Hi everyone! I never wrote anything about Malawi. Internet was usually nonexistent or strong enough to post any update blogs. So before I go into writing anything about this next month (where there is the fastest Wi-Fi I’ve seen since October), I wanted to share about my final month in Africa!
When we first received our ministry set up sheet, my team and I thought we’d be roughing it in the bush with limited electricity, water, and no Wi-Fi. What we found, however, was nowhere near our expectations!
When we arrived at the bus stop in Ntcheau, hordes of people crowded around our mini bus to sell us whatever was in their basket. At least two men proposed as the rest eyed the 7 girls trying to find a place to wait for their ride.
Once we squeezed our way out, we waited for our host who picked us up in an air-conditioned bus. We’d gone the previous 3 months with no AC, and I’m sure I forgot what it felt like to not be sweating out of every pore of my body. In addition, he was wearing a Broncos hat—the first one I’d seen since September.
We drove out of the small town towards a more rural village. After 2.8 km of bumpy dirt road, we arrived to our humble abode Esters House. Actually, it wasn’t too humble; it was quite nice.My team and I were all able to share the same room, and our bunkbeds had not only a blanket, but also a pillow and towel/washcloth on them.
Not only that, but because Esters House is a NGO run by Americans, there was a full sized kitchen. Even with frequent power outages, there was cold containing fridge and a solar heater that sometimes gave us warm showers.
Can I just take a second to give a shout out to God and say, that I’m (hashtag) blessed?
Obviously, these are not the reasons why Malawi was an incredible month; if they were, I’d be a bit worried with myself. I just wanted to share all of that because it’s in the little things like washcloths and a kitchen that show how personal and loving Papa God is.
Constant change, being on the road and away from home is full of crazy adventures, but it’s nice to have comforts and familiarity even if it’s only for one month.
So what did I actually do for the majority of April?
That’s a great question, I’m glad you asked! I began the beginning of the month organizing that full sized kitchen I mentioned earlier. One of my teammates and I went through bins of pots, pans, and cooking utensil to take inventory and figure out how to make the kitchen look nice for when future teams come to work.
My team and I also led a spiritual development and VBS. We preformed skits, and monologues of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection the week before Easter.
Esters House reaches widows and orphans mainly. They serve kids from the community lunch Monday through Saturday, and they serve widows every Saturday. Usually, we’d help prepare and serve it too!
Out of all of the kids that eat lunch at Esters House, nine are double orphans that live on the facility. Getting to know the orphans that lived on the facility was somewhat difficult, but by the end of the month, we were able to break through some of their walls a bit. I think it helped that my team and I painted bible verses in their rooms. We also painted verses all over campus.
I think our biggest and most fruitful ministry was pouring into the missionary families that lived on campus. One family had been there for 4 years, one for 2 and the other arrived the day before my team.
The two families that lived there for multiple years were incredible. They were coming out of a tough year. The campus was broken into and the situation was full of violence. There were a slew of short term teams that left the two families burned out rather than filled up.
We were able to change that. Some of my teammates were even able to homeschool the four missionary kids that lived there. We built relationships with each kids and at the end of the month babysat so that their parents could have a date night. We made fried rice, brownies, and watched the parent trap.
Two of them had birthdays while we were there, and they invited us to both! One was for an 11-year-old boy. We ate chocolate cookies, drank Fanta and jumped on a trampoline in their back yard! The other was for a 9-year-old girl, and we ate sprinkle cupcakes and watched Moana.
(Just a little side note if you haven’t watched it yet, do it! It’s all about identity, and the Holy Spirit symbolism is real. The music is great too.)
So much happened last month. Malawi was incredible! Because there was limited Wi-Fi, I read a lot. I think I probably read around five or 6 books, and spent at least 2 or 3 hours every morning drinking coffee and spending time with Jesus.
Leaving Malawi, and Africa for that matter, was not an easy goodbye. Even though I was in some of the world’s poorest countries financially, they were rich in joy, and from that, I learned more than I ever imagined.
**If you’re interested in the organization I worked with, go to http://puremission.org/sponsorships/ and read more about it. They are in need of more sponsors for widows, and they can’t admit anyone else into their programs until everyone is sponsored.
