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A day in our life | Malawi Feature
5/01/2023 2:59:40 PM | Shirley and Gary
Gary and Shirley take us through a typical day in their life serving at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Malawi.
5am We are woken by the call to prayer from the local mosque.
6am Exercise! We walk down the noisy, dusty, busy path alongside the main road where we are greeted by a growing array of new and old friends in the community who encourage (and correct!) us as we practise our Chichewa (the local language). Pang’ono, pang’ono (little by little) we are getting to know more about our new friends.
7am Breakfast, shower. Maybe chat with our adult children in Australia as they drive home from work.
7:30am Chapel commences with worship followed by a short sermon from a student or staff member. Today Gary is sharing from Ecclesiastes 4.
8am Lectures commence – Communication for Shirley and Old Testament for Gary. If we are not teaching, then we’ll be marking or preparing lessons.
12pm Lunch. Unlike our students whose meals are prepared from scratch and cooked over a fire, we opt for sandwiches.
1:30pm More lectures. It’s the hottest part of the day. With little electricity and no air conditioning, teaching (and learning) in the afternoon is hard work. Despite our best efforts students often nod off in the oppressive heat.
4:30 Walk the dogs around the campus in the cooler afternoon. Time to chat with students having a short break – a reminder that life on campus is also about community, pastoral care and relationships. This all takes time.
6pm Dusk – time to head inside away from the mozzies and prepare dinner.
7:30pm Chat about the day, spend time in prayer and revise our Chichewa. If the electricity and internet are working then there’s time for TV.
9pm Read an e-book or catch up on the news before zzz.
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