April '09 Malawi Trip with My Dad

Back Home with a Different Perspective

We are back from Malawi!

Hey everyone! My dad and I made it back from 66.5 hours of traveling by airplane, boat, bus, van, train, car, and on foot. We had an amazing trip. God really worked in our lives and in the lives of the people we met throughout the trip.

Malawi, Africa April 2009

Recently my small group at church has been going through this book about the power of prayer and God has been really challenging me with it. Praying out loud and in front of people has always been something that has been hard for me, so it has been a real challenge and growing experience. While in Malawi I got the chance to go to a church out in a village called The African Abraham Church. My dad had warned our team that we would all be most likely asked to share at the church service and to have something prepared. This made me very nervous and I had no idea what I was going to share if I was asked, so I prayed and God showed me some verses in the Bible that for some reason really stood out to me that day, more than usual. God showed me though that His plan isn't always what we expect or are prepared for. During the church service I wasn't asked to share in the way I thought. The pastor of the church asked me to stand and pray for the offering. He asked about two minutes before he wanted me to stand, so I didn't even have time to think about what I was agreeing to. :) God tested me in Malawi in a way I least expected. I never thought I would be coming back to California and telling you that I stood up in front of a church of maybe a hundred people or so and prayed.

Thank you everyone for all your prayers and support while we were gone. We wouldn't have made it without you.

Some of the Highlights of Our TripWhen we arrived in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Amos, Louise and part of the FTS Mission's Team were waiting to greet us!

I loved the Children


I loved singing and playing games with the children


We played tag


I played goalie after giving the "big" boys a new soccer ball


Here I am with our sponsored child's family

Our meals were cooked over an open fire

Dad trying to carry laundry on his

head like the Malawian people

Thokozani & Rodney
our World Vision Partners

Here I am with Newsong Irvine's Pastors/Leaders on the dock leaving for safari and debrief sessions before we head back home

Dad took us out on the town on a 12-hour layover...
guess where?

Bringing a Little of Malawi Here

We brought several of our Malawi Mission Heads over to visit some of our partner churches here in Southern California. I'm blessed to report to you that it was a very successful trip in many ways. Over $90,000 was raised for our Ministries in Malawi.
(From left to right)
Amos Chibisa, Director of Chief's Ministry; Me, Director of Nothing & Chief of Own Home; Louise Laubscher, Director of Fishers Senders Trainers; Rev. Vasco Kachipapa, Director of Youth Ministries; Davidson Chifungo, Nkhoma Synod

"Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands~~~ O prosper the work of our hands!" Psalm 90:17 NLT

They are all good sports and enjoyed some fun at Birch Aquarium at Scripps!

Praise God with us!

I'm leading a group of pastors/leaders on a Mission's Vision Trip to Malawi. We are leaving for Malawi next week! Gracie (our 17-year-old daughter) and I have been trying to raise money for soccer balls, jump ropes, and Talking Bibles to take with us.

We went from 30 Talking Bibles to 250!
We went from 20 soccer balls to 50!

Plus... a small group at one of our Y-Malawi partner churches in Orange County put together some gifts for us to take too (how can we say "no"). Look how they worked to bless...

Please pray that we will have a safe trip, that we will be an encouragement to the people in Malawi, and that God will speak to each one of us with new vision and passion to join Him in what He is doing.

Soccer Balls & Jump Ropes for Malawi

I took soccer balls and jump ropes Wednesday night, April 1st, to my youth group at church. We asked students to donate $6 for a soccer balls and $2 for a jump rope. We also had markers there so the students could write notes on the balls. I will be taking them with me to Malawi on the 14th. We got 10 balls and our goal is to take at least 40 soccer balls with us.If you would like to be a part of sending children in Africa soccer balls, please let us know! We need to collect all the funds for 40 soccer balls by Friday, April 10th.

They make balls out of corn husk

Ways to Give
1) Cash - Give to me
2) Check - Write to FaithQuest Missions and write "Carlos - soccer balls on memo, or write check to North Coast Church and write "Carlos Sales - soccer balls" on memo, then drop in offering.
3) Credit Card - Use donation button on our website www.FaithQuestMissions.org, or send donation via PayPal to Lori@FaithQuestMissions.org
NOTE: Option #2 & #3 will be tax-deductible.

Please let us know if you send a donation, thank you! Gracie Sales

Even Dad loves to Play Soccer