Christian magazines and racist old books in Blantyre

We were sat in the Mandala Café in Blantyre, Malawi, when I discovered an American magazine all about Christianity. It was our first morning in Blantyre after having arrived in the town the previous day from Liwonde National Park, and Claire and I had made our way to the café for breakfast. When we arrived people were sat around the patio enjoying the mid morning sunshine. There was a mixture of locals and ex pats tucking into breakfasts or sharing coffees with the morning paper. A family in the corner was enjoying each other’s company, a solo diner was reading a book and the staff were buzzing around making sure everyone was well looked after. The atmosphere was peaceful and the surroundings – a delightful green garden with tall trees and pretty flowers – were perfect.

We were waiting for our full English breakfasts to be cooked when we took a look at the magazines laid out on a table for customers to browse. There are often magazines lying around guesthouses and cafes and it’s always interesting to see what’s on offer. I’ve sat and read everything from South African fishing magazines dated back to 2007, to food mags and African wildlife journals. However, this was the first time I’d come across a magazine dedicated entirely to Christianity. The magazine was called Decisions. First and foremost I am not a Christian. I don’t believe in a God, but at the same time I have no real issue with those people who do. So long as they don’t push that belief on others or use their faith to justify wrongdoing of any kind then people can believe what they want. But whilst I am not particularly religious myself, I am incredibly fascinated by religion and religious people. So, after seeing the magazine lying there, I decided to give it a read.

I read a piece written by a pastor on why Christians all over The States should be more vociferous with their religious beliefs. He thought that his country was becoming less religious and that those who were religious were being challenged more and more often, meaning that they should take a stand. He was, it turned out, going on a tour of the USA to preach to thousands of people trying to spread the word of the Lord. I then flicked through a few other articles on things including ‘how to utilise the Lord and Christ when making decisions’. Apparently when it comes to making a decision, ‘no matter how big or small’ the person wrote, you should choose the option that would make you better in the eyes of Christ and the Lord. Now, I have no real qualms with this, however, the author of the article said that no decision was too small to use the Lord’s judgement on. Whether you were looking to choose a new job or career path, whether or not to help a friend or loved one in need, or simply whether you were going to buy the Ford or the Toyota next time you need a new set of wheels. I am truly stumped when trying to figure out whether the Ford or the Toyota would leave you looking more righteous in the eyes of the Lord. But I don’t know, perhaps God prefers American Cars to Japanese models.

On the next page was an article all about Hell. It was pretty early and the sun was shining, and we were in a good mood, so reading about the awful afterlife that’s most probably awaiting me was not high on my priority list. But I dived in anyway. Now before I continue, I haven’t lived a particularly sinful life. I guess I have broken the Ten Commandments on a fair few occasions, but who hasn’t? Worshipping false idols is something I could be held accountable for, but Duncan Ferguson is just such a legend for Everton fans of my generation, so how could I not? Plus I have most certainly taken the Lord’s name in vain and I think I could also be found guilty of a couple of the other more obscure Commandments too. So it’s safe to say that if a Hell exists, I am most probably heading there. But I am OK with that. I’ll take my chances. But it was nice to see just what Hell was all about.

First and foremost the author of the piece wanted to stamp out any misconceptions about Hell. Fair enough, I thought. I guess lots of people have made their own minds up as to what Hell is so now was the time to set the record straght. This is what he wrote: ‘Many people think that Hell is nothing more than an eternal “party place”.’ Do they? I have never thought of this when thinking about what Hell is going to be like. But just to clarify, Hell is not one giant party. The author clarifies this with his next sentence: ‘But in Hell there will be no partying.’ See. Cleared that mess up. No partying in Hell. So what is in Hell? He continues: ‘There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; torture, suffering and eternal separation from God’. Sounds awful. The author then goes on to say that another misconception people have about Hell is that it’s temporary. But nope. He stresses that once you’re in Hell, you never get to leave. I cannot help but feel like he is trying to scare people.

But why would you want to believe in a god that would allow you to end up in this place, suffering in eternal damnation? Surely this is not a kind and loving god. I don’t know about you but I feel like this god is one that shouldn’t be trusted. Some people sin because they are bad people, we know this to be true. But there are also thousands if not millions who sin for fair and just reasons. What if you live in a rainforest in South America and have never read The Bible? Sorry, Hell it is for you. Or what if you are poor and have to steal to feed your family? You’re going to Hell! It’s so harsh. How can that be fair? But fear not, the author clears up my queries later on in the article under the sub heading ‘Is Hell Fair?’. He writes: ‘You may be surprised by the fact that it is because He is a God of love and justice that He invented Hell’. Ok, it’s going to take some real wisdom on the author’s part to convince me of this one. ‘You see,’ he begins, casually, ‘Hell was not made for people. It was created for Satan and his fallen angels. But when we reject God’s love, we make the choice to separate ourselves from Him’. I put down the magazine and ate my lovely breakfast, wondering if you’d get bacon and sausages in Hell. He said there was no partying, but he didn’t mention the food. I guess I can hope.

After breakfast Claire and I wandered around a lovely gift shop in Mandala House, which is the oldest building in Malawi. There were plenty of lovely bits and pieces on offer and Claire bought a few small gifts for people back home, before we made our way upstairs to the old library and archive. Upstairs was fantastic. There were hundreds of old books written by the early explorers and missionaries. Books by Livingstone, the first missionary to really explore Africa whose name is known across the continent; Stanley, the British colonialist who worked for the Brits as well as King Leopold and the Belgians; and plenty of others by Victorian scientists and anthropologists. I got to read one book that was, well, let’s say very dated in its approach. It was called The Races of Man and was essentially a guide to how to differentiate between all of the different races you can find around the world. It reduced people down to mere animals, removing all of their humanity, and was quite astonishing. I guess it was a different time. As soon as I saw the page that delineated the difference between ‘Negroes’ and ‘Negroids’ I decided it was time to move on.

The library itself was great, and being able to flip through all of these old books was a real joy. We spoke to the man who worked there who had a wealth of knowledge and he also showed us to the Archive, where we were able to sit at the computer, a shiny new iMac, and flick through thousands of old archived photographs of Malawi that dated back into the late 1800s. We looked at pictures taken by explorers, pictures showing off early village life, the early colonial buildings and much more. Before we left Claire and I then purchased a replica of a Malawian Newspaper dated back to 1946, when the country was called Nyasaland. We said goodbye to the kind and helpful man at the library and made our way back to the hostel for the afternoon.

After spending the afternoon at the hostel, a pretty shabby place called Doogles by the bus station, Claire and I went out to dinner. We got a cab to 21 Grill, the most fancy place we’d seen during our trip so far. We were greeted at reception by the concierge who took us to our table and sat us down. We then ordered wine from the wine menu, and were brought bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The restaurant was gorgeous and everyone was looking smart, which meant we both felt completely underdressed. I took my cap off and tried to straighten out the crinkles in my checked shirt. Luckily for Claire, she looked rather nice and much less dishevelled than me. We ate delicious starters – I had soup of the day and Claire had chicken livers, before we moved on to our wonderful mains – Claire had some gigantic ribs and I ate a fillet steak with peppercorn sauce, the third steak I had eaten that week. We were living the life of luxury on this trip. Yes we were crammed into buses and sleeping in dusty dorms. And yes we were often eating samosas out of plastic bins through the window of said buses. But never before in my life had I had a Three Steak Week. After our mains Claire then polished off a nice sorbet for desert. It’s safe to say we were stuffed when we finally made it back to the hostel to go to sleep.