What Kind of “Azungu” Are You?

Oh hey! This update from Malawi is brought to you by Nate VanDyke.

I apologize in advance—I don’t quite know what the structure of these blog posts has been thus far. So I’m just going to roll on and tell you what was going through my mind as we were in and around the refugee camp outside Lilongwe today.

[Events that will be left out include: Yesterday’s return to Bunda College, where Steve shared his testimony; the joy of children’s faces at the sight of a red balloon; our car being approached on the street where Steve was asked “What kind of Azungu (Chichewa word for “White Person”) are you?; enjoying the sweet nectar of Passion Fanta after a long day].

Alright, commence train of thought:

After arriving at the refugee camp, we were taken to meet the pastor of Emmanuel Full Gospel church. After speaking with the pastor of the church for about 20 minutes, he led us on a 45 minute car ride through the Malawian villages to see some of the things the church was doing. When we arrived at our destination, we saw a half finished building being put up to serve the orphans in that village. And then we got back in the truck and started heading off.

And all I could think is “Why?”

Why would we drive for 45 minutes to see a place for 5 minutes? What’s the point of going all this way to see a half finished building? How was this worth the trip?

And then I thought about what that building was. What that building represented.

That building was an act of service from a group of people with few resources and no country to meet the needs of villages and people that are not their own.

And that blew me away.

From that first village, we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. All set up by these refugees to meet the needs of the people around them.

When we got back, we heard more from the pastor of the church. The vision of this church of refugees is far more than orphan programs. They are planting churches in villages, not towns or cities, so people without access to the Gospel through radio or television can hear the Good news.

Then Luke asked how many other places they had planted churches in. And the answer came in names of countries, not villages. These people are planting churches in three to four countries, and the mother church is in the middle of a refugee camp.

As Chris said, these people make life work in a place where most of us would struggle. But they also see and respond to the needs of those around them.

End train of thought. I apologize if this was a touch long or was hard to follow.

Prayer Requests:
_Travel mercies as we head to Zomba for the weekend. It’s a 4-5 hour trip and figuring out transport has been somewhat of an obstacle thus far.
_Good health for all of us.
_Eyes to see what God is trying to show us, as well as his continued provision and support.