The last couple months have been pretty awesome so let me attempt to put them into words for you to get an idea of what’s going on in my world. After a tearful goodbye to family and friends, again, in D.C. we flew to Malawi with a short stop in Ethiopia. Being my first time stepping foot in Africa, I was in complete awe with the land and the people. For those of you who’ve never been, it really is another world that everyone should visit at some point in their lives.
After landing, J Squad split off and went our separate ways to our assigned ministries for the month of January. My team’s assignment was “Unsung Heroes”, which in case you missed in another blog, I also did with my previous team in Ecuador. UH is AIM’s term for individuals or organizations serving their communities but don’t have the support they may need. So, without much direction except the Spirit’s leading and Google, we set out to find these people in the southern part of Malawi; 7 women, one month, one mission.
For information on the ministries we found, please visit my teammate, Vashti Wills’ blog.
The month was crazy and hectic and sometimes frustrating, waiting to hear back from people and going days without direction. We traveled by bus and cramped van from Lilongwe to Zomba to Blantyre to Phalombe to Blantyre to Salema and back to Lilongwe. It rained A LOT and there was flooding that made it difficult to get from place to place. We had to change our plans within a moments notice depending on transportation or available lodging. We lived on top ramen, PBJs and samosas. Many of us didn’t do our laundry for several weeks because we were never in one place long enough to let it dry. But hey, such is life right? Well, life on the race anyway.
We met some amazing people who future racers will hopefully get to partner with and we got to live in one of the top 10 poorest and subsequently most beautiful countries in the world.
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That leads us to February. We hopped on another butt-numbingly squished bus for 13 hours and got off in Lusaka, Zambia on the 1st of this month. Our ministry host, Bishop Alec, picked us up from the hostel that we crashed at and drove us to his house where we are now staying with him and his family about 20 minutes outside the city. Like every other month, we knew very little about who we were going to be serving with or what we would be doing before arriving, but a nice man and his sweet wife and infant daughter pleasantly met us. We have running water and electricity and a very small but functional kitchen to make all of our meals.
Our ministry varies from day to day but we are working with Eagle Nest Pentecostal Church. On Mondays and Tuesdays from 8am-1pm, we teach at Good Samaritan Primary School. I have a class of 12 very joyful 2nd graders who are very curious about me. We teach them everything from English, Math and Bible to AIDS and STD prevention, which is very interesting with the language barrier.
On Wednesdays we go to different Bible studies in church members’ homes and share words of encouragement and testimonies with the people there. Last week we talked about what the Kingdom of God is and how we can be part of it. I am challenged by their knowledge of the Gospel and that is so refreshing.
On Thursdays we go to the villages and meet and pray with people who are struggling in their home life or have health issues. These are the times we stare real poverty right in the face and it is truly eye opening for me. These are people who labor on their farms all day every day, literally breaking their backs to provide for their families and they are still sleeping on the floor and eating maybe one meal a day. We walk up to their homes and they greet us with a smile and pull up whatever seat they may have for us. They are humble people and I am so blessed by them.
We have Friday off and we typically spend it in town, drinking milkshakes and connecting to wifi.
Saturdays we do door to door evangelism in a mostly Muslim neighborhood, which is hard. Most people we approach think we are Jehovah’s Witnesses, which is funny because that’s what we look like walking up to their door with our Bibles in hand. I don’t even have to explain why this is so far outside my comfort zone, but it is stretching me in good ways.
Sunday, we end our week with church service and Sunday school, which is fun and restorative because the Word is good and the music is joyful.
We have been here nearly two weeks and it has been so good. I can’t wait what God has in store for us in the rest of our time here.
Thank you all for following my journey. I have 5 ½ months left but in order for me to continue on I need to raise $1,900 more in support by March 1st. Any donation you can make is helpful and hugely appreciated. Just click on the Support Me! Link above if you feel lead to do so. Thank you to those who have been faithfully supporting me since the very beginning! I love you all so much!
