B&B's Blantyre Blog

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...

Long time, no post! A fair amount has happened since we last posted, so here's a few highlights and things of note from the past month or so. Being Part of the Family We've really started to feel a part of things here now - which is really nice! Obviously we will always be the mzungu (white people) who get shouted at in the street and draw attention whenever we go to a village, or anywhere outside the city centre, or anywhere inside the city centre… But in church we are experiencing being accepted as normal members on the monthly rota. So to any Malawi friends reading - zikomo kwambiri! L to R: Hannah, Stephen & Mercy Monjeza; Bekah; Scrivin, Cathie, Annie and Gogo Kamanga; me! One day in particular when we felt really a part of the family is going to our friend Cathie's graduation! We road-tripped to a different city with the Monjeza's (mentioned in previous blog - great people, good friends) and sat under the shade of a tree entertaining (and bein...

On 11th October I had my first ugly cry since arriving.   I 'd been warned that it was going to happen at some point, but I'd naively thought that I was doing pretty good and had no need for feeling sad emotions! We've been doing well since moving, I've loved so much about being here, nothing tragic has happened and we've settled in quite comfortably. Yes there have been a few frustrations, but they've just meant that we've had time to rest and learn the new culture. Or so I thought. But I hadn't acknowledged that I'd been internalising a lot of these frustrations, causing me to think of myself as a failure and to get annoyed at the culture. And I'd been feeling guilty about both. I hadn't acknowledged that it's actually been a bit hard. And that's okay! I was also stopping myself from grieving and accepting the pain of leaving, which is a part of the process of moving. Below is an extract from a bit I wrote in my journ...

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...

After a restful first week, this week has picked up the pace a bit! We've had plenty of time to be chatting to Abusa (Pastor) Scrivin about the details of the year, which has been helpful for us to see where the need is and where we can support best within the church. We also visited Noah's Ark orphan care centre, which provides free food/education for 130 kids, with the view of volunteering there for a couple of days to give them some extra support. I'm sure we'll talk more about them in future, but they're doing such a great job loving the local children who are in real need and have real need of support - the preschool has 28 kids, and just one teacher! Unfortunately, Bekah did miss out on going to Noah's Ark as her tummy has continued to feel grjhnnragjdnlll (but has gained appetite back today - yayy!). A positive from her feeling less than okay, is that we discovered that seeing a GP is incredibly simple. Scrivin had given us the number of a doctor he tru...

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 ...

Hello! Welcome to our blog about the time we're spending in Blantyre, Malawi. First off, it'd be good to explain why we're even going in the first place. Origin Story I (Ben) have grown up in a family full of missionaries, so I've grown up pretty used to the idea of people living overseas. I even spent the first five years of my life living in Albania. You could say it's in my blood. To be honest, that's what I've thought ever since committing my life to Jesus when I was 18 - I'll probably do something ' like that ' someday. I even felt like God confirmed that to me one summer at a Christian camp, that He was calling me to something abroad. The what, when and how I wasn't sure of though. Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Casebow in Uganda, aged 6 Ever since I've known Bekah she's known God has given her a heart for Africa. Now, a lot of people may say that they have a heart for somewhere, but not many people get so emotional tha...