Lessons

I want to keep you all updated on the stories of our trip, but I’d also like to share some of the lessons along the way. Here are a few…

During the day and a half we waited for our things to arrive we as a team were challenged in our attitude. We had carefully packed all the things we “needed” and now here we were without them. And we grumbled. We joked a lot about having what we needed “in my suitcase in Nairobi” but truthfully we were feeling distress. Here we are, on a mission trip to one of the poorest places in the world grumbling about not having our things. You know what? At the end of the day, we were fine in our dirty clothes, our same pair of shoes, without our snacks, or whatever for just a few short hours. I was reminded of why God has called me here, and the people He has called me to serve. I need to stop worrying about my own needs and trust God to provide for me while I answer the call to serve His people. I must remember….they are only “things.” People are so much more important!

During our cultural immersion day we were in the village, sitting on a mat in the dirt in front of a two room hut with a thatch roof. There were other huts close by and some of the women stopped their work to come sit with the guests and converse. They seemed like they had nothing better to do in the world than sit and visit and laugh and shuck the corn of the home’s owner. They held each other’s children like they were their own. The 22 year old whose home it is has been deaf since birth. There is no ASL type language in Malawi so her friends and family communicate through gestures they have perfected through the years. She is welcomed and loved; you can see it. The sense of community is strong. They are a family. I was challenged by how often I don’t have time to just stop and be with people. The value of relationships trumps almost everything. In our world, to do lists and tasks often take priority. I need more relationship in my life and less “doing.”

As we sat on the mat and visited, another woman across the yard was washing clothes. She washed them by hand in a small bucket, rinsed them in another, and then hung them over a line stretched across the yard shared by several huts. It is hard work. I am told they will wash once or twice a week at least, depending on how many clothes they have for each family member and how dirty they are. This young woman sang or hummed in the sweetest alto voice the entire time she worked. As Davis and I talked later we both simultaneously used the same word to describe her demeanor: Peace. She was happy and peaceful as she worked to clean the few clothes her family owned. She truly seemed like she’d rather be doing nothing else. I was so convicted. How often do I go about my chores at home, assisted by all my modern conveniences, and I grumble and complain about the task? I pray God teaches me to have joy in the tasks He has set before me and to be at peace with the work He has called me to.