Malawi 2013

For those of you who read these posts, I am here to say that this truly is a life-changing experience. I urge everyone of you who haven't had the opportunity to travel to Malawi, PLEASE GO. You don't realize what our presence there means to the people of Malawi. The love that we felt on this trip was something that I was in no way prepared for. We were treated like family literally everywhere we went. Our presence there gives them so much hope. To know that we came all the way to Malawi to spend time with them, create relationships, praise God with them. It means so much. It will also mean so much to you. You will witness many acts of genuine love. Love towards you, love towards God, love towards the simplest things we take for granted here in the states. It will change them and it will change you. All for the better. It is hard to explain this concept. to people once you've been and they want you to share your story. Questions like, "What did you build?" , "How many wells did you dig?", "What kind of animals did you see?". The cock-eyed looks I get when I say, "We built relationships." Not many have understood when I tell them this and a lot shake their heads as to signal "Oh, I get it." I can tell that they don't. But that's okay. That is exactly why we have a responsibility to come back and share our amazing stories and spread the word about Malawi. Of course money and gifts and supplies are needed and accepted with open arms, but the relationships,  the friendships mean so much more to them. And it means so much to those of us who have been blessed to go. It is such an accomplishment that our church has been able to send all of these teams to Malawi for the past several years. The only way this can continue is by participation of our church members. I ask you, look in your heart. Is there something missing? I know that I felt like something was missing. I witnessed how people with so little praised God so much more than I ever had. It woke me up. It set off some alarms. It has absolutely made me a better person. To God be the glory!

Josh Matics