Monday 1/26/15:
Expecting great things is hard for me. Especially when I am as out of control of my surrounds as I am now. I find myself in a position where trust is hard. Where God’s plans for me aren’t always the ones that I would think to be best. Where perhaps the good things the father wants to give me aren’t comfortable but instead are what I need.
When we arrived in Lilongwe for the second time, I so desired comfort. We have been moving around for a month, and I just looked forward to letting my pack explode so that I could organize it. Also the laundry situation had to be handled soon…
I set up my mosquito net outside in the same spot as before and put my tarp over it to block the rain if by chance it came. But when it rains, it pours… And halfway through a team time meeting, the heavens opened. There was no salvaging it….no matter how I arranged the tarp…water fell in, and the ground became such a lake of a puddle that it poured in from the bottom as well. I placed my valuables on my sleeping pad, and allowed that to be a raft. As I sat in the rain, soaked to the bone, I cried out, “God! You can stop the rain….but you don’t! And I have to be okay with that.”
Team members helped me pull everything out so that I could sit with them on the porch of the hostel. I napped off and on that night, wet and on guard over my waterlogged possessions, on the porch until the mosquitos got too bad. (This is the same porch where a teammate got stung by a scorpion, mind you). All night I just prayed for three things. 1) Sleep, 2) That I wouldn’t get Malaria, and 3) For the sun to come out the following day so that I could dry things out (especially the soaking bag of dirty clothes that had a high probability of stinking soon). But as much as I prayed I didn’t know if I could truly expect it to happen. My thoughts and God’s thoughts have been so differently lately that I didn’t think that our plans for the evening or following day would line up.
The jury is still out on the Malaria, but as for the sleep…it came sparingly. The next morning though at about 11am the sun broke free of the clouds. I took that chance to wash the clothes, and set the wetter items outside for drying. But God’s provision didn’t stop there. He knew better than I did what I needed, and He gave me the gift of comfort.
Today, I got to eat out at a burger joint and even get a milkshake. It didn’t taste like home…but it got close. I called my mother and also bought my anti-parasitic meds along with some Malaria ones just in case. I even picked up a few kiwis from the store for breakfast for tomorrow. I met with a representative of Agape House Orphanage who was a pleasure to speak with and after another morning meeting tomorrow she is going to take us to the complex in the mountains near Mozambique to tour.
And best yet, another guest at the hostel (also a world racer but on another route) offered me her tent for the next couple days while she has a room here at the hostel. So I sit in the comfort of a dry tent, listening to music and typing this blog, while the rain falls not on my newly cleaned laundry. I am so blessed. And it leaves me with the thought, “Would today have gone the same if the rain stopped after the request I made last night?” I think not.
Tuesday 1/27/15:
So I didn’t get to go out to the Agape House Complex today since my morning meeting ran over. But it was a blessing to speak with the Pastor as long as we did this morning. Myself and another teammate met him at the shopping center, then spent 20 minutes on a crowded minibus to get to Area 23 which is his district. We then hopped on bike taxis to his home. (It’s a bike with a seat on the back) I loved riding a bike again even though I didn’t pedal at all, and I felt bad for the poor guys pulling the two of us up hill, but they seem to enjoy it and the little kids we passed would holler, “AZUNGU!!!!” (which means white person) and giggle.
At his home we spoke of many things. And after his wife served us delicious chicken, greens, and seema we left. But praying with him and speaking with him was a blessing for me. They say the church here in Malawi is “a mile wide but an inch deep” meaning that many people say they are Christian but they don’t know much. Someone legitimately gave a sermon on God’s favorite animal. (Which is the cows because they gave Jesus the manger)
But this pastor was a breath of fresh air. He went to a bible institute and spoke with such wisdom and passion. I hope that we can partner with him in the future.
I thank God for redeeming my experience here in Malawi. For taking my whiney uncomfortable self, and giving me divine appointments and kind people. (BTW…I slept so well in my borrowed tent.) I feel so blessed.
