Friday, July 23, 2004
Livingstonia
The adventure of the week was a trip up north to Livingstonia. This place was an early missionary spot in Livingstonia. Dr. David Livingstone was a missionary in Africa in the 1800s. The first two missionary sites in Malawi were malarial, and thus unsuccessful, but Livingstonia - far in the north on a high plateau - turned out to be okay. The mission station flourished, and the town still exists as "a small piece of Scotland transported to the heart of Africa", according to the Lonely Planet guidebook for Malawi.
So Paul, Julie and I decided to visit. My friends, the road to get there is insane. It is, by far, the worst road I have ever been on anywhere... in Africa, in cottage country... I think this road is even worse than any portage I've ever been on. Mercy. The view from the top, though, is spectacular - well worth the road. You can look out over the lake and the hills, and it is just beautiful. I woke up on Wednesday to see the sunrise, and it was awesome.
It was a very educational day... I felt like a tourist! We took some time to take in the sites - the houses of the first missionaries there, the church, the hospital (once the largest in Central Africa), a famous bell, and the letters on the lawn spelling "Ephesians 2:14". When colonial rule in Malawi was coming to a close in the late 1950s, there was a lot of political upheaval in the north. The colonial government was worried about the Livingstonia missionaries, and sent a small plane to drop a message that evacuation was available if they wanted. The missionaries were instructed to display a large "V" on the grass outside the church if they were in danger, or a large "I" if they were safe and wanted to remain. The missionaries wanted to stay in Livingstonia, but also wanted to show that they were living in peace with their Malawian neighbours. So, they spelled out "Ephesians 2:14" on the grass. I'm not going to tell you what it says - go look it up. Cool, eh? The letters have since been moved to another piece of grass, but they are still there.
So Paul, Julie and I decided to visit. My friends, the road to get there is insane. It is, by far, the worst road I have ever been on anywhere... in Africa, in cottage country... I think this road is even worse than any portage I've ever been on. Mercy. The view from the top, though, is spectacular - well worth the road. You can look out over the lake and the hills, and it is just beautiful. I woke up on Wednesday to see the sunrise, and it was awesome.
It was a very educational day... I felt like a tourist! We took some time to take in the sites - the houses of the first missionaries there, the church, the hospital (once the largest in Central Africa), a famous bell, and the letters on the lawn spelling "Ephesians 2:14". When colonial rule in Malawi was coming to a close in the late 1950s, there was a lot of political upheaval in the north. The colonial government was worried about the Livingstonia missionaries, and sent a small plane to drop a message that evacuation was available if they wanted. The missionaries were instructed to display a large "V" on the grass outside the church if they were in danger, or a large "I" if they were safe and wanted to remain. The missionaries wanted to stay in Livingstonia, but also wanted to show that they were living in peace with their Malawian neighbours. So, they spelled out "Ephesians 2:14" on the grass. I'm not going to tell you what it says - go look it up. Cool, eh? The letters have since been moved to another piece of grass, but they are still there.
