mother of dan

Wilson has become one of my favorite of the Malawian staff here, as driver, he has been the one through the summer who has awakened many a smile on my face. Wilson has brought me to and from the village I lived in, he has been the one to carry in water or food for us…thus everyone loves Wilson.

So as we set out to Lake Malawi today for a staff appreciation event, Wilson makes sure I am sitting next to his wife and kids. “Abanda, you are about to meet my better half”, he tells me, as we drive up to his hut in the village. Eight people live in the little hut that I stare at, Wilson has been married 22 years and they have six kids. I look over at Jody reading a Francine River’s Christian romance novel and I wonder if I have any concept of true romance.

As Wilson’s son, Esau naps on my lap drooling down my arm, I study Wilson and his wife Pauline as they interact. She laughs at him quite often as Wilson is a character to say the least. I notice the name he calls her is different than her name – I still fighting my romantic make-up assume it is a pet name they call each other. By the time the picnic rolls around I ask Wilson what is the translation for the name he calls his wife. They look at each other fondly, “ I call her mother of Dan and she calls me father of Dan.” My little romantic notions are squashed. “Why?” I ask in Chichewa. He explains and what I got from it was that it was their first creation of life together.

It wasn’t a “he’s your son” comment, it was a beautiful mystery that somehow two people could offer their very selves in human form. Of course this beautiful epiphany was told over Wilson serving his wife cabbage and her breast feeding their 10 month old. It was a realistic picture, yes we have six kids and most days we are running with our heads cut off taking care of them, but we also honor the beauty and wonder of creation.

Later that night, Jody and I talked about her romance novel and the future husbands we dream about, but more intrigued by all of that we were speechless to think of the power of love shared that very night in a mud hut between a man and a woman and their six children.

African Faith

Chance and Henri stayed and talked with me tonight after dinner. We started to talk about the statistics of divorce in America versus Africa. They told me of differences they face in relationships, they spoke of how in the church women of strong faith are lacking. I said from my perspective it is the opposite in the states as it is the men who are lacking of strong faith within the church. I asked them about whether they believed there was one person made to be your soul mate. We got into a deep discussion of God’s will and His sovereignty. Chance says God does not want to hide His will for us from us. He says if we are seeking Him the Father will be faithful. It sounded so simple, profound and true standing there in the kitchen in the middle of Africa. There was no doubt, no fear in what they spoke. I thought of my friends back home; ones who are still waiting to meet the right spouse, those who are divorced, and all the pain of relationships that I have heard or encountered. Could it be that simple? The Lord wants good for us and He is faithful.

I told them I have been praying more and I ask God each time, give me African faith.

Give them the world

I was probably no older than 8 when my aunt Jinx gave me a world map for Christmas. Don’t ever say I didn’t give you anything, I gave you the world! I didn’t really understand it, but she and my aunt Nicole did take me and Valeska on a trip to Europe that summer. Something came alive in me when I would travel, the countries and the cultures became my favorite teacher – I began to see and learn things that I would have never known.

Thus in our small village of Chiwengo this summer we built a library for the children we taught. The outside of the library has an empty wall which I decided needed some livening up…thus I gave the children what my aunt gave me….the world! It was my favorite contribution – a room full of books and a wall with the world! Check out the picture!

Safari in Zambia

Much has happened, I have actually just returned from safari in Zambia and it was amazing! Crossing the border was a little harder than expected but once in the jeeps scouting animals, I was so excited! We took morning, mid-day, and evening tours – I saw water buffalo, monkeys, elephants, leopards, hyenas, elk looking animals, lions, and even cubs!!! Absolutely breath-taking!

The animals were so close to us, it was phenomenal, my only disappointment was not seeing an actual kill! BUT I did have an elephant outside my lodge looking in my window!

Now I am back to the base camp, the interns have gone home, and I am just tying up loose ends. I will go back to see the children one more time! I have exactly one week till I get home!

All my love!

Happy Birthday Kinz and a dedication to Klemmer!

It seems like I am always surprised by how my attitude changes by just 2 liters of cold water, a coke, and a candy bar! Now for those who know me that is not my regular diet but after hiking mount Kasunga that is what left me a really happy woman. (please note here that I am a cheap date!)

Story goes we took over 50 of the children in our village to hike Mount Kasunga, well picture me, first with my charge of 15 interns and then 50 more African kids - it was incredible, and I stayed centered the entire time!!! So my bag is packed with pb&j sandwiches and boiled eggs for everyone's lunch and we rent a huge coaster that we stand for the hour drive to the mountain.

We get there, hike to the top, enjoy our lunch, I enjoy the less weight and then we say a quick share time about the incredible view from the mountain's top....and we head down. Now, in the midst of watching everyone half run down, half stay at the top, me staying centered...i remembered my silent hill climb with group in San Diego, and I began to look at ways to live differently even in the hike down. So I am suddenly aware of two women who are rolling logs down the mountain, we are talking big logs that crash down and I am first fearful of the kids getting hit. Then I am in awe of having a job of rolling logs down the mountainside in the sun...with babies on your backs and barefoot. (noting to myself I will never complain about being too tired to vacuum!!)

As I am in awe of these women I yell to the group to think about what it would be like to have this as your career. I then take a log and give it a couple of rolls, wow, definitely hard. Then I decide, what would change the world here? Maybe if we all rolled a log down, the women might remember us as the azungus who helped them work? So I began to roll a log (note, they roll 3 logs at a time!) but I could only do one, so I am rolling it for awhile and I look back and the woman is just watching me and when she sees what I am doing, she smiles!

Well, even with my encouragments I only got one other log roller (i think the Klemmer group might have responded differently) but I was different when I made it down the rest of the mountain.

Climbing onto the coaster, my girls kept telling me Christy, I was so proud of you. I was so proud of you as my leader, pushing those logs down. And I thought, I want to live this way everyday, looking in the most ordinary places to live beyond.

(not that hiking a mountain in Africa is an ordinary occurrence!)

love you guys!