As always, it was a full day for the AP team yesterday here in Malawi. It’s hard to explain how the days go here, but let me try. When we come home from Kaliyeka every evening, tired and dirty, we set a plan for the next day. After breakfast, we pray, gather supplies, and set out to execute said plan, and throughout the day we navigate various obstacles. It can be anything – from the trivial such as congested traffic, vehicle breakdowns, electricity blackouts, no bread at the market, no water in the township – to the life-changing, such as precious teachers who can’t attend the program because a beloved family member passed away or a child is ill with malaria. What takes thirty minutes in the US may take half a day or more here in Malawi – and yet, you will not meet a more joyful and resilient people than the Malawians.
Last night as we were sitting down to dinner, word came to us that our driver, a man with five children, has no food in the house. Apparently, the company does not pay him until the end, so until we leave, he has no income. Thankfully, Moses and Blessings found out because this friend did not tell us himself. And you would never know as he goes through his days driving with skill, helping us with heavy loads, waiting endlessly as we run this errand and that – and all with grace and joy.
Yesterday, we started with errands to buy cleaning supplies for the Ancient Path house and grounds and food for the Chifundo Kids. By the time we pulled into the AP gate, half the day’s plan needed to be slashed. That’s not bad at all – it means we will actually accomplish half of what we had planned! We find that there is no water in all of Kaliyeka today, so that changes our feeding plan. But no worries – we found huge tubs of peanut butter and eighteen loaves of bread. Because of the passing of a precious sister, we have lost two of our three translators – but no worries, hugs, smiles, and charades go a long way.
When we arrive, the kids are waiting patiently for us. They know that this is the day they get their new Ancient Path T-shirts from Printed T-Shirts in Plymouth. We start by pulling out their new soccer balls, jump ropes and parachutes and instantly 200 kids spread across the compound, laughing and yelling. All the activities create an immense dust cloud, but no one minds. The smallest children form a circle to play a rousing game of baka baka nkhuku – their version of duck duck goose.
In the house, team members get busy separating t-shirt sizes and Moses and his team make a plan to get all the kids fitted and clothed with as little confusion as possible. Names are read from the Chifundo register and, one by one, the children enter, beginning with the youngest. As the shirt is pulled over each child’s head, they are hugged and prayed for. They move to the next room where an individual picture is taken. We may have 200 kids, but each individual child wants to be seen, to be known, to matter – and they do.
Soon the various rooms turn into a sea of red as they fill with singing children. They sing songs in English – we are happy today, we are happy today, we are h-a-p-p-y t-o-d-a-y, and songs in Chichewa about the mercy and goodness of God. The various classes compete, each trying to out-sing the others. When everyone is clothed in their new shirts, they file outside for more pictures.
The team starts the process of making 200 peanut butter sandwiches as Moses and I talk to the kids about God’s love, His purpose for their lives, the gifts inherent in each one of them. We tell them about the mission of Ancient Path, here and in the USA – and tell them our hopes and plans for the future. Now we are a registered NGO in Malawi. We own this land and house in Kalieyeka – a house with enough rooms for all the kids, a kitchen, pantry, running water and, and an indoor toilet and shower. We have enough land to build on and within the eighteen months we hope to build a facility in the back of the property to support and expand the activities of the Chifundo Kids program. As we tell them all of this, there is no movement, no sound – they listen intently and then burst into joyous applause. The combined Malawian-US team files out of the house and we surround the children to pray for them. They are completely still, earnest, hopeful.
The children line up for their sandwiches and, after final hugs, stream outside of the compound onto the dirt road, happy in their beautiful red shirts. As the sky turns orange and dusk falls, the team locks the compound and drives the bumpy road back to where we are staying. Tired, fulfilled and grateful for the privilege of just being here.