The beautiful January day dawned early and bright, with not a cloud in the sky. Excitement filled the air as my team and I prepared ourselves for a day spent watching a professional soccer game: Malawi vs. China. The game was free and open to the public and the people of Malawi because it was the official opening of the new soccer stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi. Another factor that added to our excitement was the fact that the president was to attend the game as well.
Our team arrived at the stadium early to get a good spot to watch the game, and we spent the first half of the game completely enjoying ourselves and having a good time. It was surreal and incredible to be at an actual professional soccer game. We were able to secure two little Malawian flags to show our spirit, and to really get into the culture that we were about to spend the next few months living in.
Since the game was free (and soccer is such a huge sport in other countries,) there were crowds of hundreds of people rushing and pushing to get inside of the stadium. So much so, that several hundred of them were not able to make it into the stadium.
This crowd of people who were not able to get into the stadium started to riot outside of its gates, because they wanted to get inside and they were angry that they could not. The crowd tried to push their way into the stadium, and were so forceful and violent that the police had to step in. Here’s the kicker, though: the police used tear gas to push the crowds back and make them disperse.
I think that was the moment that we realized that we had to get out of there.
But first, we had to wait for the crowds to disperse, so we wouldn’t get caught in the angry rioters, who had just been tear gassed. It was about halfway through the second half when our host pastor (who had taken us to the soccer game,) went to go see if it was safe for us to leave the game and get to our van that would take us home. (We wanted to avoid being in the huge massive crowds of people who would be trying to leave the stadium all at once as well).
When we left the stadium, we thought that our van was going to pick us up right at the front (inside the gates of the stadium). We were wrong. As it turned out, we had to walk past the gates and through the crowds of people who had just been rioting and tear gassed to make it to our van.
That’s when it all started to go wrong.
As we started to make our way through the mob, it started with just men and women grabbing onto our arms, touching our hair, and trying to steal the things in our hands. As we made our way through the mob, though, it all started to get progressively worse.
Skirts were lifted up, hands were placed in places that none of us liked, things were groped, and we were being grabbed onto. It got to the point where we were basically pushed up against an empty van that just randomly appeared out of nowhere. (For those of you who don’t know, the vans in Africa are never empty. Ever.) For some reason, the driver of the van decided to open up his door and pull us into his van to take us to safety.
That van was from Jesus.
No one on my team was harmed (physically,) and the only thing stolen from us was a pair of sunglasses and those two little Malawian flags. We truly believe that the Lord protected us that day because of the miraculous appearance of the empty van that took us to safety. We were able to process with each other, with our parents, and with leaders at AIM, and we are all okay and have moved on.
Even now, I find it myself sweating nervously and getting unreasonably freaked out when around strange men from this country that I do not know. And I can’t be alone with them.
That situation that happened to us has, unfortunately, clouded our whole judgement of the country as a whole and the experience we’re having in it. (For me, at least). I find it difficult to minister to and show the grace of God to maybe even the very same people who sexually harassed us.
But that’s not the real reason why I wanted to share this story.
God opened my eyes that day. He opened my eyes to the challenges that women face in the world as a whole today. To police brutality in third world countries. And to the fact that we have it so good in America. (And we don’t even realize it).
You see, what happened to us occurred around the same time as all of the women’s rights marches were happening all across America and the world. And I don’t think that was a coincidence.
The reason we have it so good in America is because people have been willing to stand up for what the believe, and to fight for what they know is right.
(Disclaimer: while I may not agree with everything that was marched for on those days, I agree with standing up for what you believe in. I agree with knowing what is right, what is just, and fighting for everyone to have those things).
The fact of the matter is, the moment we stop making things like this a big deal, is the moment they stop being a big deal. That is when things like what happen to me seem normal in the eyes of the public and the people who are living in an area.
It is when men (and women alike) think that it is okay and normal to stick their hands up women’s skirts, and grope them. It is when a people think that it’s okay for police to tear gas a crowd of around 200 people who just want to get into a soccer stadium.
When it comes down to it, the moment when people stop standing up for what they believe in, is the moment that what they believe in becomes insignificant. So, keep standing up for what you believe in, and for what you know is right. That’s what’s so beautiful about America. We are “the land of the Free and the home of the Brave.”
Embrace that part of you today. What sets your soul on fire? What hurts your heart so much that you feel like you could burst with wanting to stand up for?
Use your freedom and be brave, even if you’re standing alone.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. It’s not.”
-Dr. Seuss, “The Lorax”
Team Lit at the soccer game
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