April 2020 Sarah Masson Update
It has been a busy season for us all in Bangula, Malawi, Africa. Alongside the care and support of 89 children under our wings, all of our daily responsibilities of work keep us more than occupied. I have continued with my roles as visitor hospitality coordinator, coach of our post-secondary graduates, supporter of all youth programming and organizer of weekly bible studies; however some of these roles have taken on new shape and meaning over the past several months as I discovered that I’ve officially joined the motherhood club. Yes, that’s right! Chenela and I are expecting our first child in May 2020.
I have been working with our base directors over the past few months on preparations and slight changes to my roles and responsibilities on the ground. I have focused the majority of my energy on our post-secondary graduates over the past several months. We had very few visitors due to the season but I’ve also started to share the responsibilities of this role with another missionary on base, as I anticipate having a newborn. I am quite excited and inspired to put more effort into our post-secondary students and young adults to help them ease back into the world around us as responsible, respectful, and loving adults.
It takes several months for our students to receive notice of their final high school grades from the government, and then a few more months to apply to the public universities. It takes 8-10 months to learn if our students have qualified and been accepted to the country’s universities. While we wait we have been teaching our young adults how to be part of a workforce; the responsibility of showing up on time, working a full day, and how to respect the authority and other employees around them. It is our equivalent of McDonald’s fast food or any first job training.
This year we have three young women working as teaching trainees, a few of our young men are still working at the data centre learning computer skills, and two young men learning general maintenance, mechanics, and electrical skills.
[Learning teaching skills.]
[Learning general maintenance skills.]
We also have eight students in various training, college, and university programs all over the country. I hope to be able to continue to get our students into further education opportunities that match their dreams and their skill levels.
[Learning mechanical skills.]
[Learning mechanical skills.]
Due to the extreme heat and weather conditions that we have from September to April, our visitor season usually also takes a seasonal break with a few exceptions. We had a great lover of birds come and visit this past season; he is always willing to teach our enthusiastic children more about science and birding.
We live almost three hours from the nearest qualified OBGYN for baby and mother checkups, so it’s been a season of leaning on God’s strength and trusting him to care for us. All throughout this season of many changes for myself and for my husband I’ve held onto Psalm 91 as my encouragement. We are tucked under the wings of our Father in Heaven and He will provide what we need when we need it, and He will show us love and encourage us to bear arms against the darkness that comes against us. In Psalm 27 we are reminded, The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? When we have a God who keeps us safe from the wicked who advance against us to devour us, we really have no need to have fear because He has already promised us that our enemies will stumble and fall. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. I’ve been living in the middle of nowhere, believing that I’m sitting high on a rock where He is protecting me from all the elements (dangers) around us!
