God's Call

About a year ago, early 2008, there was a notice in the church bulletin announcing plans for a mission trip to Malawi, Africa.  Having never been on a mission trip or overseas, this really caught my attention.  My wife, Sandra and I attended the first meeting along with about 50 others, listened to Pastor Mike Gudka and Dennis and Robin White explain the tentative plans for the trip and answer questions.  Well, many meetings, questions, answers, immunizations, fundraisers, fundraisers, fundraisers, and one year later, 21 of us are ready to start packing.  Needless to say, this past year has been an experience of its' own, creating a TEAM ready to start new relationships nearly halfway around the world.

Most of the team only has a vague idea of what we are going to do once we get there, but all want to help in someway.  With an agricultural background, growing up on a farm and working in farm machinery manufacturing, I hope to see how the "farming community" works in Malawi.

The purpose of participating in this trip is to help however I can in a country that has little.  I also want to experience the tremendous faith and Christian life exemplified in Malawi.  I know God is calling me to this mission.

In God's Service,

Jim Crabb

Life is Meant to be Given Away

Why am I going to Malawi?  God is calling me to make this journey, to extend a hand of fellowship and love, to offer myself to help in anyway I can.  I am going in response to Jesus' call to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the sick and in prison... (Matthew 25:35-36) and "to go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:19).

In March 2008, a notice was in our church bulletin for those interested to come to a meeting related to a mission trip to Malawi.  My husband, Jim, said "let's go see what this is about".   I fully agreed.  At the meeting, Pastor Mike Gudka emphasized that it was no accident we were there, that each of us needed to consider God's call for this mission.  After much prayer and deliberation, Jim and I came to the conclusion that God is indeed calling us to go and to give, yet knowing in truth that we will receive more spiritual blessings than we could possibly offer.

My heart has always been with  missions in Africa.  I have always been a wanna-be missionary to Africa.  In 1988, I was privileged to spend almost a month in Nigeria on a mission trip with the Church of the Brethren.  It was a spiritually uplifting experience.  I know the depth of the Holy Spirit in our Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ and it has been reported that the same spiritual fervor holds true in Malawi.  Hallelujah!

The 21 of us participating in the Malawi mission have met together monthly this past year and worked together for fund-raising and as a result, I see a group of  unique individuals becoming a homogenous team, excited to meet our Malawian counterparts and are prayerful in anticipating this miraculous journey.  The life God has given me only has meaning if I can give it away to  others.  I am truly blessed!

Give God the Glory,

Sandra Stong-Crabb

We Come This Far By Faith

I have found myself procrastinating over writng this blog as anyone who knows me will tell you that I am much more of a talker than a writer!

The other reason that it has taken me so long to get to this is because I am not sure how to answer the question; "Why am I going to Malawi"? It is difficult to articulate the deep seated necessity I feel in doing this. I obviously want to learn from the people of this impoverished country and help in any small way that I can. Being African American , I also want to sense that bit of ancestry and history that makes up this race of people.

However, these reasons do not near describe the yearning and desire I feel to experience something so much bigger than myself.

This trip does not come without some risk for me. Not only physically due to a significant history of health problems- but also spiritually and emotionally as the vulnerability one must show to truly experience this amazing group of people that are growing in their faith as they are learning to love the Lord.

There is a song we used to sing in my home church that says "We come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord. Trusting in his holy word, you know he has never failed me yet. Can't turn around, we come this far by faith".

As I have watched the Malawi Team come together, this song frequently runs through my mind. We have started to bond and truly have become a "team". And it is faith that has brought us this far. We can't turn around and will continue to move forward on this amazing journey in faith.

As we experience the highs and lows, the joys and sadness that this trip will bring, we will stay focused on the fact that "he has never failed us yet".

Arlina Pearce

"Here I Am, Send Me" Isaiah 6:8

So there isn't much to my story. We were out at Faith Chapel when Mike mentioned this trip to Malawi and it was such a crazy idea that I thought maybe I should hop on the train--or maybe an airplane is more likely to get me there.



Ok so really I knew as soon as Mike told us about it that I was going, no question. I am normally overcome by worrys like what if I dont like any of the food, what if I get sick...you know the things that are in the back of all of our minds... but it took me a long time to even consider that any of that might be a problem.

