Day 5 - 3rd Advance Team YC Malawi (03 May)

03 May

Pastor Mike and I left the Campbell’s home for LPC around 9a for the second day of training. Within a few minutes of arriving the auditorium began to fill with young men and women and their rich wonderful voices. Pastor David Chigamba showed his playful side as he gathered the entire group in a circle for a game that had them all laughing. During the morning session we discussed the theology of salvation, followed by a role-play activity in which four of the leaders attempted to share their faith with me. I took on the character of different individuals- a devout Muslim, a person dying with AIDS, a very bitter former church attendee and at the suggestion of the group an intoxicated alcoholic. Though the group knew who my character was the person witnessing to me did not. It was great fun and enlightening.

During the lunch break Pastor Mike and I ate at the Pizza Shop immediately adjacent to the hotel where our Canadian team will be staying. We can recommend the Pepperoni. The other options look tasty as well. We may have to do more research. Pastor Mike had an opportunity to meet an artist that lost both of his hands yet manages to create beautiful paintings. Many of them hang in Newfoundland and Labrador homes thanks to his good friends Junior and Ivy Andrews. We were eating the final pieces of pizza as we pulled onto the LPC parking lot.

Our final session with the group occurred in a class room at a school administered by LPC. We considered three passages from Acts demonstrating the sharing of the Gospel including the story of how Christianity came to Africa. I related to them that there was a thriving Christian Church in Ethiopia long before the ancestors of the white western world had stopped worshipping the gods of the forest. Christianity was African many hundreds of years before it was English, American or Canadian. We concluded our YC leadership training session with the singing of a song that Pastor Mike hopes to teach the Canadian team members- “There Is A Race I Must Run.” Pastor David and the leaders in attendance said they were very pleased with the training seminars. We certainly had a great time.

Our meeting with Foxfire-the youth leadership team that is at the centre of YC planning in Malawi-was postponed until Monday due to the sad passing of a member’s relative. We chatted a little more with David Chigamba and other leaders before leaving LPC for another visit to the stadium. We spent considerable time viewing the outside of the stadium perimeter for road and gate access points. We had a few moments to spare so we took out the map and travelled toward the old city centre. Memorable sites include “casket row”- a strip of highway where coffins of all sizes were being constructed, a beautiful mosque, and a river-side market. As evening was closing-in we travelled to the hotel to prepare to meet with managers regarding team accommodations. The Campbells had left yesterday for a conference in the south of the country. This morning we had lost all the hot water in the house. I like hot water. I like it a lot. That in mind we checked into the Crossroads Hotel for at least a couple of nights until the plumbing could be remedied. When you’re running-about all day long, on the rich Malawian earth, under a penetrating African sun, the simple pleasure of a hot shower takes on a new meaning. Did I mention I like hot water? All cleaned-up we met with the conference manager and toured the various meeting rooms, the pool area, saunas and steam rooms, and the exercise centre. Very nice! It will be an important retreat for our teams when they return from a day of activity. Sadly, two of the hotel managerial staff could not attend due to a death in their family. Whatever the reason for these two passings, it is soon quite evident that life is much too fragile and finite in this country.

Pastor Mike and I chatted a little more over chicken and burgers at Steers take-out also adjacent to the hotel (Mike recommends the French fries), before returning to our rooms to prepare for tomorrow’s responsibilities. Both of us would be speaking twice. Better for me though… I had only one sermon to review as I would be speaking in the LPC English service at 8a followed by the Chichewa service at 10a at which I would be translated. Pastor Mike would be attending the morning LPC service, then travelling to a village to preach, before presenting at a seminar in the afternoon. It’s good for him!