I promised a more uplifting post after my recount of dark places in Cambodia, so here is an overview of what my time in Africa looked like! I’m becoming especially guilty of how much back-posting I’ve been doing recently, and now that I’m in Asia with Wifi everywhere there is really no excuse for my non-existence on social media or here on the blog. Better late than never?
Malawi. Lived with a pastor and his family in a ministry-poor month in the country capital.
This was a tough month, and it will likely be going down as my least favorite on the World Race. This was our first month in Africa, and we had new teams to boot. We had the chance to play soccer with some locals, help at a crisis nursery, lead a home church, and share testimonies at our pastor’s church (and his daughter’s church plant). Cultural adjustment aside (big difference from life with our expatriate hosts in Honduras) there simply wasn’t a lot of ministry or freedom during our time there.
Sleeping Situation: Inflatable sleeping pad on the ground. Beware of roaches.
Most Common Meal: Cooked for ourselves, so some pasta, fajitas were easy to make. Local food was most often nsima with some cooked greens and sauce. We cooked over charcoal several times because the power would go out consistently.
Free Time: Podcasts (spiritual development, politics, real estate investment), reading, cards (Black 7 or Speed). Shared testimonies with our new team.
Area of encouragement: Enjoyed getting to know my new team, facing the common trials of adjusting to the cultural and paucity of ministry brought us together.
Area of difficulty: There wasn’t a lot of ministry, and we were hemorrhaging cash the entire time to do anything or get anywhere. Internet was nearly non-existent.
Highlight: We had the opportunity to see a baby adopted from the crisis nursery we were serving at on our final day there.
Zambia. Lived in Livingstone, home of the Victoria Falls. Our month was spent evangelizing, playing soccer, and teaching English/math.
We had ministry in the mornings and early evening, so part of the memory of Zambia was the burning hot afternoons in our oven of a volunteer house in the outskirts of the city. Between our evangelism, soccer, friends we made, and support of local businesses we made a bit of a name for ourselves in the community (super great after a month secluded in our home in Malawi). In our free time we would go to the local Shoprite and often run into other members of our squad. Adventure days included a safari, bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, and a trip to Devil’s Pool. So no complaints there (except from my wallet). We still hear from a number of locals through social media from time to time which is very encouraging.
Sleeping Situation: A double-mattress under a terrible drape-type mosquito net (not the move).
Most Common Meal: Again, cooked for ourselves. I should clarify, this means a pretty “collegiate”-type cuisine. So, various kinds of pastas, maybe fajitas/nachos, my mom’s 4-ingredient chicken Parmesan. Local food was nsima, sauteed vegetables (sometimes with cream), and some chicken.
Free Time: More podcasts. We were in a volunteer house where we had the chance to meet several international volunteers. Our best connection was Jean Tomas, a towering Frenchman who was just at the beginning of his journey and delighted to learn all kinds of games and American-isms from our group. He even went and listened in on an evangelism “home-call” towards the end of our trip (!).
Area of encouragement: Lots of freedom. After a month of isolation in Malawi, we really got to know the neighborhood. We were able to engage with a local who was on the fence between Christianity and Islam, and brought him (back) into the Christian faith through a lot of intense theological discussion. This was a good fruit of the apologetics podcasts I had been listening to fo the past 2 months.
Area of difficulty: Having left, there wasn’t a great “hand-off” of our relationships. The people we were evangelizing to don’t have someone they can go to. Our coordinator who lived with us didn’t have a strong personal stake in the success of our ministry. We definitely did good work with some lasting impact but not as much as I would have liked.
Highlight: While serving at the school I was enlisted to help create some new wall-art for the kids between the lesson I taught. My high school drawing class (and I like to think an eye for detail) came in clutch and many of the locals were quite impressed with my blown-up reproductions of what was in some of the teacher guide books. Maybe it will help them remember some of what I taught?
Other Highlight: Adventure days. In case you forgot the list above, it was bungee jumping, a safari in Botswana, whitewater rafting, and a visit to Devil’s Pool. Talk about feeling super fortunate. These excursions were certainly a pretty penny but I’ll always remember the experiences and being able to share them with my team-mates.
