Not quite home from home

I should start by saying that we have been wonderfully welcomed to Malawi. One of the reasons that this posting was so attractive was that it is in the northern city of Mzuzu. It’s big, but not too big. People get to know you, but not everyone knows you. It’s well served, but not too comfortable. But also, it doesn’t have a large expat community, so the risks of living in a ‘bubble’ are pretty low.

At work, church and as we go around, we have made our own links to Mzuzu. Jacqueline’s preferred vegetable vendor looks disappointed when she realizes it’s me driving the car and I won’t be stopping. People in shops ask after the children or my work. We have enough chitumbuka to keep the prices down (at least a little) in the market. But for all we feel very much at home, there are plenty of reminders that we’re not.

Everyday social customs still give us pause. How much is right to contribute to this bereavement collection? Is it right to publicly disagree in this meeting? Should we barter on the price of these bananas? Should I really buy this packet of salami? (Yes, we can get salami, for a price!)

One of the biggest of these differences has been national politics. I’ve shared many times how the presidential elections were being challenged in court and how that had led to violent protests. Last month the court overturned the election result, paving the way for a fresh election which has been slated for 19^th May. We celebrated with friends and colleagues, but this was their celebration, not ours. It had been their fight, not ours. And that fight continues.

At the same time, we are also becoming increasingly more adrift from home. God has used the experience of life here and the perspective it gives on wealth and what we value in life to change us. That will continue. One of the reasons we felt called to come to Malawi in the first place was because at home comfort was becoming uncomfortable and convenience increasingly offered restlessness. Yet our life here is inarguably comfortable and convenient in comparison to the majority of Malawians.

While things have changed for us, things are constantly changing in the UK too – perhaps most visibly in politics.  The political decisions give a narrative to a changing culture and to widening divisions in the UK. So, while Malawi’s politics and culture are not our own, so too, slowly, the politics and culture of the UK are not ours either.

Please don’t take this to be a eulogy for our old life, or a plead for change in our current one. It’s less a transition from this place to that place, and more of a growing understanding that place isn’t everything. I’ve long been uncomfortable with those who talk of belonging to a ‘Christian country’. As Christians we are part of a ‘holy nation’ not identified by map, flag or anthem but in belonging to Christ. In daily, practical ways we are reminded that we are ‘in the world but not of the world’.

As I write, we watch from afar the impact of Covid-19. We watch prayerfully with fears for loved ones, that it might spread to Malawi and, perhaps selfishly, for the shadow it casts over our travel plans. Supermarket shelves cleared of supplies as people prepare for quarantine, while the poorest and the most vulnerable fear a different reality and isolation.

Climate crisis, Australian bush fires, political tensions and a global pandemic. In 2020 we can hear that the whole earth groans.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:22-28

We can groan that our plans aren’t coming to fruition. We can groan that we do not recognise the changes in culture around us. We can groan that our governments aren’t responding as we would like them.

In the face of it all, we do not know what to pray, these things are too big to pray, we sometimes don’t even think to pray. Our would-be prayers come out as groans on social media and in conversation as we grasp for sense.

Sometimes we have no words. Sometimes there are no words. Let the spirit take the uncertainty and discomfort from your heart to God’s with ‘groanings too deep for words’. Let us use our words to reach out to and encourage those who are isolated by Covid-19 or the myriad of changes in our world. As those who are ‘called according to his purpose’, let us offer help where we can and point to the future glory and a God who works all things together for good.

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Photo by Black Chitsulo on Unsplash