Just Arrived

We've been in Malawi for over a month now but in many ways, I arrived today.  African Bible College is an oasis where the best and brightest students come to a strangely green campus (the rest of Lilongwe is brown from June until the November rains), where it's clean, and modern.  ABC's goal is to create a "first world" college experience in the middle of the developing world -- so in many ways, the reality of Malawian life happens outside of the campus walls.  Sure we have our share of cockroaches, power outages, and the occasional brown water from the faucet -- but when you remember the vast majority here don't even have faucets it puts things in perspective. Today - the walls around ABC got a little thinner for me. 

This morning in chapel (my first time speaking in chapel) it was announced that the father of one of the student passed away.  The acting director (Sam) asked me after chapel if I'd be interested in going with him to attend the funeral.  I asked him, "What time does it start?" -- he just smiled and said, "The funeral is from 11:00 am."  'From' is really the operative word in that statement. Funerals in Malawi (and across Africa) are not the quick, sanitized events we've perfected in the States.  Death is such an everyday reality and life spans are so short (by comparison to the developed world) you might think that funerals would be perfunctory events that people attend without thought.  The reality couldn't be further from this. 

We left campus a little after 11:00 am and drove for about 20 minutes when we found ourselves on a dirt road with miles and miles of open, arid savannah all around us dotted with mud and/or brick huts here and there.  Eventually the road was flanked by vehicles of all shapes and sizes and we knew we had arrived.  We walked for a few hundred yards until we came to the crowd outside a little house.  The coffin had been inside and the mourners had all gathered outside.  Many had been there since the death several days before.  They just sit quietly (or weep openly) with the family all day long but saying nothing.  Here, as the funeral was commencing, women wailed and held each other while the men sat in large groups.  About 100 women wore white blouses and head coverings signifying that they were part of various church choirs.  The deceased was a pastor so this brought out about 60 pastors (called "abusas" in Chichewa).  They were all honored guest (i.e. they got chairs and didn't have to sit on the dusty ground) as were we - the azungus (white guys). 

After sitting and baking in the sun for about 1/2 an hour the coffin was brought out of the house and placed in the middle of the crowd.  The MC stood up and asked for special introductions to be made of the chiefs in attendance.  Then a few of the chiefs shared some words about the deceased.  After that we sang, then an abusa prayed, then another abusa preached a sermon (about 15 minutes or so) then we sang again, more sharing, and as all this was happening, late arrivals walked right in and sat down by the coffin.  A few times the MC announced how much money local churches and ministries gave for the family of the deceased.  More sermons, more prayers and a few more songs.  This went on for about 2 and a half hours.  Then we all processed over to the burial area.  (The picture above will give you an idea but there were hundreds of people --  I wasn't tacky enough to actually take pictures at the funeral).  The anticipation of what was about to happen brought on a whole new wave of grief from many in attendance - most vocally from the women.  The coffin was lowered into the ground as about 400 onlookers watched from their seats on the ground.  Chairs were hand delivered for the abusas to sit on.  Light singing was going on in multiple part harmonies in and around every part of the event - including the procession.  A few more abusa's shared mini-sermons, then the cemetary crew was called in to pile in the dirt over the coffin.  Not partially but fully.  No one moved - we all watched this happen shovel full by shovel full.  When there was nothing left but a huge mound then came the time for the wreaths to be laid. 

The MC introduced special individuals (family members, heads of ministries, etc...) and they came up when called and placed wreaths on the mound.  One especially touching part was when all the grandchildren were called up - there must have been around 25.  They each held a long stem rose as they surrounded the grave mound and huddled together as about 50 women sang a harmony-rich song and then each grandchild pushed their rose into the dirt mound creating an oval surrounding the mound. 

A few ladies choirs sang more songs and a few more speeches brought the official ceremonies to an end.  People who traveled from a distance were heading back to the house for a dinner meal but at this time it was almost 3:30 pm and our crew from ABC headed back to campus. 

All in all it was a timely and raw reminder of the struggles of the lives of Malawians.  Dire poverty, sickness, HIV/AIDS, and a host of other trials stare them in the face every day.  I couldn't understand 99% of the words shared today but from what I gleaned, they were clinging to the reminder that this world is not their home.  Heaven is a true blessing to them and they're not interested in simply going through the motions of sending someone ahead.  It was sad - but holy and beautiful too.  I was grateful to God for the experience. 

Bruce