Sometimes I'm so aware of the emptiness of the people and the commission on my life... I feel it physically...it's heavy. My chest constricts and my breath seems to come reluctantly... I can't help them all... The need is so great.
Monday, May 28
Saturday, May 26
Making Memories
First, I must apologize for the terribly long silence. I've tried to blog several times and because of internet, electricity, business, or writers block, this is the first time I've made it this far. But here I am!
Like the last post, I'm ashamed to say that it took me as long as it did to experience what I'm writing about today. Life at ABC can be draining, to say the least, and for a long time, Aly and I were so busy and tired that we rarely made it outside the walls except for a weekly shopping trip or a trip to grab pizza or Indian food. In the past few months though, our experiences have altered drastically, and certainly for the better. Aly's experiences have been different from mine, so I am only speaking for myself today.
Two weeks ago, Jan Harper and Mary McCormick, dear friends of mine from the States, arrived here in Malawi. Mary's staying with us until we go home, but Mrs. Jan was only here for a week. The following day a team of college students from Arizona arrived, and we resolved to join Mary, Mrs. Jan, and the team for as many activities as possible.
Sunday we went to church with the Kysers at an orphanage in Bunda, about 30 minutes away. The Kysers have been getting involved with this orphanage and church, and they were glad to have us all. The church is pastored by an ABC grad and a current student leads music. We were led to seats of honor in the front of a lovely small building with no real floor and windows (no glass) to let in the light. It's quite nice, really, and the walls are painted and designed simply but prettily. Fortunately they sang one song we all knew, and we just smiled and clapped along for the rest. The sermon was preached in English and Chichewa, so we kept up pretty well there. After church we lined up for everyone to greet us, and then had lunch with the pastors. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids who live at the orphanage there and getting tours of the facilities. It was such a blessing, and I'm already looking for ways to get more involved there in the future.
Fortunately, Monday was a holiday, so Aly and I took the day to kidnap Mrs. Jan and Mary. I drove on my first road trip in Malawi! We made the trip from Lilongwe to Dedza- roughly 2 hours away. First off, it's a GORGEOUS drive. It was the perfect sort of day for a road trip- not too hot, not too cold- sunny, but with occasional cloud cover. The drive is really pretty decent, with minimal police stops and I made it all the way there and back without hitting a single goat, chicken, child, pedestrian, or bicycler! In Dedza we dropped off our friend Ryan, a peace corps volunteer hitching a ride with us, and then went to have lunch and look at pottery. Dedza is pretty well known in Malawi for it's beautiful pottery, and there's a lovely little place with a beautiful view of the countryside where you can have lunch outside and then look through the 3-room store full of Malawian pottery! We all made a few purchases and I got the giraffe coffee cup I had my eye on the last time I was there. It's adorable. The end.
Tuesday we had to work, but in the afternoon we jumped on the bus with the team and rode down the street to the crisis nursery. The Crisis Nursery is a ministry in Lilongwe that goes into nearby villages and takes in babies who are struggling. Perhaps their mother died or is sick, or for some reason the family is unable to care for the child right now. The kids stay at crisis for a while, and if all goes well, they can return home within weeks or months. The women who work here should be sainted. They're incredible. You can tell that they really love the kids and I've watched faces of the babies light up when one of the ladies walks into the room. I'd been to Crisis before, so I found my sweet baby Bridgette (I play favorites) and we had a grand time. She's been at Crisis since she was 2 days old, and she seems to be doing well these days. She loves to cuddle, and has an adorable habit of sticking her tongue out. However laid back she may be, she's very aware of what goes on around her. She's a darling. We've met most of the children there now, and go as often as possible to play with sweethearts like Ulemu, Chikumbutso, Matteo, and Enoch.
Thanks to our wonderfully kind headmaster and head teachers, Aly and I managed to get the day off Wednesday and we went with the team to a village about 20 km from here. There's a young couple from California who were also here and who have come several times to work with this specific village, so they came with us. They've worked to build a school and a well in the village, and invest time and funds to give the kids an education and make life a little easier for the people there. When we drove up, there was already a group of probably 40 or 50 kids waiting for us.
