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!

Trip to Chididi...

This is the biggest tree that I have ever seen!

I mean... don't get me wrong... driving around the African country side, you see trees like this everywhere. Some are almost this big... but, this one was just enormous! I spotted it on my way to a village called Chididi, down at the lower tip of Malawi. I went down there for just one night to tag along with the volunteers who are doing Home-Based Care visiting.

Although this trip was a pretty fast moving one, I experienced a lot of things!

One of them was...

Nsima and Chomba (fish)

After driving for hours in some of the hottest weather I have experienced, Thomas (the national that I was riding with) and I stopped in his home village to eat some lunch.

This was a very small village that was kinda in the middle of nowhere. I asked Thomas how often a white person comes to that village, and he guessed about once every two years or so. Well... when the kids saw the truck driving in the village, they all started screaming and chasing us. Then, to their amazement they saw none other than a real, live Azungu (white person)!!! Within about 5 minutes of arriving, I had about 40-50 kids surrounding me, mesmerized by my every move. You just think you know awkward till you get to a place where you can't communicate with anyone and everyone is just starring... not even starring from a distance, but withing 2-3 feet of you!


Anyway... lunch consisted of the highly acclaimed... Nsima!! I say highly acclaimed, because unless a Malawian has eaten nsima that day, they would say that they haven't eaten. Nsima is the doughy looking stuff you see in the picture above. And... it's just that... DOUGH. No seasonings... not salt or pepper... just maize flour and water. And they will prepare something to go along with it.

If there is one thing in the West that is just really different than most other places in the developing world it is food choice. People here literally eat the same thing every day of their lives... and they are content! I have been sharing the meals that I have been cooking for myself each night with my night guard. Granted, some aren't exactly culinary masterpieces, but there haven't been quite a few that I really thought to be home runs. I asked him just tonight what he thought of the meal... and I told him to be honest with me... and he still prefers Nsima over pretty much anything!

Anyway... by the end of this little excursion of mine, I was ready to hit the next person that said the word "Nsima"! Seriously... I was so tired of eating this stuff, I wanted to scream... and then gorge myself with peanut butter and jelly. But... I managed to make it. I think part of the reason why I ended up OK was the fact that the village I went to was nestled up in the mountains of southern Malawi... right on the border of Mozambique. It was absolutely beautiful!!

As we went out visiting people who were sick, we would walk up to a small hut that was situated at the top of a hill with a view that most Westerners would pay millions of dollars for.

I have a whole new respect for the volunteers (local church members) who are going out each week to bring basic necessities to the sick people involved in the program. It was really exciting for me to tag along and see things in action...


The volunteers visit with people in their own community and bring them food, take care of some needs around the house, have a short devotion with them, and just let them know that someone cares. It was really great!

We have Home-Based Care sites in 5 different villages in Malawi... I will have the opportunity to tag along with each one of these sites over the next month or so!


And lastly... what night would be complete without the great African game of Bao...

I desperately want to learn how to play this game. When you just try to watch people play, there is just no way to figure it out. I tried to get these guys to explain it to me... and none of them really knew how. But... soon I will be an expert! I promise.

In A Little Deeper...

Wow... The last 5 days have been super intense for me!

I have been out visiting different villages among the Yao people. The Yao are more than 90% Muslim. I have never really been around Muslim culture and people to that extent before, and it was definitely an interesting experience.

Seeing as this is currently Ramadan, the missionaries that we were visiting are fasting along with the people. So... we chose to fast for the first day that we were there. I say "chose" loosely... we were kinda "told" to fast in order to not draw attention to ourselves while stuffing our faces.

A few things I didn't know about Ramadan fasting... not only do they abstain from eating, they also don't put liquids in their body. I'm talking NOTHING. Many even go to the extreme of not swallowing their spit! Basically, you fast while the sun is up. It's harder than you would think!!

Anyway... a few missionaries that I am working with and I went to this part of the country to check out another mission agency's work among the Muslims particularly regarding HIV.

I have to say that my mind is still spinning! I was hit with the reality of what is really going on here. The issues are sooooo deep. You cannot even begin to address the issue of HIV without considering the countless other problems that are amplifying it.

I have never experienced poverty to this extent before. It is truly overwhelming.

It has kind of become the norm around here to not name your child until they are 1 year old. The reality is, many children won't make it that far. By not giving the child a name, I guess it kind of softens the blow a bit. People also don't talk about being pregnant. During the time of pregnancy, they just go on with life as if nothing is going on, because they don't want to have to face the disappointment of loosing the child at birth.

Life here is just hard. I really don't know how to even begin to articulate it. It is so polar opposite of everything that we're used to in the West.

I was sitting next to a mother the other day that was breast feeding her child. From the looks of things, I don't think the child was really getting all that much. The lady's breast was little more than a shriveled flap of skin from malnutrition. After the child was kinda done, he sat in the dirt and started chewing on a leaf. I just sat there in amazement. At what point does it get so bad that your child is just chewing on leaves?

