Sitting... Waiting...

You're looking at an ant hill!!!

It's not a one of a kind either. They are everywhere. I didn't really realize that they were ant hills until I asked though. I thought to myself... I have to blog about this 8th wonder of the world. Pretty impressive huh?

Well... I saw this ant hill while I was out in a village called Chapananga. This 3 day adventure was rather uneventful. I was actually pretty bummed that I was going to have to think of something cool and crazy to write about in order to live up to my previous posts, and all I got was an ant hill. Let's face it... that's not going to keep the crowds coming back to this blog!!

I mean... there were other interesting points. It was HOT! I mean... HOT!!! The first night was absolutely miserable. I laid on the floor of this shack that had little to no ventilation, just praying that the Lord would get me though. I was pouring with sweat. I was just thinking how horrible Hell must really be!

I was so ready to just go home to my house of refuge in Blantyre. I was so tired of eating nsima and goat that I would just eat a few bites each time. So, I was delighted when we were in the car driving back to Blantyre, which is only a 2 hour drive, by noon! That would mean that I would be sitting comfortably in my house, eating a nice late lunch, and then cooking something super American for dinner!!

Apparently God wanted to teach me a few lessons before that though.

As we were be-bopping down the bumpy dirt road about 5 Km out of Chapananga, our car makes this loud crash, bang sound!! My heart just sank. All my hopes of refuge just flew out the window into that vast African countryside that surrounded me. It wasn't funny or adventurous or one of those "oh cool, now I have a story to tell" moments... I was at the end of my rope!

I jumped out of the car and saw a part that looked rather important laying about 20 yards back. It was obvious that we would be going nowhere soon! Worse yet... we were still out of cell phone coverage. Surprisingly, most of Malawi has cell coverage. However, lucky us... we were about 40 Km away from being able to call anyone. So, there we sat... Thomas and I... on the side of a lonely dirt road. Waiting...

Well... another truck passed by after a little while and went ahead to the next town to send a mechanic our way. Great!! We'll be on the road shortly! Keep in mind that it's 12:00... I only reluctantly ate a few bites of that goat earlier, because I just knew that I would be home in a few short hours. Now, we're on the side of a hot road with just water. Again, waiting....

About an hour later, in the distance we see 2 bicycles heading our way. It was the mechanic and his assistant!! I was a little disappointed to see that he was only carrying a wrench and screwdriver. However, this guy was a stud!! At first glance, he determined that the back right spring that holds the axle and wheel up had busted! This caused the whole axle to shift backwards and the propeller shaft to come loose... which is what the horrible crashing sound was. Now... I know very little about cars... but, I knew that this would be no small job!


So... the mechanic takes off the wheel and spring, straps it to the back of his bike and heads back to town to weld it back together.

So... by this time it's 2:00. Our estimate was that he would be back by 3:00, have everything fixed by 4:00... we'd be in Blantyre by 6:00. Not what we planned... but, we could live with that.

So... we waited. We waited longer. I took a short nap... and then waited longer!!

Then, in the distance, I heard some beating drums. They got closer and closer. Finally, over the horizon, we see this huge group of people walking down the road, dancing to drums. As they would pass by villages, people would come to the road, and their numbers would increase. They ended up stopping real close to us at the chief's house.

They were a cult-like group called Zionists. Basically, they dance around in circles until they get all trance-like, and then they start prophesying about the future. So... I pulled out my camera and thought... I gotta catch this stuff in action.

It was freaky... not gonna lie!! I was actually a little nervous. I was really apprehensive about taking pictures of them. First off... when you're the only white person in a group of a hundred, all eyes are always on you! So... the cult leader people would just look at me, and I just knew that at any moment, they were going to start prophesying something crazy about me, and I would be roasted on a stick or something! But, everything turned out OK.


But... It still was a little freaky for me. It's so sad to see how easily people around here are led astray though. They are so easily captivated by stuff that looks really miraculous.

Anyway... the mechanics finally returned!! Now it's about 4:30 or so.

It seemed like one thing after another would pose a problem. Things just weren't moving fast! My worst fears seemed to be approaching reality. I just knew that I was going to have to go back to that horrible place and sleep in the heat once more!! The very thought of eating nsima for another meal literally made me just want to throw up and start crying.

The sun went down, but they were still working. At one point, I seriously just started praying over our car. I know that sounds crazy... but, God is sovereign, and if he can heal people, there is no doubt in my mind that he can heal SUVs as well!

Well... 8 hours later, the ignition was started and lo and behold that car was rolling!! I wanted to hug everyone that was standing around me!!!

The craziest part was... for 8 hours of labor, plus the cost of welding the parts back... the mechanic only charged us about $15!!!

So... I got the message loud and clear. I am not allowed to pout! Just when I start getting whiny and acting like a spoiled Westerner... it only took 8 hours to realize how easily all my securities can be taken away. I got to see sort of first hand how it feels to live without some of these securities that I take for granted on a daily basis. How to just sit back and release control of the situation to the Lord. How to just settle down from the hurries of life and just sit. Yeah... we visited with people that came to keep us company... but, there was also a lot of sitting and waiting.

I need to get better at doing both of those things.

I pray that I don't have to learn lessons like this anymore. But, if I do... I know I will be stronger on the flip side!