Warm winter greetings from the mountains of Malawi,
everyone!
(My apologies in advance for the lengthy post – with minimal
opportunities for internet connections, posting regularly can be tricky so I’m
trying to catch up!)
Wednesday our group traveled to Balaka, LuAnn’s companion
parish, where we were greeted by a large group of church members – the closer
we got, the louder the singing was! (Oh,
how I’ve missed the singing!) As we got
out of the van, people greeted us with ‘hellos’ and handshakes, and we were
escorted to a group of chairs that someone had thoughtfully arranged for
us. After their pastor (Abusa Francis)
welcomed everyone, Mphatso offered kind words of thanks, John offered introductions
and greetings from our synod, and expressed our deep gratitude for the
companionship our churches have, and LuAnn offered greetings from Christ
Lutheran in Menomonie. The people,
grouped together in front of us seemed equally excited about our relationship.
The building where we met for this visit is a relatively new
structure – 4 red brick walls on a small rural hillside with a branch awning
out front, empty spaces for windows, and no roof. This structure is used for worship, school,
and now a feeding station that serves meals three times a week to
children.
After the formal greeting, we heard from the choir, and then
met inside the building where young children were gathered with their teacher
to share a demonstration of a typical school lesson. Guided by their teacher, the children sang
their letter sounds and stood there looking adorable. I’m extremely happy we’ve had the opportunity
to interact with so many children on this trip!
After singing and lessons, and singing some more, some of
our friends prepared a delicious meal of chicken and rice that we got to enjoy in the roof-less building….in the dark, by the light of the moon. It was wonderful, although it was a somewhat difficult
to eat this beautiful abundance of food while the other 100+ people waited with nothing…it left me feeling gratitude, humility, and guilt - I just wanted to share...
Later in the evening, we returned to our lodge where Julia
and Maddie and I had the chance to chat about our experiences in Malawi this
week – I asked what had been most memorable so far, what a favorite activity
had been, and where they saw Jesus show up.
Our conversation quickly became a flurry of emotions as we shared what was
resting most deeply in our hearts – the joy, curiosity, and playfulness of the
children, the incredible hospitality of Malawians, how “Biblical” it felt to
gather with the parish on that hillside, and how completely genuine and
spirit-led our time in that space was. For a country that seemingly has so
little, they sure have a wealth of time, love and generosity to offer the
world.
I was deeply moved by the blessing that John offered to the
Balaka members that night – it was powerful to watch a pastor from the ELCA lift
hands of blessing over the Christians in the ELCM…..this is what companionship
looks like – praying for and supporting one another, and praising God through
it all – such a simple message, but one that too often gets lost in layers of
things that are not relevant to our faith.
The following day we traveled into Balaka to another
congregation (a note: Abusa Franklin serves 14 congregations in the Balaka parish…) where LuAnn brought gifts from Christ Lutheran to share with their parish. We also brought a couple of soccer balls and
a few frisbees which Hannah, Julia, Ella, and Maddie willingly used to interact
with the kids for the entire afternoon!
A few of the kids began to take a shine to the girls, asking
lots of questions, touching their hair, and taking photographs together. There were a lot of new relationships built
and a lot of laughter that was heard around the church building on Friday. This
group of kids and our four girls were inseparable until it was time for dinner
where we were invited to Abusa Franklin’s home for chicken, rice, spinach, and bananas
(still THE best here), and some wonderful conversation.
Back at the lodge, the four girls and I stayed up late,
laughing, and playing cards – I LOVE THESE GIRLS! They are intelligent and kind, have big
hearts for Jesus and others, and are a delight to be around. They are becoming good friends on this trip,
a bond that will be uniquely theirs and will hopefully last a long time…
Friday (our “bonus” activity day) we packed our bags into
the ELCM van and headed to Mvuu Camp (Mvuu means ‘hippo’ in Chichewa) in
Liwonde National Park. As we traveled, it was nice to see the changes in the roadside markets – much more
food for sale, and many different things to choose from - it seems that the harvest was better this
year – good news all around.
We arrived at Mvuu just before lunch and were immediately astounded
by this place. The first impression was
made by the staff who were attentive, helpful, kind and gracious. After we ate lunch (which was atypical for us, as we
could eat the fresh greens and fruit – what a treat!) we headed to our chalets;
these tiny homes were open on all sides so you could see and hear African
nature and wildlife around you, and they sat at the edge of the river. They were incredible, beautiful rooms that
were a part of the open park. We were
given specific instructions about walking the grounds at night – we could not go
anywhere after dark without a guide because these chalets were tucked in the
park where there are no fences, and animals are free to roam.
As we unpacked and settled in, the girls explored around our
chalets and found lots of monkeys, some lizards and Ella even spotted an
elephant across the river.
I am impressed with the knowledge and passion
the guides have – they seem to be conscientious about both plant and animal
life, and do their best to ensure the longevity of both. After some incredible encounters with
wildlife, we stopped in an open field where we enjoyed sundowners (a beverage and
snacks) as we watched the sunset. It was
gorgeous. Then we headed back to camp
and, after a little free time with the wifi connection we had, we fell asleep
to the sounds of native African wildlife.We woke very early on Saturday morning; after a quick (and pleasantly hot!) shower, I heard crunching on the ground and expected to see a meandering hippo, as they are everywhere around this camp – to my surprise it was an elephant! I shook Julia and Maddie awake – we watched it walk right in front of our chalet door…..10 feet away from us…so awesome! With hearts still pounding, we finished getting ready and left to meet the group for a chance to see the cheetahs - no such luck. But, we did get to see some beautiful wildlife up close on the trail enjoying their morning routine. Soon after breakfast we boarded a boat and took a safari cruise down the river to see what kind of animals were awake and ready for a photo shoot. We saw dozens of hippos, several species of birds, more warthogs, impalas, lots of crocodiles, local fishermen and a fishing village. A good, full, exciting, beautiful day.
Saturday afternoon we traveled upward to our new home, Annie’s
Lodge in Zomba which is nestled near a mountain. We enjoyed a late lunch and some quiet time to
rest up and prepare to jump right back into ministry tomorrow morning. Mphatso arranged for Abusa John to preach and
I was asked to give the children’s message – although the text is not
particularly “child-appealing,” I am anxious and excited to be sharing about
Jesus with the kids at worship tomorrow.
And, I can’t wait to see the girls’ reactions when they participate in singing,
dancing and a spirit-filled time of praise and prayer. All this in addition to the wonderful
conversations I know we will all enjoy.
I am grateful for my 8 traveling companions – they have a
heart for Malawi and we’ve enjoyed some great conversation. I look forward to the next week with them.
My prayer for today: That we trust God enough to take some risks
in our lives, particularly when we are responding to our faith; that we can
take time to appreciate and care for the amazing and unique creation that God has
entrusted us with; and that we become attentive to the ways that God might show
up – Amen.
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