We received this letter from a missionary in Malawi that just began using a Basic Utility Vehicle in their ministry. It is another example of how a simple solution like a BUV can change the life of a village.
Dedza, Malawi … 09/19/2008
Our School Was “Just Far”
Our group was up to 20 and we were headed for a meeting that was described as “just near” by one of the natives. After about 30 miles on a dusty, pot-holed bush road, I asked the man beside me how in the world they could think the meeting was “just near”. He explained it this way. “In our country our people have to walk everywhere they go. Hence every place is 'just far'. But, when Americans come here they travel around the country in cars. That is very easy so we say the distance is now 'just near.' "
Therefore no matter how far you must go in Malawi, if you have a motorized vehicle “just far” turns into “just near.”
Our School is now “Just Near”
Recently this same experience became reality for the children on the farms of Mama Cecelia Kadzamira near Dedza, in the central part of the nation. It came suddenly with the arrival of a motorized Basic Utility Vehicle from the Institute for Affordable Transportation in Indianapolis, Indiana in cooperation with the Malawi Project. The day the unit arrived the distance to school changed from “just far” to “just near”.
Not only is it more convenient for the children to get to school, it is now possible to get produce to market in a timely efficient way, carry the heavy bags of maize to the maize mill, and transport sick patients to a medical facility that was nearly impossible to reach before the basic utility vehicle arrived in Malawi. The trading center is now “just near”, the hospital is “just near”, and the life of the village has taken a definite turn for the better.
When i jump in my car and go to the grocery store tomorrow to pick up a gallon of milk, I now know the store is "just near." Come to think of it, I think I'll leave my car in the garage and walk to the grocery, it's not that "just far."
Ned
Friday, September 19, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
GOD IS LOOKING FOR THE "HERE I AM" DISCIPLES
Are you aware of those suffering around you?
Do you have a sensitivity to oppression and injustice?
Are you willing to "live simply so others can simply live?"
Below are the words of the Lord from Isaiah 58: 3-12. When I read these words, I hear God calling me to sacrifice in order to serve others. There are people crying out to God around this world, asking Him, "Where are you God?" God is looking for men and women who will serve as His answers to these prayers. We have the opportunity and calling to be God's answer of "Here I am" to these people.
3 Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
and drive hard all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5 Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one's head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?
6 Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house;
when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth;
and your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday.
11 And the LORD will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places,
and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the each,
the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
Do you have a sensitivity to oppression and injustice?
Are you willing to "live simply so others can simply live?"
Below are the words of the Lord from Isaiah 58: 3-12. When I read these words, I hear God calling me to sacrifice in order to serve others. There are people crying out to God around this world, asking Him, "Where are you God?" God is looking for men and women who will serve as His answers to these prayers. We have the opportunity and calling to be God's answer of "Here I am" to these people.
3 Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
and drive hard all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5 Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one's head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?
6 Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house;
when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth;
and your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday.
11 And the LORD will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places,
and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the each,
the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
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