A lot has happened in the past few weeks. I moved from Zambia to Malawi, I was put on a new team of six girls, I moved to a school and started aiding a kindergarten class (currently learning that the process of reading takes a lot longer than I remember), and I was introduced to Live Love Malawi.
Live Love is a ministry that focuses on sustainable development through community work in rural African villages. They partner with village Chiefs to run programs with local schools, women’s groups, sports teams, as well as offer employment opportunities. I’ll share more about Live Love on another blog (I’ve only been here a week so I don’t want to get too ahead of myself) but they have completely shifted the way I look at providing sustainable aid through tangible acts as well as sharing what the heart of the Lord looks like.
Today we visited one of the Live Love villages. I had the sweet chance to work with their women empowerment program. It’s a multi step program that teaches women (mostly older and widowed) how to sew and run their own business out of their home. While I do not sew or own a business, I was able to sit with the women after their work day and have a bible study. This bible study, while insignificant as it might seem, held the utmost of power.
As we sat there in a circle, on the ground, surrounded by thirty women ranging from twenty to ninety-three years old (!!), I got a glimpse of the power of community. We sat there and talked about anxiety, worry, and hardships for over an hour. I honestly didn’t have a lot of wisdom to share (the conversation kept coming back to children) but I was able to witness this group of women come together in order to pursue growth and to simply share life together. They bonded in prayer, vulnerability, and laughter. They said, “me too” when a mother would share how lost and saddened she was about her alcoholic son. They yelled “amen” as someone praised God for His faithfulness through a past illness in the family. They giggled as an elderly women read a verse about disobedient children, all nodding their heads in frustrated unison. They did these things not in self validation but rather as a way to come together and stand in faith against things that are beyond their control. Despite the odds they face in their village as women, they stand strong and confident in who they’ve been created to be, even if it is hard somedays. They remain hopeful for a better future and also praise God throughout the season they’re in. They persist in a way that is graceful and inspiring. They build one another up in what is good and true – that of the Lord.
I know this snippet of Malawi community might seem insignificant through a phone or computer screen, but it really isn’t. It’s a sweet reminder of the importance of community and valuing the people around you. It’s giving way to vulnerability and being willing to say, “me too, I’m struggling”, and allowing for both friends and God to come in and offer a helping hand. It’s opening yourself up to the power of community and learning to not just rely on your own abilities. It’s a lesson I am slowly learning and understanding, even if it is incredibly difficult some days. While I don’t always choose into the people around me like I should, I am able to look at this group of women and witness the importance of friendship and how it can do mighty things when bound by the endless love of God.
xoxo,
Emily
