Pants anyone????

Ten of eleven passengers have arrived safe and sound in Malawi. We arrived yesterday at lunch time and quickly began to see what being flexible really means. We also have had a lesson in the pace of life here in Malawi...nothing moves quickly. We appreciate all the prayers that brought us here safe and sound. We do however wish we would have asked for some of you to pray that our luggage also arrived safe and sound. Currently we have 10 people and one suitcase. 14 suitcases did not arrive. We took a trip to the market yesterday and were able to purchase some supplies like toothbrushes and underwear, but clothes were hard to come by.

I woke up this morning wondering if the clothes I had washed in the sink would be dry enough to put on. I suppose if this is our biggest worry then we are lucky. We are learning the difference between "needs" and "wants" and despite this bump in the road everyone seems to be in high spirits. I know that everyone spent the last few days packing their bags and making sure they would have all the things they "need", now we all laugh and realize that all we really "need" is each other and the clothes on our backs. We had a roof to sleep under and a wonderful dinner to fill our bellies with so we are living better than many.

Today we will journey to the national park and enjoy safari. Everyone is excited and not worried about what we don't have. Instead we remain focused on what we can learn about Malawi and what we can learn from this experience.

To start a trip like this without anything except what we carried with us is a wonderful way to see how we can adapt and come together as a group. I have no doubt we will get through this and be so thankful when the luggage does arrive. It is supposed to arrive Thursday afternoon so I will update you all then and let you know if we are still sharing pants at that point or if the luggage made its flight on Thursday.

We are also missing one volunteer who was traveling from Egypt to Ethiopia to meet us yesterday. She was not able to make her connection and with no other flights to Malawi until Thursday she will hopefully join us along with our bags.

Keep us in your thoughts and know that we are all thinking of our friends and family as we begin this life changing experience together (without our pants).