Now, I've told you we were with a team who had been in Malawi for only a few days at this point. Our friends Ben, Blessings, and Titu were leading this expedition, and they obviously speak Chichewa, but out of the "azungus" Aly and I had the advantage. Our Chichewa is pretty terrible by most standards, but we had more than any of the other white folks (we were clearly more popular than our Malawian friends leading the group) so the children flocked to us. Within about 45 seconds I had 3 new friends, the oldest and most vocal of whom was a beautiful little girl, about 6 years old, named Memory. As one of the older students, Memory could figure out enough of my Chichewa to communicate basics and help us figure out names of other kids there. For the next 3 hours, she didn't leave my side, despite the little girl Mafa who wouldn't leave my arms. We sang and danced and laughed and colored pictures, and I fell in love with her sweet smile. Every few minutes, Memory would look up at me, grin, and say "mzungu" in the sort of voice you'd use for a baby who's just achieved something new or done something silly. She'd then collapse in giggles. However much I tried to convince her that I wasn't a mzungu (white person), she wasn't falling for it. Periodically when she said this I'd remind her of my name, and she'd call me Allison for about 2 minutes, and then resume the mzungu giggle sequence, to which I would respond in Chichewa, "Where?! Where are the white people?", earning laughter from all the little Malawians who probably now thing all azungus are completely crazy.
The week spent with the team (we did more with them throughout the rest of their time here) was one of the longest weeks I've had in Malawi. I have never been so busy and so tired here. I was rarely home during the daylight hours, and stayed up late working to finish school prep or cheering on our basketball boys in their last few games before the summer. But I would venture to say it's also the most fulfilled I've felt since arriving. What is about serving that brings so much joy? Isn't our God great? He arranged it so that the most tiring and draining work is the most wonderful. The more we pour out, the more He pours into us. These are lessons we all learn at different times in our lives, but I guess you just expect to feel that way on the mission field. I've been missing out. Though I do derive great joy and fulfillment from teaching my students and loving them, Christ revealed to me that I wasn't truly serving Him with everything. I've been selfish with my time. Yes, I've made a big transition in the past year, and no, nothing about my life right now is ideal or how I imagined it would be. Every day is still a struggle in some ways, but every day is also a blessing, and I've been missing out on so many blessings (and so many Memories) by refusing to be further inconvenienced. Despite everything, ABC had become a comfort zone, and I didn't want to leave it. But God pushed me out again and reminded me what it felt like to fall, exhausted, into His loving arms every night. It wasn't an easy lesson, and it certainly involved some tears and some frustration.
And it all started with a little girl named Memory who held my hand and loved me shamelessly and reminded me what it's like to be carefree and completely trusting in a big, strange, scary world.
Like the last post, I'm ashamed to say that it took me as long as it did to experience what I'm writing about today. Life at ABC can be draining, to say the least, and for a long time, Aly and I were so busy and tired that we rarely made it outside the walls except for a weekly shopping trip or a trip to grab pizza or Indian food. In the past few months though, our experiences have altered drastically, and certainly for the better. Aly's experiences have been different from mine, so I am only speaking for myself today.
Two weeks ago, Jan Harper and Mary McCormick, dear friends of mine from the States, arrived here in Malawi. Mary's staying with us until we go home, but Mrs. Jan was only here for a week. The following day a team of college students from Arizona arrived, and we resolved to join Mary, Mrs. Jan, and the team for as many activities as possible.
Sunday we went to church with the Kysers at an orphanage in Bunda, about 30 minutes away. The Kysers have been getting involved with this orphanage and church, and they were glad to have us all. The church is pastored by an ABC grad and a current student leads music. We were led to seats of honor in the front of a lovely small building with no real floor and windows (no glass) to let in the light. It's quite nice, really, and the walls are painted and designed simply but prettily. Fortunately they sang one song we all knew, and we just smiled and clapped along for the rest. The sermon was preached in English and Chichewa, so we kept up pretty well there. After church we lined up for everyone to greet us, and then had lunch with the pastors. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids who live at the orphanage there and getting tours of the facilities. It was such a blessing, and I'm already looking for ways to get more involved there in the future.
Fortunately, Monday was a holiday, so Aly and I took the day to kidnap Mrs. Jan and Mary. I drove on my first road trip in Malawi! We made the trip from Lilongwe to Dedza- roughly 2 hours away. First off, it's a GORGEOUS drive. It was the perfect sort of day for a road trip- not too hot, not too cold- sunny, but with occasional cloud cover. The drive is really pretty decent, with minimal police stops and I made it all the way there and back without hitting a single goat, chicken, child, pedestrian, or bicycler! In Dedza we dropped off our friend Ryan, a peace corps volunteer hitching a ride with us, and then went to have lunch and look at pottery. Dedza is pretty well known in Malawi for it's beautiful pottery, and there's a lovely little place with a beautiful view of the countryside where you can have lunch outside and then look through the 3-room store full of Malawian pottery! We all made a few purchases and I got the giraffe coffee cup I had my eye on the last time I was there. It's adorable. The end.
