What One Does on a Weekend in Lilongwe, Malawi

We came to Malawi to teach at Great Commission Bible School which is in the capital city, Lilongwe. Our classes began on Tuesday. I taught two periods a day, the first and the third periods. The good news is, I was done by lunch so I could then take a nap in the afternoon. My classes went well, and I enjoyed working with the students.

After four days of teaching the weekend arrived. Saturday morning I did laundry. Having been here before, I knew they had a washer and dryer. However, I didn’t remember that it filled up slowly. I put my clothes in the washer, and the water seemed to dribble in. At the rate it was going I figured it would take a half hour to just fill with water. Being impatient, I found a bucket nearby and used it to dump water into the washer to speed up the process. Of course I had to come back later and do the same for the rinse cycle.

After lunch Bern came by to take us out to a sort of resort called a leisure farm. It was quite a distance away, and the road was busy. The road we drove on goes from Lilongwe to Blantyre which is the second largest city in Malawi. As a result it is a very busy road. Most people don’t have their own transportation so cars, buses and even pickups transport people so they are all trying to get passengers on this busy road. Then there are the merchants trying to sell goods to all these travelers. It can get crazy.

Before we arrived at the leisure farm, we drove through an agricultural university in Lilongwe. The campus was very nice and well maintained. I thought we were going to stop, but we just drove through. I managed to get a photo of the sign in the front.

We crossed over the highway and drove down a dirt road to the leisure farm. We passed the road to the bird zoo that Bern had taken me to the last time I visited Lilongwe. When we arrived at the Lynod and Eunice Leisure Farm, a large gate greeted us so we had to wait for them to let us in. The leisure farm charged an entrance fee of only about three dollars per person so it seemed quite reasonable.

We drove down to the parking area where a young man said he would give us a tour of the property. The first place he took us to was a small area with two activities. One was a very large faded bouncy house which was for children. The other was a not too exciting looking roller coaster. To use these, one had to pay. This is when we began to realize the entrance fee was only the beginning point in terms of the cost for a day here.

Our guide then took us to a small lake. In the middle of the lake was an island. There were a number of different types of boats here. The most common were paddle type boats which one pedals like a bike. They also had a motor boat but that came with a driver who would whip you around the lake. There were different prices for each type of boat as well as time limits as to how long one could use the boat. Guests could also fish if they wanted to do so, but if they decided to keep the fish, they would charge extra above the fishing fee. Swimming in the lake also costs extra. The farm built cabanas all around the lake. I presumed they could also be rented, but we weren’t told anything about them.

Next the guide took us to two swimming pools which no one was using. They were both above ground. One was a deeper pool for adults, and one was a shallow kiddie pool. Yes, there was an extra charge to use those, but one could swim as long as they wanted.

From there the guide lead us to another small lake. Here there were a few boats to rent but not as many. There were people there in some covered cabanas who were enjoying sitting around, talking, and eating.

We ended up walking around to the other side of this lake which gave us a view of the lake and some of the other buildings. Along the edge of the property we saw sugar cane and bananas growing. When we walked back to the main area, we saw a boy leading a small herd of cattle. Back at the main area our guide left us on our own.

After leaving our guide we walked back over to the first lake and explored around it. A group took the motor boat out so it was fun watching them go whipping around. We came across numbered cabana structures all around the lake although none of them had anyone in them.

Throughout the facility there were various jungle animal figures. The largest was an elephant which had stairs on the back allowing guests to climb up on the back of the elephant. Jeff took the challenge and did that. They didn’t charge him for that. They didn’t make much money off of us as we didn’t get any extra activities other than some juice boxes to drink. While the place wasn’t crowded, there were families there enjoying the experience.

I asked Bern if we could have pizza for dinner so he headed to a place he knew back in Lilongwe. Since the sun sets about 5:00, it was dark when we arrived at the pizza place. It was in a strip mall and parking was hard to find. We had two medium pizzas between us, and I was quite surprised at the cost. It was about $50. I hadn’t anticipated that.

Sunday morning, of course, was church. This week we attended the church that is on the campus of the Bible School in Lilongwe. The students were responsible for the program from preaching to much of the music. In general it went well. One of the students began by leading a short Bible study. Another translated his study into English. I think that was mostly for our benefit.

The worship service then began. After some opening comments, there were introductions from everyone. Then there was music. One thing about the African church is that they can sing. During the special music time a group from the school sang a couple of songs. Then a dynamic young man got up, and he had everyone singing along with him. That was followed by the women of the church doing a few numbers. The church in Lilongwe never failed to impress.

Everyone began singing then, and they brought in a drum. It got quite loud and energetic. One of the young men from the school led much of the music, and he is very dynamic. If you like dancing in church, you would enjoy the music here.

The offering time seemed fairly typical with people going forward with their money until I saw a woman take a broom forward. That was new. Then they brought out another basket, and people put some packages in them. Bern told me it was things given specifically for the pastor.

One of the students preached, and another translated the message. The student preached in English, and he seemed to struggle a little bit. There were some long pauses. He told me later he was distracted by the translation process and wasn’t always sure when to stop and let the translator speak. Since I have worked with translators in a number of places, I was sympathetic to his concern.

After the service Bern and I again passed out some reading glasses. The people would quickly agree on glasses for the most part which made me wonder if they were the best choice for them or not. The pastor, who is 76, was a little more picky and tried on several different levels. I could see during the church service that he needed glasses so it made me happy that he found something that would help him.

The rest of the day in Lilongwe was ours so we pretty much just relaxed. We talked, we napped, we ate and at the end of the day did some work to prepare for our classes this week. Next Sunday I will leave Malawi and head off to Kenya. I’m not sure what this week has in store for me, but this summer of adventure is still in its beginning stages. Check back to see what happens next.