Every time our van pulled out of the drive way and down the dusty road of the “neighborhood” we lived in, the children ran after us and threw flowers into the windows and reached out as they tried to touch our hands. We pulled out onto the main road, ready to have our soccers skills put to the test by 10 year olds. We were decked out in our athletic clothes and tennis shoes, we were ready for a fun day of ministry. The drive to the village we played soccer in was about and hour. When we pulled up to the dirt field in the middle of a circle of huts, children swarmed the van grabbing our hands and dragging us over to the field. The little children sat along the sides with some of the girls on our team and four of us usually warmed up and played the game. When I say warmed up, I don’t mean we stretched a little bit. This soccer practice was more intense than some of the sports I played in high school. We ran laps and did work outs for about an hour before we even started the game.
This day was different than the others, instead of dying of heat, it was a little chilly. It looked like a storm was coming in. We had started our game and all of the boys were really good at soccer. They were so focused and serious, there was not much laughing going on during this game. We started to hear thunder rumbling and it started drizzling. But in Africa it doesn’t rain, it pours. Soon enough the rain was coming down so hard that it was hurting our skin. We could barely see anything and the coach was yelling at us to go to the van so we didn’t get wet. Instead we decided to keep playing, the boys were kind of shocked that we wanted to continue but soon enough they had taken off their shirts and were running around like crazy slipping in the mud and laughing. We didn’t even know who was on what team anymore, we were just having fun in the pouring rain. Now, if you know me, you know that I am not good at soccer at all. I played for a couple of years when I was younger, only because we got cookies after practice. I was running around in the mud, slipping, laughing, having a great time while not really knowing what I was doing. Then, one of the older boys passed me the soccer ball and everyone came charging at me. I just started running and kicking the ball and the next thing I knew I aimed it at the goal, which was barely visible through the rain, and I kicked it as hard as I could. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen, but then everyone started cheering. The soccer team ran over to me and they all started hugging (more like tackling) me and yelling cheers. Even though we had only played soccer with them a couple of times at this point, they knew how bad I was and they were all so excited that I made a goal. We were all soaking wet and laughing and having fun. This was the first time that we were able to break the ice and all have fun and laugh together. It was one of my favorite memories from Malawi. After this day, we all became friends and our games together were filled with a lot more laughter.
