Greetings from month 4, in Malawi – a small country in southeastern Africa. A country known as “the warm heart of Africa” – something that can be seen and felt through the smiles and hospitality of my team’s host family. A country that signifies the end of leg one of my world race. A country that has brought new difficulties and new pain, but also new eye-opening experiences.
It never gets easier to see poverty, even after four months. It never gets easier to hear the stories of abuse and abandonment from young women. It never gets easier to navigate this unique path that God has put me and my squad on – how to best adapt to new cultures and radiate the love of Christ when, honestly, sometimes we feel completely burned out.
But it never gets old seeing God’s presence even in the darkest places and situations.
A couple days ago I met a 7-year-old boy. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt with a personality to match. He immediately came up to me and held out his cup for me to fill up with some of my water. Looking into his face, I saw one of the most radiant smiles – a smile that summed up a typical 7-year-old: carefree and full of fun. He was bold and didn’t hold back from being himself – climbing on my host’s lap after just meeting him.
It was then that his mom told us that her son suffers from epilepsy. That joyful 7-year-old boy was experiencing seizures. I never would have guessed it by how happy and healthy he looked. In talking to the little boy’s mother and interacting with him, I saw Christ. I saw Him in the joy this little boy carried, I saw Him in the trust and hope his mother had that he would be well. Most of all, I saw Him in the fact that this boy was still acting as who God created him to be – pushing past his circumstances and living life.
On the same day, I met a young man who suffers from sickle-cell. He was very weak and had to drop out of school early in life because of his condition. He was twenty-two years old.
But, the funny thing is, this young man’s mother was told by the doctors that her son was only supposed to live to be thirteen years old. When he surpassed thirteen, he was only supposed to live to be eighteen. The doctors haven’t been able to explain how and why he is still alive because his condition is so bad.
I saw Christ in the way this young man kept pushing. I saw him in the way he still had full faith that he would be healed. And I saw Him in the medical miracle that was his life beating disease time and time again.
Yesterday, I met a woman who’s husband spends all the money he earns at work on alcohol. She has four children and also has to provide for her four younger siblings. She has a son that is autistic who will sometimes come home from school with no clothes on. Her husband has been abusive to her in the past. And she has no way to provide for herself or the eight people who depend on her. Yet, this woman was so bright. Bright is the only word I can think of to describe her. She has lived above her circumstances and has not let them define her. She has invited Christ into her heart and, because of that, she KNOWS everything will be okay eventually. This woman is a picture of strength and resilience.
We spent over an hour with her hearing her stories and about how she had surrendered everything to Christ – and how when she did so everything began to change.
I saw Christ in her extreme act of surrender. I saw Christ in the fact that she was still able to support eight people – with no income. And I saw Him in the light that radiated from her – a light that couldn’t be dimmed by anything. A light that I doubt I could successfully carry if I had been through what she had been through.
These are just three of the countless incredible ways I have seen God work in people all over Africa. There are many more stories – too many to tell.
The experiences we have on the World Race never get easier. In fact, sometimes they get more painful. But what I have learned is this: with all pain comes a story of redemption.
