What If?

We make thousands of choices each day, but no matter how much we plan and anticipate, we still don’t have complete control over what happens.  This can be terribly infuriating and leave us feeling helpless, but do we really want everything in life to be so within our control that everything is predictable?

The unknown can be scary because everything can go wrong and we can lose every possession, talent and relationship in a moment. Unnecessary risks and endeavors are often considered foolish and irresponsible when the possibility of success is slim. But we might also open ourselves to gain more than we could have thought to ask for.

If we plan everything out, we could squeeze the most out of life and never waste one moment. But how much more would we be missing out on simply because we don’t yet know they exist?

I’m about to fly to Malawi, Africa in a few weeks to celebrate the opening of a new primary school that my church helped build in collaboration with Malawi-based organizations. The new school will include a feeding program for student lunches and medical clinic that will be available to the people of Chilinza village. On July 10th, I’m joining a team of 20 people to assist with preparations for the launch of the new school and celebrate that it’s ready to open.

This is the result of 7 years of listening, learning, and working with community members in Malawi to figure out how we can best serve and partner with the village and its people. We have experts in education, health, and sustainability on our team to who have chosen to invest their time, energy, resources, and passion into the future that will be created through the school and the people of Chilinza.

I’m not sure why I’ve been invited to this team or how much or little I’ll be able to offer to the team, but for some reason I immediately said, “yes” without considering the consequences. 

There’s a part of me that’s wondering, what if I’m not able to get done all the things I need to get done. What if I’m not able to generate enough funding to get to Malawi. What if I’m not the best person for this work or for this team. I want to do my best to honor the invitation to join this team and the sacrifice and grace of everyone at home affected by my choice, but these, “what if”, questions tend to make me second guess my, “yes”.

But there’s another part of me, where my “yes” tends to live, that asks, what if everything works out better than anything I could plan. What if this trip and this school could open up more opportunity and generate more hope and do more good than I have the ability to conceptualize. What if being a part of this team will allow me to, in two weeks, accomplish so much more than anything I could accomplish solo for the rest of my life.

My church, our team, and myself–we’ve all put in the work to be as thoughtful, wise, and ready as possible. Even though we still don’t know what to expect, we’re not giving up on believing in the people of Chilinza. Is it really ever a waste to believe in anyone? All of you, who have believed in me, is what’s given me the courage to listen to the “yes”. Maybe believing in people is the surest investment we can make during our lifetime.

If you’re ready to take a chance on me, the work our team is doing, and the people of Chilinza, I’d love to have you along as a partner in this journey. We have a base cost of $4.1k needed per person to get us there and get our basic needs met, but the more we’re able to raise, the more we’ll be able to do, accomplish and build.

Whether it’s $5 or $500, anything you’re able to scrape together would not only be greatly appreciated and truly  helpful, but it will be a tangible investment in our commitment to Chilinza and Malawi.

Thanks for reading. Would love to chat one on one and answer any questions and share more about what our team will be doing this summer and what we’re working toward building as a greater community.

The future is full of hope.