I have been in Malawi, Africa for about a six weeks now and I am overflowing with joy and happiness. This country and the people in this country have my heart. Africa is a completely different dynamic from Asia. During the three months we spent in Cambodia and Thailand I quickly realized it wasn’t my cup of tea. The culture is naturally rude and standoffish. To put Asia in a nutshell, you constantly have to remind yourself that that person isn’t scowling at you, and just because they didn’t say hello or thank you doesn’t mean you’ve offended them. Africa on the other hand is warm and welcoming. You are never the first to say hello, because the locals will beat you to it. They welcome you into their home and share everything they have with you with a big smile on their face. Malawi, as they say, is truly the warm heart of Africa.
Our host family is more than we could ask for. Blessings and Grace, and their children Faith and Sharon, as well as their nephew Francis. We have a cement house that eighteen of us sleep in, dispersed into 5 different rooms. We sleep on the floor with sleeping pads, and have a western toilet with a shower. There is a grocery store, aka African Whole Foods, that is about 10 miles away from us, and we visit more often than needed. Cooking for ourselves in Africa has been a tactic we’ve conquered. When the electricity goes out we switch to cooking over charcoal, and when the water runs out you learn to make it work, sometimes the dishes can’t get washed until the next morning (and you might be without a shower that day). We are beyond blessed by our living conditions and the ministry given to us.
Africa has been teaching me a lot. Not only have I grown tremendously in my intimacy with the Lord, waking up for quiet time is no longer a chore but a desire and He is speaking to me so clearly and showing me so many things, but I have also learned what it means to have little to nothing and still be overflowing with joy, generosity, and most importantly faith. Malawi is the poorest country in the world with a GDP per capita of $226.50, but that doesn’t stop them from worshipping our God and trusting Him with absolutely everything they have. Our ministry host, Blessings, a few years back was kidnapped by another pastor and some hired thugs. They took him into the bushes of a village where nobody would be around and beat him almost to the point of death. Blessings explained that he never prayed against those who attacked him, as the bible says to pray for them not against them. To this day each and every one of those people that captured and attacked him are dead, and Blessings never once prayed harm over them. That just goes to show how faithful the Father is to His disciples. The Lord told Blessings to plant a church in that same village he was taken and beaten in, which is also where that other pastor and those thugs lived. So what did Blessings do? He planted the church and is still doing a great ministry in that village from feeding 300+ orphans, sharing the gospel with widows and showing them to depend on God and not the man of the house, soccer ministry with troubled young adults, to church services. He lives solely off of provision from the Lord and faith. He doesn’t have steady income, and sometimes the bills for the church or his home can’t be paid, but the Lord has always provided and he has never lost hope. Blessings is a true servant of God.
We are so used to putting our value and desires in the things of this world. Turning to our phones, television, shopping, or food when things get hard. In Malawi they have no option but to turn to God. I’m still learning the simplicity of this life. The simplicity of worship in church. It doesn’t consist of elaborate musical instruments, just the voices of the body, yet it’s the most beautiful worship I’ve ever heard. They dance with an overflowing joy. The simplicity in sitting on the front porch soaking in time with jesus instead of having the ability to hop in a car and be anywhere in .5 seconds. The simplicity of using what you have and not having easy access to amazon prime or a grocery store or coffee shop down the road. Even the simplicity of not having a bed. Don’t get me wrong I’m grateful for the life I have in America and will be more than ecstatic to come home to my bed, TV, and getting a pedicure, but there is so much more than that!! Our joy should be brought to the Lord above all, our struggles and hardships, our confusions and frustrations. The Lord has so much to offer and if you take the time to block out the world and the things of this world it’s outstanding what the Lord speaks to you and shows you.
