Good Friday
“Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him,
and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for
our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his
wounds we are healed.” – Isaiah 53: 4-5
This is How We Know
This
is how we know
This
is how we know what love is
Just
one look at Your cross
And
this is where we see
This
is where we see how love works
For
You surrendered Your all
And
this is how we know
That
You have loved us first
This
is where we chose
To
love You in return
For You so loved the
world
That You gave Your only
Son
Love amazing, so divine
We will love You in
return
For this life that You
give
For this death that You
have died
Love amazing, so divine
We will love You in
reply, Lord
Our
love will be loud
Our
love will be strong
Our
love shall be hands and feet
That
serve You in this world
So
let us stay true
And
let it endure
That
You will be glorified
And
worshiped and adored
Before the Throne
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the One
Risen Son of God
Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I am
The King of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God!
Friday
So we left for South Luangwa National Park in Zambia on Good
Friday morning. There was a couple with their 11 month old baby girl in the car
with us. She was such a cute baby! We drove for a couple of hours and reached
the Malawi-Zambia border. Crossing the border was an interesting experience. It’s
totally not like the boarder crossings that I’ve experienced in North America
or Europe. After we finished filling out forms and getting our passports
stamped at the Malawian border, we walked through the gate and went into the
Zambian office to do fill out those forms and got our passports stamped there.
While we were waiting, one of the officers asked us if we have our yellow fever
cards. Luisa and I panicked a little since we did not get yellow fever
vaccinations (it wasn’t necessary for Malawi). I thought, “Oh no, what if they
don’t let us through because we don’t have it, then what will happen? Will
someone have to drive us back to Lilongwe then?” But then after a minute, she
just walked away. Then a couple of minutes later when we were getting our
passports stamped, the officer asked if we were sisters because we look alike.
Luisa and I looked at each other, laughed, and then replied no. (When we came
back, the same officer said, “Today, you two don’t like that much alike”. This
also happened at the Malawian border when we returned, they asked what our
relationship was, and we said, “umm… we’re friends”. Must love the assumptions
just because we have some similarities, you can figure that one out.) Also,
while we were waiting at the border, we saw other people who were also with the
company we were with, so they started talking to us since they knew the family
that was in our car. When this couple asked where we were staying while we’re
there, we replied Thornicroft Lodge. Then the lady immediately responded
saying, “Oh, so you two are the ones that took our spots there.”
Ok…interesting. Even as a joking sort of way, I thought it was quite odd that
that’s what you say to someone you just met. That’s just where we were told
we’re staying. We didn’t know that you wanted it and that it’s all booked up…
Anyway, we drove a little further and had our lunch on the side
of the road. After another couple of hours bumping along on the road, we had
reached our destination. We first dropped the other family off at the lodge
that they were at (Croc Valley). When we got out of the car to stretch, the
first animal sighting was of Vervet monkeys. They were so cute, so playful,
just swinging around. I got a little closer to take some pictures, but they
would immediately dash away. When we arrived at our lodge, we were welcomed at
the entrance by the manager and quite a few of the staff members, one took our
bags, another offering us cold towels to wipe our faces from the travels, yet
another offering us a welcome beverage. We were both utterly shocked at the
welcome we received. The manager gave us a quick briefing and told us when
dinner was, but we told them that we were supposed to be going on a game drive
that afternoon/night. He handled the confusion very quickly and organized for
us to leave soon after that. We hopped onto the car, met our guides (Godfrey
& Stephen), and then off we went. Luisa and I looked at each other,
assuming that we were going to the other lodge to pick up the other group
members, but when we passed the road to leading to their lodge, we realized
that we were pretty much getting a private drive, just the two of us! It was so
awesome! G and S were so knowledgeable! Godfrey has been doing this for about
20+years, previously working as a wildlife officer. Stephen has been studying
for the past 10 years and will be getting his license to drive as a guide soon.
They had great eyesight and hearing. They would be able to tell you what
animals were far off in the distance, what those tiny birds were as they
quickly flew above us or sat on a tree tweeting. Even on the first few hours,
we had already seen many, many animals, such as impalas, warthogs, pukus,
buffalos, elephants, rhinos, crocs, lions, baboons, etc. and lots of birds. On
the drive, the guides usually stop to say hi to each other and also ask about
what animals they’ve seen and where. This one stop, we stopped and they chatted
with the other visitors in the other car. It turns out, that was the Vice
President of Zambia and his family. The highlight was G & S trying to find
the leopards since they had heard it somewhere. We drove through thick branches
and under the trees just to see if we can find it. We were definitely attacked
by leaves and branches many times during the drive. At night, we finally got to
see the leopard and the cubs sleeping in the tree. The bigger leopard had a
baboon carcass up in the tree with it. The animals were so close that if my arm
was slightly longer, I would have been able to touch them. We saw beautiful
landscapes and sunsets. We also saw so many stars in the sky and the Milky Way.
