Day 1: We arrive in Salima, Malawi weary from 36 hours of travel.
Day 2: We move into our 3 bedroom house in Nanjoka Village (aka – land of the snakes). Set up tents, unpack, discover that we have running water (an amazing shower room), and electricity. We’re in the bush (with the best amenities) and we love it!
Day 3: We eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 4: We walk 8 miles to our first day of ministry, and eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Day 5: Our first day off. There’s no electricity (because that’s the way of life in Malawi). We go to Salima “tourist town” for grocery shopping. After 4 stores and a market, we’ve purchased all our necessities. We make eggs for dinner.
Day 6: We attend the Nazarene village church service, and lead the Bible Study before service. We hire a local woman named Judith to cook and help us with laundry.
Day 7: I share a morning devotional with the Kindle staff that encourages them to seek God’s wisdom and understanding. Then, we begin a full day of ministry at the Katawa Health Clinic, where the workers and regular patients begin to recognize us. We enjoy delicious homemade African meals of rice, fried eggs, and a tomatoey-garlicy-oniony-peppery-saucy topping. We thank God for Judith.
Day 8: On our 4 mile walk home from the clinic, we discover the corner store with cold orange Fanta and Coke. Enough said.
Day 9: We realize that the farmland behind us belongs to an American/Canadian couple whose son founded the organization we’re working with this month. They invite us over for cold drinks and a tour of their property (which includes an in ground pool that we’re welcome to visit anytime we want! Heck yes!)
Day 10: Like every morning, we wake up at 5:30am (I maybe sleep in until 6am). Instead of walking to ministry, George arranges bicycle taxis for the team.
Day 11: Our ministry contact George, smiles ear to ear, as I greet him good morning in perfect Chechwa.
Me: “Madzuka Bandji”
George: “Tadzuka Bueno, Kieyuno”
Me: “Tadzuka Bueno, Zikomo.”
Day 12: Pastor Berrigo’s son gets married and invites us to the reception! A Malawian wedding is kind of like a free concert in which the entire town is invited with money splashing and dancing for hours and hours and hours. We loved sharing in the joy and celebration of the bride and groom’s big day.
Day 13: In the morning, we attend the Catholic church service, and in the afternoon, we enjoy a peaceful day reading, playing games, and napping on our awesome front porch.
Day 14: Kate, Jason, and I visit Kindle’s students at a secondary school in town. We get to know the students and hear about their struggles, hopes, and dreams; we learn about some of the young girls’ struggles in finding safe lodging. It is not unusual for men to come to their dormitories trying to prostitute them. It breaks my heart to hear about it. We encourage them with scripture and prayer.
Day 15: We ride for 45 minutes on bumpy, bumpy, bumpy bicycle taxis to speak to the Sadzu Village Women’s Ministry. I originally planned to share on receiving wisdom from God, but on the bike ride there, heard from the Lord that I needed to share from John 15. We are His sheep. I am glad I listened as this leads into a conversation about hearing God’s voice and to Kate talking about her accident in India for the first time. The women sing songs to thank us.
Day 16: I count pills in the clinic pharmacy and visit with my new friend Linley. She’s a sweetheart.
Day 17: It’s Mother’s Day in Malawi. SURPRISE! We get the day off and finally trek up the hill to check out the pool. WOW, it’s awesome and better than we hoped or dreamed. Really, there’s an in-ground pool in the middle of the African bush? YES! We are thankful.
Day 18: African feet are not a myth. Dirty, cracked, dusty, blistered, and ten shades darker. It’s true.
Day 19: African time is also not a myth. We plan to visit the Kuti Wildlife reserve at 2pm. However, our driver gets caught up in a meeting and arrives at our house at 4:30pm, as the sun is setting. You can’t see animals in the dark so we head to town and get ice cream instead.
Day 20: We visit the Evangelical church in the morning, where I preach for the first time in Africa. In the afternoon, we relax beside our private African bush pool.
Day 21: We head to an elderly village a few miles away. Anne, Emily, and I arrive a good thirty minutes before the rest of the team. Unsure of what to do with the 12 or so grandmas eagerly awaiting for us to speak, we begin teaching them the kids songs we know. They absolutely love it and begin to sing along with us. It is the most beautiful, harmonious version of “Jesus Loves Me” I have ever heard. In the evening we play soccer.
Day 22: After a full day of ministry, we trek up the hill to our new friends home, three young ladies from Germany, and cook dinner with them. It’s a fun night of cooking, laughing, and telling stories. I am up WAY past my bedtime as we don’t arrive back home until after 9pm!
Day 23: George, our main ministry host for the month invites us to dinner. What a man. He led our team with so much Grandfatherly love and care. We love hearing him pray and sing. He is an example for our team.
Day 24: It’s the team’s final day of ministry in the villages. We begin our first round of goodbyes.
Day 25: In the morning, our goodbyes continue with our friends at the clinic. Then come the hardest, yet sweetest goodbyes of all, George and the Kindle leadership team. It ends in a time of prayer and worship.
Day 26: We load our packs into the back of a truck, give George a BIG hug, and wave goodbye to our home, our Nanjoka.
It’s amazing how much can happen in a month. And it’s even more amazing what the LORD can do in a month. He helps make a place that is at once strange, unfamiliar, and full of new faces become a home. In just a short few weeks, Nanjoka became home. The KINDLE staff became our brothers and sisters, and the village our village. It wasn’t on our own that it was a good month, but through the love of Christ in us and in all the KINDLE staff that made the month so amazing and memorable. By the end, Nanjoka was a place we loved.
With love,
Hilary
