Food Gathering

Blantyre Synod’s Bi-Annual meeting will convene on Sunday, August 21. The Synod offices are in full preparation mode, with reports being printed, committees meeting to arrange for housing and protocol, for transportation and entertainment. But the most creative and resourceful of the committees, from my perspective, is the food committee. Theirs is the task of feeding the 500 delegates and dignitaries. They must do this on a limited budget. They have enlisted the support of the various presbyteries to accomplish this task.

The 18 presbyteries represent the entire southern region of Malawi, an agriculturally diverse area. The committee has asked each presbytery to contribute food that is grown in their particular area to help feed the crowd. So Thycholo Presbytery is contributing cabbages and tomatoes, since that is what is grown in that area. Liviilidzi Presbytery is contributing rice and Irish potatoes. Mangochi is by the lake, so they are giving chambo, the local white fish, and the list goes on, according to the agricultural strength of the area. Onions, carrots, green beans, bananas, papaya, chickens, goats, beef, maize flour, cassava, sweet potatoes will all be gathered, everything that is needed for a complete Malawian meal. This is a most practical approach to feeding folks in an agricultural country that has limited financial resources, but that has had a relatively good harvest this year.

These items were requested a number of months ago, to give each presbytery time to gather the needed produce. This week they are arriving at the Synod offices, to be stored and/or prepared for the meals next week. The gathering has begun in earnest. On Wednesday morning when I arrived at the Synod office for morning prayers, in the parking area outside the offices stood one of the Synod’s transport trucks, with a special pen structure erected on the bed of the truck. There quietly standing in the make-shift stalls were two cows, contributed from Shire Valley Presbytery, the cattle growing area of the district. They seemed to understand their plight. They stood silently, with big, sad eyes. Later in the day they were driven off to be butchered. This is a reality of life in an agricultural society, but it is still a bit unsettling for someone who grew up only purchasing packaged meat in the grocery store. I still have some difficulty looking the meal’s main course in the eye and then later sitting down to consume it. That is true for beef or goat or chicken or even whole fish, a favorite way of serving it here. In the States we have, for the most part, distanced ourselves from the actual preparation of the raw product, but here in Malawi it is just a fact of life, from butchering cows to dressing (or more appropriately undressing) chickens. We live close to the earth. No one at the meeting will give a second thought to the raw contributions each presbytery has made, no one except me. The others will just give thanks and enjoy the meal. I’ll pause to consider the sad eyes of the cows and possibly just take a larger helping of rice, thank you very much.

Just a Normal Sunday

This past Sunday I was invited to the Ndirande congregation to present 120 Chichewa Bibles that were purchased by a Sunday school class of Westminster Church in Pittsburgh Presbytery.  The class had raised the money and sent it to Malawi for the Bibles. But Malawian culture means that the gift needs to be presented officially and formally. As PC(USA)’s representative here, I was asked to do that on behalf of the congregation in Pittsburgh and I willingly agreed. After I had made the arrangements with the session clerk, the pastor called to invite me to preach, since I would be there. This is Malawian hospitality. I agreed. Then he told me that there would be communion and asked if I would assist. Of course. Then he mentioned baptisms. I was getting the idea that this would be a long service, but that is to be expected here.

The congregation usually has 3 services, but because of the communion, they had combined the services and so there would be one, to begin at 6 a.m. I arrived at 5:45 and was greeted by the elders, who escorted me to the manse to meet with the pastor. We organized the service and then proceeded to the vestry to meet with the rest of the elders. At 6:05 the service began. The service was fuller than I had imagined. We followed the standard format, but managed to fold into the program 8 choirs, the presentation and dedication of the Bibles and of new mvano choir uniforms, baptism of 36 infants and baptism and confirmation of 72 adults, preaching and special prayers for the upcoming Synod elections and finally communion. I pronounced the benediction at 11:45. The service had been 5 hours and 40 minutes long. The sanctuary was full to overflowing the entire time. In fact, groups moved in and out as their time to participate in the service came and went. This was to allow space for everyone and everything that needed to be done. Those who moved out found seating outside the church, where the PA system allowed them to participate in worship even though not in the sanctuary. When it came time for communion, those outside crowded in to participate fully. Extra benches were moved in and people sat on the floor in the front and back of the sanctuary.

