Hi, I'm Leanna Veldhuizen!

learn about my passion

UPCOMING EVENTS

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Why do I do what I do

I am Leanna Veldhuizen. I grew up in a family of 5 children near Norwich, ON. When I graduated from high school in 2012, little did I know that my life was going to take turns I never expected.

Through the providence of God, I was able to travel with a church workgroup to Bolivia (a small country in South America where our church has a mission).

This reawakened a childhood dream of working in an orphanage, and led to me taking a six month trip to the Stephanos Foundation in Malawi, Africa, in 2017.

Those 6 months spent in Africa in 2017 forever changed my life. I now viewed everything through different lenses. I would hold the children in my heart. In addition, the culture fascinated and frustrated me at the same time.

I visited again in 2018 and 2019, each time for 2 months. When I left 2019, I left differently than before. I didn’t know if I would come back in 2020. Even stronger, was the burden I had for their spiritual welfare. We can give them everything they need for daily life – and that is important – but there is a greater need.

With this in mind, together with the providence of the Lord and a lot of prayer, I am now looking forward to going to Malawi again!

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My Trips and History

What have I done so far?

Malawi

2016

My introduction to Malawi. The biggest thing I remember from this trip was the smiles of the children. Always smiling. The smallest thing made them jump for joy… It could be a soccer ball, it could be a candy, it could be the chance to take photos, to hold a camera, it could be just the smile or simple touch of a hand, or a simple Chichewa word we had learned. They were happy. And there we realized that regardless of the conveniences and the wealth that we have, it truly is the small things bring joy. Small things show caring. Small things are sometimes the big things. Small things mean a lot. Small things are important. Even small things can make a difference.

Malawi

2017

While I could write about many things since I was there for 6 months, I will narrow it down to one highlight. For us, it was wonderful to join the grade 8 class on a trip to Lake Malawi. These trips are a rarity for schools, but even for the families, as they do not have the means for such luxury. I got to witness them seeing these things for the first time! They gasped in shock as the bus drove over the bridge to cross the Shire. It was for some their first time to see monkeys, or a crocodile. Some had never even seen a body of water before, let alone know how to swim! Another day, we were able to have a boat ride. Some of the children were terrified! For us, all of these things are normal. No, we might not see monkeys every day, or crocodiles, but I think most of us think nothing of a day trip to the zoo. Most of us know how to swim and do so regularly. Most of us go on trips with our families, travelling to areas in our province or even outside simply for vacation and family time. To us, seeing new things is normal. To them, it’s something special and something they thoroughly enjoyed. Their delight increased ours tenfold, and I will never forget it!

Malawi

2018

In addition to our daily work, we were able to organize an overnight stay at the home of one of the ‘mothers’ employed by Stephanos. Hospitality means a lot to Malawians and food is the measurement of that. We were treated like queens. We cooked over coal, we went to the maize mill, we pounded ground nuts (peanuts), played and visited, drew water, and also slept on a mat on the concrete floor. Supper was a freshly butchered chicken. Nothing was thrown out except the crop, the stomach, the small intestine and the pancreas. Hospitality means a lot to Malawians and food is the measurement of that. We were treated like queens.

Malawi

2019

In Malawi, things seem to move so much slower than here. Here we are busy every day with many tasks to complete. If it doesn’t get done today, when will it get done? Because tomorrow already has its own tasks. In Malawi, I find that we often end up with 1 large thing to accomplish per day. And if it only gets partly done, well, tomorrow is another day. To plan anything more in one day, just ends up in disappointment because everything somehow moves slower and takes longer than we Westerners plan. If things break, if plans go awry, we just roll with it. In this way, Malawians know the value of contentment in the present so much better than we do.