Khalani Chikondi

It means "Live Love" in Chichewa, the most common tribal language in Malawi and the second official language along with English.  It's also the name of our partner - Live Love Malawi (http://www.livelovemalawi.com/ or on Facebook).  On the wall of their office is the slogan, "Speak love. Act love. Live love. Change the world."  Does it sound "cute" or "idealistic" or "unrealistic" to you?  Then you haven't met the Live Love team.

Live Love Malawi was founded in 2012.  It was born from the vision of Blessings Chibambo, Live Love's Director and an alumnus of the African Bible College in Lilongwe where our team stayed during the trip.  Blessings and two fellow alumni, with support from a US church, have adopted the rural community of Chipampha, about 20 km west of the city. Their mission is "to bring holistic transformation to individuals, families and communities."  This holistic ministry responds to the spiritual, physical, social, and emotional needs of the people.  Examples of their service include WASH (the reason for our training), medical clinics, building homes for outcast widows and orphans, after school tutoring, child sponsorship, and ministries to men and women of all ages.  And they do this with a staff of three people.

How do they do this?  Their army is a group of young volunteer interns who are undergrads at ABC. These young people serve as many as 20 hours each week in this community which is 40 minutes from campus during dry season.  I have no idea how long it would take during the torrential rains.  They do this without pay and without academic credit while maintaining a full academic schedule and working part-time jobs to pay tuition and expenses.  Their primary job in the community?  Relationships.  They aren't community workers who come to give something.  They are friends who come to visit.  Yes, they teach and lead programs.  But they also encourage and mentor, and laugh and cry with the residents.  They sometimes spend the night on the floor of a hut in order to spend more time talking with someone who needs a good listener, and then hurry back for morning classes.  And never complain, but thank God for the opportunity.

Why do they do this?  It's all in the name.  They know what it means to "live love".  Love is not an emotion, it's an action of the will.  They love the people of Chipampha because they understand that God first loved them.  They are compelled by God's love (2 Corinthians 5:14) and are his ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).  Yes, they are full of youthful enthusiasm and energy.  But they are also full of faith, full of joy, and full of hope.

I am honored to have had the opportunity to learn with these young people for two weeks, and to call them my brothers and sisters. And I'm proud to wear a wrist band with the phrase "Khalani Chikondi" that was given to me by Fiki, Live Love's Program Director. It's not just a regular reminder to me to pray for my dear friends in Malawi.  It's a challenge to me to live my life by the simple principle of demonstrating God's love in every word, every action, every encounter with another person.  Care to take on that challenge with me?

Double Blessings

As I looked over my last post (Khalani Chikondi), I realized that, although I had praised Live Love Malawi as a group, I had ignored the impact they had on me as individuals.  Well, to those of my Malawian friends who find their way to this blog, this one is for you!

Blessings "C" loses at Bawo - again.

This training was a remarkable opportunity to live almost full time with an amazing group of young people.  Our daily schedule was to join them for devotions at 700 AM.  Each day they took turns leading the worship, prayers, and Bible study, and these sweet times with God really set the tone for the day.  We began training after breakfast, and with breaks for energizers and lunch, we finished around 430 PM.  Then we had free time which typically involved a variety of games.  Susan was always looking for challengers in Bawo, a local game that I never did figure out.  Jon had ongoing Monopoly games with several participants.  And Julie was in the midst of the very competitive football (OK, soccer to you Americans) matches on the "pitch" behind our training home.  And yes, Lifewater, we even found time for some lesson prep! After our third (filling) meal together, our team finally headed back to ABC for team devotions around 800 PM.  Thus, we spent about 13 hours with the participants every day!  Even on Sunday of their weekend off, many joined us for worship at a great local international church and a long, lazy afternoon capped by an ice cream social.

With this amount of time, along with their outstanding English and boundless energy and enthusiasm, we made some wonderful friends.  We were blessed with two Blessings - Blessings "C", Live Love's Director,

James and Chris, who always made me feel young.

and Blessings "M", as well as Innocent, who will be a great preacher someday.  There was James the future journalist and Chris the wise-cracking DJ for ABC's radio station, who constantly joked(?) about moving in with Cindy and me in the US.  Duwa, the loving and wise mother of two who dreams of using her life's story to serve as a missionary to transform the lives of others.  Dorothy, the sweet soul with bold spirit.  Tusha, the rapper and football star with a humble, generous heart.  Richard, Vice-Director and our driver, who cut his honeymoon short to join us.  Fiki, who was the behind-the-scenes organizer and constant cheerleader.  Not to forget Augustine, Sharon, Dyana, Pemphero, and Enelless!  There was no "us" and "them".  We were all peers, all friends, all part of the team.

I think that the hardest thing for me to communicate to my US friends and family about these trips is how emotionally and spiritually close we grow to our new friends in such a short time on these trips.  And this trip was the most remarkable in that regard.  I may be Facebook "friends" with some of this gang already, but I'm also true friends with each and every one of them, for all of this life - and the next as well!

A not-so-solemn graduation ceremony to cap off an outstanding training!