This past month I was with Team Calm Waters at Butterfly Space, a volunteer hostel right on the banks of Lake Malawi. The location was absolutely beautiful! Many afternoons after ministry I would just walk right out the back door of my tent and go for a swim in the crystal clear water. It was glorious and I’ll go ahead and admit it…I took over half of my showers for the month in the lake. For those who know me well, this will tell you exactly how clean the water was. I’m not the type to just shower in any lake:-)
Along with the beauty came a lot of roughing it. As I said above, we lived in our tents for the month. All of our meals were cooked over a a coal “stove”…great opportunity to improve my fire building skills! I also was introduced to many African critters…spiders the size of saucers, snakes slithering under my tent, and so many ants crawling everywhere. I actually got used to the ants…they were on the ground, in my tent, in my food. The spiders and snakes, I will never get used to.
Ministry looked different each week. For the first and last week we would either do gardening or sewing projects at Butterfly Space in the mornings, then in the afternoons we would do a Bible study at the local prison. I enjoyed the Bible study a lot. We talked with the prisoners about forgiveness, temptation, spiritual growth, and even did communion and foot washing with them. These men have obviously been through rough circumstances and, without Christ, would have little hope in life. It’s awesome to see them hungry to improve their circumstances and digging into Scripture to find answers.
In the middle of the month we went an hour hike up into the mountains to a tiny mountain village called Dindano. We taught at a nursery school each day while we were there. This week is an experience that I will never forget. The children at the school were anywhere from 2 to 6 years old. They had a ton of energy and loved getting attention from the muzungus (white people). One of my favorite days, though, was one when I just held a little girl for basically the whole day. She came over to me in the morning with tired eyes and I could tell she was sick with a fever. So I just held her and comforted her…she even fell asleep for a while. I couldn’t help but wonder how far she had walked to school or why her mother would send her to school sick. I was glad I was able to comfort her and help her feel better in that moment. Some other highlights from the village were learning how to make nshima (local staple food) with the locals, hiking to the local beach to go cliff jumping, doing my business in a squatty potty (not), and watching the World Cup final with a bunch of rowdy African men.
All in all, Malawi was a great month. It had its ups and downs of course. Some things I won’t miss are the above mentioned critters, artists nagging me to buy their paintings the whole walk into town, and the sketchy African internet connections. The things I will miss way outnumber this list though. To name a few…going for swims in the lake, watching the cook at our hostel perform raps and break dances, tutoring little boys with their math by the side of the road, buying manzani (fried bread) every day from the baker in the village, trading all the unwanted stuff in our packs for souvenirs, the list could go on and on.
I am headed out to Mozambique in the morning. I would appreciate your prayers as I start month 8 of my Race. It’s hard to believe I only have 4 months left. Thank you to everyone who has supported me either with prayer or finances. Seriously, thank you! I have grown and learned so much this year so far and know that God will continue teaching me new things these next 4 months and for the rest of my life. I love you all!
Rita
