Palm Sunday (March 24, 2013)

Today we celebrated and witnessed an incredible Palm Sunday Mass. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect but knew it would be an adventure. We arrived at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church at 7:15am but weren’t sure where to get our palms for the service. We were told there would be a processional with all of the congregation and to simply follow the path. We started walking, eager to find where this beginning point was. We walked with two nuns and enjoyed casual conversation (some in Chichewa – yeah, we’re learning the language!).  As we approached the edge of the parish property (which was across a primary & secondary school yard), we finally found the gathering spot. There was a huge pile of palm branches waiting for the congregation and a portable PA system was being set up. The choir was signing, people were gathering. Several of the parishioners made a point to come over and greet us. Everyone has been so warm and welcoming to our family – especially the parishioners of St. John the Baptist and its outstations.

Lily, Tonya & Josie participating in processional march

We were told Mass would begin at 7:30, however we also have learned that there is a lot of truth to the term “African time”.  Father Somanje along with 18 alter boys entered the area in which by this time, hundreds, probably well over a thousand Malawian’s had gathered. The palms were blessed (can you pick out Jacob in this picture?) and the Mass began. The processional for Mass included everyone walking along the main road, waiving their palms and signing. The walk lasted probably a half hour, but who knows as we don’t wear watches here! It was absolutely beautiful, an amazing site to see & event to participate in.

One of our friends, Elizabeth (who greeted us at the airport when we first arrived), found us and had us follow her to find a seat. Mass today was outdoors. We are so thankful for Elizabeth’s wisdom as she ensured we sat in the shade during the Mass! We sit together as a family during Mass as we did back in the United States, however Malawians do not sit with their spouses or their children. The men sit on the left, the women on the right and children in front on the floor/ground. The women with small children (3 & under) typically gather in the back or outside the church doors.

Another view of the processional march

So many amazing things take place during a Malawian Mass, I don’t even know where to begin! As Father Somanje entered the outdoor church, everyone was waving their palms, singing loudly. There is a group of young girls who dance during the processional and a few other times during the Mass. Lilyanna is very excited as she began practicing with them on Saturday and will eventually join them during the Mass! The Mass is typically at least 2 hours, but often times much longer. Part of the reason its so long is how many people attend. I bet there were well over 1000 people attending today’s service. Also, there is a lot of singing which is lead by a beautiful choir. Actually, St. John’s has 3 choirs and they are all amazing! The music is absolutely delightful to listen to, we’re actually beginning to learn a few of the songs and are able to sing along—in Chichewa! Did I mention the entire Mass is in Chichewa?

Father Samonje (Comboni Priest)

Another beautiful element to the Malawian Mass is the offertory. Not only are the gifts of bread, water, wine and collections brought forward but also several other items in which one of the small Christian Communities have put together. The offerings are typically food, drink and useful household items that support the Parish, particularly the Priests. It’s amazing to think this is one of the poorest countries in the world, yet the people are so giving. The gifts are offered with reverence and sincerity, children and adults all participate in the offertory – several of them (maybe 20+ if I had to guess)

Only a portion of participants in the offertory

One final thought on Malawian Masses in how they differ from the Masses we are accustomed to is the announcements. Wow, let me just say that we in the U.S. are so fortunate to have a bulletin! I would guess announcements take at least 30 minutes but probably a lot more. In addition to not having a paper bulletin, there is a lot happening in this particular parish. We are humbled by the passion and expression of faith we have witnessed at Masses here in Malawi. We look forward to becoming closer to the people of the parish and sharing and deepening our faith with them.

After celebrating Palm Sunday (4+ hours at church), we headed home for lunch. Shortly after noon, we were greeted with a surprise visit from Fr. Dario who was accompanied by two sisters who are currently on retreat. They went to one of the outstations where Fr. Dario said Mass. We love that the visitors to our home now mainly consist of the Comboni Priests! Fr. Dario came to offer us some of the vegetables, drinks and sugar cane in which he received during the offertory at the Outstation. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the thoughtfulness the Comboni’s have demonstrated since our arrival. Today we received potatoes; onions, pumpkin, soda, sugar cane and a handful of other items which will certainly help us feed our family this next week! The Comboni’s have taken good care of us and continue to check on us often, making sure we are comfortable. We are truly blessed to be part of this community.

The week ahead will consist of our language classes as well as participating in the various Masses of Holy Week and daily Mass. Please continue to support our family by keeping us in your prayers! We’d love to hear from you, feel free to send an email from time to time – kleven4@gmail.com

You are in our thoughts and prayers daily!

