Spending time with our host family and ministry hosts has been the highlight of my month in Malawi. We shared many inside jokes, laughs, and stories by candlelight. We prepared a week full of gifts for our hosts during the holidays to give them rest. We also played a lot of Coup with Rabson and Pemphero.
During one of our many conversations, we mentioned how we love to go bowling with friends back in the States. The guys looked at each other in confusion; they had never bowled before. Our team got excited over the prospect of teaching the guys a new and fun game. We decided to hold a game night in the church during our last week in Malawi. We tried (and failed for three weeks) saving up enough of our five liter water bottles to teach the guys how to bowl. And still we ended up short. Who was the one who said we only needed ten bottles? Oh, wait. That was me.
We realized on the game night that we were missing a vital part of bowling: a ball. We asked Pastor Moses if he could find us one. He came over to the church to help us, but we couldn’t find one in the offices. Kenadi improvised by tying a roll of toilet paper inside a plastic bag. It wasn’t the most perfect item to roll, but it’s all we had.
While we were waiting for the boys to finish dinner, we decided to hit the toilet paper around like a volleyball. Little did we know that Moses got moves and can play toilet paper volleyball. He dominated with his powerful serves and blasting spikes. Our competitive sides came out as we decided to turn this messing around into a real game.
We set the boundaries for the court, placed the water bottles as the net, and picked our teams. The boys joined soon after and found us an actual ball to play with. Not going to lie–I liked the toilet paper better.
Soon, it was an all out battle for the title of Mzuzu Pentecostal Church Volleyball Championship. I may be slightly exaggerating, but all of us gave it our all. After three games, the match concluded with my team winning!!!
We did eventually teach the guys that night how to bowl, and they were already better than myself. I’m going to chalk it up to the fact that I am used to a weighted ball and to some beginner’s luck.
Everyone had so much fun that night that we decided to have another game night the next night. This time, more guys from the church praise team and Moses’s children came to play. There was so much joy in the church that evening, and all we needed were 5 L bottles and toilet paper.
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