Our Christmas was full of surprises. Our plan was to head over to Lake Malawi from the 24th to the 26th so we could spend Christmas there. Unfortunately, we were an hour and a half into the trip and were stopped. The police apparently needed to see our passports for us to get through. Clayton and I were the only ones that had ours so Harvey (our host) had to drop us off at a gas station and go back. We sat there for about 4 hours. Just imagine a group of five white people sitting outside of a gas station; you can imagine the looks we got! A few hours in, a white lady came in with a Texas shirt on and since Brady is from Texas and we were oh so bored, he went and talked to her for a couple minutes. Then the rest of us walked over and she invited us to go for a ride in her boat. We gave her our number and she called us later that day and invited us over for Christmas lunch. We couldn’t believe she invited us to do all these things with her family for Christmas. That’s normally a family time. I couldn’t help but be doubtful. I was thinking that it would either not work out or they would be total nut cases. I’m happy to say I was wrong.
Christmas came and she picked us up on her boat! Then they took us to this rock to jump off of and to go snorkeling around for a bit. We later went back to her cottage to have lunch, which was one of the best meals we’ve had in a while. They had the sweetest dogs to play with; it reminded me of home. Then they took us back on their boat to go tubing, wake boarding and kneeboarding. They even got us little Christmas presents! Later they were generous enough to let us call home to our parents. I couldn’t help but ask why she was doing all of this for us. I mean, she didn’t even know us. She told me her family loves inviting missionaries in because her parents were missionaries and she understands how hard it can be. She does all this so missionaries can have a little break. She said “Why would God bless me with all of this if I’m not meant to share it?”. What an amazing attitude to have. I was so in awe the entire day; I thought I was in a dream. God works in mysterious ways. He took away all the worries of money, like “What are we going to be able to eat?” and “How are we going to talk to family?” since the wifi was out at our hostel. I still can’t believe all of that actually happened.
That family was such a great example of sharing. In Colossians 3:2 it says “Set your minds on things from above, not on earthly things.” They were so selfless with the things the Lord has given to them. They loved us like family. I never would’ve expected anyone to treat us that well. We were so blessed by them. God transformed a day that could have been so sad since we were not around family to one of the greatest Christmases I’ve ever had. We’ll never forget the Christmas we spent in Malawi.
