More pictures to enjoy

Melanie reading books to small group of kids from the local village kids at training center

A finished mural in Cottage #1 of Shadrack's daughter (right) and orphan daughter (on left).  They are best friends.

Christmas Miracle - The girls finally get to hold OSCAR !

Some great pictures

Playground with girls playing a little titanic

Kendall painting scripture

Orphans with Christmas gift

At Airport, ready to head home (sad day)

Friends and family,

We are at the Lilogwe International Airport waiting on our flight to Ethiopia (3 hours) and then from Ethiopia to Dulles (17 hours) and then from Dulles to Orlando (2 hours).  We are all very tired as we had a final late afternoon with the local village children.  We estimate that there were approx 500 children from the surrounding villages.  As we pulled into the training center, they began cheering "Azungu" which means "white people" as the boys were ready to play soccer and frisbee and the girls get their nails painted and tell stories.  We eneded the evening handing out all of the remaining cars, bracelets, candy, glow in the dark bracelets, etc.  We had exactly enough so all the kids went away very happy !!   It was an excellent way to end the trip.  As an extra bonus, batteries held up all night allowing us to have fans in the hot summer nights. 

Everyone is good today as we begin our long trip home.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.  I will add some pictures and hope to get some through the slow internet.

The Moellers and Mel

Our Amazing trip - We leave tomorrow

Hello friends and family,

After many days, I finally have internet access that is fast enough to provide a summary and pictures.  We have had an amazing week as we now complete our last day with some souvenir shopping, lunch and our last day with the local village children who come to the training center each day around 3:00.

For the many of you that have prayed, Morgan is now doing great.  She had high blood sugars for several days which caused high ketones.  This was concerning but Cathy and the Lord took care of here and now she is back to normal.

Since we have so much to say, Here are the highlights:

• We finished the playground with a swingset (3 swings) and a fort for the children.  The ground is covered with sand and the area is approx 30 feet by 30 feet.  Since completing, the local children have really enjoyed the playground and the swings are constantly used.
• The girls painted murals in all the bedrooms with scripture.  Shadrack and his wife Verain and their 4 children helped out.  The girls did a great job (see pictures below) and you can tell the Holy Spirit fills the home.  We are very impressed with the first family.  they are amazing and truly love the Lord.  The first  bunk-bed is complete for two of their daughters.  They were sleeping on the hard concrete.  The second bed is in process.
• Every day approximatley 200 village children from ages 2-12 come to the training center.  Basically, the word got out and now they come each day.  The girls read them bible stores, hold their hands and love on them, play games (duck duck goose, simon says, soccer).  They think Kendall is the bomb as she teaches them english by writing in the dirt and playing games.  Around sunset (3 hours), it begins to wind down and the girls are exhausted.  It has been a great blessing to all of us as we have been able to minister to these kids that have nothing.
• Earlier today, we went to their village to see how they live.  It is a local fishing village and very poor (no metal roofs).  They all yelled for Kendall and the other girls as we walked around.  Life is unimaginably different here.
• Chrismas dinner was amazing.  Zach and I got some butter fish (kind of like Snook) and I filled the fish (they have never seen fish filled since they eat the fish hole including the eyes.  I used Salad Supreme to blacken the fish and they loved it.  We also had rice, french fries, green beans, Ensima, cabbage relish and a bottle of soda.   It was a little heaven here as we enjoyed dinner outside under the large tree with a breeze. 
• OSCAR !!  A 3 year old son of a supervisor.  He is so cute and has played hard to get for the girls.  probably half of the pictures are of Oscar that have been taken.  Yesterday was Christmas for Melanie as Oscar finally let her hold him.  It was heaven for her.
• On Satuday, we took the cars, bracelets and candy to the local orphans.  Pastor Destin Kachala whom is 74 took us to the villages he preaches the Good News. It is truly amazing what he does.  He rides a bike up and down very rough rodes almost 30 Km one way.  He takes preaching he Gospel until he dies to a whole new level.  The children loved the presents and we loved on around 200 children.  It was all they would get for Christmas.  A;l this was done as the children sat quietly and listed to the girls tell the Christmas story.  It was Amazing !
• We went to church yesterday at Pastor Kachala's church.  Around 200 people and they welcomed us with a conga line singing praises to the Lord to welcome us.  They were rocking and only videos can tell the story.  I had to preach which is common here when white people visit.

We love you all and will be traveling tommorrow.  We cannot wait to tell you all the stories and show you what the Lord is doing in Malawi.

