One of the first blog posts I wrote was entitled “Why Travel?” My purpose was to suggest that there are more reasons to travel than just the traditional idea of business or pleasure. However, after a recent trip to Malawi, I think I have found a variation of one of my reasons. See what you think.
To understand my thinking you must understand that I am a teacher. I believe teaching is my calling and gifting. While I made my living teaching middle schoolers for 21 years, what I always enjoyed the most was teaching Bible to adults. This involved teaching at my local church but also gave me the opportunity to teach overseas. I had the opportunity to teach pastors in the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. Those were perhaps my favorite teaching times.
About 12 years ago I became aware of an opportunity to teach pastors in Malawi, Africa. I was excited about the possibility and made the contacts necessary to go. Unfortunately it didn’t work out. The times they needed teachers did not fit with my teaching job at home. So I put that plan on the back burner and thought, “When I retire, then I can go.”
Last year the opportunity arose for me to go to Zambia with a group of students from my school. We were on a mission trip to share with the children there. The team leaders were a young couple who had taught at a school in Malawi for a year. They would often comment about the similarities between Zambia and Malawi which actually border each other. This experience only heightened my interest in going to Malawi.
And then the day came; this past June I retired. I began to think about what I was going to do with my time, and of course going to Malawi was still on my list. The circumstances there had changed somewhat, but the need was still there. I figured once I settled into my retirement, I would pursue it further.
However, that same month my pastor told me something totally unexpected. Bern Kalukusha, the principal of the Bible school where I wanted to teach, was going to come and spend time at our church in July. I was floored. His coming to Seattle just didn’t make sense. His purpose in coming to the US was to attend denominational business meetings. However, the meetings were in Orlando, Florida. Seattle was hardly a quick trip away. However, against all odds my pastor was contacted about hosting him here after the meetings. He didn’t even know why. It seemed so strange to pay for him to come this far when there were plenty of churches he could visit in Florida or even on the East Coast.
But he did come, and so I set up a meeting with him. We sat down at Starbucks and talked about the possibility of my teaching in Malawi. He was excited. Apparently no American had come to teach at the school since the missionaries had left quite some time ago. Bern really wanted me to come and asked if I could come that October. I said no. I had other plans, but I was open to coming in January. He left as we tentatively planned for me to come in January.
In the intervening months we finalized my plans to come and teach. We settled on what I would teach and the time frame. I did paper work with the denomination and made my plane reservations. With my final preparations completed, I was excited and ready to go.
Unfortunately my trip down was not as smooth as I would have liked. When I arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa I missed my flight to Lilongwe, Malawi. I didn’t deal with the stress very well because I was tired from a long flight from New York. However South African Airlines helped me out. They provided accommodations, food, and a ticket for me for the next day. I arrived a day late, but thanks to South African Airlines I was probably better rested than if I had made it on time.
A few days later I began teaching 18 men. They had come to the Great Commission Bible School to become pastors. I taught them about the letters of Paul and worked with them on their English. Even though English is the official language of the country, most people learn it as a second language after their native language Chichewa. While some spoke fairly well, others struggled with their English. It was an interesting time.
The classes were for two weeks. On my final Wednesday Bern me asked to speak at the evening chapel. That day I had been reading about Joseph in my devotions. After his brothers realized Joseph was not an Egyptian official, but their own brother, they were afraid he would harm them for selling him into slavery. However, Joseph said to them, “God sent me ahead of you to rescue you in this amazing way and to make sure you and your descendants survive. So it was not really you who sent me here, but God.” (Genesis 48:7,8 GNB)
As I thought about that, I realized God had been at work for many years working out this plan to save the children of Israel from famine. For Joseph it had started with a dream. But that dream seemed to turn impossible when he was sold by his brothers into slavery. And I doubt he thought it would be fulfilled when he was later thrown into prison on false charges. But with his brothers standing before him, he could see it. He could see how God’s plan had unfolded.
That night as I shared that story with the students, I told the story of my dream. I told them how I had wanted to come to Malawi, and then their principal had unexpectedly come to my church. Now I was there in Malawi fulfilling my dream. But I told them that wasn’t the end of the story or God’s plan. My coming to teach was somewhere in the middle. The final story will be their story. How would my coming impact their futures and their stories? That part of the story is yet to be told.
But there’s another story to tell. When Bern came to Seattle, he also talked with Mark, another member of our congregation and a soccer fan. As they shared together, Mark wanted to help provide balls for the school in Malawi that Bern had helped start. What that looked like changed somewhat over time. In the end he and a group from church provided three balls each for soccer, basketball, and what is known as a net ball as well as a pump and ball net.
With the balls deflated, it was my task to get them to Malawi. Fifty pounds was my allotted wight limit for my suitcase. When I weighed in, it was 49.2 pounds. I just made it. The balls arrived safely in Malawi, and the students were excited to have these new balls to play with. Not only that, but those who sent them were blessed to see what they had been able to accomplish.
And so the story continues. I look forward to seeing where this all leads. Whatever may come, this I have decided; this trip was not about my plans. This trip was about God’s plans. So while I may have had my reasons for traveling to Malawi, the real reason seems to have been God’s, and that’s the best reason of all.
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Photo Credits: The picture of Bern by Jeff Horton. The picture of my students by Bern’s son.