Visit Every City

August 20th, 2023

Before packing up the car and heading down the road towards Lilongwe, we made sure to get some photos with the Chapamba family. We were missing Memory because he is away on a medical internship further south somewhere. After all was said and done, we said goodbye to the Chapamba children and headed out. I drove the first leg of the trip to Lilongwe where we would meet up with Haiton. We got to the church hall and had a few minutes to spare. One young man from the congregation had hoped to meet up with me since he knew we would be there in the morning. He came and we talked for a while about life, the Church, the congregation, careers, and about his relationship with God. I always hope to be an encouragement and a help to the people God has given me to work with. Everyone wants to be useful and successful. Many times we need encouragement and direction to help us in our pursuits.

Once Haiton arrived, we made sure we had everything and everyone packed in the car and headed on down the road. I would be driving the next leg of the trip to Ntcheu where we had planned to stop and visit with Mrs. Esther Chilopora. Thankfully we were only stopped at two police checkpoints the whole day. Overall the roads in Malawi are about how I remember them, although I did notice more patches on the tarmac and even some more “traffic calming devices” installed along the main highway regularly. The speed limits were increased since 2017 which means our trip would be faster than I remember.

There are places along the road to Blantyre that I remember well. Going through Dedza was always a delight because there are some beautiful mountain views and a forest reserve there. Lena and I also have fond memories of visiting the paper shop and pottery there. We drove through looking for fuel. At least one of the stations seemed to have fuel but we decided to carry on to Ntcheu.

Stopping off to visit the Chiloporas down the rugged road just before the last filling station in Ntcheu was always a delight. Dr. Sam Chilopora sadly died in 2019 just before his 90th birthday. Lena and I just happened to be visiting Malawi that year for the Feast of Tabernacles. We had the chance to briefly visit the doctor in the hospital in Lilongwe along with his wife and Nick and Megan Lamoureux. He wasn’t responsive to us on that visit but I anointed him and prayed for both of them that day. I spoke at his funeral and his burial in Blantyre soon after. Every funeral has its own sadness, and for me as a pastor, Dr. Chilopora’s funeral would be the first of too many funerals I spoke at through the following couple of years. While always sad and difficult, funerals are also an opportunity for closure and for sharing the hope of the resurrection with others.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬).

Mrs. Chilopora misses her husband but isn’t focused on death. Instead she thanks God each and every day for life! She is doing very well overall. She has only one health concern to complain about but she doesn’t even complain about it. At 91 (she’ll be 92 in September) she keeps herself busy at home with a very solid routine and has very little problem walking around her house both inside and outside. She is starting to slow down a bit and it has become more difficult for her to travel. Thankfully the Home Office of UCG has kept her fully and regularly stocked in video sermons. Although the sermon disc program won’t be able to send her anymore DVDs directly, a solution has been found so she will still be able to watch sermons on her TV at home. For the Feast of Tabernacles, Mr. Chilopora had asked if the services could be webcast live. We think it should be possible and some options for that will be explored. If the tech team is successful, this will be a first for Malawi and possibly a way to reach brethren who live far away.

As we left her home and headed back to the tarmac in search of petrol, Mrs. Chilopora walked us to the car. She shut my door so I could say that Mrs. Chilopora had shut my door. To me it was one more reminder of the continued strength God has given this faithful woman. She emphasized the fact that we are called to do the work of God and that’s what we should be doing. This includes visiting the brethren on a regular basis. She also reminded me that I had come to Malawi to see “the real story” and report back to those at the Home Office with what I have seen with my own eyes. One thing I’ve learned is that it isn’t possible to fully appreciate what people go through unless we are able to “visit…them in their trouble” (see James 1:27).

Thankfully there was one filling station with petrol in Ntcheu. We only had to backtrack a little and wait in a queue for about 15 minutes. While in the queue we were approached by a very happy but very drunk man. Haiton was standing by to distract the man so he wouldn’t continue to ask us for money as our tank was filled. As we sat in the car we saw some drivers rocking their vehicles side to side trying to fit as much fuel in the tanks as possible. I’ve seen this technique before in Malawi but I think it has become more common with fuel shortages being more regular. We fueled up and headed on down the road towards Blantyre. I ended up driving the rest of the way which was fine with me since I felt up to it, and also because sometimes I do get a little carsick unless I’m the driver.

We stopped briefly at one of the very busy trading centers along the highway. Nick thought it would be a nice idea to compare the carrots in Malawi to those we had tried in Zimbabwe. The Zim carrots were sweeter and slightly more juicy but having some fresh food along the journey was enjoyable. Just before crossing the Shire River along the M1 Highway, we stopped briefly at a place called Zalewa where we met up with the Chapamba’s eldest son, Memory. Memory studied medicine like his father and has been in an internship at a small, quiet medical center there. It has been a few years since I’ve seen him so it was nice to catch up for a few moments before we headed on down the road again.

We arrived at our destination in Blantyre just before 5:45pm. We all got out of the car and stretched our legs. I’m so grateful we arrived before it got really dark out, especially considering that the drivers in Blantyre were more chaotic and unpredictable than on any other stretch of highway I drove on all day. Carol and her daughter Dekha took good care of us as we waited for Carol’s husband Daniel Ringo to get back home. In 2022 Matt and I were hosted by the Ringos and it was nice to be back with them again, with the addition of Dekha who was born earlier this year.

Almost immediately when he came in the house, the Ringo’s cat Ollie came over to see me and impatiently waited for me to pet him. Their other cat Snow is currently pregnant so she’s been spending more time in the house. I probably saw her more in the first evening than I did during my whole visit last year. We enjoyed a delicious meal before an evening prayer with the family and bed. Unfortunately the mosquitoes finally found me, but only gave me a few problems at night. Tomorrow night I’ll plan on properly preparing for their arrival.

– Lewis VanAusdle