 I couldn’t imagine what would have happened in a church in the States in the same situation. But then it would not have been the same. We would not have had that number of events in one service or that numbers of participants for baptism and confirmation. There would not have been 8 choirs to sing. Certainly the congregation would not have moved about to make room for those who were participating and certainly not have sat on the floor. But this is the joy of worship in Malawi. It is full participation with no reservation. The bigger the event, the greater the delight.  Welcome to normal Sunday worship in Malawi.

Joy and Sorrow and Joy

The reality of life is that sorrow and joy flow together in the events of life. That was born out clearly this weekend at Limbe CCAP in the lives of two families of the congregation.

Saturday saw a great celebration when the Kandawire twins were married. The first wedding was at 7 a.m. at the Living Waters Church for the first of the twins, Amana, and her new husband Pachalo Matandara. Then the congregation and the bridal parties proceeded directly to Limbe, where Modie, the second of the twins, was married to Fredrick Maliro. It was the second wedding that I assisted in officiating, with the senior pastor, Rev. Bona. Preceding Modie’s bridal party dressed in purple was Amana’s dressed in green. They stood as witnesses to their friend’s wedding. The twins had their own weddings, but shared the event fully with their sister and family. There were cheers and great joy at such a large event. The parents, in neutral colors, but boasting flowers from each daughter, stood proudly watching their twin’s union. Outside the church, cars decorated in both colors waited to carry the parties to the joint reception after a gala of photos in all combinations of parents and attendants and clergy.

Immediately after the service and the photos, I prepared for a totally different kind of service – a tomb unveiling. Limbe has a cemetery adjacent to the church where many of our members’ families are buried. Two of our older members, Mr. and Mrs. Chisani, had planned to commemorate their son’s death of a year ago by dedicating the tombstone they had erected in his memory. This involved prayers and a meditation from the pastor and then proceeding to the gravesite, where the tombstone was wrapped in plastic. After opening words, the plastic was removed, wreaths were laid on the new tombstone and then the pastor offered a prayer of dedication, followed by closing remarks by the church family. This was a sad time of remembering the death of a loved one. It is especially hard when it is the parents who have buried a son, not the other way around. After tears and words of comfort, the family left to have a time of remembering at home. The afternoon included time with the Chisani family in remembering and a gala wedding reception for two couples – a contrast of emotions and events, the joys and sorrows of life.

But the flowing of such events did not stop there. Sunday we had only one service at Limbe instead of the usual two since the church was hosting a 50^th wedding celebration of a renewal of wedding vows and then a reception to follow. This had been planned by one of the zones (geographic areas of the congregation) as a fundraiser for the church. The couple celebrating 50 years of marriage was none other than Mr. and Mrs. Chisani. They had agreed to this to help the church and to celebrate God’s faithfulness to them in all the events of life. So Saturday they remembered their late son with his tomb unveiling and Sunday they celebrated 50 years of marriage – the sorrows and joys of life. Saturday’s event had been small and private, family only. Sunday’s was overflowing. The wedding came immediately after the benediction of the church service, so the congregation was already gathered. Most everyone stayed. The bridal party processed in, just as the previous day, only this time instead of two parties, there was one mature one. The groom entered regally on a cane, walking with great dignity. The bride, in full dress, was preceded by ladies from the zone serving as her attendants. The congregation cheered as the bride joined the groom at the front of the church. Chairs were provided for them to sit for all but the renewal of the vows. After the renewal of their vows and the exchanging of rings, I had the responsibility of giving them counsel, a mini sermon. It would have been more appropriate for them to have given all of us advice, since they are the ones who know how to stay faithful for 50 years in the midst of all the events of life. They have done it. But we followed protocol and I offered words of encouragement to continue in what they have been doing. They are a witness to all in the congregation of faithfulness to God and God’s faithfulness to his people in all the events of life. That was the message of the entire weekend. In all the events of life, the joys and the sorrows, God is present and God is faithful to his people.

The Introduction

I was “inducted” (installed) at the Chigodi congregation as the associate pastor when I first returned to Malawi in 2009, so when I was reassigned to the Limbe congregation, I was only to be introduced because it is within the same Presbytery. That was a technicality for the Limbe congregation. They made as much of a celebration of the event as if it were a full induction. I have served as the associate at the congregation for the past 7 months, so the introduction has been a long time in coming. But in that time, I have been serving as if I were installed, preaching regularly, officiating at weddings and funerals, attending meetings, leading cottage prayer meetings, and participating in nights of prayer. The people have come to know me well and I have gotten to know them. So when the official celebration finally took place two weeks ago, it was a big one. We were already ministering together. That is what they celebrated. It was a large celebration.

