The Joy of All Generations

This weekend was, again, full of adventures. We spent our last weekend in Malawi at the same place that we spent our first weekend—John’s Pentecostal church. Again, we were the guests of honor, and took our seats behind the pew. Only this time, Chase was asked to “preach”. We tried to explain to John that he was just going to be a guest speaker, but he insisted on Chase speaking for an hour. The service actually started off very pleasantly. There was some awesome singing and dancing, and we saw many of our friends there. Mom was introduced as John’s white mother. Josh and I were introduced as John’s siblings, and finally a joke was made about Chase falling head over heels for me. Even in Africa they recognize that he’s the one who fell for me. Just kidding. Kind of…;)

So, finally it was Chase’s turn to speak. I should mention that poor Chase was up sick all night, but found the strength to speak despite. The church was filled with maybe 50 people. They all sat on the edge of their chairs with their Bibles ready. Needless to say, Chase did an amazing job. He spoke about Biblical love, and of the importance of humility. I got it all on tape for anyone who wants to see it.

John followed with a contrasting evangelical message. What followed was interesting to say the least. Perhaps, though, this is something that should be discussed not simply shared.
Later on Sunday Sylvia (the other physical therapist in Central Malawi) came over for a Malawian meal (chicken, rice, and greens).

Mom delivered the Loudoun Road Runners shirts to the Hospital Soccer Team. They were happy to layer them on—tank top then t-shirt then long sleeve all at once.

On Monday we spent the day preparing for our trip to Kamangira, Matthew’s village. We expected a two hour journey at least, and were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the village after a quick half hour walk. Of course, Roderick, Youngone, Alec, Youngone, and a few others followed closely behind us the entire way.

We visited almost every house in the village and met all of Matthew’s family members. We met his two aunts (ages 76 and “I can’t remember”), and his 86 year old uncle. Even at age 76, his aunt greeted us as she was coming back from working in the fields with a gigantic bundle of sticks balanced on her head. She cracked up when she saw her gray hair in her picture. She told us with hand motions about how the rains were few this year, and about how the ground nuts were scarce. Then, she brought us a gigantic bowl of ground nuts to take home. We tried to refuse them, but she was too eager to sacrifice. Her wrinkles indicated where her smiles had been and where her tears had fallen.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear;
as young as your hope, as old as your despair.

Matthews also took us to his family’s garden. It was the most incredible garden that I’ve ever seen in Malawi. They were growing all sorts of things—beans, corn, lettuce, mustard seeds, tomatoes, onions, and even tobacco. I wish it hadn’t been such a rare sight.
Somehow, our journey home took an hour and a half. Oh well, it was nice just to pass the time with friends.

Today we invited Malifa, Grace, Alec, and Roderick over. We gave them each some clothes, and a soccer ball and Frisbee to share. We tried to get Grace to smile for her picture, but she just showed us her teeth. It was adorable none the less.

Tomorrow will be a day for good-byes. Rather, tomorrow will be a day for “see you laters”. As Dave Matthews would say, “the space between your heart and mine is a space filled with time”.