Love to you all,

The Moellers and Mel

Christmas Miracles

Heard again from The Moellers & Mel on this Christmas Day! It is pretty amazing that they have cell service all the way in Malawi isn't it?! Once again Cathy said that they are so, so very blessed to be able to spend their Christmas at the Harvest Hope Orphanage.
They started their day today going to a church service to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ! They could hear the sound of singing as they arrived and the entire church danced outside dancing their way to greet them! They were hugged and embraced by every member of the church before they even set foot in the door! A common practice is for visiting Christians to speak, so Mike gave the sermon... what an honor! Cathy said that words cannot even describe the amazing praise & worship they experienced as well. The instruments were all homemade and sounded beautiful.. homemade guitars & steel drums... and the voices of people sold out for Jesus made it sound like a heavenly choir! Then they had a huge Christmas supper at the church and they invited even passers by to join them. I'm reminded of Luke 14:12-14 Then (Jesus) turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
Yesterday, the Moeller team got to bring presents to over 200 orphans in a local village. To see the faces of the children light up to receive a gift all of their own was miraculous indeed! Then the team gave presents Shadrach & Derain (the parents in one of the cottages). They gave them bunkbeds for the children & mattresses & blankets handmade by Cathy's mother Julia back in the states. They gave them clothes & toys & books about Jesus & art supplies & soccer balls & so much more that many of you reading this blog provided for the orphans who will soon arrive to live at Harvest Hope. This wonderful couple cried tears of thanksgiving for all that God is providing for their orphans. The outside play area is also complete & ready for the many new Harvest children and village children to play on it! 
A special Christmas Miracle, as the girls are calling it, happened today as well! Evidently, many of the children in the area have never met Caucasians before and when the Moeller team first arrived at Harvest Hope several of the children were quite afraid of them. They would run away and hide or even throw rocks at them. But this morning Cathy walks downstairs to find those same children who had been running from the Moellers all week... were now sitting in Casey, Kendall, Morgan & Mel laps! They were playing and laughing and snuggling! Its a Christmas Miracle... one of many! 
I know the Moellers can't WAIT to tell you guys all about many, many more Christmas miracles that they experienced this past week! Praise God for whom all blessings flow!! Merry Christmas to you all!

Friday, December 23rd- Its beginning to look alot like CHRISTmas.

Update on the team in Malawi working on the orphanage:
Just heard from the team today and they are having trouble finding internet service for the blog, so I will update for them.  There are so many amazing stories so far that it's hard to know where to begin.
First, Morgan got very sick this morning and they considered taking her to the hospital. Her sugars got very high and she had keytones which can be very dangerous. She was so sick they couldn't get her to eat or drink. After a very early call to Dr. Dodd (their concierge pediatrician/ brother-in-law) they decided not to go to the hospital yet but they were still very worried. Then Derain, the mother who will be taking care of the orphans in the first cottage, heard that Morgan was sick and came to visit her. She asked to pray for her and she laid hands on Morgan and prayed in her native tongue. Then Derain left and went back to help paint the cottage with some of the other team. When they asked how Morgan was doing Derain said, I know she will be fine. I'm pleased to say that Morgan's sugars are now under control and after a long nap she is eating and feeling much better. Oh... the power of prayer! Praise God!
The orphanage cottages are really starting to take shape! The girls are painting colorful murals all over the walls of flowers, trees & animals!  The cottage #1 family Shadrach & Derain and their children are also helping with the painting! Its a team effort! Cathy said that this couple are such lovely people- they are so full of the love of Christ. How loving and wonderful they will be as the parents to the 10 orphans coming soon to the cottage. They already have 4 children of their own and are taking care of 2 orphans already! God has really blessed us with them!
Mike and the men are working hard at the construction side of things... they have finished a swingset with 3 swings and a big 5x6 fort! They filled the playground area with sand from the beach for the kids to play with as well. They are working on picnic tables & bunkbeds now. So far the team has been working hard every morning and by noon a large gathering of village children are waiting at the site for them all to play. Yesterday they had 150 village children swarming the orphanage! Wow! It was a little overwhelming for the team of 6! But the girls were amazing! Kendall organized soccer & volleyball games! Morgan played this crazy game of tag! Melanie & Casey were reading them books about Jesus &  painting the little girls fingernails. They all gave more hugs & kisses than they could ever count.
These children were so wonderful but at the same time heartbreaking: many of whom are very malnourished, several have large stomachs distended with worms, and some of whom are barely clothed at all. It is hard not to be overwhelmed with the needs of these children. How can they possibly help them all? And looking into their eyes they can see malnourished souls as well... most of these children are from non-Christian families. These are times to remember Isaiah 40:29, "God gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the faint."  and 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My Grace is sufficient for you, for My Power is made perfect in weakness." By the end of the day yesterday, the girls had a group of 60 village children singing songs about Jesus! Praise God!
Cathy invited 20 local women to spend time with her yesterday. Cathy washed all of their feet  and gave them all pedicures and manicures. Then through a translator she told them the story of Ester. Most of them had never even heard of Ester before. Cathy was truly humbled and blessed to show these beautiful women Christ's love.
Please continue to pray for the Moellers & Melanie... that they will be safe & healthy during this trip. And please pray for them on Christmas Eve when they plan to bring presents too over 200 local orphans. May God be glorified in Malawi this Christmas!