Im not really sure what I have to offer anyone in Malawi. I dont have anything too exciting about myself to say and I dont have any great revelation about how I came to be apart of this mission team. These Malawians have so much more to offer me than I could ever give them. For about 3 years now I have been getting fed up with Americans in general with their obsession with money and convenences and who can have the best idea and who can talk over people the most. It will be very refeshing to see that these are not the most important things to Malawians. What would it be like to have a conversation with someone and not be interuped by them reciving a text that they have to respond to right in the middle of your conversation. ( I gotta admit that I'm guilty of it too). I think that a lot of Americans (and Im talking about us Christains too) are missing something so important that we even have a hard time fathoming it. How hard is it to raise your hands up when you feel God during a song or prayer even when no one else is? Do the people around you really matter compare to letting God know that you are fully worshipping Him? And do the people next to you want to raise their hands but too afraid that they will be the only ones? We are so worried about what others think that we are holding ourselves back from God, who didnt hold back even His own Son. I guess I'm going to hopefully find out what true worship is.

Max Garcia

From Oregon, to Iowa, to Malawi...

I’m originally from Oregon. A little over a year and a half ago I was visiting Max and her family. We happened to be at Faith Chapel when Mike mentioned a mission trip to Malawi. At first I thought that it sounded like a good experience but at the time I didn’t think it would be realistic. Little did I know what God had planned.
I went back home for several months not giving much thought to Malawi. My life was going well in Oregon. I had a perfect job as a kitchen manager, I was close to family and contempt with how my life was going. All of the sudden, I felt a strong urge to move to Ankeny. This was not an easy transition by any means. I ended up having to take a menial job, getting a significant decrease in pay. Unfortunately, I did not have any transportation which meant walking to and from work in negative temperatures. I also dealt with depression, missing my strong family connection. I had a hard time adjusting to my new life and at many points considered going back home. God gave me the strength to find the positive in a bad situation. This is the point in my life where I grew in my faith.
I joined a few small groups, Alpha being one, which influenced my life dramatically. God was making it known to me that this mission trip was something I should pursue. I noticed that people have taken a strong interest in my decision to be apart of this mission trip through their generous donations and support. This reassured me that God was at work in my life for the good of others. During the struggles I believe that God has been mentally and spiritually preparing me for this mission trip to Malawi. We’ll see what the Lord has in store for me next...

~Sarah Morgan

Why Malawi? God paved our way!

In January 2004, Connie and I were part of an AFUMC mission team to an orphanage in Chihuahua, Mexico. It wasn’t something that we had planned to do, but after hearing of the idea one Sunday, we felt God’s call and knew we were meant to be a part of this team. AFUMC parishioners supported the effort with gifts and financial support and team members participated in a variety of projects at the orphanage (I remember wheel barrowing a lot of fill for a construction site). However, we received much more that we gave to that orphanage. Even among such dire poverty, the presence of God was evidenced in so many ways, both little and awesome, that our own faith was strengthened.

Responding to God’s call, we have helped sponsor a child in Malawi for several years. Through information provided by the sponsorship agency we became acutely aware of the many hardships facing the population of this country. Even though Malawi has a very high mortality rate, we have been privileged to see, through pictures, Wonga grow from a young child into a healthy teenager and hope there is a promising future for him.

Last summer our connection to the African continent grew when we accepted an invitation to serve as a host family for two adult women from Nigeria. Both held “professional” positions in their country, but shopping excursions to our local Goodwill were among the highlights of their stay with us. As a frequent Goodwill shopper myself, I was able to point out the real bargains but we were again reminded that we Americans take so much for granted. One of the women was married last fall and e-mailed us numerous pictures of both her Christian and traditional wedding ceremonies.

So, when Pastor Mike first brought up the Malawi mission trip, both of us were immediately interested. However, with Connie looking ahead to surgery this past January and unable to travel that far, we decided to serve as part of the support group here at home. When one of the original team had to back out for medical reasons, Connie and I agreed that I would take his place. Now I’m looking forward to meeting the people of Malawi, helping them in whatever way I can and to share in their Christian enthusiasm. Again, I’m sure that I will receive far more than I will be giving. And, I’ve I can actually meet Wonga – what a blessing!

Arlyn Weieneth

61 days until MALAWI!

At first, I signed up because my friend wanted me to go. But after she dropped out, I thought about it and I decided that it would be a great experience.