Your sister in Christ,

Tonya

(Jacob, Lilyanna & Josephine)

Only a glimpse of how many were gathered for Mass! There were people in front of us as well as in front of the church which can't be seen in this image. Amazing how many gather for Mass, its beautiful!

By Popular Demand

Serious Jet Lag

Chapel at the Poor Claire's

Our Little Princess

Playtime

Malawi Countryside

Local Housing

A Calm Easy Street Compared to the City

Lake Malawi

After a Great Day with the McSorleys at the Lake (Jacob is driving for the first time on the other side of the road) 

Kleven Girls Ready for the Market

Fr. Dario with the Munchkin Missionaries

Surprise Pizza Dinner with Fr. Dario and the McSorleys

First Tooth Lost in Africa

Papa and the Girls in the Front of Our House

Our Neighborhood

Some of the Neighbor Boys

Some of the Kids at Mass

God's Blessings to all who have helped get us this far

Kunyumba Kuli Bwino (Home is Well)

Mass and Welcome at Nkhuwka 

It’s hard to believe that we had already been in Malawi for two weeks! We have become much more familiar with the city itself. Where the different stores are for shopping for food and necessities. Who has the better prices on goods, and which stores to only go to if completely necessary. (Mainly because one store is out).  One thing we have definitely come to appreciate about the US after this short time is the general cleanliness and sanitation in the states.  Much of the city, especially the edges has an enormous amount of trash and litter. Once in a while you will see a section of it gathered into piles and then burned there on the spot.  This is even done in the middle of town where it is burned in the deep drainage canals that line the streets.

Even driving through the dense pedestrian and vehicle traffic is like second nature. Weaving around potholes, passing the minibuses and slowing for dozens of people trying to cross the road anywhere and everywhere is all just part of it now. In only about a week and a half, I have already gotten pulled over six times. When I say pulled over though, it’s really more of a wave over. The police stand at certain points throughout the city on M1, the main road through town, and wave cars over to the side to check your license and vehicle tags. All of the officers have been cordial and looked at whatever ID I have on me, asked me where I’m from, look at the tags and smile and wave me on. The police sure do like to check out the mazungu (white man). 

A couple of the most difficult challenges are the amount of people on streets trying to sell you whatever they can to make a living. They’re selling CDs, drawings, fruits and veggies, electronics, just about anything you would want and also things you wouldn’t.  The minute we get out of the car in many parts of the city, the salesmen swarm like bees. They can be a bit pushy at times but we just remind each other that we are all God’s children and try to be as polite as possible.

The other is the beggar on the streets. Many of them have a disability or have some one with them that does. They are typically at intersections and go from car to car looking for handouts of money. These occurrences are challenging spiritually and emotionally. Our hearts and faith tell us to give but unfortunately in these situations it is not the right choice to make. Giving there only reinforces the action and ultimately creates a dependency on the giving. So instead of giving money we have occasionally given a banana or something small to eat. It nearly brought a tear to Tonya’s eye this past week when she gave a cracker to a young man that was with a older blind man. The two of them had the biggest smiles on there faces as there shared a single cracker in the middle of a busy road as we drove away.

Last night we had a young man show up in our front yard looking for money. He was very polite and just sat in front of the house until Lily noticed him from the window and told us that he was there. I went out to greet him and asked him what he was here for and he said he needed money to eat. If we had not had the training we did, it would have been an even more difficult situation that it already was. Giving money to people, especially from our house can be dangerous and damaging to our mission here. So I kindly directed him to our parish where they could help.  

The girls are doing very well. As soon as they start to walk up the path from our house, dozens of kids come running out to play. We have loosened the reigns a bit and let them go out of eyesight to play a little closer to the church with the kids.  The other day, we were cleaning and I knew Josie had opened the front door and walked out. It was the middle of the day and I knew she wouldn’t go far on her own, a few seconds later I heard a screaming like I haven’t heard too many times in my life. I looked out the front door and here comes Josie running faster than I have ever seen here run and screaming for dear life because she had gotten spooked by one of the many chickens that hang around our yard. I seriously have not laughed that hard in a long time.

Learning the language is now our main focus (besides the girls of course). We will have language lessons three times per week and practice with neighbors and each other every chance we get. Please pray that we learn the language well.

The people of Malawi have really lived up to their motto “the warm heart of Africa”. We have been greeted with smiles and warm handshakes just about everywhere we go.  I couldn’t count how many times some one has said, “you are welcomed here”. These are very reassuring words for us as we fumble through our greetings in Chichewa. We thank God for giving us this opportunity to spread his love and pray that we will continue to see Him in those we meet.

