Friday, April 15th, 2022
The plan was to wake up early in the morning (a common theme of our travels), grab a quick cup of coffee or tea (Cephas prefers tea), and be on the road by 6:30am. I managed to get out of bed and recharge my phone so I could finish a few pieces of paperwork before the day began. As we headed out the door with a second cup in hand, Patricia handed me a container of homemade samoosas. She knew we would be hungry and our timeline would be unpredictable this morning. Matt climbed in the front seat, Cephas drove, and I sat in the back. In the truck was a suitcase containing 45 solar powered audio bibles preloaded with English, Chichewa, and Nsenga versions of the Bible. They are simple rechargeable devices that seem to be sturdy. I had fretted over them arriving safely in my luggage because airlines seem to make a big deal about traveling with certain types of batteries. Additionally, the security officer in the Harare airport, who inspected everyone’s luggage upon arrival, wanted to know how many drones I was trying to bring into the country without declaring them. I assured him these were Bibles as I began to open my suitcase. Thankfully he was too overwhelmed helping everyone unload and reload their bags while attempting to watch the monitor for the scanner. He let us go without the hassle of searching any of our bags.
The audio Bibles were purchased from a company in the US with funds donated by a UCG congregation from Texas. I was to deliver them to pastor Filius Jere who oversees the caring of the UCG brethren in Eastern Zambia in the area around the city of Chipata. In 2017, when Lena and I lived and traveled throughout Malawi (accompanied by Brennan and Michala Hilgen) we would have to leave the country every three months. Since we weren’t official residents on Malawi we had to renew our visitors permits (different from a visa) every three months by leaving the country. The quickest and least expensive (and yet somehow the most time consuming) way to do this was to drive across the border at the Mchinji Border Crossing into Zambia. The entire process involved having our vehicle inspected by Interpol, exchanging currencies, buying Zambian car insurance, paying a carbon tax and a road tax, obtaining an exit stamp from the Malawi border patrol, and obtaining an entry visa from the Zambian border patrol. Everything except for the car inspection was done right at the border. There were always tons of people trying to make money off of helping us through the process so it was always very chaotic and tense. But it was worth all the hassle, not just because of the visitors permit issue, but also because we had a chance to meet Filius and Chosiwe Jere as well as the brethren they care for.
On this particular day the mission was to meet the Jeres at the border. They would go through the process on their side, but without the hassle of bringing a vehicle across. We would then pass the Bibles along to them and have a chance to visit for a while. I was very much looking forward to that moment and I know Filius was as well. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, but there was one oversight on our parts. The Jeres would have to be tested to enter Malawi. Testing is available at the border, but there’s no guarantee that the results will be known very quickly. It could be hours or it could be days. None of us had that kind of time to wait and see so we were forced to abort our mission. The Jeres would head back so they could spend the Night To Be Much Observed (NTBMO) with the brethren at the Madzimawe UCG Community Center, and we would head back to Nkhwazi with the Bibles still in our possession. Cephas and Filius will have to make plans to meet up another time, but with everything in order.
Unfortunately our first mission of the day wasn’t successful. Fortunately we were able to accomplish our second mission of the day: to pick up Dallas and Rachael Chapamba from school and bring them home for the Holy Day.
– Lewis VanAusdle
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