The worship service was much the same as a regular service, but with a few special elements. The four choirs had prepared special numbers for the celebration, several of them offering wording specific to the event, including my name in them. The sermon was directed at the nature of the pastor-congregation relationship. The Presbytery took over after the sermon to ask the pastor and the congregation the constitutional questions that allow for the official acceptance of the position. Then there was a charge (a mini sermon) to both the pastor and the congregation. The presbytery officials invited my son Thomas to give the charge to his mother, since he was present to witness the celebration. That was a touching moment for me, when he said that he could not give a charge to his mother, but he would remind her of things she had told him about being a faithful shepherd, and he did so in a tender and touching way.

The biggest element came at the time of the offering. After the regular offering was taken, I was invited forward to receive gifts from the congregation. This is where things got overwhelming. Limbe is an incredibly generous congregation by nature. They proved that again in the presentation of their gifts. This was a time for dancing. The sound person played recorded music and groups danced down the aisle as they were called forward to present their gifts, beginning with the senior minister and the session members coming with a new clerical robe for me. After each gift was presented, the members of the group then tossed kwacha (Malawian paper money) at a tray that one for the mvano held for me. The bills were small, 20 kwacha (13 cents) and 50 kwacha (33 cents), but there were many of them. Most of the fun is in the tossing, not in the amount, all the while those tossing were dancing and singing. The senior pastor, Rev. Bona, took special delight in tossing money and dancing. The groups consisted of the geographic areas of the congregation and various organizations within the congregation. The gifts were given with such joy. Some of them were overwhelming. One of the areas gave me the biggest floor fan I have ever seen, but the gift that left me speechless was from the organizing committee of the event. They were the last ones to present their gift and I was glad. I couldn’t have taken more after theirs. They danced down the aisle with a wicker furniture set – a love seat, two chairs and a coffee table. It was chosen to augment what I already have in my living room, to offer more seating when the various church groups come to visit “Manse 2,” (pronounced man-`sa) as my home is called by the church.

I was so humbled by their thoughtfulness and their generosity. I am blessed to be their associate pastor and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve with them. After such an awesome introduction, there is no other reasonable response.

The Organizing committee posing with the pastors with the new furniture for Manse 2 - what generosity!

Fuel Shortage

Malawi has a fuel shortage. Some are calling it a crisis. It certainly feels like a crisis when you can’t get fuel and need to be somewhere. On three different occasions I have either had to beg for rides to be get to planned events or cancel altogether because everyone I contacted was in the same situation as I was. The shortage is unpredictable. Sometimes there is petrol available and not diesel. Other times it is the other way around and sometimes both are absent. There are lots of explanations given for the shortages – foreign exchange difficulties, transportation difficulties, excessive consumption, the increased number of motor vehicles. There is no end to the explanations but none of that changes the reality of no fuel. When rumors come that a certain station will be getting fuel, people rush to get in line to wait for the tanker to arrive. Lines extend for blocks, many times snarling moving traffic in the process. Because of the unpredictability of shortage, people are getting in line whenever they see the lines forming, to be certain that they don’t miss the opportunity. It is a bit chaotic.

Thursday of last week, I had less than half a tank of fuel and knew that I had a busy weekend coming. I asked Maxwell, my trusty gardener/driver, to see if he could find fuel in the city. There were rumors that there were some tankers coming. He found a long line (called a queue here, using the British term) and joined it. The queue inched forward over the next four hours, using up precious fuel, but seemingly making progress. He got to within 10 cars of the pumps and the movement stopped. Those still in line were told that the fuel had run out. He came home discouraged, and a bit worried. He had used a great deal of the precious fluid with no positive result. Later in the day, he came to say that the station just down the road from us had fuel. The queue was long, but he was hopeful. Three hours later he returned with a similar story as the first. This time he was only seven cars from the goal when the flow stopped. But we were even lower on fuel, so the situation was becoming desperate.

