New Experiences While Serving in a Bible School in Malawi

While this was my third time to teach at Great Commission Bible School in Malawi, there were still new experiences to enjoy. Some were brand new, and others were repeats but enjoyed with new people. My second week was a full and busy one.

It began bright and early on Monday morning. The school had devotions at 7:00 am on Monday and Friday. When I was planning my trip here, I felt like I needed to demonstrate to the students that as an American, I am no better than they are. This was one of the concepts I wanted to instill in them in my Christian ethics class. The result was I felt that I needed to do a foot washing ceremony with the students to show them that we were here at the Bible School as servants to help them.

I talked it over with Bern and Jeff, and they agreed to it. We asked Bern’s wife to join as well to wash the feet of the women. I spoke at the beginning of the devotional time setting a scriptural basis for what we would do. I emphasized that Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples and told them they needed to do the same for each other. The students then came up one by one, and we washed their feet. It went well and was certainly a different way to start the week.

Wednesday we had another first time experience. Bern’s wife and children operate an elementary/preschool program. This is one of the ways they try to earn money in the challenging economy. Andrea, my daughter, a second grade teacher, sent a packet of colored pencils that her classes had not used along with some notes her students had written. On Wednesday we took those over to the school.

The family named the school after the oldest two daughters. The school has about 220 students. We started with the older students who greeted us loudly. First, however, we needed to sign the guest book of the school. After that we were introduced to the students, and we spoke briefly to them. Two students read one each of the second grader’s letters. They did very well.

They then sang a song for us about joy.

After meeting with the older students we were shown the classrooms of the younger preschoolers. Two of the classes did a presentation for us. The younger group recited the beginning of the 23^rd Psalm over and over. I liked seeing the wall of backpacks behind them.

We then went back out to the older students. The staff had decided to give each student a colored pencil for a picture moment so they all waved their pencil in the air for a photos with much enthusiasm. It was a fun experience, and we enjoyed seeing the students.

Friday was the great tie give away. When I was teaching, I had collected a lot of ties to wear, especially fun ones for kids. At one point I had a collection of nearly 50 ties. I have begun to reduce that number as I seldom wear ties any more. In Malawi pastors still wear ties when they can. The first president of the country encouraged men to wear suits, and that has stuck. I took nine ties with me with the intent of leaving them behind. On Friday the men at the Bible School drew numbers and then chose a tie until they were gone. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough for everyone. The funny thing was the first two ties to go were both ties with large polka dots on them.

Friday evening was a closing dinner and the graduation form Great Commission Bible School of one of the students. At the last module they apparently had six students graduate, but this time only one. We had a nice chicken dinner. Following that Bern asked Jeff and me to say a few words and honor the top three students in our classes. Then came the graduation with a simple ceremony. After the ceremony a container was set out for students to give some gifts to the graduate. It was a nice way to end the week.

On Saturday morning the students were up at 5:30 ready to leave and go home. For a few it would take almost two days to get home.

Saturday was a quiet day ending with a dinner out with Bern and Anna. We had enjoyed our time with them as usual and wanted to thank them for their hospitality.

We had our last Sunday service at the church we attended the first week. This time I was asked to preach. The service had the usual components including special music. This day the youth choir sang a number of songs along with the women’s group. The women’s group used a recorded background music this time around which was quite lively. After I preached, the congregation gathered for another all church photo, but before that Jeff passed out candy to all the children present, and there were a lot. He was afraid he would run out, but he had enough.

With that it was nearing time for me to go to the airport. We drove a different route from the church to the airport and passed through a number of villages consisting of small brick homes with thatched or tin roofs. Some villages had a central area where they would have their market days. One could see the poverty of the people as we drove by.

And thus my time in Malawi came to an end. I had a good two weeks. I enjoyed working with the students. It was great having Jeff as my companion and roommate. I continued to learn of the challenges of life in a poverty stricken country like Malawi. At this point I don’t know if I will go back which is sad for me. Nevertheless, it was time to move on to the next adventure. I boarded the plane and headed for Nairobi, Kenya where I met up with my wife and daughter. The next day we would be leaving bright and early to begin the safari adventure we had planned. Read about our first exciting day next week.