It was such a spectacular sight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many stars
in the sky in my entire life. We were just so amazed at God’s creation!
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” – Psalm 8:3-4
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A harem of impalas on the road in front of us.
|
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| Reminds me of the baby's chew toy "Sophie" |
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| Her name is Alice |
Saturday
We were woken up at 5am so that we would be able to go for our
morning game drive at 6am. I slept so well last night; best sleep I’ve had
since I’ve been in Africa. I only woke up once and then quickly fell back
asleep until morning. We were told, however, that a hippo had come onto the
lodge property right by our tents at around 2am, but the night guard chased it
away. Apparently, the hippo also left some prints near our area as well. During
the game drive, we had a family and another man in the car with us. The 2 kids
were very young and were very excited at seeing the animals and kept screaming
out. We drove around and saw lots of other animals like giraffes, zebras,
bushbucks, and some of the ones we saw last night. We came to an area where
there was a pride of female lions eating a dead buffalo that got stuck in the
mud. We were so close to the lions that I was a little scared. We had one
lioness walking straight on towards us from one side, and then we had another
lioness walking towards us on the other side. We then drove to the other side to
take a closer look at them working on the buffalo. We were close, but the other
cars didn’t seem like the wanted to move, so dear Godfrey, drove through a
narrow area and started driving down this steep hill. We were a little scared
that if we slid or couldn’t stop in time, our truck would have probably drove
down the hill right next to where the lionesses were. With his experience, we
literally parked the truck on this hill on what felt like a 45-degree angle,
looking at the lions. We were all afraid to make any sudden movements, not just
because of the lions, but because of the truck. One of the highlights of the
morning was when Godfrey pulled out a cooler with little muffins and cups for
tea. We had tea…while we were out on the game drive! We returned to the lodge
and was served a delicious lunch with salad (it had basil! Yummm!), quiche,
savoury pumpkin pie, coleslaw, moussaka, and finished off with a fruit salad.
We were so well fed!
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| Zebras, elephants and impalas! |
 |
| We were so close! |
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| Accidental twinzies! |
During the afternoon, we saw the Vervet monkeys come into
the main lodge and climbed onto the bar. One of them went behind a bar and
grabbed a slice of lemon while Luisa and I chased it away as no one else was
around. Then as we were by our tents, we saw lots and lots of monkeys bouncing
on the tents, and one of them even had a charger in its mouth and was running
away. I ran after it, he dropped the charger and ran off. The charger turned
out to be Stephen’s! I also tried to take more pictures of the monkeys since
they were literally a metre away from me. As I would lift my camera up, it’s
like they knew, and so they would run away and not let me take pictures. I
eventually learned that slowly moving towards them helped me with getting some
really great shots of the monkeys. The baby ones are super adorable! I now know
why we call little mischievous kids “monkeys”, because they literally reminded
me of little kids bouncing off walls; they’d play fight, hit each other on the
head and then run away. It was hilarious watching them!
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| Vervet monkeys looking for food |
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| Baby Vervet Monkey hiding in the tree above. So CUTE! |
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| One of the beautiful sunsets we saw. |
While we were waiting
for our night drive, there was a small cobra, which is poisonous, right by our
main lodge area. Lots of people were curious and went to go take a look, and
one of the guards used a slingshot and hit it right on the head. Too bad I
didn’t see it happen.
On our evening game drive, we pretty much saw similar animals
and sights. Another gorgeous sunset and another magnificent night sky showered
with stars. I don’t think these images have ever, nor will the ever, cease to
amaze me. I do wish that I had a camera that would be able to capture just the
beauty that my words fail to describe. We also saw a leopard in the middle of
the field with lots of safari trucks surrounding it. I felt bad for a while
since the leopard just sat there, probably trying to hunt, but all the trucks
surrounding it was giving away its cover. Later in the evening, we saw the
leopard with 3 other leopards (2 of which were cubs), and I believe these were
the same ones that we saw last night. One of the leopards had caught a baboon
not too long ago and had started eating it. We were so close that we were able
to hear the leopard ripping it apart, the snaps of the bones and the ripping
sounds of the flesh. We could also see the leopard’s bloody face from eating.
It was quite an interesting sight. It would have been even better if we had
seen the kill, though as gruesome as it would be. Once again, we had a
delicious dinner prepared by the cooks. As we were eating, one of the guys was
telling us that he saw a male lion on the night drive. I wish I got to see that
too. We had tried to find one earlier today, but we were unsuccessful.