I've never really gotten the whole church thing. I've never done anything that has anything to do with being close to God and close to the church, until this. I thought this mission trip would help me get a start on that in my life.

After watching videos, seeing pictures, and hearing and reading about everything about the country of Malawi, It really makes me excited to be able to actually go there and help. I am really looking forward to this June!

New Meaning to: Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

I think initially I was interest in the Malawi Mission because my daughter wanted to go, and I wasn't about to let her go to Africa without a parent along to look out for her. But it didn't take me long to really buy into the mission. Now, I'm very excited about the trip. Not only for me, but also for my daughter. I think we're both going to gain a lot from this experience.

I haven't been on a mission trip before, but I've always gotten great satisfaction from participating in smaller service projects here in central Iowa. I've been told Malawi is one of the poorest countries on earth, yet the people of Malawi have an unmatched richness of spirit. I want to see and understand their poverty, so we'll have a better idea of what we, as a church, can do to provide help. Hopefully we will be able to forge lasting relationships that will help us in providing assistance. For me personally it will be very important to see and understand how the people of Malawi, despite their dire condition, achieve such great enrichment through religion. We have so much in this country, it's easy to see how we can be grateful for what God has given us. But what about places like Malawi? What drives their faith? I think it's something we can all learn from.

This trip will be a challenge for me. I consider myself to be very religious. I was raised in the church, and my faith has always been an important part of who I am. But I've always treated my faith as a very private relationship with God. I would guess I'm like a lot of quiet Christians, who attend church regularly, pray routinely, contribute monetarily, and participate when requested. My understanding is that the Malawi church isn't like that. There's nothing quiet about their faith. I'm sure I'll have some awkward moments. I just hope no one is video taping them.

It's time to change the world a little, in whatever way that may be.

When I first heard about this mission trip to Malawi I was a little intrigued, thought I'd go to the meeting just to check it out, not really sure whether I thought this was something I'd even want to do, having never been on a true "mission trip" before. I went to the first meeting in May and there was an overwhelming response of interested people. I went to the next meeting and Pastor Mike made the comment that we should really search our hearts to see if this was something we felt "called to do." I was really trying to discern what made me decide to even go to the meeting, was I "qualified" to go, was there some way I felt I could contribute, was I really the right person with so many people interested, many of whom had been on mission trips before and more seasoned and experienced and worthy than I. Maybe I shouldn't take up a spot if someone else really wanted to go.

In June I had pretty much thought maybe I wasn't the right person; the timing wasn't right; I have an elderly father-in-law with some health issues; this seems like a lot of money to be spending on "just me." Little did I realize I was finding all kinds of what I thought were "valid excuses" for not going.

As so often happens, God began putting people in my life who were nudging me to take the plunge, so to speak, and commit to going. Then I started reading a book written by John Ortberg entitled "When the Game is Over, it All Goes Back in the Box." Some of the author's comments seemed to jump right off the page and felt to me as if God was talking to me personally.

The author's comment on page 142 stated: "If there is a challenge in front of you, a course of action that could cause you to grow and that would be helpful to people around you, but you find yourself scared about it, there's a real good chance that God is in that challenge."

Another: "If you want a sense of mission to burn brightly in you, spend time feeding your divine discontent. If your mission involves helping the poor, spend time around those in poverty. Allow your emotions to become deeply engaged, and carry with you that fire that things must change."

Page 130: "When the jar that is life gets too full of have-tos, I find myself with little time for people. I know that every human life is a miracle. I want to notice people who are hurting. I want to notice the poor. I want to serve & learn from people of different cultures and persons of different colors. I want a compassionate heart. But that cannot happen if my life is already filled with too many have-tos."

"What ledge is God asking you to jump off now?"

"Every time someone says yes to God, the world changes a little bit." (One of my favorites!)

"Your mission starts where you are; not where you think you should be."

Each one of these statements made me really take a look at all my so-called excuses. I realized I had become complacent in my faith the last few years. I was filled with so many have-tos and involved with my family's needs that I hadn't really taken time to help those who were truly "in need." I hadn't found a mission I felt "on fire" for. When Mike said he wanted a commitment at our July meeting, I had decided if there was room for one more person, I would take it. Life will always be busy, there will always be excuses, but if I were to wait for the "perfect time," a lot of time would be wasted.