One love,

Jacob

March 9, 2013 – Our first week in Malawi

Lilongwe, Malawi is an amazing place! We arrived near the end of the rainy season so everything is very green and beautiful. Poverty is everywhere, though there are some very wealthy people here also. There are a lot of vehicles in the city (almost all Toyota’s) though most people walk everywhere they go.

Today our family went grocery shopping and found a good place that meets our needs for relatively fair prices. One can find pretty much anything you need here, but of course many things come with a hefty price tag. We are able to get cheese, which is almost a staple since we’re from WI! At the store we saw fresh milk today, though it’s extremely expensive. We’ve been purchasing long-life milk, which tastes just fine and does the trick. Josie loves it! We’ve been trying to find a dish rack that doesn’t cost $20 (almost 8,000 Kwacha) for a flimsy piece of plastic.

St. John the Baptist Parish, Msamba is a vibrant parish. The Masses here are all in Chichewa and on Sunday’s last about 2 hours! Currently there are two Masses, at 6am and 8:30am. It’s amazing how many people attend Mass at this parish yet how few vehicles are in the parking lot. Many of the Malawians walk to church; some walk many kilometers even in the pouring rain. At our welcoming Mass last Sunday we were introduced to the community. The church was packed, many people were sitting outside each of the 3 doors! I bet there were at least 75 people sitting outside each of the doors! The men sit on the left, the women on the right. Many of the children gather in the front and sit on the floor in front of the Alter. And the children are quite and pay attention during Mass – all 2 hours! (I hope my children will follow this example!) It was humbling how warm and welcoming the community has been to us. In many respects it reminds us of our home parish, St. Ann’s in Stoughton.

The parish has a total of 5 churches that are all part of St. John the Baptist. Tomorrow we’ll attend one of the out stations. Our home is on the property of the main parish. Fr. Romando, one of the Comboni Priests here will pick us up and take us to this Mass. We’re looking forward to this experience as it’ll give us yet another flavor of what Malawi is like. The music during the Masses is amazing, it’s indescribable. Apparently Malawian’s also have dance as part of their Mass celebration however not during Lent. We have more to look forward to experiencing when it comes to Malawian Masses!

The church community seems to be very active and involved, which is so beautiful to witness! The main church has 3 choirs who practiced today for over two hours! I’m guessing but I bet there were over one hundred children here today, we think for Catechism classes. We look forward to learning more about this as it appeared they were having a blast and loved being here! They follow us as we walk by, trying to get in front of us for their chance to say hello! We’ve spent a lot of time greeting both adults and children as we walk from place to place. The kids love to touch mine and Lily’s hair, I’m guessing they don’t see a lot of blondes with long hair here! Everyone is so friendly and warm!

Lilyanna & Josephine are adjusting well! There are several groups of kids who call out “Lilyanna, Lilyanna” as we walk past. They also come to our front porch and call for her to come out and play. Its really awesome! Some of the children speak English which has made it easier for Lily to communicate, however she too is learning Chichewa!

Unfortunately, Lily had a little tummy issue which began Friday afternoon. She still had an appetite and no fever, but was uncomfortable until about midnight. The power of prayer is amazing. Her teacher in Il, St. Louise de Merriliac, gave her a prayer shawl that we brought with us. Around midnight, Lily was still struggling and was feeling cold. I grabbed the prayer shawl, laid it on her while reminding her of how special this blanket is due to all the prayers being said for her as it was being created. Lily didn’t wake again until sunrise only to find her tummy issue was resolved. We’ll be holding this prayer shawl as well as another my dear friend Tiffany made for me very close to us as we’re here. I’m so very thankful for these wonderful gifts, and especially for all the prayers that were said for us as they were begin handmade.

Prayer is an amazing gift, we ask you to please continue to keep our family in your prayers. We feel our strength and comfort are greatly supported by your prayers as well as God’s love for us. We will continue to pray for you as well and hope to update our blog every few weeks. We don’t have our own internet connection at this point nor are we any good at keeping up a blog! Though we know we’ll have moments of loneliness and miss our family and friends back in the United States. We’ll focus on communicating through the blog rather than email or FB. But, feel free to email us (kleven4@gmail.com) or write us a message on FB. Please, keep in touch and keep praying for us!

Peace and love,

Tonya

March 5, 2013 – Travels from Stoughton, WI to Lilongwe, Malawi

On Tuesday, Feb. 26 we began our journey to Chicago only in time for a snowstorm to hit! My parents, Brad (my brother), as well as Jason’s family (Jacob’s twin brother) traveled with us to the Comboni House in LaGrange Park, IL. Lilyanna’s wonderful teacher from St. Louise de Merriliac invited us to visit one last time before departing. It sure was awesome for Lily to receive a classroom of love, support and prayers literally hours before our plane would depart. After several good-byes at the Comboni House, it was time to head to O’Hare. By this time, the roads were getting really bad and the snow was coming down hard. We followed Paul, our Program Director. I can’t help but chuckle because a snowplow guided us from LaGrange Park all the way to O’Hare! It was like God sent an angle to guide us!

