Mindy All Over Africa: Mvuu

There have been times in the last 22 months that I have felt really stretched. Exhausted, confused, overwhelmed, and then whatever words that mean those things only more so. During the last half of February and first half of March I was literally on the edge of a breakdown every day. I actually cried every day for almost two weeks...sometimes about things that were legitimately overwhelming and then one time it was because I was watching the finale of season 11 of American Idol that someone had given me.

Through this whole journey, and particularly during the Month of Crap, I have been so aware that God has been using intensely hard experiences to change me into someone who is more like Him. I have so so SO far to go, and it is a really humbling thing. Since coming to Malawi I have been thinking a lot about Toposaland and everything that happened there, and I am starting to see even more clearly the ways that God was working in my life, and how He is continuing to bless me in completely different ways now that I am in a totally different place. New people, new experiences, new job, new living situation, new food, new side of the road to drive on...

One of the really great things I'm getting to do is be a part of two volunteer groups that are working with the Baptist Mission in Malawi. We just put one group on the plane yesterday and another group will come this next week. The last group went to Lake Malawi one day and then to Mvuu Wilderness Lodge in Liwonde National Park at the end of their time of ministry, and they were generous enough to invite me to go, too! The night we got there we had a 3-hour game drive, and then the next morning we had a boat trip on the Shire River. "Mvuu" is the Tonga word for hippo, and man did we see a lot of those!

Yes, they put flowers on the beds and made our towels into a basket.

We had monkeys and warthogs hang out in front of our safari tent and by our dining area, which was cool until a monkey ran in and swiped some of our breakfast.

Just in case one of the humongous thatched roofs catches on fire, we have three buckets of sand to put it out with...

During our night drive we saw tons of impala and even a Lichtenstein hartebeest. I really wanted to see a black rhino, but we never got to see one. Once the sun went down I turned into a popsicle, even with 4 layers and a blanket.