I can’t believe two months have passed since I last updated you guys—so much has happened. Malawi was the most beautiful place! They call it “the warm heart of Africa,” and I now I understand why. The people were so welcoming and lovely. I met so many locals who were just willing to talk about the Lord and wanted to form a relationship with me. On the way into the country, our squad took a very over-crowded bus with bags all in the aisle; there was just no way to sit comfortably. As I was riding, minding my own business, a man sitting next to me started a conversation. Because the bus was filled with 3/4 American people, the man was curious about us. He introduced himself as Stranger and asked me about myself. He wanted to know if we were all traveling together, how we’d all met, and what we were doing in Malawi. I told Stranger all about the World Race and everything we were sent to do. He continued on to tell me that he’s from Zambia, the country we’d just left, and that he has a non-profit business where he bounces between Zambia and Malawi planting churches and building them up. I recommended him and his organization to my friend who was doing ATL (ask the Lord) ministry that month. While my friend and his team didn’t end up visiting Stranger, I feel this personal connection to him and his ministry that will be permanently fixated on my heart. We swapped numbers, in case we were ever destined to cross paths, again, and the cool part is that he continues to text me to check on me and my ministry. He even wished me a Merry Christmas! I just love how intentional people are in Africa.
Once our team arrived at our hosts’ family’s house, we were instantly welcomed with open arms. Our time in Malawi started off a little stressful as one of my teammates had her credit card eaten by the ATM in a city 4 hours away from where we were going. Luckily, another team was staying in that city and was able to retrieve her card days later, but my teammate had to go the entire month with no personal money to her name. When we finally arrived at our host’s house, it was hours after the anticipated arrival time. At 10pm, our host’s wife, Rose, had dinner made and ready for us. I still can’t believe how lucky we got with Paster Gama and Rose as our hosts. They are 70+ years-old, and are just alive for Christ.
Every day, Rose would cook and clean for us. She spoke very little English, but she quickly became my friend. Each day I would help her prepare meals however I could. It was quite difficult at first, due to the language barrier, but she reminded me of home. Her love for me just radiated through her actions, and we formed a very special bond that will never be broken. We laughed together, danced together, and prepared meals together—the whole experience reminded me of times with my grandparents. All of my grandparents have passed, and I no longer get to cherish those moments, so having Rose with me was just so refreshing. Also, as I write this blog, I’ve just realized that its December 28, my Grannie’s birthday.
Most nights, our team got to eat dinner by candlelight due to the power outages. What a time. In the States I never thought about ever having to prepare meals in the dark. The lights are always on, and power is always available (except for the random occasion). In Malawi, if you wanted power certain hours of the day, you had to purchase it. How different.
One of my favorite memories from Malawi was Thanksgiving. I’m not going to lie, I thought the holidays would be tough for me on the Race, but Thanksgiving was just so perfect. Somehow, we had electricity the entire day, and two of my teammates cooked a large meal for us. Also, just up the street from us was Blondtourage, the team we spent month 1 with down in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. So, our team invited them over to our place for Thanksgiving, and our hosts, their hosts, and Blondtourage got to spend one magical day together. How serendipitous. Our teams started Africa together and ended it together. My heart was so warm and full. That morning, we even had a hike up to the top of a mountain and worship together. What a Thanksgiving treat. I called home and got to watch some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with my parents and my team, and I got to talk to some of my friends as well.
Malawi was just a beautiful and spiritual experience overall. This really cool God-moment happened while I was there, as well. Each month I’ve been trying to acquire a new spiritual discipline in order to grow my relationship with God. For Malawi, God asked me to practice listening prayers and hearing His voice more. One night, a few nights before Thanksgiving, God asked me to reach out and pray for three people on my squad. So I did. One of these people accidentally let it slip that our next debrief would be on the beach. Cool, no big deal. The thought went in one ear and out the other. About 30 minutes after reaching out to these people, God gave me a vision. He showed me myself getting re-baptized in the Indian Ocean, in Vietnam! One of the people I prayed for would be one of two who would baptize me! I didn’t understand. I had been baptized at 15 years-old, by my own accord, and never believed that a person needed to have a full-submersion baptism in order for it to count. Nor did I believe that people needed to be baptized more than once in life for it to matter. So, God, “why?!” I asked HIm. As I was laying there that night, God answered me entirely. He told me that our relationship had grown, changed, and developed more intimately than ever before, and that I had become a whole new person in Him; someone completely different than I had been. Baptism is an outward expression of an inward declaration. Here I had declared internally this whole new relationship with the Lord, but I wasn’t willing to tell the world. Well, all of that was about to change. I told no one of this vision. I had to wait until I knew it was coming to fruition first. Vietnam, here I come!