It was a pretty big blow for me to see how enormous the problems here are. I am just praying that God would bring me past this stage of feeling overwhelmed and helpless, to a point of realizing that I am not even going to begin to fix this problem or change the world... But, finding out what I can do here. Why God brought me here. And being OK with playing my small part in a much bigger picture.


The Yao people have one of the highest HIV rates in the country... 1 in 3 adults!

I still haven't even wrapped my head around that one!

However, I was really excited to see the work that this mission was doing among them.

There ministry really doesn't have anything to do with HIV, but they realized that no matter what kind of ministry you are doing in this culture, HIV is going to impact it. So... they have started a ministry, that has now been completely handed over to be run by Malawians as a community organization, to enable the people that are most in need to provide for themselves and generate an income.

This comes in various different forms. Some of the projects that we were able to see had to do with farming, irrigation, chicken raising, ect. Basically, they form a little club that centers around these things, and within that, a support group is fostered. It's pretty neat in that they are able to take complete ownership of what they are doing, and can take pride in what they have accomplished.

In one group, the members are all HIV positive. They are raising chickens together. The chicken alone provides them with much needed protein that they would not be getting otherwise to help with their drug treatment. The chickens also provide a means of getting money. But, for a group of people that are all suffering from this disease, they are able to come together on a regular basis and support one another. It is really working beautifully.

Gosh... there is so much more that I experienced in the last few days that I could write about. But, I hope that you see that the problem doesn't have a simple answer. Things have to be done outside the box. I haven't even come close to figuring out what the best way for me to approach the situation is.

The hard thing to do is to open your eyes as wide as you possibly can to see the big picture and try to approach things in a culturally relevant way, addressing all the issues that lie around HIV.

Hopefully as I become more and more engrossed in what is really happening here, I will begin to piece things together a little better.

Something I wrote down in my journal the other night was that there is no way that I could do this as just some non-profit worker. I would quit after just one day! The only thing that gets me through the overwhelming moments when I think that I can do absolutely nothing to change things is knowing that the Lord has called me to be here for a purpose. I don't even begin to think that I can do anything of worth... but, the Lord has this enormous plan that makes issues as gigantic as this one seem minuscule.

This is one of the groups that I mentioned. They are part of an irrigation project that is looking very successful.

Windows Into Malawi...

Horray... I can post a picture!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, it seems as though the internet around here is improving a bit!

Things around here have been really intense over the last week. I have been on cultural overload hardcore. Each day, it seems as though I am bombarded with tons of new information about things around here. When I get to the end of each night, I find myself frantically trying to write down everything in my journal so I will remember it, but it seems as though I am still missing so much!

I hope to use this blog as a platform to just jot down some of my thoughts about everything I am learning about the culture and people of Malawi, and hopefully give you guys a clearer glimpse into the lives of the people here.

Until then... here are some pictures of this beautiful place I am living!

I took this picture when I was flying into the city of Blantyre. This is just an outlying village.

These purple trees are just beginning to bloom, and they look amazing! This is kind of what it looks like driving around the neighborhoods in the city. Downtown is a bit more congested than this!

This is a look at one of the 3 mountains that surround Blantyre.

This is my humble abode... It is way better than I had imagined! I am the first person to live here.

I will hopefully be posting some more stories soon. On Wednesday, I am going on a short trip across the country to a village called Mangochi. This village is on the edge of one of the lakes. I hope to upload some cool pictures from there as well.

Muli Bwanje (Hello)...

I am alive and well here in Blantyre, Malawi.

I have been trying for the last hour or so to upload some pictures to this post, but have been really unsuccessful and I am a little worn out from trying. Maybe another day!

Anyway... things here are AMAZING! Malawi is a beautiful country with beautiful people.

I have been mesmerized with the conversations that I have been having with Malawians that I have got to know... they have so much wisdom.

I am planning on updating this again soon with some cool story or something about stuff that I have learned, but I just don't have the time to do that right now.

Until then... much love from Malawi!

Almost There!

According to the little countdown clock at the top of this page, the day that I get on a plane bound for Blantyre is getting closer and closer!

I am getting really excited about what God has in store for me over the next year. I know it will be packed full of laughter, sadness, challenges and lessons to be learned.

For now, I'm simply eating everything I can think of that I won't be eating in Malawi! ...NO JOKE! Wednesday is going to be a Thanksgiving meal (turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie)... I already had my fair share of seafood gumbo... I grabbed some sushi the other night... and of course when the day gets even closer, I will have to start pulling out the big guns... MEXICAN! By far, I will probably miss this blessing from on high the most!

Please be in prayer for this time of transition though. I really don't want this to be a stressful time of packing and good-byes and moving to a different culture. Pray that the Lord would be the Prince of Peace through this time.

Also be in prayer for me as I travel. I will be in the air starting Monday at 5:35 p.m., and will not arrive in Malawi until Wednesday!

Welp... the next time I post something on here will most likely come from the other side of the world! Hopefully it will be accompanied by a nice picture of my house and whatever I can see from my window.

Until then...

HOPE for AIDS Video