Kunyumba Kuli Bwino (Home is Well)

Mass and Welcome at Nkhuwka 

It’s hard to believe that we had already been in Malawi for two weeks! We have become much more familiar with the city itself. Where the different stores are for shopping for food and necessities. Who has the better prices on goods, and which stores to only go to if completely necessary. (Mainly because one store is out).  One thing we have definitely come to appreciate about the US after this short time is the general cleanliness and sanitation in the states.  Much of the city, especially the edges has an enormous amount of trash and litter. Once in a while you will see a section of it gathered into piles and then burned there on the spot.  This is even done in the middle of town where it is burned in the deep drainage canals that line the streets.

Even driving through the dense pedestrian and vehicle traffic is like second nature. Weaving around potholes, passing the minibuses and slowing for dozens of people trying to cross the road anywhere and everywhere is all just part of it now. In only about a week and a half, I have already gotten pulled over six times. When I say pulled over though, it’s really more of a wave over. The police stand at certain points throughout the city on M1, the main road through town, and wave cars over to the side to check your license and vehicle tags. All of the officers have been cordial and looked at whatever ID I have on me, asked me where I’m from, look at the tags and smile and wave me on. The police sure do like to check out the mazungu (white man). 

A couple of the most difficult challenges are the amount of people on streets trying to sell you whatever they can to make a living. They’re selling CDs, drawings, fruits and veggies, electronics, just about anything you would want and also things you wouldn’t.  The minute we get out of the car in many parts of the city, the salesmen swarm like bees. They can be a bit pushy at times but we just remind each other that we are all God’s children and try to be as polite as possible.

The other is the beggar on the streets. Many of them have a disability or have some one with them that does. They are typically at intersections and go from car to car looking for handouts of money. These occurrences are challenging spiritually and emotionally. Our hearts and faith tell us to give but unfortunately in these situations it is not the right choice to make. Giving there only reinforces the action and ultimately creates a dependency on the giving. So instead of giving money we have occasionally given a banana or something small to eat. It nearly brought a tear to Tonya’s eye this past week when she gave a cracker to a young man that was with a older blind man. The two of them had the biggest smiles on there faces as there shared a single cracker in the middle of a busy road as we drove away.

Last night we had a young man show up in our front yard looking for money. He was very polite and just sat in front of the house until Lily noticed him from the window and told us that he was there. I went out to greet him and asked him what he was here for and he said he needed money to eat. If we had not had the training we did, it would have been an even more difficult situation that it already was. Giving money to people, especially from our house can be dangerous and damaging to our mission here. So I kindly directed him to our parish where they could help.  

The girls are doing very well. As soon as they start to walk up the path from our house, dozens of kids come running out to play. We have loosened the reigns a bit and let them go out of eyesight to play a little closer to the church with the kids.  The other day, we were cleaning and I knew Josie had opened the front door and walked out. It was the middle of the day and I knew she wouldn’t go far on her own, a few seconds later I heard a screaming like I haven’t heard too many times in my life. I looked out the front door and here comes Josie running faster than I have ever seen here run and screaming for dear life because she had gotten spooked by one of the many chickens that hang around our yard. I seriously have not laughed that hard in a long time.

Learning the language is now our main focus (besides the girls of course). We will have language lessons three times per week and practice with neighbors and each other every chance we get. Please pray that we learn the language well.

The people of Malawi have really lived up to their motto “the warm heart of Africa”. We have been greeted with smiles and warm handshakes just about everywhere we go.  I couldn’t count how many times some one has said, “you are welcomed here”. These are very reassuring words for us as we fumble through our greetings in Chichewa. We thank God for giving us this opportunity to spread his love and pray that we will continue to see Him in those we meet.

One love,

Jacob