Tuesday we had to work, but in the afternoon we jumped on the bus with the team and rode down the street to the crisis nursery. The Crisis Nursery is a ministry in Lilongwe that goes into nearby villages and takes in babies who are struggling. Perhaps their mother died or is sick, or for some reason the family is unable to care for the child right now. The kids stay at crisis for a while, and if all goes well, they can return home within weeks or months. The women who work here should be sainted. They're incredible. You can tell that they really love the kids and I've watched faces of the babies light up when one of the ladies walks into the room. I'd been to Crisis before, so I found my sweet baby Bridgette (I play favorites) and we had a grand time. She's been at Crisis since she was 2 days old, and she seems to be doing well these days. She loves to cuddle, and has an adorable habit of sticking her tongue out. However laid back she may be, she's very aware of what goes on around her. She's a darling. We've met most of the children there now, and go as often as possible to play with sweethearts like Ulemu, Chikumbutso, Matteo, and Enoch.
Thanks to our wonderfully kind headmaster and head teachers, Aly and I managed to get the day off Wednesday and we went with the team to a village about 20 km from here. There's a young couple from California who were also here and who have come several times to work with this specific village, so they came with us. They've worked to build a school and a well in the village, and invest time and funds to give the kids an education and make life a little easier for the people there. When we drove up, there was already a group of probably 40 or 50 kids waiting for us.
Now, I've told you we were with a team who had been in Malawi for only a few days at this point. Our friends Ben, Blessings, and Titu were leading this expedition, and they obviously speak Chichewa, but out of the "azungus" Aly and I had the advantage. Our Chichewa is pretty terrible by most standards, but we had more than any of the other white folks (we were clearly more popular than our Malawian friends leading the group) so the children flocked to us. Within about 45 seconds I had 3 new friends, the oldest and most vocal of whom was a beautiful little girl, about 6 years old, named Memory. As one of the older students, Memory could figure out enough of my Chichewa to communicate basics and help us figure out names of other kids there. For the next 3 hours, she didn't leave my side, despite the little girl Mafa who wouldn't leave my arms. We sang and danced and laughed and colored pictures, and I fell in love with her sweet smile. Every few minutes, Memory would look up at me, grin, and say "mzungu" in the sort of voice you'd use for a baby who's just achieved something new or done something silly. She'd then collapse in giggles. However much I tried to convince her that I wasn't a mzungu (white person), she wasn't falling for it. Periodically when she said this I'd remind her of my name, and she'd call me Allison for about 2 minutes, and then resume the mzungu giggle sequence, to which I would respond in Chichewa, "Where?! Where are the white people?", earning laughter from all the little Malawians who probably now thing all azungus are completely crazy.
The week spent with the team (we did more with them throughout the rest of their time here) was one of the longest weeks I've had in Malawi. I have never been so busy and so tired here. I was rarely home during the daylight hours, and stayed up late working to finish school prep or cheering on our basketball boys in their last few games before the summer. But I would venture to say it's also the most fulfilled I've felt since arriving. What is about serving that brings so much joy? Isn't our God great? He arranged it so that the most tiring and draining work is the most wonderful. The more we pour out, the more He pours into us. These are lessons we all learn at different times in our lives, but I guess you just expect to feel that way on the mission field. I've been missing out. Though I do derive great joy and fulfillment from teaching my students and loving them, Christ revealed to me that I wasn't truly serving Him with everything. I've been selfish with my time. Yes, I've made a big transition in the past year, and no, nothing about my life right now is ideal or how I imagined it would be. Every day is still a struggle in some ways, but every day is also a blessing, and I've been missing out on so many blessings (and so many Memories) by refusing to be further inconvenienced. Despite everything, ABC had become a comfort zone, and I didn't want to leave it. But God pushed me out again and reminded me what it felt like to fall, exhausted, into His loving arms every night. It wasn't an easy lesson, and it certainly involved some tears and some frustration.
And it all started with a little girl named Memory who held my hand and loved me shamelessly and reminded me what it's like to be carefree and completely trusting in a big, strange, scary world.
 |
| Watching the team do a skit |
 |
| Chatting with Mrs. Jan- probably trying to figure out how to say something in Chichewa |
 |
| Holding hands with Memory and watching the parachute games! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)