Keeping Up

Sometimes it is difficult to keep up with the pace of life here in Malawi. It seems like such a quiet place, at least on the surface, but the reality is deceptive. This past month has been a whirlwind of activity that has included committee meetings, retreats, visitors coming and going, celebrations and funerals. There has been little time for just daily living.

The whirlwind began with the theological selection committee meeting, three days to interview and select 7 candidates for theological training from a field of 52 applicants at a retreat site north of Blantyre. The process included examining their credentials, giving them written exams, which needed to be graded immediately, interviewing each one and then making decisions. Behind the process are the lives of the individuals who are eager for the opportunity to serve the church, to be trained as pastors. Each one feels he is called. It was the committee’s responsibility to discern God’s call for the ones chosen. We worked late into the night and early morning of both nights we were there to listen to God’s leading.

With the decisions made, I headed back to Blantyre and to the airport to greet a group of 13 and take them to my home for a welcoming reception. The complication was that five of the group did not make the first connection and so they would arrive three days later, on Saturday, so we needed to adjust the program accordingly (adjustment is one of the facts of life here). Saturday as I was preparing to go the airport, I got a call from the group saying they were delayed and would meet at my house later, so we arranged for lunch for the entire group once their friends arrived from the airport. Off I went to the airport while Charles and Alinafe, who were staying with me since the birth of Precious, prepared lunch. Once the group was settled and off to Zomba, I prepared a sermon and did the finishing details of the retreat the pastor of the group and I were leading for pastors from Zomba and some of the pastors of remote Presbyteries on Monday through Wednesday. I left the retreat a bit early to get to the airport to meet a young couple, Marty and Melody from Illinois, who stayed with me for 10 days before moving to Mulanje to get settled for a 10 month stay. We had all their paper work and housing to get in order. The group went to Liwonde Animal Park for a few days and then came back to Blantyre in time to catch a plane home. On that arriving plane came a young lady, Kendra, who stayed with me for 10 days, researching sacred and traditional music in Malawi. This was part of a larger trip through five countries in Africa. I had the Malawi portion of her trip worked out and accompanied her on most of her outings. She and Marty and Melody had a great time together. God’s timing was perfect, as always, and they enjoyed games and movies in the evenings and even helped with the cooking. Charles and Alinafe headed home with the new baby to settle into their own lives. In the midst of this more personal time, a small group from Australia arrived. We had a formal welcome for them at the airport and helped them get settled for their program, which included a renewal of their partnership agreement.

Marty and Melody headed to Mulanje and Kendra moved through her program for several days before the group from Pittsburgh arrived for the big 20^th anniversary celebration of the partnership with Blantyre Synod. We had been working on this trip for months from the Blantyre side. This involved the synod and local churches, so I was involved on two levels of preparations, since Limbe church was hosting some of the Pittsburgh folks. There were lots of last minute details to attend to. The first Sunday the group was here, we had the partnership signing for the Australians and the Pittsburgh group attended as a witness to the international nature of the body of Christ. It was a great day that involved lots of eating and music. Monday and Tuesday, I traveled with Kendra for various musical programs, including a cultural night with the Pittsburgh team and the partnership here. Wednesday, Kendra and part of the Australian team left. Maxwell, my gardener/driver/ good at all things fellow, took Kendra to the airport because I was on my way to the lake with the Pittsburgh group to facilitate a retreat for them and the partnership group. While there, we got word that the General Treasurer of the Synod had died. We changed the departure time from the lake on Friday to allow some of us to get to Blantyre in time to go to the funeral. But God and the bus had other plans.  Just a few miles from the retreat site, a wheel bearing of the bus flew off and we were stuck for three hours while the bus was worked on and the partnership folks worked on alternative transportation. We did not make it for the funeral, but everyone had a good time playing with a group of children who gathered to see all the Americans on the broken bus, sitting and chatting and doing a bit of shopping in a small shop that was nearby.

Saturday I was at the airport again with Marty and Melody to meet a group of 12 from their home church and host them for tea and an orientation at my house before they headed to Mulanje. Sunday was the big celebration of the partnership, so there was a gala of activity all day long that included a worship service, communion, covenant signing, cake cutting, speeches and a meal together. Monday and Tuesday saw farewell dinners with the churches and then with the partnership. I hosted people for lunch each day, a Malawian involved in the Pittsburgh partnership and the remaining Australians to talk about plans for the future with their group coming next year. The Pittsburgh group headed to the airport on Wednesday. This was another turn-around flight where I was saying goodbye and greeting at the same time. One of the Pittsburgh group is staying on with me for two weeks to do research on her doctoral project about Malawi Partnership. As the group left, two gentlemen from Virginia arrived to work on research for a musical they hope to do about Silas Ncozona and the coming of the multiparty system to Malawi. Yesterday was a day of introductions. I took the researchers around, introducing them to folks who will hopefully be helpful in their projects and then met with the Illinois group to introduce them to the Synod and the Synod officials before they headed to the animal park for two days.

Today, all of the researchers are off working on their individual programs. They will be staying various places tonight. This is the first day in over a month that I have had no visitors at the house and have been able to get some of my other work done. Tonight instead of keeping up with everyone’s schedule, I’m planning on putting my feet up and resting for a few hours, before the next wave of activity begins tomorrow with departures and arrivals and more celebrations.

Cake Cutting at Pittsburgh Partnership service