Why Malawi

I felt like I should take some time to express what has motivated us to embark on this Malawi adventure. There are a lot of ways in which this decision almost seemed like the obvious one for us to both make this trip. Tracy's residency program offers the possibility of spending a month rotation in a foreign country practicing medicine and getting credit toward completing her residency; they also offer a stipend to help with the travel cost. Tracy's med school friend, Keely, has worked at St. Gabriel's Hospital in Namitete, Malawi (twice now) and found it to be quite rewarding. We both really enjoy travel, and we both want to consider some type of missionary work at some point in our future together.

These are all reasons why we have chosen to make this trip. But there are deeper, more spiritual reasons as well.

The day before we left, I read the January 2 enty of the classic devotional, "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. This entry is reflecting on when God instructed Abraham to leave his home. When setting out like this, he states, "there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question-- 'What do you expect to do?' You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing."

Now of course, Tracy has arranged to work as a physician at the hospital and I will be a hospital volunteer for the month, so in this sense it is not exactly, literally true that we "do not know what we are going to do." Still, there certainly will be new and unexpected experiences on this trip. Seeking to live authentic lives of faith, we both feel there comes a time when there is a need to "step out" from the familiar to the unknown -- to trust that God knows what He is doing. In the good ol' USA, things are pretty nice and predictable, under control, one can really have all one's ducks in a row. But authentic faith is not about getting all one's ducks in a row, having everything under control. So this journey to a place that is far from any we have ever been and to a culture much different from any we have experienced we almost feel is a necessary step in cultivating what we hold as our highest aim: true, authentic faith in God. In fact, leaving behind the comforts of western society can be something of an antidote to getting caught up in the material worries that often are a major distraction from this faith. Additionally, we go on the faith that if we go with a spirit of humble service, we can, with God's grace, be a blessing in the lives of the people we meet and serve.

I realize that I have not been especially reliable in providing updates. As this first week comes to a close and the routine is setting in, I hope to be giving more regular updates and stories.