Failing to Comply

Malawi seems never lacking in adventure. This week was full of more experiences in culture. One particularly exciting and memorable moment happened last Sunday…



It started out with a few of us teachers (Myself, Woody, and Gret) attempting to try a church in town. We started out with clear direction and a well thought out plan- We would drive a stick shift car for the first time into Lilongwe with a crudely drawn map, a rough idea of when the English service may begin, and no knowledge of the name for the actual church. Our odds of successfully reaching this church were probably slim from the get-go.



After turning on to a dirt road and searching for the church, our car began to stall out at the most inopportune time…right in front of a group of Malawian police officers. Their wave for us to stop was met by Gret speeding up. Maybe not the best move. The officers angrily surrounded our vehicle and asked to see his license. Mistake number two: he didn’t have his license with him. We tried to play dumb with several excuses- we are new to the country, Gret doesn’t know how to drive stick, Woody (who had his license on him) was instructing Gret- but police officer Sebastian was having none of it. He insisted that we hand over the keys until someone could bring Gret’s license to us. Luckily, we were smart enough to bring a phone along and were able to call for help from ABC. But by this point, the police were growing impatient. Officer Sebastian got in the car with us and instructed Gret to drive to the station. This didn’t sound like a great idea to any of us. We were unsure what would happen at the station.



The infamous ticket

Next tactic was to begin reasoning and conversing with the police officer. As I have mentioned before, Malawi has a very relationally built culture. Officer Sebastian actually said in his broken English, “You are being mean to me.” Basically, we were in this whole situation because we had offended the police, not because we had actually done anything illegal. I relayed we were not intentionally being rude, but that we were scared of what would happen at the station, this being a foreign country to us. Surprisingly, this seemed to bother Sebastian. He reassured us that he was not a bad cop, and that we shouldn’t be afraid. I then continued to ask questions about how things in Malawi work and his job as police officer while we waited for help to come. Once they arrived, we headed to the police station were Gret paid 5,000 Kwacha (Roughly $15) for a ticket for “Failing to Comply”. Well, I guess that’s a pretty accurate judgment.


So by 11am that morning, we had already had quite the experience. I found this whole venture overly amusing. When life doesn’t go as expected, I believe the best option is to laugh.


Police Officer Sebastian and Gret.
We took him a Bible later on and made amends

Especially when living in Malawi. Nothing ever seems to go according to plan. One of the most important lessons I have learned during my month here is that flexibility is key. Whether this means eating dinner at nine at night because you cannot bake potatoes in a broken oven, spontaneously joining the women’s college basketball team, learning to drive a stick shift while also driving on the other side of the road, or just spending three hours to obtain groceries, everything here demands a bit of patience and a lot of joy.

 

 

 

 

On a deeper level, I am finding out what it truly means to sacrifice your own desires to fill the needs of others. I have seen this done on a small scale my whole life. And yes, I know this is a familiar concept to most people, particularly Christians. But here it is different. It is not obligation or coercion. At ABC, everyone does whatever is necessary to keep the ministry afloat and they are happy to do it. When conveniences are not available and your wants are not always met, you are forced to die to yourself on a daily basis. It is something I am looking forward to practicing this year in Malawi!