Guys, can I tell you about the stupidest day of my life? And yes, I mean that lovingly. Yes? K, thanks!
*Disclaimer: This is a ridiculously long blog, but definitely a good story!
Ok, so the stupidest day of my life was the day we left Mozi (8/26). Let me give you a little timeline (to the best of my sleep deprived memory).
3:30AM- Woke up in just enough time to back my tent & sleeping pad. Everything else got packed the night before.
4AM- Packed the baggage truck to leave Caia. Waited for the Mini bus/flatbad/sharpa to show up at 4:30.
4:30AM ish (maybe a little later), our host went to get our driver, only to find out he was gone/not coming.
5:30AM ish- By this time, a new plan was made, a new driver was coming.
6:30AM ish?- We left Caia to drive to a ferry.
8:30AM- Made it to the river and found out the ferry wouldn’t be there until 10AM. We were supposed to meet our Malawi contact at the border at 10AM and he was already there at 8AM.
11AM- Found out that the ferry was out of gas & wouldn’t be coming. Plan made to cross a bridge by foot.
12:30PM ish- Started walking across a 3.5K long bridge (the stupidest bridge I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’m not being dramatic) Originally we were told it was about 1K). Our big packs were taken across by bike taxis (praise the Lamb!).
2-3PM ish?- Made it across the stupidest bridge in existence (more on that later). Got stopped by some cops that insisted we go to the police station to have each and every one of our bags searched. I mean, they didn’t know us. We could’ve been carrying drugs for all they knew.
3PM ish- An angel of a man that we met at the river talked the cops out of making us go to the station to have bags checked, etc & arranged transport to the border for us.
3 something ish- We piled all of our stuff and ourselves into the back of a long crocodile transport flatbed. No, seriously, we did. (There weren’t any crocs in it though). This kind many & his supervisor took us to their home/place of business(?). They had heard someone say they wanted a cold drink after we crossed the bridge, so the came out of the house with a cooler filled with cold drinks. Fanta from heaven is what it was. I seriously about cried. That’s where we met Peter (the boss). He insisted on giving us a cold beverage & free transport to the border (which would’ve cost us about $100). They were very upset about the way the cops had treated us.
Just after that, they took us to the police station (apparently part of the deal they made for us). The cops took our passports and wouldn’t let us leave for almost 2 hours. Peter, Conrad (the supervisor), & Jake (the man we met at the river) fought hard for us. I mean, really hard. There was a lot of shouting at the cops, but they wouldn’t let us go or give us our passports. The cops wouldn’t tell us why they were holding us. We asked if they wanted money, they said they didn’t, even though we were ready to pay. The border was closing at 6PM and we were running out of time.
So probably about 4:30PM ish, Brooklyn (Stacie) & Philly (Belle) went in did their thing. It was awesome! I could hear shouting. I could hear Philly asking for names and saying that she was going to post their pictures on FB. That’s when the mood started to change. Heehee. Brooklyn let them know that we were children of God. A policeman told her as children of God, we should be respectful. That’s when it got good. She went on to tell him that yes, we should be respectful, but that God doesn’t expect us to be doormats. She told him that the way they were treating us wasn’t right. That they couldn’t just take advantage of us because we were white Americans. And that they would have to answer to God for the way they were treating us. Authority, guys. It was amazing. They wanted to take Philly’s phone because of the picture(s) she took, so she demanded our passports.
5PM- We left for the border, which was anywhere from 1-4 hours away (depending on driving conditions). The border closed at 6PM.
Sometime after 6:30PM, maybe closer to 7, we got to the border. We found our host (who we’d been communicating with) had driven like crazy to the border to keep it open. Another ministry contact was on the Malawi side, keeping that border open. The authority & boldness they spoke with was AMAZING. The Mozi police walked ALL of our passports to the border chief’s house, got them stamped by candlelight, and brought them back.
We got to the Malawi border sometime around 8-8:30PM. Can I tell you how much I love Malawi border police? They’re simply amazing! They were working overtime to get us in & through. They had cold water we could buy. They were so kind!
