#3

Last night was the best in Malawi so far. You know, little computer, how lonesome I have been all week here, and how much I would cry at being so alone and sad and anxious. I would wait all day just for evening where I could finally go use the internet and then talk to my mother on the phone. Each phone conversation would fuel my strength for the next 24 hours of no communication, like a breath of clean air before sinking again in a stony mud hole.
But, last night, the light broke through the darkness at long last! This little buoy of life that I have been clinging to in this sea of loneliness has brought me to light, in view that a great ship of joy and company has arrived just at my exhausted self.
I went over to the Wood’s home at 6, and there met an array of interesting people. Dave and Sue woods, themselves, are Americans, so in that I found some comfort. They have two daughters, Janelle, 15, and Marquelle, 11. A small family called the Le Portes, who have just arrived to Malawi yesterday from Mozambique, were also there when I arrived. We later discovered that they are related to the Greenlaw’s by marriage! Isn’t that wild? They are Austin’s step-mother’s family, the grandparents and uncle of Austin’s half-sisters: Eden, Teagan, and Kyla! How bizarre! Somehow, for years, I have been loosely connected to these people, and now, here we are in Africa, meeting. I’m sure his head will spin when he hears this! I mean, imagine finding a connection like that over here on the other side of the world. Anyway, it was a heart-warming thing.
On the spot, when I arrived, I helped with dinner. It eases the mind and the faculties knowing that you are somehow aiding your host, in return for their kindnesses. In time, a group of young people arrived, to my great joy. Most of them work for Maranatha, under the direction of Mr. Woods. I met Krystle first, an Australian girl who works with ADRA here. After her, I met Adam, Moka, Shokina, Brundy (the Le Portes’ son), and then Yann (I don’t think one spell’s the name like that, but that’s how I visualized it-like Yann Tiersen). Yann is South African, and Moka is from India, and Shokina is Indian but a native to Malawi, and Adam looks British, but his parents live in California. So many people! And so lively!
We spent the evening worshiping, telling stories, getting to know one another, eating, and fellowshipping. Again, it was the best night in Malawi thus far. Now I can see a little glimmer in Malawi life that may blossom into something great and beautiful. We shall need to see as time passes. But, today is my first day of church in Malawi, and Krystle is to pick me up at 10.