‘Munavina ndi munanyimba bwino!’ (You danced and sang well!)

As I walked nervously to the front of the church, everyone stared at me, wondering what I was doing. I was wondering what I was doing. What would an azungu (white person) like me (someone who has absolutely no sense of rhythm and cannot dance at all) be doing joining a Malawian women’s choir?? It had all started earlier that morning when Amayi Msiska said, “today in church, you will be part of the Northern Conference choir”. I thought for a moment and then argued that I didn’t know the songs. “You will learn,” Amayi answered quickly. So, I practiced all the little dance moves and attempted to learn the words for the three songs they were going to perform for the church. While I watched the other choirs sing their songs, I dreaded the moment that they would call the choir from the North forward. When they finally did, I almost didn’t go with them, but then I saw the women from the Northern Conference, my sisters in Christ, motioning for me to join them. So, I walked up with my face burning. Once we started though, I realized how fun it is to sing and dance before the Lord this way, how amazing it is to come along side women who love God and worship Him together. And that’s when I realized that moments like those are what being a missionary is all about.