"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

our challenge, i have to say, is brought into perspective by stories such as that told in the movie "Hotel Rwanda". It's promo phrase : "When the world closed its eyes, he opened his arms".

Edmund Burke wrote, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".

Over 100 days in 1994, the African country of Rwanda was the site for the genocide of almost one million people. As the streets ran with rivers of blood, a large portion of the international community looked away. One man could not. "Hotel Rwanda" is the story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager in Rwanda who used his courage and cunning to shelter over a thousand refugees from certain death. The movie highlights the tension between the Hutu and Tutsi tribal people. As Rwanda descended in to horror we can only imagine, Rusesabagina risked his liberty and life to save those around him. It is the true story of one good man who jeopardised everything to do something.

and still..things continue to change...

Another few frustrating, high anxiety days. Perhaps that is the problem. We need to take a big breath and relax...

which is what we did.

The Red Cross possibility did not eventuate. After calls to Adelaide and Melbourne, it was sinply not possible to arrange the support that was required to authenticate the project to Malawi Red Cross. We were however provided with a few alternatives for future activities so that in itself is a gain.

News from V is that there has been a meeting between herself and the overall Malawi Revenue Authority boss ( I believe) and so we wait for any further developments! Her tone today was optimistic and up beat - a blessing in itself!

And in Virginia's own words, " ...we are powerful women. This serves to remind us and motivate us for the cause of those who are themselves powerless...".

our very own miracle...(SIT DOWN BEFORE READING!)

our hearts have been extraordinarily heavy over the past few days as time passes, the situation regarding the clearance worsens and generally all those involved wonder where we go from here. The issue has been a point of prayer for so many people since i passed on the news that we were indeed confronted with serious issues we were beginning to believe were insurmountable regarding the release of the freight into safe hands.

I have had a numer of phone calls,emails and texts with Virginia. They have been tearful, angry ( not with each other but at the awfulness of the situation V has been endeavouring to control), frustrated calls where we both felt so unsure of ever reaching a positive outcome and felt so isolated from each other. Our certainty of God's Hand on the project has been unfailing but a clear picture of how this project would end was disappearing.

This morning i received an email from Virignia...

"...I was at the Red Cross Society today and they have been touched by my toils to get the shoes out. All they want is an email from any Red Cross branch to back us up that yes, the project did take place and that we need a hand with clearance, transportation and distribution logistics...the Red Cross representative has also promised to connect me with Australians in Lilongwe so that they can represent you guys up there. Tomorrow i willbe able to meet them, how exciting!The prayers are getting through. God is in full control..."

and so i am off to try to find a Red Cross contact who will vouch for us. I will also contact Edwin and see if he could also email re the legitimacy of the project.

Christmas in Makuluni

This is an excerpt from an email from Virginia regarding her Christmas at Makuluni village.

"...We set off on the 24th December for the village...I bought a goat and it was slaughtered. We invited neighbours who could not afford such a nice meal and we cooked together,ate and laughed together. I was particularly touched by a six year old little fella who after i shared with them about the reason for the gathering he said, ' Oh I wish Jesus was being born every day so that you could be celebrating His birth with us and enjoying good food like this, by the way, when is He getting born again?'. The village is full of humanity calls, the people are just innocent and it is amazing the way they just 'hang in there'. i love those poor souls..."

Please remember these people throughout your day today.

Praying for a miracle...

We are soooo close and yet still a bit too far! The shoes arrived in Malawi safely but have been delayed by clearance/revenue issues. Although so close to our hearts, at the moment the women, men and children of Makuluni are frustratingly far away. It is certainly a reminder of how fortunate we are in Australia to have the things we take for granted - phone access, computer access, communication infrastructrue that enables contact at the lifting of a receiver rather than miles of physical vehicular travel for very basic communication. Virginia is doing all that is physically possible to engineer the release of the freight asap but wheels grind slowly and at the moment, we feel powerless to speed up the process being driven by a culture and environment so foreign to us here. Please remember her in your prayers as she negotiates the toughest part of the journey thus far. We also ask that you pray for the protection of the shoes as they wait in an environment that is less than secure and at significant risk of unauthorised access and corrupt activity. May God soften the heart of those who hold the authority and power over the release of the shoes. Pharaoh's heart was softened and we pray for a similar miracle.

Once the shoes are released, their transportation to the village is ready and waiting. And so are the people of Makuluni!

nephew #4 holding out for arrival of shoes to start walking!

we have a theory in our family. Nephew #4 - utterly gorgeous and delicious and charming and all that- remains a crawler as opposed to a toddler. Although in fairness, by definition, toddlers do 'toddle' which i suppose is what he is doing - kind of! 15 steps, however, does not constitute 'walking' if not followed up by another 15 steps - or more! So we suspect he is waiting for the release of the shoes from clearance in Malawi to make his big moves. Conscientious objecter in the wings? should there be a sign on his backside so that while he is crawling we all know why it is he isnt up on his feet and running the place yet??