For those of you who know me, you know I like details. I like to be able to see the full picture up close and get a complete understanding of what people, things, and situations are like. Of course, this desire in me prompted me to show you a schedule of our day, so that you may have that same picture. For all my detail-oriented people out there, you’re welcome 🙂 and for my broad-stroked, big picture thinkers… I’m sorry.
We’re up between 6am and 6:30am, as Jeremiah mentioned in the previous blog. We take our mornings slow, spending time with the Lord, eating breakfast (usually Maize porridge or avocado toast), and getting ready for the day (making lunch, getting dressed, you know the drill.)
We typically drive to ministry with our host, Jef, around 8:30am. Only about 15% of the drive is paved, the rest is a dirt road with potholes which most Malawians (and Jef) swerve deep into the other side of the road to avoid… road rules are a little different here. As we bounce and swerve, we have witty conversations with Jef, in which I learn a lot about Malawi or science or life in full time missions. This has been one of my favorite parts of the day.
We arrive around 9am. Jeremiah and I have an office in the admin building, where we set up our work for the day. Some of our biggest tasks at the school include running a bible study for the interns every Thursday, leading a child-safeguarding training program for all the staff and all the kids at the school (about 400 in all), and helping with various administration tasks. Regarding our bible study, we are studying the book of Ezekiel, so Jeremiah and I read the upcoming passages together, discuss the content, and seek the Lord’s heart about where to lead the 12 interns in discussion. We’ve had the opportunity to invite the interns over to our house, make them some banana bread, and practice our hospitality, which has been such a blessing for us. For child-safeguarding, we have been working through a manual to condense and make the material culturally relevant and plan to be starting weekly training for all 8 classes and 2 staff sessions this coming Monday.
We take lunch around noon, usually peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, with maize chips, and fruit (nectarines, plums, or pineapple are some of our favorites. One time we tried a mango, but it was bit messy… that’s probably too much detail for even you detail-oriented ones hahaha). As we have about an hour, we sometimes play a card game, or take a walk around the school compound, or go watch the progress of the building project on the compound. As of now, the school runs up to 6th grade, but they are currently building another building for upcoming 7th and 8th grade classrooms. Jeremiah and I love to watch the builders work, and to talk to the foreman about the details of their progress.
We’re back to work around 1pm and we finish around 4pm. We spend the last part of our day connecting with the teachers and the interns. We are received with big smiles and friendly sentiments and are continually humbled by their genuine desire to get to know us personally and to share their lives with us. I have learned from the teachers- the camaraderie they have with each other, and the way they are so present and available to connect with each kiddo in their classroom. I’m inspired by their intentionality, their energy, and their pursuit to help every child thrive.
We get home around 4:30-5pm and begin making dinner. Here, everything is essentially home cooked meals, so we make roasted veggies, chicken and rice, grilled cheese, pasta with Jeremiah’s amazing alfredo sauce, homemade French fries or chips, or fried rice. We have loved cooking together and are almost always invited over to our host family’s kahonde (porch) for dinner, where we bring our food, hear about the kids’ days at school, and swap stories with Jef and Renata. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we even get to play a card game with the kids 🙂
To close off the night, we read, play a card game ourselves, or watch a little Netflix (yeah… we’re still trying to wean ourselves off, lol) and are usually in bed between 8:30-9pm. There’s a rooster that likes to crow between 3-5am, and so we like to prepare with a good night’s sleep, hahahahaha.
It’s been amazing actually being together, no commute, no dreaded goodbye coming just around the corner. It’s been amazing to see the Lord use our giftings, to challenge us in a different culture, and in a different marital status than we’ve had our whole lives.
In short, our time here has been amazing, and we can’t wait to share more soon!
Zikomo,
Diana
Our First Journey Together 