My parents, brother Brad and Paul helped us get our 12 suitcases into the airport. After a very difficult good-bye, we were ready to go through security. Lilyanna heard an announcement in which Jacob was being paged. We were bummed to find out the security took out our power converter from our luggage, saying it was a “mysterious item”. Big bummer as the wattage in Malawi is different than the states and we really need this item. Oh well, they could have taken much more than one little item!

The first flight was to London, it was just under 8 hours. Our plan was the last international flight to depart from O’Hare due to the snowstorm. Again, another angel! We had 35 hours of travel ahead of us and spending who knows how much longer in O’Hare would have been very difficult for all of us, especially our girls. The flight was smooth, the girls did fabulous! However, Jacob and I didn’t get a wink of sleep and the girls got very little. By the time we arrived in London, we were exhausted. Our plan was to venture out into the city and experience London to help break up the trip (we had to have a 6 hr layover anyway, so we expanded it to 10 hours). It was very cold in London and everything was extremely expensive. We took the transit to Buckingham Palace, which was the one thing Lilyanna asked to see. After that, we decided to head back to the airport for lunch, rest and get ready for the long flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.

The flight again was smooth! This time the girls slept quite a bit and Jacob and I were able to get a few hours of sleep ourselves! We hit a little bump in South Africa, one that we’re still not sure if it really should have happened but nonetheless, it was only a little bump. We switched airlines and South African Air demanded we paid for our luggage. This created a huge headache for Jacob as he had to go back through security multiple times to deal with the situation. I began to get nervous as he had been gone for 1.5 hours. Just as the tears began to fall, Lily told me not to be sad but to pray. So I did, and Jacob walked up less than 5 minutes later with just enough time for us to catch our connecting flight! The wisdom my 7 year old offered me during my moment of fear is something I will hold with me forever. Prayer is powerful, and makes one feel so much better! Its all about remembering that we are wrapped in God’s comforting touch, no matter how difficult the situation may be.

We arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule in beautiful Lilongwe, Malawi. Fr. Dario, the Provincial Comboni Priest was there to greet us. Somehow he managed to get security to allow him to come into the area in which we entered the airport. He was the first person we saw as we entered, it was so welcoming! And then as we gathered our luggage, we found about 10 more individuals there waiting to greet us! Wow, what a warm, amazing welcoming! 3 of the 4 Comboni’s were there as well as several members of Msamba Parish Council. I can’t even describe how comforting this was to our family, we definitely didn’t anticipate this! One piece of luggage was missing however it was found the next day!!!

We were taken to the Comboni House in Lilongwe to share a fabulous lunch where our welcoming crew also joined us! Then it was time to rest. Unfortunately we all endured multiple mosquito bites our first night here in Malawi, and we’re still praying that none of us will develop Malaria. We are on an anti-malaria medication but had only taken one dose before being bitten. So far so good and we’re on day 9 from our first bites.

On Friday, we rested some more at the Comboni House. A family of Comboni Lay Missionaries who are finishing up their 3-year term met up with us that evening. They would be staying with us for the next week to help us get adjusted, find grocery stores and offer all sorts of wonderful tid-bits on Malawian culture. Andrea, Spence and Seth (McSorely) were another set of those Angels in which God placed in our path as we began our journey to Malawi as missionaries.

Saturday morning we were brought to the house which we will call home for the next 3 years. Fr. Dario and the McSorely’s took us grocery shopping in Lilongwe. We are so very thankful for this gesture, as you can imagine we have a lot to learn! Having food and the essentials was very comforting! Brother Patrick (a Comboni Brother) spent the last month getting furniture and other household items put in place for our home. He did an amazing job, we are so thankful for his kindness!

For our first week here, our family shared a bed that was a little smaller than a queen. The McSorely’s would be staying with us for the week, the 3 of them shared our two single beds. The good news is, we all were able to sleep under mosquito nets!

It took us a few days for our bodies to adjust to the 7-hour time difference as well as the heat, but we’re all feeling adjusted and well rested now! I have so much more I could write but I want you to keep reading our blog! I know this is a very long blog-post though at this time our blog is also our main means of communication with family. Thank you for being patient with my long entries! Please continue to keep our family in your prayers! Currently we’re asking for prayers for health, comfort and acceptance into St. John the Baptist Parish, Msamba (Lilongwe, Malawi).

Much love,

Tonya