Arrival!

The Browns have arrived in Africa! I keep saying that Malawi will never be the same after the Brown boys have been here :) For those that wish to contact us please call our new phone -- 011-265-991-527782 International rates will apply so I recommend Union Telecard http://www.uniontelecard.com/ we've found rates for 8 cents per minute to Malawi. Soon we will include pictures and more descriptions. Safe and sound and God has blessed our family thank you for all your support in launching us on this endeavor!

Trevor and I were mowing the lawn for the last time today. As we came around the corner we were greeted by our Crazy neighbors out in the field. I'll let the Pics speak for themselves......

BTW you can skype us at randle.brown

Kamwendo

We just finished reading the book, “Kamwendo”, written in the 1960’s about a little boy and his tribe who lived near the hospital where we are going. Nathan, Ryan and Trevor  loved the legends and stories of ways different than our own and some of the things we will see in Malawi. We read about the village, stream, animals and some customs of the area. A description of the mountains in the book: “…everywhere in Africa are paths – paths leading everywhere. Paths this way, paths that way, till it is hard to choose the right way when you go on a long hike…Now, there is a mountain…a curious and wonderful mountain. It is high and rounding, as if one had turned a pot of white nsima porridge out on the top of a high mountain. Lying on the top of this mountain are many other stones – as big as the big grain bins we use to store cimanga in to save for the mealie meal that we must have for food. The mountain looked as if some giant as tall as the clouds had piled these boulders up like pebbles and laid them there on top of the mountain.”

We fly out of Portland on Monday evening, so this is probably our last post before we leave. Our flight goes to San Francisco, then to New York, then to Johannesburg, South Africa, then to Blantyre, Malawi. About 30 hours of traveling – lots of snacks, coloring books, reading and trips to the bathroom! We'll let you know when we safely arrive.

Countdown: 13 Days!

The roadblocks have been plowed through, and we are heading to Malawi in 13 days! Randy’s new title is Director of Development for the hospital, - special projects, fund-raising, and grant writing, strategy, etc.

We are moving our things into storage and just finished packing three of our 10 suitcases/trunks to get a better idea of where we are at with all our stuff to take. I think we’ll make it with most of our necessities and a few bars of chocolate! The boys are trying to figure out what to take – legos are a high priority!

Still so many details to finish. The sofas will be sold tonight, the bunkbed is gone, and the boys are becoming concerned with all the changes. Change is challenging, but we are excited about the journey ahead (the journey AFTER the 30 hr plane ride!). The boys all got their short haircuts last night in preparation for the heat.

We look forward to seeing some of you at the family/neighborhood bon voyage on the 9th, and church family at a good-bye potluck on the 16th.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Pictures of the house we will be living in: