Howdy Malawi
We have now made it to Malawi after an unexpectedly exciting travel week. Hopping out of our final 6 hour van ride and having met our contact Antony Banda, we are welcomed into a… house. If it was in the states, it would be condemned. Yet it is structurally sound, and houses in this area are typically built in such fashion anyways. It quickly becomes home sweet home. This is our waystation where we spend two days recovering from travel week, meeting the national coordinator and several other pastors of Harvester International Ministries (HIM). We pitch our tents… inside the house. Good thing, too, because the African night is full of… living things.
Ants. The ants here are not like American ants. These ants are ninjas, and they are efficient. We wouldn’t see an ant for hours. Next thing you know, a bit of food or a squashed bug is left on the floor and there are bajillions of little army ants, working in military fashion, forming supply lines from base to food. A few minutes later, the mess is cleaned and there is not an ant to be seen, except the occasional scout. During the day they plot their schemes, at night they attack. Michelle Smith was sleeping innocently outside in her tent. She awakes to ants covering the mesh of her tent, infiltrating through the little holes they’ve chewed in the mesh. She’s covered. The next night they attack Alicia Tarjeft and Alexandra Squyers in the tent they’re sleeping in. Some insecticide solves that problem for the next night.
Spiders. Silently they creep out from the ill-fitted joints of the cabinets and take their vigil on the wall. And they are vigilant… they know what a shoe looks like, too, and adeptly jump out of the way of any such object coming their way. Ranging from dime size to palm size, these creatures have not violated anyone’s personal space, although we have taken out several of their number.
Mice. These curious creatures dart in and out from under our packs and along the edges of rooms. They are more skittish than anything else although we are keenly aware of avoiding their feces. They are fun to hunt, and so far one mouse has fallen victim to the digging end of a shovel.
Potato bugs (I think). At least one of these harrowing creatures have made their debut, shortly before it was greeted by a shoe.
This is Africa.
We leave that house and travel to Lwadzi, Malawi, where we are warmly greeted by a small village of Christian natives. The house here is much better, but the crawling night life is no different. Nonetheless, we see here why Malawi is called the Warm Heart of Africa. I would really like to know what these people think of us, because are served almost hand and foot from the moment we arrive. Certainly we are not that special. Handshakes all around, at some point I am interdigitated by an African man, and we’re brought water and food whenever we need it. We meet local pastors for a time of introduction and worship and then go back home to set up for the week and prepare for the night. Staying off the ground is preferable, so I sling up my hammock and bug net and doze off to sleep under the clearest, most starlit night I’ve seen in a while. Thank you Jesus for this beautiful earth and sky you’ve made.
Thank you to those who have been obedient to the call to support this ministry! You’re not just supporting me, you’re also supporting the many ministries we work with and sharing in the work being done in all these countries. As far as support goes, our final deadline to have all of our support in is January 4th! I still need $4,203 to be fully funded so pray about supporting me and do whatever seems best to you, because God’s will will be done no matter what! Nonetheless, the holidays are coming and the best way to bless me would be to support me, if you feel called to do so; I can’t receive packages anyways! I barely made it to the last support deadline of $10,000, so now it really is going to be in God’s hands to bring in support. In all things, though, may name the name of the Lord be praised!