Lesotho. Lived up in the mountains and evangelized to the local community. By “local” I mean we hiked 4-8 miles a day to meet shepherds and find local’s homes.
This was “manistry” month. So we said goodbye to our previous teams, the women went off to eSwatini, the men to Lesotho. Travel was tough, including 4 buses, a taxi, a ferry, and 2 vans to arrive at our final destination. Nevermind I was the one coordinating this for 27 people. Our overnight bus through Botswana was punctuated by abrupt slowdowns to avoid hitting elephants wandering the road. We stayed the next night at a generous host who provided an incredible meal before continuing onto our final destination the next day.
Being a men’s team we ministered to the men of this mountain valley, where more locals rely on a donkey than a vehicle for goods transport, and the professions available are shepherd, construction, or being a miner in South Africa (only visit your family for 1 day a month). We lived at the top of the valley at the church complex of our host which featured their house, our quarters, a community living room where many locals would go to charge their devices (if the sun was out being a solar system), the pit toilet aka “the long drop”, and our shower. Showers were only every few days because to heat up the water we would have to build a fire underneath the hot water tank, so it was a community effort to achieve. We lived in the midst of terraced corn/bean fields, with grazing cows and sheep all around. Each day began with a 20-minute walk to get the blood moving and to enjoy Creation. I wrote a post, Evangelizing in Lesotho which talks about our ministry there. Apart from that we had ample opportunity to engage with our host and his sons, who are living lives far more interesting than mine was at age 15 or 17 (we’re talking mountain biker, and knife maker).
Sleeping Situation: A 50-year old spring mattress frame with a thin pad on top. No worries of falling off because of the canyon in the middle.
Most Common Meal: We were cooked for by our host-mom Keila. Everything from pizza rolls to lasagna to beef stew with pop (nsima with less water).
Free Time: Clayton, Cameron, Matt and I played a lot of cards. We played 90 games of Black 7 that we tracked the results for, and many rounds of Monopoly Deal. I listened to some podcasts, read a little bit in my hammock, but I think was a bit information-glutted at this point.
Area of encouragement: Being able to meet God in such a different environment from back home. Being able to share the Bible with some of these men for the first time seriously was great, and spending time with the shepherds and letting them know they are seen and appreciated was an incredible message to share (they live a very grueling and solitary life). Our evangelism was with local church leaders so we had people/relationships to hand the connections off to.
Area of difficulty: Being on a mens team wasn’t glamorous. There were 8 of us, and we all come from very different walks of life. While being culturally diverse is fine, we didn’t have a common set of goals for brotherhood or even what we were hoping to gain from the Race. Let’s just say a month after Lesotho that 4 of them had left the Race. It was not a cohesive month.
Highlight: Over a weekend we ministered in a different village, staying in a cow-dung hut down and across the valley. On the way back we visited some naturally formed rock pools that had been naturally formed from the bedrock. It was a refreshing retreat and incredibly surreal/beautiful.
Other Highlight: Had a great connection with our host, Pieter. He was especially keen on pouring into our group in spite of the troubles we faced. He has an incredible wisdom and vision from God for what His Kingdom on earth looks like. He lives his faith with a hunger and surrender that was simply inspiring.
Africa in Summary: Now having been in Asia for a few months, I can say that Africa was the biggest cultural adjustment of the Race. It was certainly tough encountering a lot of faith held hostage by superstition and indigenous beliefs. Witch doctors still had power in every place we went. Not just social power, but political power. The answer in short is education, but without a stable government, stable jobs won’t follow. The amount of uncertainty and unrest among the people, the prayers for employment were very sad to behold. In spite of this, the people were very hospitable to our group, especially apparent in the 2 months we evangelized.
Prayer requests: For those who we evangelized to. That they can continue to see God working in their lives. For the ministries we served with, that they can keep their heart for those they are ministering to at the center of their work. For the employment opportunities of the people of Malawi, Zambia, and Lesotho. For our squad as we continue through Asia (most of the way through at this point).
