Listen as a podcast by clicking the white triangle on the black box below or go to your favorite podcasting place and search for The All Gifts Podcast. Scroll down to read the blog version and see pictures from my trip to Malawi.

My recent trip to Malawi, Africa left a strong impression on me. An impression that’s been hard to express in words.

When I came home, I was so happy to see my husband, pet my dogs, and hug my grandbaby. I was grateful I could turn the water faucet as cold or as hot as I wanted. I could grab an ice-cold sparkling water out of my fridge, enjoy unlimited WIFI, and watch what I wanted on demand.

But there was an emptiness I couldn’t shake. I missed the people I’d met in Malawi, but it was something deeper. I realized I missed God.

I felt God’s presence in Malawi in a way I’d never experienced in America.

Malawi was a completely immersive experience. One day we went to a men’s ministry meeting. Just getting there was an adventure. We drove for miles down a two-lane paved road, every few meters swerving past goats that ambled into the street, then turned onto a bumpy, unpaved road. I staved off nausea, determined to enjoy the savannah scenery.

The road was so bad, it fooled my apple watch into thinking I’d been exercising, the green ring hissed closed. At one point we climbed out of the low car so that it could go over some especially rocky ground, walked a few feet, and got back in.

When we finally got to the village, we were over an hour late. We got out of the car, said our greetings, and took it all in while the villagers looked at us, looking at them. Our group moved toward one of the sun-washed, heat eroded buildings with high, open windows. No screens or glass. The classroom was packed with men who’d been waiting for us. They showed us to our seats in the front of the room.

Once we were settled, they motioned for even more villagers to come, until the room was bursting with men. Then, finally, they allowed the curious children who’d been watching from the windows to fill in every space on the concrete floor in front of us.

As my friend Kim got ready to share her testimony, I willed myself to focus on her instead of the sweltering heat, sweat running down my leg, the smell of so many bodies and the hard wooden school desk where I sat. A noise chirped just over my head. David, the director of the non-profit (When the Saints) leaned in, “that sound you hear is a bat.” We sang a few songs in Chichewa and then every face looked intently at Kim as she shared her story.

When she was done, the room quietly stared at us in anticipation. We looked from David to Akim, the men’s ministry leader, “They want to know what you have to say. From God. What has he asked you to share with them?”

It didn’t matter to them that over half of our little missionary group were women. They saw us not just as people of God but as his messengers. Feeling the weight of their need for a word from God, I prayed and listened for a verse or a word of encouragement for them. When we shared, they listened with rapt attention and asked meaningful questions. With only a couple of bibles between them, they were hungry for the word of God.   

Since that time, I haven’t been able to shake the contrast between a church service there and a typical church service in post-pandemic Los Angeles.

While sports games and concerts fill stadiums, people have barely trickled back into church gatherings.

Even prior to the pandemic, a single visitor filled us with excitement and joy as we wondered how to best show this new person who God is and how to fall in love with him.

But there, at that Men’s Ministry Meeting, there was a palatable hunger for God.

The spiritual world felt more active, more real there. I experienced the supernatural presence of God which led me to believe that indeed God does still perform miracles. I’ll tell you more about what I experienced in upcoming episodes.

I felt a great contrast between my worship of God in Malawi and my worship of God in the US.

• There was less distraction in Malawi. Wi-Fi data and electrical power are luxuries. When I was lonely, sad or afraid, I felt the pull to open one of the many apps on my phone. Or stream a movie. Not being able to order food to be delivered set off a little panic in my heart. I missed these comforts. And I saw that while these things aren’t inherently bad, on some level, they kept me from experiencing my great need for God. Rather than going to him, I go to them. They were spiritual distractions.

• The physical world is harsh there. It wasn’t comfortable. From lukewarm drinking water to ice cold showers, I felt very little control over the physical. Life was limited by solar power, wells drawing water from the earth, and rain coming to produce crops. Hope didn’t come from the physical. I was forced to cling to the spiritual. To the hope of a power greater than myself, greater than the elements. It reminded me of a spiritual fast except rather than fasting for a day or two, it was just the way of life.

• The people in Malawi believe in the supernatural. They’ve experienced witch doctors, spells, demons, and witches.  They know supernatural powers that ravage their communities and are hungry for a benevolent power that loves them.

I think this openness and belief, also lends itself to them experiencing God’s supernatural power. Our faith matters more than I ever realized before. And yet, it’s all over scripture.

Jesus said in Mark 13:9, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” You must be open to hearing.

In Mark 6:5 it says Jesus could not do miracles in a certain place because of their lack of belief.  

And in a recent sermon at my church, our Pastor Keith-alan pointed out something I’d never seen in Ephesians 3:20. Most of us are familiar with the first part: “now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” but what it says next is  “according to his power that is at work within us.” His power that is at work within us is our faith. God can do more than we can ask or imagine according to our faith.

Our faith matters.

I now understand the verse when Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

What distractions or comforts are keeping you from growing in your faith?

Would you be willing to give up those distractions if it meant seeing new miracles in your life?

Please follow my new YouTube channel where I’m posting videos from my trip to Malawi.