Baboons at Breakfast

We returned last night from a weekend at the beautiful Lake Malawi. What a time we had!! We pulled out of the ABC campus exactly one hour later than we should have, or ever will in the future, with our bags strapped to the top of the car, three children squeezing into two seat belts in the "way back", and Ruthie and our good friends Rachel and Caroline Harper (from Jackson, MS) snugly sitting in the middle. The first hour of the trip went as expected - fun conversation, fulfilling snack requests from the monkeys in the "way back", dodging the ever present bikers and pedestrians, cows and goats and the occasional truck barrelling down the wrong side of the road. The second hour of the trip was basically the same as the first with the absence of daylight a.k.a pitch black darkness. Let me clarify a couple of things - there are no bike lanes or sidewalks, so most of the pedestrians and bikers are walking down the road ON THE ROAD - not beside it. Many of them are carrying various loads on their heads (bundles of firewood, barrels of I don't know what, crates of eggs, large baskets of veges) that protrude into the road. Needless to say, the atmosphere in the car changed drastically. Conversation turned into a constant stream of exclamations ........ Emily: "Slow down! Watch the biker, oh oh there's another one! People, people in the road! A cow, a cow! You're going to hit him! Whew, how did you not hit that guy?! Goats! Car in our lane, John, car, car!!!!!" John: "Dude! Crud! What the?!? I am slowing down! I see it, I see it! Whoa!!! People, do you not see a car coming straight toward you?" Rachel: "Did you not get the memo that said 'hit the dirt'!!!!!" It was like being inside a video game only not because IT WAS REAL! And, oh yeah, Ruthie decided to throw-up in the midst of the action. So we follow the signs, turn down an incredibly bumpy dirt road, and arrive at Safari Beach Lodge - only I am convinced that it is a family residence because it looked to me like a small house with a candlelit dinner in progress inside. It was, however, Safari B. L. experiencing a blackout. So we were guided by lantern up what seemed like 300 rock steps, carrying children (one sick), luggage, pack-n-play, etc. to our thatched roof cottage. I write all of this with a smile on my face, because, I can honestly say that we completely enjoyed every single moment (well, aside from a few moments of panic while dodging human beings with our car). We put down our things, the children called dibs on beds and we headed back down the 300 steps to eat supper outside on the lawn of the little restaurant. John had read on the website that we would see baboons, so the children were convinced that every sound they heard was a baboon, and every light in the distance (yes, the electricity came back on after about 45 minutes) was a pair of baboon eyes. So we slept to the sounds of Lake Malawi (still unseen to us) and to the tickling of 'lake flies' (like gnats - small enough to get through our mosquito nets) all over our faces, ever so graciously blanketing our sheets and pillows. Then we awoke to one of the most beautiful sights right out our window. Our cottages were sitting on a cliff overlooking the lake - dugout canoes floating by and monkeys playing in the trees. We eventually made it down to breakfast, all the while looking for baboons, wondering if the little monkeys we were seeing were the 'baboons'. So we sat down outside to eat again on the lawn, then spotted a more picturesque table on the edge of the cliff and decided to move. As we were getting situated at our new table, we looked back to see a huge baboon sitting at our old table finishing off a few food items that we had left behind!! All of a sudden baboons started appearing out of nowhere - literally sitting 20 feet from us watching us eat. They would look at us as if they were thinking, "Are they ever going to finish?" It was amazing. Safety Sam, of course, keeping his distance and taking pictures; Ford, walking right up under a tree where one was sitting and trying to talk to him. Alice Ann was on constant "baboon alert", reporting each time a new one appeared. There is just no way to do the experience justice in a blog--we wish you could have been there with us. To get Caroline and Rachel's perspective (which will be hilarious, I'm sure) click on the link to Caroline's blog . John, the children, and I spent the whole day Saturday at a birthday party for one of Sam's classmates, at his grandparent's house on the lake. You can see from the pictures how beautiful it is. The party was lots of fun and gave us an opportunity to get to know some families outside of ABC. Most of them are South African and Zimbabwian expatriates, living in Malawi for various reasons - mostly business. Most interesting group of people - so many different backgrounds. We had a great time, tons of children - swimming, fishing, playing on the beach, treasure hunt and lots of good food. We spent the rest of the weekend at Livingstonia Hotel (named after the pioneer missionary David Livingstone). It was beautiful and relaxing and tons of fun - very refreshing. It was really nice to get out of the city and see another part of Malawi. We will definitely make a return trip or two - in the daytime!
A friend of ours here that is a professor at the Bible college spent Sunday in a little village near the border of Mozambique. He was told that he was the first white person to have ever visited that village. The people there are deeply rooted in the traditional religions, including the following of evil spirits. A student here at ABC is from this village and had asked our friend several times to go with him and 'preach the gospel'. He took several Malawian guys with him and spent the day there. Our friend ended up preaching twice, baptizing 13 people and serving communion. It amazes us to hear of these things - to see the Gospel at work, piercing the soul.
On the medical front: Mark Boersma and his family (Mark is the medical director here at ABC) are headed to the States in December for furlough. When they leave, John will step into that role. Personally, we are sad to see them leave--we have grown to love their family in this short time and will miss them. Medically, it is pretty overwhelming to John to have so much responsibility after being here for such a short time. He has much to learn between now and then. The new pediatric ward is to open at the end of this month and staff is needed to run it. There are a couple of positions that also need to be filled at the clinic: administrator and bookkeeper. Please pray for qualified staff, the possibility of another physician coming in January and for the Boersma family during this time of transition. Please pray for another physician to come, as well, as John's other part-time colleague, Diane Young, will be leaving for furlough in December 2009.
One strange thing about writing a blog is that you feel like you are writing to the air. Thanks to those who have emailed us - we love hearing from you! Thank you, too, for praying for us. God has been more than gracious to us. Please pray for African Bible College, it's leadership and students. It is exciting to see how the Lord is at work here.