Here to Serve

We have been in Malawi for three days, and wow what a start. Monday was our cultural immersion day. This is a day of acclimation and experiencing the Malawi culture in a deep dive. We went to an outdoor open market to do some shopping. We were given a list (written in Chichewa) and some Malawian kwacha (dollars). We had a translator to accompany us, but we had to struggle through the list and purchase as much on our own as possible. If you can imagine knowing how to say just a few simple phrases and trying to shop, it was challenging to say the least, especially for our new team member. Our phrases we had written down were: I want (fill in the blank); How much? Thank you. 

Yep…that’s it. And a list of items in Chichewa to procure. We figured out how to ask one shop owner for a word on our list and they would kindly point us in the right direction. By the time we were done we had purchased a chicken (live!), matches, firewood, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peanut flour, corn flour, oil, salt, sugar, a knife, a bucket, a nsima spoon, and perhaps some soap or candies for the family we would visit. Overcoming the challenge of a very crowded market, an unknown language, and handling a live chicken felt like enough of a challenge for one day!

But…we were not done. We then took our purchases and headed into a village to spend the afternoon with a family. We spent some time sitting and getting to know each other (through our translator), and then we helped prepare a meal. Remember the live chicken? It had to be killed, plucked, cut up and cooked. Vegetables had to be cut with no cutting board, and before you could cook anything a fire had to be made. It sure made all of us thankful for the modern conveniences of home!

We were each amazed at God’s intentionality as he paired each one with a family just right for us, as we shared things in common with men, women and children from a completely different culture. We were challenged, stretched, blessed and overwhelmed by the day’s end. We were humbled to see how hard these women work to care for their family’s without any electricity or modern things. They live and work in the beautiful red dirt of Malawi with a joy that is often unmatched in our own country. 

With a better understanding of the people we are here to serve, we went to bed exhausted and ready for another day. There is so much more to tell you, but I’ll save it for the next post. 

In the meantime will you pray for Tyanjani? She was the teenage daughter of the family I (Lasaundra) visited and she was sick the day I was there. We found out today she has been admitted to the hospital with Malaria. She is quite sick.