DrawingOtherstoChrist: Still in Malawi

We are still in

Malawi! We had Jeep troubles, and as a Jeep is an American car, we had to order the parts all the way from South Africa. Our emotions did a rollercoaster ride. Yeah! The parts are in Llilongwe earlier than expected! (Llilongwe is less than an hour away by plane, 5 hrs in a car.)

Then the realization, they are not going to release the parts from Customs until we pay some Malawian kwachas to them, by some means that we don't understand. It took us about 3 days...first to find out the price (just over $88.00) and then to figure out how to pay. On Saturday morning, Passmore, the Customs guy actually called me on WhatsApp (Cool! Person attention! Surely this was progress?!?! ) and told me how to pay.

I borrowed a car from our beloved hosts the McGraths and buzzed off to an Airtel shop to go through the steps. I waited in three different lines and got a multitude of help, and finally the thing was paid. Surely this meant it would come soon! But not Saturday. Not Sunday. Definitely Monday. No. Tuesday!!! A mere 6 days after it had arrived in the country.

I went on Tuesday, the 16th, to pick it up at DHL. It wasn't there yet, so I waited. The nice thing about the wait was the DAPP store less than a block away. I went to explore and they were having a sale, all clothes in the store were 1000 MK or less! That's basically a dollar or less. My kind of shopping! I got a new outfit!!! Very fun after wearing a small variety of clothing since Cape Town on the 4th of July.

Then back to DHL to pick up the package. I was thrilled to get it, but it weighed so little! Could this be our precious car parts?

Next I had to get it, and the Jeep, to the GM Dealer in Blantyre, Malawi. I had been there once, but didn't think I could find it again. I did a Google search and followed the directions. WRONG. No GM there. Then a man from GM sent me a pin. WRONG, but scenic. That pin took me all around Blantyre, up a mountain, through a market (those are nightmares to drive through) down a dirt road, and soon, right near where we were staying. Finally I pulled over. The man had sent 2 pins. I tried the second one. 10 minutes later I was in their door and demanding, "Was that some kind of a joke?!?"

The amazing thing was that the Jeep did not overheat in all that meandering! We had high hopes it would be ready the next day. Today is that next day. Wednesday. It's not ready. Now they're saying Maybe Monday! Ugh! We cannot make it to our next planned place if we don't leave by tomorrow.

In the meantime, last week Paul scheduled many schools and 2 churches to speak in, so I have pictures from a couple of those. We found a man who has rented us a succession of cars to use over the days. I think I've driven four different ones. Some are so small they're hard for Paul to drive.

Our Sunday church was outside, under a bamboo frame with leaves and bags tied over it. They are planning to build and have fired the bricks for the build. They had a building dedication while we were there. We all had to throw a rock into a hole, and they were anointed with oil like the pillar Jacob anointed in Genesis28:18-22 in the Bible. It was so beautiful out there...too bad to move indoors.

The Church which is hoping to build.

The bricks are all ready, behind Paul, and we gathered around to anoint rocks with oil. We each got to put one in. I kinda dropped mine. People kinda snickered. Good to have a bit of humor in these things.

I grabbed a quick snap from my awkward seat...facing the audience straight on. I moved when Paul spoke so I could see, and not be stared straight at.

Getting to that church scared me a bit. We had a small car, low to the ground, and we had to ford this little stream with bricks in it. This is where I gave up and let Paul drive the rest of the way, and I got out and walked with Timothy to try to save the underside of the car. Lotsa rocks! It is more used by motorcycles and people than by cars.

As I waited in the car, I nearly always made friends. I didn't take pictures when there were a LOT of kids, but I did get a few when there were a few kids. Sometimes they liked to say Hi and How are you? Sometimes they just stare. I tried out my few words of Chichewa...guaranteed for a laugh.