Connections

What should we do with ourselves??  We found out we had a whole week off of school in-between the first and second quarters in honor of Mother’s Day, which fell on a Wednesday. We needed something to do or else we would be sitting around for a whole week with nothing to do. We had been told that we HAVE to go to Lake Malawi since it is so nice there. Hmm… that’s a thought. Then we found out that they offer SCUBA diving courses.

YES. SO MUCH YES.

So we went. And I am proud to say that I am now officially a member of the SCUBA diving world!!

While we were at the lake, we met some other people who were there to dive as well, though they were already certified. When we finally were able to claim our own certifications, they were excited for us and what we could now do with it. They were excited for us. There was a couple at the lake from Zimbabwe who did five dives with us. They were so cool! She was a conservationist - awesome!! They gave us lots of good tips for when we travel around southern Africa come Christmas. By the end of our dives we were friends who had just a had a ton of fun together, and I was sad to part with them.

As part of the SCUBA world, I now have a special kind of connection with thousands of people, most of which I will probably never meet. But for those I do, we have something in common. We will have things to talk about and will most likely part as friends. Why? Because we share a love for SCUBA diving. 

It’s the same with Christians. We are all connected through God. We get excited for other people when they meet God, experience His love, and commit their lives to Him. We pray for other people and teach them about God. We reach out to people who need our help.  We hurt for people we don’t know; we rejoice for and with strangers; we talk, we cry, we laugh, we sing, with people we don’t know because we have the love of God in our hearts. Coming to Malawi, I already had common ground to stand on with the other missionaries here because we claim the same faith and we are all here to help others. There are thousands of people in the world that I have a connection with, even though I’ll never meet them. Why? Because we serve the same True God and devote ourselves to serving Him, whether it be at home or overseas.

But, in a larger sense, I have a connection with everybody in the world. I imagine you’re thinking to yourselves, What? Talea! What are you thinking?! There are BILLIONS of people in this world. What on earth Talea?! You have a connection with ALL of them? Yeah right!

No, I do. And so do you. Please allow me to explain…

Not wanting to take a bus or mini bus the four hours to the lake by ourselves, we asked the lodge where we were staying if they had any better ideas for a ride up to the lake. They sent us contact information of some people who were going up from Blantyre. We contacted them and they were fine with us riding with them! We helped pay for gas, and overall, it was a much nicer, non-stressful, and more financially pleasing ride than we would have been able to get otherwise. On the ride up we were talking with the people in the car, and one lady asked how we were liking Malawi so far. Laurel said that she loved it way more than the United States. The lady was surprised to hear that and asked why. Laurel said something to the effect that there wasn’t a social norm that she was expected to live by here. The lady then explained that there were social norms, just not for mzungus (foreigners), and told us how much she didn’t like expectations the culture held for her. She would feel the same way as Laurel does here if she went to another culture. 

Really, we aren’t so different from the people here, and they aren’t so different than us. We live in different cultures. Daily chores are done much differently. The food we eat is not always the same. We speak different languages and have different knowledge bases. But really, as people, we are the same. We are people, living as we know how. Because of sin we are confused, hurting people searching for answers to whatever questions lie in our hearts and minds. We find answers in different places and live by different sets of values. But deep down inside, we are all the same - we are all human. 

Human. We all mess up, we all make mistakes, and by the Grace of God, we are made new again. With God’s help and understanding, showing love to other people who live completely different lives than what we’re used to doesn’t seem so difficult and impossible.

Though SCUBA diving has nothing to do with my work here in Malawi, it is a great experience - seeing God’s creation up close, in their own natural habitat, is quite the breathtaking experience. And, IT IS SO EXCITING!!! Going places, meeting people, seeing new things, and learning through it all is so valuable, completely fantastic, and life changing.

One of the many, absolutely gorgeous sunsets we watched.

A local dug-out canoe