Guest post from Ray Misomali, Director of ORANT charities

Greetings everyone!  We've had a great week in Malawi.  While we've 
encountered a lot of heartbreaking issues in the patients we've seen,
we've also had our hearts warmed by the love shown to us by our hosts
and the communities where we've served.  The joy and happiness that
radiates from the smiling children in  Malawi is infectious.  One
forgets they are in such desperate conditions when they see the happy
faces of the children here.

We've had a great week of serving in Malawi.  We spent three days out
in the villages neighboring Bowe Mission and two days at the Bowe
Mission clinic. The Bowe Mission clinic is probably the best stocked
pharmacy in this part of Malawi.  It was also recently furnished with
an examination bed which was built by the students at the Bowe
Mission carpentry school.  And yesterday, the students added some
shelves for the pharmacy.

Looking back on our week here, it is easy to be overwhelmed,
frustrated, and disheartened because the poverty here is overwhelming.
But when you look into the happy faces of the little children, the
hardwork and cohesion of our mission team, the grace and generosity of
our hosts, the men caring for their children by bringing them to the
clinic, or hear about the decline of funerals in this area because of
the medical mission trips over the past couple of years, there is a
sense of quiet celebration and hope about our time here.

Thank you for supporting us through your thoughts and prayers.  There
is  lot of work to be done in Malawi.  We have seven trips planned in
2013.  Would you consider joining us?  Let me know at
rmisomali@orantcharities.org.  By the way, I, Ray, recently joined
Orant Charities as its first director just over a month ago.  I was
born in Malawi and have lived in the US for the past 12 years.  I am
excited to be working with a great group of people who are so freely
giving of their time and resources to benefit the poor in Malawi.  As
we see the delight on the faces of those we are serving, we are
experiencing the joy of giving and feel blessed to be a part of this
work.  I would like to invite you to join us in this adventure.