We are here, great start with local kids

Dear friends and family,

We have successfully and safely made it to the training facility/orphanage in Malawi.  The trip went very well with many fun pictures of all of us trying to sleep somehow, somewhere.

I am currently at an internet cafe here in Salui (a small town 20 minutes from the orphanage) to get connected.

After arriving yesterday, we went into town and purchased water, food, supplies along with paint for the ladies as they will painting and putting up murals with scriptures on the walls.  We arrived last night after dark and basically collapsed when we got to our rooms.

This morning was awesome, we started with worship with the workers  (around 30) and then got a tour of the facility and orphanage.  Much has improved since I was here last and a tour of the two now cottages for the orphans.  Zach did a great job and I am very impressed.  I met Shadrach and his family this morning as they will be the host family for the first cottage.  He has excellent english.

The best part of the day was on the tour.  The local village kids came out (around 20 or so) of all ages from 18 to babies.  Cathy and the girls were in heaven.  They played, sang , held hands and just loved on the kids.  You could see the girls loved every minute of it.  We went the kids home around noon and they are coming back for more games and stories around 4:00 today.  I tried to send a photo but the internet is way too slow.

The play ground is underway with the swingset built and now working on the playhouse.  We will have sand brought from the sandy shore of the lake for the swing area.

That is it for now.  It may take a day or two to get back to the blog.  No phone service at the orphanage.

Love you all,

Mike

Safely in Africa. Stopped in Congo, next stop Malawi

We are very close. We stopped in Congo for passengers and fuel, everyone good. We have good pictures of each other sleeping. Still have another hour.

Mike

Ready to go

Just added a twitter account if you want to follow:

Twitter@harvesthope.com

Ready to go

Hello Friend and Family
Well, we are ready to go.  We are all checked in with our 10 bags (Casey wanted to bring her shoes :)) ready to go.  Waiting at the gate.  Flying on a 777 aircraft.  I believe it will stop in Rome on the way over which will make the flight longer.  Pray for safe travels.  We have a tight connexion in Ethiopia.

The Moellers and Mel

A couple pictures of the orphanage cottages

thought I would add some pictures of the orphanage cottages before I left.  Each cottage will house 12 orphans and parents (mother and father).  As stated above, the money has been raised for the third cottage and outdoor kitchen/paviillion for the kids.

 These are the nicest building for 30 miles around

 Each building will have lights from solar power and battery

 Inside a cottage

 Shadrach and his family  (one child is an orphan, they also have 2 more orphans ready to move in)

Local kids from the village down the road.   can you imagine how excited they will be go get a match box car or a bracelet for Christmas !!  most important, we will show them the love to Jesus !!

Getting Ready to leave !! Everyone excited

Dear Friends and Family,

For the past month, we have been gathering and buying things that we think we need for the orphanage.  We now have 5 duffle bags full and ready to go.  The bags are full of medicines, bandaids, soccer balls, swing set seats, 250 match box cars, 200 bracelets, books, nail polish (for the village lady manicure fest put on by the girls), baby dolls, clothes, and the list goes on.   The best part is that nothing comes home,

The Lord has really worked on my heart the past month.  With Zach coming over from Malawi to the generosity of so many to buy supplies and fullfill the dream by providing the money for the third cottage, pavilion, bunk beds, swing set and all the supplies listed above.  We even have extra cash to leave with Zach when we leave.  It is so cool to see the Lord go ahead of us and prepare people's hearts for these kids.

We leave Sunday for DC and spend the day seeing the capital and then leave on Monday for the long flight to Ethopia and then Malawi.  Please pray for our safe travel.

My hope is to keep this blog updated assuming my iPhone will have connectivity in Malawi.  It stayed connected last time so I am hopeful.

Until then, thank you for your love and support.  Let the adventure begin !!

Mike