My mission starts now. It's time to change the world a little, in whatever way that may be, with God's help -- and blessing.

Beth Madison

Why i'm going to Malawi

i'm going for reasons i only somewhat comprehend. i could say the obvious helping others, or sharing god's word, or just for fun. but, those would only be half of the story. i'm going because the second i heard about the mission trip, i was immediately interested. as soon as it was said that little internal light lit up and i knew this was for me. i've felt pulled to do something like this for a while and once this was presented i knew i would find a way to be involved. thankfully lord has blessed me with the ability to both help here in ankeny with fundraising as well as the ability to go and serve there in malawi. Basically i'm going because i feel as though instantly god called me to do this.

-josiah

Change is coming!

We are often told not to wish our life away. I am willing to make an exception given my anxious anticipation to return to Malawi on June 15th. Africa is a mission opportunity unlike any other. Robin and I have been on numerous mission trips but none of our past faith-growing mission experiences prepare you for Africa. To say that it is a roller coaster of emotions is an understatement of major proportions. One minute you are overwhelmed by the poverty, death and hopelessness of everything you see. The next minute you are overwhelmed by the strong faith and uplifting spirit of the people of Malawi. Everyone that goes on a mission trip experiences the same "wait a minute, I came here to give not to receive" emotions. For the AFUMC team going to Malawi those emotions will be exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. Exhilarating when we meet members of the Malawi UMC that work relentlessly, and with complete faith, to change their world for the better one small step at a time. Exhausting when we see the incomprehensible need that defines Malawi. To the family and friends of team members I say "be prepared". I learned very quickly with little (or no) prompting I could talk for 2 hours about my experiences in Malawi. This I know for certain - The lives of the team members, family and friends and the Ankeny First United Methodist Church as a whole are about to be changed forever. My charge to the team is simple - Open your hearts and minds to what lies before you. It is an opportunity of a lifetime. Be proud you stepped forward to say "Yes, I want to go to Malawi" when the easy answer would have been "Are you kidding? Me go to Africa?!" I have no doubt the team of 21 going to Malawi will return stronger and more passionate about their faith, with a greater understanding of the meaning of Matthew 28:16-20 and wanting to return to Malawi as soon as possible.

Peace,
Dennis White

If not me, then who?

For those of us who are not naturally risk-takers, mission trips offer the hidden benefit of allowing us to try experiences outside our comfort zone. Would I move to a reservation, to a storm-struck coast, to an impoverished, 3rd-world country? Not as long as my family needs me here to stay connected and provide a sense of continuity in our family. BUT, under the guise of helping others, I sense that mission trips allow us to step over a line of security under the guise of altuism.

That may have actually been my motivation for the first mission trip taken to Crow Creek Indian Reservation. That, with a bit of curiosity. By the end of that trip, those motives were out the proverbial window. The next two trips deepened a sense of commitment that each person has to reach out to anyone in need in order to feel completely human; to experience a full range of emotions; and to help coalesce a person's feelings and logic with their spirituality. In other words, if I am to profess to be a Christian, following not only Christ'st teachings, but His examples, we each have to find a way to do that.

That way will be different for each person: it may be music; it may be teaching children; it may be calling on our shut-ins; it may be growing or cooking food for the homeless. But, for a few of us, extreme action is necessary to feel we are really contributing. I am a very physical person, so very physical activities give me the most satisfaction and confirmation that I am truly helping.

Thank Heaven there are a few of us who are touched in this way. Otherwise, throughout history, countless thousands would still be suffering or have died--unnoticed by those of us in the best position to help. Those of us with the resources and physical endurance to help. If I don't go, who will? If I do not step forward, cross that line, who will?

Twenty-two of us (less than 1% of our membership) feel this pull for some Godly reason yet to be revealed. What has amazed me is the depth of feeling for this mission from many who are not going. You will be blessed many times over. I wish I could express myself as well as Dennis and Mike can. My plan is to diary daily on the trip, as we did in Pearlington. Hopefully, this willl help me be more aware of details easily missed--names, kindnesses, comments, and most of all the deep faith we have heard about. I want that experience.

AFUMC Malawi Mission Team 2009

This is the team that will travel from Iowa to Malawi in June. Please keep each of them in your prayers. They are a special group, called by God, to do a special ministry. Mike Gudka