B&B's Blantyre Blog

Hi everyone! It's been a  wee while since our last update, quite frankly because things have been changing at such a pace that we have barely been able to understand what's going on ourselves, let alone explain it to others in blog form! Coronavirus You won't be surprised that a large part of this month has been spent grappling with the global pandemic that came totally out of left field and sent the whole world topsy-turvy. I had planned to just have a short paragraph on this, but there's just too much to share to get into a short section (I've tried writing this blog three different times this week, and by the next day everything I'd written had changed!), so please bear with a bit more chat about Covid-19…sorry! Malawi was one of the last countries to confirm cases of coronavirus, in early April. The numbers suggest that the spread here is pretty slow, and largely just imported cases. At time of writing, there have been 17 confirmed cases of cor...

Hi all, It’s been a while since our last post, pepani (sorry) about that. Christmas and Crossover Reading back on our concerns that Christmas would be a lonely period for us, I’m very pleased to say it was actually one of the most fun-filled weeks of our time here so far. We were very well looked after, and our time was spent with our friends and family here in Malawi. We enjoyed our first Christmas BBQ, and our first all-night prayer meeting on New Years’ Eve! We’ll treasure the memories we made during our Malawian Christmas for the rest of our lives, I’m sure. And I’ll always fondly remember entering into a new year and decade singing “You are Faith(y)ful Oh Lord” with gusto, surrounded by our church family. It was for sure one of those moments that you catch yourself, remember where you are, and how absolutely blessed you are to be there. Our church family after the Christmas Day service. January (the worst of all the months, am I right?!) January has been pret...

Hey friends! As if it's December already (though the weather here tends to disagree - will we ever feel cold?) and we've been in Malawi for three months!?! Coming into this festive season has been very strange, and made us miss family, friends and traditions back in the UK more than before, but we are enjoying being creative and working out ways of making Christmas special, Malawi style. We are so grateful for thoughtful post we've received from family members who have also lived abroad at Christmas time and understand it can be hard, zikomo kwambiri! Up Michiru Mountain This month has been a massive learning curve for me (Bekah), and I've had some of my hardest days, and also some of my best days. In early November it hit me quite suddenly that I wasn't coping, in fact, I was really struggling with my mental health. So much so that I went to the doctors, and have been seeing a counsellor over the course of the six weeks. As hard as it was to acknowled...

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 beg...

Mulibwanji from Malawi! After a year of preparations, selling belongings, and counting down the days, we are finally here. This first week has been a mixed bag; some days I (Bekah) feel like I've totally lucked out to be in such a beautiful country, like this year  will be all bliss and sunshine , and other days it's felt like this might be the longest and hardest year of my life. Let's start at the beginning; the morning of the flight. Enter a Bekah riddled with all her classic physical symptoms of anxiety (pounding heart, fuzzy head, and an awful lot of toilet trips) and an ever-so-faithful God. On toilet trip four of the hour (soz!) I sent a message to some friends and family asking that they pray for me, and within the hour, all the anxiety symptoms were gone, and I spent the rest of the day, and the entirety of the flights feeling the best I have ever felt whilst travelling. I could even stomach the plane food! It was a wonderful way to begin the trip, knowing God ...