Familiar in the Midst of Foreign

I was recently in a village in a rural area of Malawi to help with some media work at a conference for pastors. It was a great opportunity to experience life in Malawi.

I learned the importance of greetings in Malawian culture. I got to practice saying, "Ndili bwino. Kaya inu?" when asked, "muli bwanje?"

I learned how to eat nsima, which is made from maize flour. It looks a little like mashed potatoes but it's much thicker. I learned that to eat nsima properly, you pull off a small piece of it and create a ball of it in your hands and use it to eat the other food on your plate.

I learned how to take a bucket shower. Not as easy as it sounds.

But during the first morning of the conference I couldn't help thinking how foreign everything was to me. I was in a rural village in Africa, experiencing things I'd never experienced before, sitting in a room full of people I didn't know, and I couldn't understand what was going on because they were speaking a different language. I was wondering why God had brought me there, and I was longing for familiarity. This longing brought me to tears right there.

 

At the end of the day, the last thing on the agenda was a final hymn. Hymn 7 on the handout. I almost teared up again when they started singing, but this time it was because there was finally something familiar. They were singing “How Great Thou Art” in Chichewa. I started singing along! And as I thought of the words as I sang, I realized how much I really had to be thankful for:

“Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed!

His power displayed through the sunset

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur,

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze

The mountains here are beautiful -- none of my pictures do them justice!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee!

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee!

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

That's me at the base of this massive baobob tree!

And when I think, that God His Son not sparing,

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in

That on the Cross, by burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin!

When Christ shall come, with shouts of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration

And there proclaim, My God, How Great Thou art!

Mzimu wanga uyimbira Mlungu
Ndinu Wamkulukulu
Mzimu wanga uyimbira Mlungu
Ndinu Wamkulukulu"

The greatest of all God's creation -- His children!

So blessed

In that moment, I may have been halfway around the world, in a situation entirely unfamiliar, with new people, and surroundings totally different than what I'm used to, but that did not change the fact that I have salvation. God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up on my behalf. God knew in that moment I needed something familiar, and He used the gift of song to remind me of all I have to be thankful for. He is so great!