Around 8:30-9PM- All of our passports were stamped, our Mozi contact (Jacko & Maria) loaded our packs onto their truck, and we piled into the Malawi contact’s (Jarvis) SUV (which seats…oh, about 4-5 comfortably. We had 17 in there (including Jarvis). We drove the 4-5 hours to Blantyre to rest for a few hours before leaving for Cape Maclear at 6AM.
But can I tell you some of the absolute best parts of this stupid, stupid day?
1. Jacko & Maria went far & above what we would’ve ever asked them to do. O, you need me to drive you to the border? Of course! O, you need to get from the border to Blantyre, but there’s no bus in sight? Sure we can drive you & your luggage. I learned so much about serving and selflessness that day. They truly love the Lord & are willing to do what is necessary. I can’t even begin to describe how much their sacrifice meant to us. I about cried when I saw them at the border.
2. Let’s talk about the stupidest bridge I’ve ever seen/crossed in my life. This bridge had stone plank type things all the way across. Oh, except for the places that the planks were cracked or had fallen off. In those places, there were sheets of metal. People walk this bridge everyday, so ya know. But when you’re terrified of heights & motorcycles keep zooming by at ridiculous speeds, it feels a little like a layer of Haedes. I was seriously on the verge of tears at some parts. And if it wasn’t for my beautiful and kind sister, Nicole, holding my hand and guiding me when I couldn’t look, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten across that beast. It was such a beautiful picture, for me, of how brothers & sisters in Christ should be helping each other through tough things in our lives. Whether that’s stupid scary bridges or temptations or deaths of loved ones or whatever, that’s what we should be doing. Holding each others’ hands & being there when we need each other.
3. The kindness of strangers. Jake, Conrad, & Peter just met us that day, but they showed us SO much kindness. They saw what the cops were doing and knew it wasn’t right. They showed us love & hospitality. They were even willing to house us for the night if we needed it. They fought for us the way that we should be fighting for each other during hard times and opposition. I mean, dang. And Peter’s joy?! I wish you guys could meet Peter. He’s a whole other story (over coffee).
4. Community & Attitudes- That whole day and the drive to Cape Maclear could’ve been pure hell (& parts weren’t fun) if people’s attitudes had been bad. But through it all, everyone was laughing, talking, singing, and praying. I couldn’t have chosen a better group of people to go through all that with. It is probably one of my favorite travel days, despite all of the setbacks and uncomfortable parts. I can’t describe this in a way that will help you truly understand what it was like, but let me just tell you that community & our attitudes should be like that all of the time. We should be able to laugh, talk, sing, & pray together joyful through crappy & happy times. We should be joyful like that even if we really want to scream. Every frustrating travel day that I’ve been through with this group has been some of my best memories and some of my favorite stories.
5. When we got to Blantyre at 1AM ish, we found the rest of the squad still there (they hadn’t left for Cape Maclear like we’d thought!). But not only were we surprised that they’d waited for us (we were all supposed to leave at 2PM on the 26th for Lake Malawi), they went on to serve & take care of us after our long day. They let us know we could sleep inside the house, instead of setting up tents and things we’d have to pack up 4 hours later. They made us sandwiches (PB&Js) since we hadn’t planned to have food to last us as long as ended up traveling. They got us tucked in & came & woke us in just enough time that we could grab our stuff and go. They were so gracious & kind.
6. The SUV we rode in from the border to Blantyre- yea, the gas tank was on empty the whole way. Jarvis kept looking for gas stations, but they were all closed. So instead, he prayed. We made it 4-5 hours drive on an empty gas tank. Good one, Jesus!
So really, the stupidest day of my life was really one of the best days of my life. It is probably one of my favorite memories from this year. It is so easy to see all the ways God was moving, looking after us, and going ahead of us to prepare the way. He was protecting us. He was providing. But best of all, He was glorified. We serve an awesome God.
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Hey guys! I just wanted to give you a fundraising update! Praise the Lamb! I have just under $900 left to raise! God is good! If you want to help with this, there’s a couple of things you can do:
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Thank you guys for reading, praying, and supporting me! I love & miss you all!
