Naming Babies and Cake Dancing

It doesn’t take long in another culture before one begins to appreciate the drastic differences in our ways of life. Some of these differences are wonderful discoveries, some are jarring to our sense. However, the majority of the experiences lie in the vast realm of awkwardness. We have had two examples of these already in Malawi. One has made us smile, the other has made us laugh.
A couple of days ago we met the brother of the man who is hosting us during our stay. George is our host and is brother’s name is Joel, surprisingly. We met Joel, and soon after our greeting he told us out of the blue, “We have been waiting for you to name our children.” Apparently, his wife had just given birth to twin girls. We laughed off his request, assuming no one in their right mind would want strangers to give names that their children would be stuck with for the rest of their lives.
The day went on and we ended up at the home of Joel and got to hold his two new daughters. They were two of the tiniest babies we had ever seen, but very beautiful. After a few minutes the question came back again, “So what are their names?” We looked at each other realizing that the request was serious. So thinking that they would probably appreciate Biblical names, Rachel said, “This one will be Esther, and this one will be Mariam.” They seemed to be pleased with the choices. They then asked us to pray blessings over the children. Memories of old testament prophecies ran through my (Joel) head and I blurted out different blessings for each child.
It was a strange experience yet one that we will always cherish and feel honored to have had. So if you ever come across a Malawian girl named, Esther or Mariam, ask if they were named by white strangers.
This experience was only matched by a bizarre experience in church where, after a four hour sermon, two smiling men in suits danced around a cake for about two hours. It was exactly what it sounds like.