After more than 24 hours of travel, team one has returned safely from Malawi. Thank you for your prayers and support.

On Tuesday, July 27th all the activities we’ve been doing – building and children—were suspended for the day while the First Team closed out our two weeks by celebrating with a safari day!

We all joined in the main house around 9:30am for our regular breakfast of Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, bananas, bread and peanut butter.

On the second Sunday in Malawi we divided ourselves between three local churches. I had the privilege of worshiping at Pilira and Stewart’s church which meets in the multi-purpose building of the Passion Center. The singing was a huge blessing. Even though they sang in a different language and I could not understand what they were singing, they were singing praises to God and it was beautiful.

Saturday has come and gone. I can’t believe that we’ve been in Malawi for a week already. The week has flown by—which means that in a few days—we will be jumping on a plane and heading back to America. Our team is bonding very well and becoming attached to these children which will make it even more difficult to leave this beautiful country.

Good morning friends, family, and co-workers. Today’s update covers both Tuesday and Wednesday and a portion of Thursday. As you might imagine, finding dedicated time to spend on the internet is rare as each person is busy either playing with the kids, hauling bricks, or sorting supplies at the Passion Center. Then when you do find time to hop on the `net, connectivity is extremely slow. In February of this year, the Passion Center was equipped with a wireless router for local internet service.

As we were walking the trail from the Passion Center’s Multipurpose Room back to the Residency Center, Andrea Klingle made a statement that I think summarizes this trip. She said, “I think coming to Malawi and the Passion Center ought to be required of every person in our church.” Obviously she knows that that would never happen, but I think it will let you know just how spiritually significant a trip to this field actually is! As the old saying goes, “Wish you were here!”

Thursday night we shared The Jesus Film in a village here in Malawi. We drove—after dark—down roads that were unmarked. If we didn’t have the Passion Center staff with us, we would have been lost in the country of Malawi. Instead of roadsigns, Malawians rely on landmarks like trees, buildings and mountains for direction.

So today is only Tuesday but it feels like we’ve been here for months. Every day we live a lifetime it seems. Today we broke our fast around seven and then headed out to the Passion Center after a focus session with Pastor Mark. Some of our team began working on the the building projects which are being headed up by Andy, the rest split into two groups in order to attend two village Bible studies. We walked about a mile through fields and along a dusty road to get to the Bible study that is led by Joseph (he’s one of the staff at the Passion Center).

Today we really got to experience the heart of Malawi and Christ! In Africa it is tradition that visitors are to be greeted by the community leaders and are to ask permission to spend time in the villages. So we started the day with a major culture experience not to mention a bottled Coke at the end to celebrate! In the afternoon we got to spend time with the teens of the Passion Center and Christ showed His hand in how our plans mean nothing. He has a plan and language cannot stop His plans!

We made it! Our plane touched down safely in Malawi Saturday afternoon with all of our team and luggage arriving safely. The airport was small, but warm faces welcomed us as many of us were seeing Malawi for the first time. Members from the advanced team were waiting at the airport to greet us. They were able to bring thirty teens from The Passion Center on a bus from Zomba to Blantyre to watch the airplanes. Most of these children had never been outside of Zomba, let alone seen an airport. The point of the trip was to allow them to see sites outside of Zomba and to give them an opportunity to dream about what they might want to do when they grow older.

Team one is safely landed in Africa! Everyone's safe, hungry, and cold, but thrilled to be here :) I had no idea that when we arrived in Africa, we'd be able to see our breath…

Our dear brothers have arrived in DC. They were late but made it to the gate on time. The California team had a harder trip with some luggage issues. Please be praying for their luggage to arrive in Johannesburg. They are all on board the South African flight to J'berg safe and sound waiting to take off.

—Chris Weaver