I had an amazing time in Malawi this summer and learned so much! Our first night in Livingstonia we learned the extent of hospitality in Malawi. We arrived in the late afternoon and were dropped off at the house where we would be staying. We had no food, no water, there were no sheets or blankets on the beds, and we were all alone! For about half an hour we sat in the house worrying about what to do, but soon several men arrived and took care of everything for us. When our whole house flooded a few days later, I went to ask the neighbors for a mop and immediately entire families came over and cleaned the house dry much better than we could have.
One day in Ekwendeni, I went on a walk. One of the Malawian boys from the church found me along the way and decided to show me to the river. We walked along enjoying the water and the sand, and soon came across some women doing their laundry in the river. The boy I was with (named Gift) asked me if I do my laundry by hand in the US. I told him about washing machines and how I simply put my clothes in a machine and press a button; then when they are clean I take them out, put them in a new machine and press a button and soon they are dry. He was so amazed. Then out of curiosity, he asked me how we wash our dishes. I told him that we put them in a machine and press a button and soon they are clean. We both laughed. It seemed unbelievable how simple these tasks are in the US when we were standing next to women who were beating their clothes against rocks to get them clean. While in Ekwendeni I learned the importance of people over work. The people in Malawi will immediately set down whatever they are doing, without being annoyed at all, to visit with you. One day I went over to the treasurer’s office to collect our money out of the safe. I knew the treasurer was in the middle of something when I walked in, so I immediately got straight to the point and told her quickly why I was there. She clearly thought I was being rude but found it amusing. She said, “First, how are you?” And we talked and came to know each other a little bit. Then she said, “Now, what have you come for?” Silly American thinking that work is more important than people.
The final place we visited was Kwamba village about one and a half hours outside of Lilongwe. We spent a week here, where there was no electricity or running water. We went to bed soon after the sun went down and collected water from the well in buckets and carried it back on our heads. In this village we worked at the orphan feeding center with the Ministry of Hope and led a vacation bible school for the children of the surrounding villages. There are an incredible number of orphans in Malawi. Parents frequently die of AIDS and malaria. Orphans are seen as the responsibility of the community and are almost always cared for by family or friends. The village was an incredible experience. One afternoon we went to visit four different families in the village. At one house we met with a girl and two parents. The girl was an orphan. She did not attend primary school, which is the only free schooling in Malawi, because she did not have enough money to pay for a school uniform. A uniform costs less than five US dollars. The most crushing part was that all of the younger children in this family were able to attend school, because they had two parents who loved them and cared for their future.
I learned so much while I was there. I learned the power of presence. People we visited with would frequently tell us how much our presence meant to them and to the children, that they would never forget us, that they would much rather have us fly to Malawi and spend time with them than send all of the money in the world. I also learned that while there seems to be an overwhelming number of starving children and orphans and kids who need education, every little thing you can do to help really makes a difference. Paying for one girl’s school uniform changes her whole life. More importantly, I learned that we as Christians, me included, give a lot of junk to Jesus. We spend our leftover time going on mission trips and serving others; we spend our leftover money on tithes and NGOs; we send our old clothes and junk to places like Malawi where people are poor and they should appreciate whatever we give them. Jesus is not a dog begging at our table for scraps and leftovers. He wants our absolute best. Jesus tells us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.” Matt 22:37.
Please keep the people of Malawi in your prayers: the orphans, the Presbyterian Church, the Ministry of Hope and the Bandawe Orphan Care Center.