An incident occurred while I was showering and brushing up. As I
was getting in the shower, I saw 2 geckos and a frog/toad that were up high on
the walls and sitting on the beams. That didn’t bother me too much as I saw
that they weren’t moving and that they were a generally out of reach. So I
started showering, and then all of a sudden, I saw this gecko/newt/frog looking
thing that was starting to ascend up the side of the wall near me. I tried to
splash it with water hoping that it would go away, however, the worst thing
happened, it leaped on my foot. I was in shock that I couldn’t even scream, but
just quickly kicked it off me. It then jumped on the floor and then jumped on
the shower curtain. I could still see it, but I didn’t want to try splashing at
it again, just in case the same thing happens once more. So I took the quickest
shower of my life, just so I can get out of there. I jumped out of the shower
to the bathroom stall right across and tried to change as quickly as possible.
As I was doing that, lo and behold, a huge cockroach looking thing, about an
inch and a bit long, flew/crawled on the floor right in front of me. I was
mortified! This could not be happening to me right now. So I held my breath and
just leapt out of the stall and ran outside. Well, I should let you all know
that I was scared of the first thing, that I had left my shower stuff still in
the shower stall and my clothes still hanging on the hook right outside. All I
could do was stand outside and stare at the cockroach and my stuff. Right then,
I heard Luisa walk towards the bathroom area, which I was very thankful for. I
began to tell her what happened and that my stuff is still in the stall and on
the hook. She initially said that it’s fine and I should just go get my stuff,
but as I wanted to walk in, the cockroach started moving, so I freaked out some
more. After a little while, Luisa was like, can you just leave your stuff there
and get it in the morning? I told her that I still needed to brush my teeth and
that I’m not leaving my stuff in with those things in there. All she could do
was just laugh at me. Eventually, the cockroach crawled into the bathroom stall
and so Luisa could get my stuff from the shower. As she finished handing me the
stuff, the cockroach crawled back out. I used Luisa’s water bottle to try to
splash it so it would move away from the water, but then it started heading
towards us. I tried to brush my teeth, and wherever I moved, it would move in
the same direction. Luisa saw that I had gotten all my stuff, she said that she
hadn’t locked the tent and that she was going back. I told her that she cannot
leave me here, it’s late and no one is going to the tent to get our stuff, we’d
hear them anyways. I wanted her to stay as the cockroach was still there
following me. All Luisa could do was continue to laugh at me freaking out. While
I was brushing my teeth, I couldn’t even get close to the sink to turn the
water off since it was right there. It was like it could smell or sense my fear
and wanted to do that to me. I finally finished all those things and I rushed
back to the tent to sleep. Luisa needed to go to the washroom before bed, and
so she decided that she was going to go to the main lodge. As she came back,
she told me that she saw a huge spider, like a small tarantula, right
underneath the mirror. All I could do was start laughing. That’s what you get
for laughing at me.
Sunday
We woke up and enjoyed another wonderful breakfast while
overlooking Luangwa River. Before returning back to Malawi, we stopped at this
Tribal Textiles place that makes anything from bedding to placemats to wall
hangings to bags. They had such bright colours and beautiful designs. While we were there, the staff got really excited because they heard that the Vice President of Zambia would be stopping by. What are the odds that we'd be in the same place as him again? Either way, I would
have bought stuff if some of it weren’t that expensive, so I guess pictures
will have to do.
It seemed so surreal when we returned back to Lilongwe, however,
we did have a nice little surprise to welcome us back!
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| Meet Piper! |
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| I love Piper! |
Had Easter dinner at with Kathy’s family, everyone in our house,
and another PAOC couple from Blantyre. It was a wonderful time with great
company and great food.
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| Bonus points for those of you who get the reference! |
Easter
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to
the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled
away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the
Lord Jesus…Then [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his
hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was
carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with
great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.” – Luke 24:1-3,
50-53
You
Alone Can Rescue
Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,
Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea
Your grace is deeper still
You
alone can rescue, You alone can save
You
alone can lift us from the grave
You
came down to find us, led us out of death
To
You alone belongs the highest praise
You, oh Lord, have made a way
The great divide You heal
For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still
Yes, your love goes further still
We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes
You’re the Giver of Life
Christ
Is Risen
Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely you bled, for us
Christ
is risen from the dead
Trampling
over death by death
Come
awake, come awake!
Come
and rise up from the grave!
Christ
is risen from the dead
We
are one with him again
Come
awake, come awake!
Come
and rise up from the grave!
Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bow to none but heavens will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold you down
In strength you reign
Forever let your church proclaim
Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!
The glory of God has defeated the night!
Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh
Church! Come stand in the light!
Our
God is not dead, he's alive! he's alive!
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