3rd July 2024
I tried to post a picture of Lena and me just after we got settled into our seats on the plane but the network was spotty and I didn’t want to risk losing what I had typed already so I’m including that picture here. Our first stop along the way was Lubumbashi, the second largest city in the DRC. We sat on the plane and caught up on sleep as most of the passengers disembarked there. As we took off I noticed that there were no paved roads anywhere except at the airport itself. The DRC seems like a place of contrasts and somewhat of a mystery to me. I wonder if I’ll ever have a chance to visit the country. It has a reputation of being a dangerous place to visit.
Our flight was 15 minutes late, but thankfully Cephas, George, and Haiton were running slightly late to pick us up at the airport in Lilongwe. I worried that they would get there on time and we would still be standing in the immigration line but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Earlier this year in an attempt to encourage tourism, Malawi added a whole list of countries whose residents don’t need visas to enter. That list thankfully included the United States which means going through immigration and passport control was a breeze. We got stamps in our passports, had our bags scanned one more time, had one of our smaller bags searched briefly, and then we headed out the door.
It was great to see Cephas and Haiton and George again. On the drive to downtown Lilongwe (actually Mchesi) Lena had the chance to see how much has changed and how much has stayed the same. The original plan was for us to have a brief leadership meeting at the church hall, but since our original arrival time was several hours earlier no one else could make it for the meeting. John and Wiza were at the hall to greet us. We sat and briefly planned out our schedule for the rest of the week before saying goodnight to Haiton and heading for Nkhwazi. There were had a lovely dinner with Patricia and Dalles and then called it a night. We’re leaving for Ntcheu early in the morning.
– Lewis VanAusdle
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