Friday I had to go to Limbe church for a meeting in the morning. I had fuel, but knew that I didn’t have much for anything else. On the way back, I saw a queue at a station and called Maxwell to prepare to go again. Again he went to sit and wait. He made steady progress until he got five cars from the pump when he ran out of fuel this time, not the station. He had to enlist the assistance of those around him to push the car forward, until he reached the pump. He was delighted that the station's fuel held out this time and he was able to fill up for us. I was elated when he returned. This meant that I could continue with the plans for the weekend activities.

Early Monday morning, I had to take some visitors to the airport and on the way back I noticed that one station seemed to have fuel, but there were no lines. I pulled in to enquire. Sure enough, they had petrol. I still had ¾ of a tank, but I filled up, since it was available. To be able to “top up,” as they say here, and not to have to wait in line was a great blessing. I’m set for at least this week, if there are no long trips needed. We manage the best we can. We are told that this will be the situation for some time to come so we need to make the best of it. This is becoming part of life in Malawi.

Cars queued for petrol at a local station.
This is now a normal scene

Keeping Up

Sometimes it is difficult to keep up with the pace of life here in Malawi. It seems like such a quiet place, at least on the surface, but the reality is deceptive. This past month has been a whirlwind of activity that has included committee meetings, retreats, visitors coming and going, celebrations and funerals. There has been little time for just daily living.

The whirlwind began with the theological selection committee meeting, three days to interview and select 7 candidates for theological training from a field of 52 applicants at a retreat site north of Blantyre. The process included examining their credentials, giving them written exams, which needed to be graded immediately, interviewing each one and then making decisions. Behind the process are the lives of the individuals who are eager for the opportunity to serve the church, to be trained as pastors. Each one feels he is called. It was the committee’s responsibility to discern God’s call for the ones chosen. We worked late into the night and early morning of both nights we were there to listen to God’s leading.

With the decisions made, I headed back to Blantyre and to the airport to greet a group of 13 and take them to my home for a welcoming reception. The complication was that five of the group did not make the first connection and so they would arrive three days later, on Saturday, so we needed to adjust the program accordingly (adjustment is one of the facts of life here). Saturday as I was preparing to go the airport, I got a call from the group saying they were delayed and would meet at my house later, so we arranged for lunch for the entire group once their friends arrived from the airport. Off I went to the airport while Charles and Alinafe, who were staying with me since the birth of Precious, prepared lunch. Once the group was settled and off to Zomba, I prepared a sermon and did the finishing details of the retreat the pastor of the group and I were leading for pastors from Zomba and some of the pastors of remote Presbyteries on Monday through Wednesday. I left the retreat a bit early to get to the airport to meet a young couple, Marty and Melody from Illinois, who stayed with me for 10 days before moving to Mulanje to get settled for a 10 month stay. We had all their paper work and housing to get in order. The group went to Liwonde Animal Park for a few days and then came back to Blantyre in time to catch a plane home. On that arriving plane came a young lady, Kendra, who stayed with me for 10 days, researching sacred and traditional music in Malawi. This was part of a larger trip through five countries in Africa. I had the Malawi portion of her trip worked out and accompanied her on most of her outings. She and Marty and Melody had a great time together. God’s timing was perfect, as always, and they enjoyed games and movies in the evenings and even helped with the cooking. Charles and Alinafe headed home with the new baby to settle into their own lives. In the midst of this more personal time, a small group from Australia arrived. We had a formal welcome for them at the airport and helped them get settled for their program, which included a renewal of their partnership agreement.

Marty and Melody headed to Mulanje and Kendra moved through her program for several days before the group from Pittsburgh arrived for the big 20^th anniversary celebration of the partnership with Blantyre Synod. We had been working on this trip for months from the Blantyre side. This involved the synod and local churches, so I was involved on two levels of preparations, since Limbe church was hosting some of the Pittsburgh folks. There were lots of last minute details to attend to. The first Sunday the group was here, we had the partnership signing for the Australians and the Pittsburgh group attended as a witness to the international nature of the body of Christ. It was a great day that involved lots of eating and music. Monday and Tuesday, I traveled with Kendra for various musical programs, including a cultural night with the Pittsburgh team and the partnership here. Wednesday, Kendra and part of the Australian team left. Maxwell, my gardener/driver/ good at all things fellow, took Kendra to the airport because I was on my way to the lake with the Pittsburgh group to facilitate a retreat for them and the partnership group. While there, we got word that the General Treasurer of the Synod had died. We changed the departure time from the lake on Friday to allow some of us to get to Blantyre in time to go to the funeral. But God and the bus had other plans.  Just a few miles from the retreat site, a wheel bearing of the bus flew off and we were stuck for three hours while the bus was worked on and the partnership folks worked on alternative transportation. We did not make it for the funeral, but everyone had a good time playing with a group of children who gathered to see all the Americans on the broken bus, sitting and chatting and doing a bit of shopping in a small shop that was nearby.

