. Pictures, stories, project updates will be presented. Come hear what God is doing in Malawi!
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Palm Sunday:
group at Immanuel meets weekly to sew
March 2, Denny and I embarked on a 4.5 hour drive to Warren's, WI with 11 teenagers to a LCMC Youth Rally. Thirteen people, luggage, coolers, blankets and pillows made for a tight fit into the 15-passenger van, but we all settled in nicely for the long drive. After we arrived and unpacked the van, we went to the main lodge and listened to a great band called
As many of you know, I am resigning my position as youth coordinator, so this opportunity was a great way to spend some quality time with the kids and provide a chance for them to witness 300 other teenagers praising God.
Plans are underway for the Women's Retreat will begin Friday April 13th at 
The February Meal With A Mission benefited the Harvest Table/Soup Kitchen Garden.The funds raised will be used for steel fence posts and seeds and plants.
