MalawiBlog Number One

Hello.

I did a lot of saying goodbye today so I thought I would do a bit of saying hello, and give everyone a pre-departure update so I get used to how this whole blogging thing is going to work.

So, status update:

I have not yet packed, as the photo will testify. I have been thoroughly equipped by various lovely family members and friends with a veritable cornucopia of miniature items (mini-alarm-clock, mini-torch, mini-speakers, mini-first-aid-kit, mini-sterile-first-aid-kit, mini-guitar...) but this bazaar of bite-sized goodness is, at time of writing, still wherever Mum put it when she took it out of the living room. (For those of you who know my house, that’s the playroom, just in case you were confused, but I didn’t feel comfortable admitting to having a ‘playroom’ in my house at the age of 18 in front of the whole internet.)

All the flat surfaces in my room look a bit like this

Real status update:

 But the state of my room is not what you are really interested in (I hope), it is rather the state of myself. So I will start as I intend to go on by including in these updates my real health in all its forms rather than just the medical and the practical.

So obviously saying goodbye has been quite sad, but in a way I think that’s good news – if I was saying goodbye to everyone I know for seven months and that wasn’t sad, that would make me a very lonely person – so I am glad to have been sad (and will be glad to be sad when I say goodbye to Mum and Dad on Thursday).

But I hope you will be happy to hear that I am not scared. This is not me trying to sound brave and cool – I am very much not brave or cool – because I was scared, I was getting increasingly frightened from Christmas day onwards last week, and I was fairly sure that was justified; it’s a big step to go somewhere like Malawi for such a long time, there is a lot to get ready that really matters, and I don’t really know anyone that will be out there with me. So a little bit of fear is only natural. But then joyfully I was woken early by a phone call from my mate Naffy on Sunday morning and this gave me time to go for a walk down to my favourite tree, and spend a good hour or so talking to God and reading my bible. And nothing spectacular or ‘supernatural’ came over me, but as I spent time with God he really did comfort me. There’s somewhere in the bible that it promises that he will “quiet you with his love” and maybe that’s a fair description. One of the parts of the bible I spent time with was in Jeremiah 17 where Jeremiah says, “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed. Save me and I shall be saved.” And it made me think of a story I heard recently of a girl in Africa whose parents had just been killed by a militia who were rounding up Christians: as they pointed their guns at her they taunted her and asked, “Let your Jesus save you now!” – but she said to them, “My Jesus has already saved me.” And that’s just incredible, and I believe it’s true. And I just thought, faced with that, how can I be afraid of anything – let alone an exciting gap year trip?! And I genuinely ended up shouting “I AM FREE, NOTHING IS SCARY BUT YOU, GOD, AND YOU ARE NOT SCARY!” at a field full of sheep!

So there we go - hopefully I haven’t convinced you all I’m crazy with the very first blog - and hopefully these will be fairly interesting (I think they'll get more interesting when I actually arrive!). Please everyone let me know how you’re getting on while I’m away, and also a special thanks to Andy (Hood) for being a true brother in every sense.

Love, Mike.