Leaving Zomba, Malawi was one of the most emotional moments of my life. Leaving a place where so many new relationships had been made, where our team became a family and where I finally gained freedom. My heart broke. I prayed for joy and peace as we got on our first bus ride from Zomba to Malawi.
On that six hour bus ride, crammed in the back seat between Lo and Bri and I began to realize that there was no point to be sadness. I should feel joy. Joy that I was blessed enough to encounter everyone I met. Joy that I am in Africa, and joy that our adventure is not even close to being over. And also joy for the fact that I had been saving a top deck chocolate bar for this ride. As I slipped it out of my bag, Lo did not take her eyes off of it. I smiled at her, laughing she raised her finger to her lips and said "shh". I laughed and nodded. We snuck the entire chocolate bar, being careful to go unnoticed but still laughing. The simple joy of only sharing your chocolate bar with one person.
We reaching Lilongue and stayed only one night. The other team met us there and we began the adventure to Tanzania. We arrived at the bus station around 5:30pm friday. Our bus finally left the station around 7pm. The bus ride was smooth for the most part, and we arrived at the boarder around 10am the next morning.
We then stayed in a hostel for two nights as there was not a bus to Singida until monday. Staying in the hostel was such a blessing. We had actual beds, and an incredible time of worship with the other team. It also gave us time to rest before the "six" hour bus ride to Singida.
We got on the bus to Singida, our final destination for Tanzania, at around 6am monday morning. We expected to be there around noon at the latest. We were all crammed into our seats, with just as many people standing in the aisles. We finally made it, around 6am the next morning. We spent 24 hours being thrown around on a bumpy bus. I however am so impressed with the joy my team had. We sang and laughed most of the ride. I am so blessed to have such an incredible team/family!
Thank you all so much for your prayers!
