Merry Stengelmas

By the time you are reading this, my family and visitors from Pittsburgh (my mom and sister and the Stengel family) are safely home and hopefully adjusted back to Pittsburgh’s time zone. I think it is probably safe to say they are missing the warmth of Africa. Having them here for Christmas was the best present I could have ever imagined. It was so much fun being able to share my life here with them. We packed about as much into their 2 week trip as possible, and I wanted to share some of the highlights and pictures with all of you. So here it is: the Merry Stengelmas blog entry. 

Picking them up from the airport was certainly a highlight; I will be the first to admit I cried as soon as my arms were around my mom and sister. I miss my family so much so finally being able to be close to them was so great.

 

We headed from the airport to Liwonde National Park where we would spend the next 4 days going on safari, looking for animals and experiencing God’s creation. It did not disappoint. Seeing animals is not always a guarantee, but we were fortunate enough to see just about all the park and river had to offer. We saw two huge bull elephants, tons of hippos, lots of different kinds of antelope and deer, a heard of zebras, countless monkeys, and even a few crocodiles. We also spent our time at Liwonde playing games, doing a little shopping, driving through the mud, and catching up on all that has happened in the past four months.

From Liwonde we headed north to Lake Malawi. Joining us at the lake was the Ncozana family, who are very good family friends of ours. It was such a blessing to share our time at the lake with them and have all of our families united as one in such a beautiful place. We spent the days swimming in the lake, snorkeling, admiring all the beautiful fish, and jumping off rocks into the clear water. It was so relaxing and such a nice get-away for all.

From the lake we made the 5 hour drive back to Mulanje. While we had visitors, I traded in the little car I normally drive for a mini bus. Eight azungus (white people) in a mini bus with all of our luggage was quite a sight to see. Luckily we had no problems on the drive and made it safely back to Mulanje. We spent Christmas Eve morning attending a wonderful church service at St. Andrews CCAP, then relaxed and enjoyed watching Christmas movies at the local hotel the Stengel family was staying at which had much appreciated air conditioning. We then returned to our home for Christmas Eve dinner all together. 

Christmas morning was spent reading the Christmas Story out of the Bible which is our tradition, then exchanging gifts. Unlike in Pittsburgh we spent Christmas afternoon at the local natural pools of Likhubula swimming and relaxing on the rocks. It was a nice break from the heat of the day. At night we gathered all together with some of our Malawian friends here in Mulanje for dinner. It was a wonderful way to spend the holiday. It was personally such a joy for me to cook next to my mom; she taught me so much in the 2 weeks she was here, it was such a blessing.

We spent our last day in Mulanje visiting the two local hospitals here in town. I will talk more about the hospitals in another blog, but for now I will just say, every time I visit a hospital here in Malawi I am reminded to be grateful for all the facilities we have available to us. Our time is Mulanje was so special. I loved having Christmas with my family and friends in my home in Malawi, and being able to show them where I have been living and working. 

From Mulanje we drove about 2 hours to the Zomba Plateau. Zomba Plateau looks out onto the Great Rift Valley and you can see for miles and miles on a clear day. Unfortunately when we arrived it was so foggy we could hardly see 10 yards in front of us. We did not let that stop us from having a blast. We spent the next two days relaxing, playing games, and chatting around the fireplace. We cooked and made s’mores and I personally just enjoyed being surrounded by people I love. Finally on our last morning there the clouds broke and we were able to see the spectacular view. 

We had one last stop before it was time to say goodbye to our visitors. We headed from Zomba south to the Shire Valley, to a game reserve there called Nyala Park. This park is privately owned by a large sugar company and is home to many animals including giraffes. Fortunately it did not take us long before we found a heard of about 10 giraffes! We saw everything the park had to offer, had a picnic at the park, and then headed back to Mulanje for one final dinner and one final night.

As joyous as hugging my mom and sister was when they arrived, it was equally as difficult to hug them goodbye. However, having all of them here for Christmas was the best present I could have ever asked for. I have now been in Malawi for over 4 months, and was really starting to miss home, especially around the holidays. My visitors helped renew my spirit and helped remind me why I am here fulfilling a call instead of home with all of them. Thank you Mom, Heather, Chris, Angie, Fritz and Joey for all the memories and laughs while you were here and that I will hold onto and remember when times get hard. Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for, support and encourage me every step of the way. Near or far, I couldn’t do this without you.  

Enjoy the Merry Stengelmas music video, Bless the Rains!