Saturday I was at the airport again with Marty and Melody to meet a group of 12 from their home church and host them for tea and an orientation at my house before they headed to Mulanje. Sunday was the big celebration of the partnership, so there was a gala of activity all day long that included a worship service, communion, covenant signing, cake cutting, speeches and a meal together. Monday and Tuesday saw farewell dinners with the churches and then with the partnership. I hosted people for lunch each day, a Malawian involved in the Pittsburgh partnership and the remaining Australians to talk about plans for the future with their group coming next year. The Pittsburgh group headed to the airport on Wednesday. This was another turn-around flight where I was saying goodbye and greeting at the same time. One of the Pittsburgh group is staying on with me for two weeks to do research on her doctoral project about Malawi Partnership. As the group left, two gentlemen from Virginia arrived to work on research for a musical they hope to do about Silas Ncozona and the coming of the multiparty system to Malawi. Yesterday was a day of introductions. I took the researchers around, introducing them to folks who will hopefully be helpful in their projects and then met with the Illinois group to introduce them to the Synod and the Synod officials before they headed to the animal park for two days.

Today, all of the researchers are off working on their individual programs. They will be staying various places tonight. This is the first day in over a month that I have had no visitors at the house and have been able to get some of my other work done. Tonight instead of keeping up with everyone’s schedule, I’m planning on putting my feet up and resting for a few hours, before the next wave of activity begins tomorrow with departures and arrivals and more celebrations.

Cake Cutting at Pittsburgh Partnership service

Precious

Precious arrived on Tuesday. Precious is my son Charles’ second child, a beautiful 6 pound boy. We have been awaiting his arrival. He was named shortly after his parents knew he was coming. This is a common name in Malawi, for a girl or a boy. He was three weeks overdue and we were praying diligently for him and for his mother, Alinafe, who was struggling as she waited, anxious that the baby was well. That is a major concern here in Malawi when delivery is late. The doctor decided to induce labor. This, too, is anxiety producing in Malawi, but all went well.

Alinafe went to her doctor’s appointment at 9 a.m. on Monday knowing that this was a possibility. She called me about 9:30 to tell me that the doctor wanted to admit her and induce. We had talked about this, but there was still anxiety in her voice. I assured her all would be fine and that I was on my way. Charles was with her, so she was not alone.  She is much more like a daughter to me than a daughter-in-law, so I was not surprised that she wanted me there. As she was getting settled in the labor area of Blantyre Adventist Hospital, she heard a nurse talking to another patient who had been induced and the labor had not started. The nurse assured her that was nothing all that unusual. Inducing does not always work but there is always a C-section. That was no comfort to Alinafe. We prayed and that helped her a bit. The nurse prepped her and they began an IV drip. About an hour later she sent me home. She said she was fine; Charles would stay, and this might take time. So off I went, to work at home and to wait for a call. It didn’t come, so about 6 p.m. I called Charles. He said nothing was happening but minor contractions and that he would call when he had news. He is a man of few words, so I knew not to push for details; there would be none. I checked again about 10 p.m. and the story was the same. But at 12:30 a.m. I got a call from a breathless son proclaiming, “It’s a boy! It’s a boy!” He instructed me to come at once.

Only in Malawi does the grandmother get preferential treatment from the hospital staff at 1 a.m. when she wants to see her new grandson. Security greeted me and ushered me to the maternity ward. There was a beaming mother and a proud father. He was not only proud of his son, the pray of his heart, but of himself for being there for the delivery, not a typical Malawian father’s place. I was proud of him, too. He is quiet and modest and this was a real stretch for him, but it was what Alinafe wanted and he was able to do it. When I walked into the room, Charles was holding the baby and immediately handed him to me. There I stood, holding this tiny life, less than an hour old. As I looked at his perfect little fingers wrapping around mine, all I could think of was the David’s words from Psalm 139.

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

I knew that full well as I looked at that precious little one. Precious he is!

Precious at just a few hours old. Yes, a boy, but a pink hat. This is Malawi. Color is not important