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The preachers came into the side room as we were trying to hold our ward round. "God will hear your prayers from outside", the consultant said, ushering them out again.
He laughed when he came back in, saying that the other line he uses is "God hears you even when you pray quietly", you can barely hear yourself think some days, why do they need to be so LOUD?
Religion is a much more obvious part of life here, especially for the various Christian sects. Malawi's first Europeans were Scottish missionaries, led by the famous Dr Livingstone, and church leaders have been responsible for both violent and peaceful rebellion against the colonial and totalitarian governments.
There are so many churches, of hundreds of denominations. The most impressive building in Blantyre is the church built by the original Scottish missions, and the vast majority of posters are for evangelical events. There were some slightly creepy Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints people on the plane, and a large number of American ... missionaries, I suppose, around town. Sundays in town are silent.
We were laughing at lunch one Friday. I was saying I had perhaps lost my way to God in recent years and Julia wondering if she had ever found it. The next week our lunch was backed by hymns and carols, although broken occasionally by unecclesiastical shouting.
At lunchtime the hospital is filled with preachers and nuns. My long bus rides start with complex prayers in a mixture of Chichewa and English. There is apparently a varied and complex interaction between traditional spiritual beliefs and Christianity, although I haven't really come across that myself. But there is a lot of singing, and it is beautiful and uplifting, through the city, up the mountains, and especially in the hospital.
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