The conversations are fading. The dialogue between children, youth and adults are now nothing but a distant memory. What I do remember though is how they made me feel. I would hear this over and over again from one of my old supervisors, now a good friend, ” you probably will forget what people tell you, but you will never forget how they made you feel.” I can’t tell you exact words that were exchanged in Malawi, but I can tell you how the people made me feel. Malawi isn’t called the “Warm Heart of Africa” for nothing.
It’s been two months now since being in Africa. Reverse culture shock hit hard last month, but my team and I are unfortunately fitting in pretty well now to the “western world” of Eastern Europe. I say unfortunately because it took 7 months to finally get used to and appreciate the simplicity of life in the east. Using “squattys”, washing our clothes by hand, unquestionable generosity, being greeted by everybody (children and adults alike) on the street, really crappy/slow wifi if there was any wifi at all, being dusty/dirty no matter how many times you took a shower, eating rice or maize (corn porridge) 3 times a day, taking bucket showers, not being able to take a shower or cook if the water or power is out became our normal…and we were pretty good at it. Through these minute, mundane everyday tasks in life, we learned to slow down, work hard, appreciate the art of conversation, play games, be still, look for Jesus, listen to the Holy Spirit and just be comfortable being. So since leaving Africa and transitioning into Europe, we’ve found ourselves one step closer to being back in the US and have been assimilating pretty well into the opposite of everything that I just mentioned. It’s like riding a bike or driving a car. You can stop doing that everyday task for awhile, but once you get back into it, it’s like you never stopped!
I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I fear that that the familiarity of these western comforts will make me forget everything that I learned over the first 7 months of the race. Praise be to God, Adventure in Missions already knew that this would happen and have been prepping us racers on how not to forget! So on that note, back to how the warm heart of Africa made me feel.
I’ve been looking forward to Malawi way before even launching on the race because I knew of an organization back in the States that was also connected to that country. A little over a year ago I met someone through my previous job named Nina. She was a high school counselor in North Philadelphia and she started her own non-profit organization called Raising a Generation of Hope (RAGOH) after volunteering at an NGO (non-governmental organization) called “Rise Malawi“. Through this organization she informs and empowers high school girls to discover their self-worth and to appreciate their rights to education in comparison to girls in Malawi. Through this comparison her students then learn to care about what is going on in the world and even want to contribute in making a change for girls across nations who don’t have the freedom to be educated or well appreciated in their family. Rise Malawi is a growing school and empowerment program for students who may not have had the opportunity to be educated if it wasn’t for their generous sponsors and full-time staff that dedicate their time and effort in pouring into their lives.
I really wanted my team to be able to serve through that organization, but our ministry was already set for Malawi. God knew what he was doing because little did I know that our host actually went to college and knew the folks that Nina had worked with in Rise Malawi. The organization that we partnered with in April was called Youth Care Ministries. It is a safe haven, after school program and future school for orphans and at risk youth in Lilongwe, Malawi. The director of this ministry went to a Christian college and program called Urban Promise International. During our stay in Malawi, our team was introduced to a couple organizations where all of the leaders actually went to the same college and through the same program in order to come back and be leaders of these grass root organizations. Through Urban Promise these leaders are able to earn their master’s degree in leadership organization via Eastern University in Philadelphia, PA and take what they learned back to Malawi to either start their own organization or help run an existing one.
All of these leaders of these organizations knew each other and supported one another! This is part of what the body of Christ is supposed to do! We are called to serve God via knowing who we are in Him (our general purpose) and to make him known through our calling in life. We are not called to do this alone. Jesus died for everybody so his will is available to all. Not everyone is purposed for that (that’s a miraculous mystery of a topic for another day) but God definitely has a plan to use his bride (the church) to bring His kingdom to Earth through different facets in life. It could be through safe havens, foster care, emergency nurseries, shelters, mission trips, schools, small businesses, clinics, cell groups, transitional housing, church…the possibilities are endless!
Interacting with all of these people in Malawi through these organizations, from the leaders to the staff, students and even community members made me feel hopeful! We served alongside of these people, we were even served by these people and most importantly we were loved by these people. We were whole-heartedly loved by these people through their faith. Biblical faith is this-the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1) Regardless of the apparent lack of physical things existent, whether it be adequate shelter, a school building, working utilities, family members even, there was an underlying hope for things to be secured. Their everyday conversations would always revolve around how the Lord is working in their lives. Even when their current circumstances seem pretty hopeless, their faith in Jesus made the unseen seen through their words and actions.
Below are a couple of videos of a group of students that were impacted by my friend Nina who served at Rise Malawi a few years ago.
My team got the chance to go visit Rise Malawi because of the connection that was already there. Nina asked me to film some of the students that she worked with a few years ago to use at a conference that she will be speaking in this summer. Part of our purpose as followers of Christ is to bring hope to the hopeless. This hope that we talk about and live out can only be obtained through faith in Jesus. Nina left her heart in the warm heart of Africa. As a result she brought the hope that she felt there back home and continues to share her hope in Christ in everything she endeavors.
Fellow child of God, Christ ambassador, explorer of Christianity I challenge you to ask God what is your calling…how you can bring hope to the hopeless. How did God give you hope? Here are the links to all of the organizations that we were connected with in Malawi.
If you would like to be involved, take a few minutes to check them out! May the Lord guide and bless you!
Grace and Peace,
Bliz
