The Ups and Downs of a Month in Malawi

We’re well and truly into the flow of life in Malawi now! The last couple of weeks have seen us move into the territory of really living here (as opposed to previous short-term visits), which has brought up a whole heap of emotions, frustrations, and learning moments. More on that later. Let’s start on a positive note with some of the things from the past few weeks that we’ve loved having the opportunity to be involved with.

Firstly, we are so enjoying developing deeper relationships with the members of the church. Malawi is known as ‘the warm heart of Africa’, and the welcome we have received from the people here reflects this famous warmth. We’ve had many fun times, laughed loads, and also had the opportunity to share our testimonies, and have deeper heart-to-hearts with particular members of the church. It’s hard leaving a support network of close friends and family that we could laugh, cry and cuddle with, but it’s exciting to think about what the relationships we are beginning to build, could look like by the end of the year. One of our favourite things we’ve been able to do, is to welcome people into our home, cook for them, and enjoy quality time together.

Stephen, Mercy and Hannah Monjeza. Highlights of our time together include realising we share the same heart for developing a culture of vulnerability within the church, Stephen calling my futali (a Malawian dish of sweet potato and groundnut flour) “perfect”, and little Hannah chasing Ben with a full sized broom, while Ben shouts “she’s got a weapon!”

We’ve been able to get stuck into a number of ministries at church, including children’s church, administration, and, a significant one for October, the planting of a church in the Baluti/Mango village. At the end of the month, CCC will be planting a third branch of the church in Baluti village, and we’ve been part of the committee involved in organising the launch event (known here as a ‘crusade’). There’s been a lot to get our heads around as to what a crusade involves, but it’s basically a weekend-long event including worship, prayer, evangelistic preaches and altar calls, culminating in the first Sunday service of the church, and a big meal afterwards. It’s been great to be part of the team planning the event, and preparing some of the groundwork before the event. We’ve been able to support with logistics like budgeting and setting agendas, and have been encouraged and challenged by the committee’s faith and earnest desire for the people in Baluti to know Jesus. I’ve been praying that my own faith for this church plant will increase, and that my eyes would be lifting beyond the logistical challenges. If you pray, you can pray this for me too, and for the crusade and the people in Baluti.

Some of the Baluti Committee. Left to right: Robert, Esau, Ben, Stephen, Allan, Bekah, Susan, Ben.

We’ve also started volunteering at Noah’s Ark Orphan Care on Mondays and Wednesdays, which has been great fun. Both of us love working with children, and we’ve had a blast getting to know the children who attend school and receive meals here. We’ve learnt some banging new songs (my favourites are ‘Mango Mango Tree’, and ‘Tree in a Hole in the Ground’ – at least, these are the names I know them by!), attempted to dance (and been laughed at), and begun to teach some Maths and English. I’ve largely been in the preschool with the teacher, Esther and the 28 kids of different ages who are learning the basics of numbers and letters, whilst Ben has split his time between Standard 1 (with Mrs Katade) and Standard 2 (with Mr Banda). At times we’ve felt like spectators as we learn what the expectations are of the children’s behaviour, and how lessons are taught, but we’re beginning to find our feet. The language barrier can be tricky but we’ve picked up some key phrases; “zamveka?” (things understood?), “mwamva?” (you understand?) and “IWE!” (the technical translation is just ‘you’ but it’s better translated as ‘oi, you, stop doing that, eesh!’)

We’re also very grateful to have been able to purchase a car, which gives up much more flexibility with getting to the places we need to be, and makes shopping trips a tonne easier. We’ll miss the excitement of the minibuses though! I’m also grateful for our daily visits from Quirky who has quickly become my new best friend, for excellent resources regarding serving abroad (especially ‘Serving Well’ by Jonathan and Elizabeth Trotter – would recommend to anyone who thinks they might spend time serving abroad in the future), for some epic sunsets, and for jacaranda trees.

A very red sunset outside our gate.

All this being said, there have been some tough moments as we learn what life here looks like in reality. Some choice examples include regular power cuts, unreal queues at the bank (we were in the queue for 2 hours last week!), difficulties relating to communication of plans (not everyone has phones), and just generally the slower pace that everything moves at. We’ve had to learn how to adjust our expectations of how much you can achieve in one day, and to be flexible with ourselves and others when our plans for the day get cancelled, postponed, or delayed by those unreal queues at the bank. Honestly, when people asked me before we came what I would miss most about the UK, I did not expect the answer to be online banking, and yet, here we are.  We’re also learning about acknowledging and processing the emotions and moments of grieving that come with moving home.

Long post, lots to say! But as we reach the end, we’d love to ask you to pray for us for the following things, if you pray:

1) Pray that we are able to balance sensitivity to cultural differences, with boldness in offering our skills and abilities, as we support the churches ministries.

2) Pray for peace in Malawi. There have been ongoing protests and demonstrations since the election in May, and they are at times violent and destructive of property. We’ve had to stay at home once as it was unsafe for us to travel near the protests. There is an ongoing court case regarding whether the election results were legitimate or not, but it is taking a long time, and in the meantime, we continue to pray for peace. You can read more at www.nyasatimes.com under the ‘politics’ section.

3) Pray for protection over us as we drive on the roads here. We were made aware that someone we had met died in a road traffic accident last week. The roads here can be dangerous, and this incident hit home the truth of that to us.

Thanks for reading.

Lots of love, B&B x

Cute.