Mail in Malawi

Thank you for keeping up with us through social media as we settle in to our new home halfway around the world. It’s so encouraging to receive your messages and to read your comments. It’s good to be remembered. 

Some of you have asked for our mailing address, and you’re probably wondering why it’s taking so long to get an answer. The mail system here is quite different than we’re used to, and we want to be sure we give you the right information. We don’t have a mailbox at our house, and I haven’t seen a mailman. Instead we have a post office and a post office box. The address is: John and Samantha Jewell, P.O. Box 31615, Lilongwe 3, Malawi, AFRICA. (The black and white squares in the photo are the actual boxes.) 

I hope you didn’t just jot that down and quit reading, because there are a few things you should know. First of all, please don’t bother paying for priority mail or insurance, because, no matter what they tell you at the U.S. post office, they cannot guarantee anything once it leaves the country. And, it may not get to its final destination when they tell you it should. We experienced this firsthand living in Brazil. Also, please don’t mail anything of monetary value, as the packages may be searched and items removed. (I know what you’re thinking; I was raised with the same rights and protections, but we are living in a place now where it’s legal for the police to pull us over for no other reason than to check our documents. It’s different here.) Make sure everything is clearly printed, and don’t forget to write “Africa”, even though you think it should be obvious. Before we left the States, several people asked us when we were moving to Maui, and when I lived in Austria, I received some very late mail that had made a pit stop in Australia. Not everyone is a geography whiz—myself included.

Now that all that’s out of the way, please accept our gratitude for your encouragement and for expressing interest in sending us mail. Don’t shy away from it because it doesn’t sound foolproof. The fact is, we’ve talked to other missionaries who say they receive mail all the time with no problem. We would love to get letters, photos, and any other small items you want to send. We’re very thankful for modern technology that allows us to receive communication of any kind from you. Missionaries used to leave home without hope of correspondence from their loved ones. We remember that when we start to feel sorry for ourselves for not having electricity or internet. 

P.S. If you're not into snail mail, just keep posting online. We'll take it any way we can get it.