In a straw roof hut one beautiful Monday morning you can hear the rhythmic clapping in unison with angelic voices. The music suddenly stops and what you hear next are the wishes and gratitude expressed to God through prayer.
Hugo stands to introduce some of the vocational students who are eager to teach us about what they do in their community. We learned about how the students are motivated. Some do it to support their families and others do it so they aren’t just standing idle. One of the girls that presented had started a business in order to care for a child whose parents died and who she adopted into her care. The care and passion that was in that hut overwhelmed us with empathy and love for the students.
Our hosts had asked us to co-present (US & Malawian leaders together) on several different topics this week: mental health, mindset change, and entrepreneurship. Today, Tina and Angela presented on mental health. In Malawi, mental health is not something often talked about, so it was important for us to be sensitive while discussing some of the issues that the students have faced or are facing. We touched on topics such as mental illness and suicide, and how its impact on the youth is no different from the US or any other part of the world. Every hour or so we would play a game in order to give our minds a little break. During one of the breaks, Emerson and I refined our cha-cha slide and Emerson taught us all the Macarena. By the end of the day we had felt closer than ever with the students, and as we left our hearts were reminded that Malawi is truly the Warm Heart of Africa.
Church and Permaculture farm - Sunday 10/16
The bus rolled on a dusty road as we neared the modest little building surrounded by goats and chickens. Pastor Francis welcomed us into the church and suddenly the modest little building became a warm blanket of song that surrounded us. How do you capture that magical serendipity, no words can put it to justice. We were asked to find God today and we had seen it in every face, every song, every clap and every footstep. The way our friends praise God reaches the heart. At this church everyone is a preacher.
After church, we took charge of some children outside of the parsonage. We brought many activities for them to play with like bubbles, pipe cleaners, books and dancing. There was a slight gust of wind which Milton used to blow the bubbles for him, the kids loved it.
Next, we gathered inside to have lunch and shortly after we took a bus over to the permaculture farm. There we got to meet the vocational students that were in training for tailoring, mechanics, farming, pottery and more. We weren’t teaching anything that day so we were using our time to get to know everyone as Hugo led us into a couple of ice breaker games. Then before we left, we ended with the cha-cha slide led by me and Emerson. As we are going back home I recall Tina saying that we are taking away far more than we can ever give to our Malawian friends.
On the plane to Lilongwe, Judy told me about what she was most excited about seeing on this trip. She told me about our wonderful friends she would soon see again! Later on, when we arrived in Lilongwe, we were greeted by Hugo and Chifundo with big warm hugs. Chifundo is our driver and guide for the trip. He owns a hot pink bus that was purchased from Japan. Soon after getting on the bus, Hugo gave us his formal greeting saying: “Welcome to Malawi, the warm heart of Africa”. He offered a prayer that was a highlight of our day.
We drove to our lovely hotel and enjoyed some small talk and a review of tomorrow’s events. After a delicious dinner, we went practiced 10,000 reasons again for the upcoming church service the following day. Dianne, Doty, Emerson and I came up with several new dances to add to our team’s singing performance and shortly after a discussion of where we saw God today, we were all off to bed, ready to receive tomorrow’s blessings.
It’s funny how no one ever seems to get sleep the night before a long trip. I think getting up so early would be such a hassle, but Dianne in particular along with others going on the trip find that being anxious is often the best substitute for caffeine. After being sent off with a wonderful church blessing delivered to us through an unforgettably kind Erin who is a volunteer leader in our Malawi partnership, we boarded the plane.
Fast forward to Atlanta airport where we were greeted by our ninth team member Milton, who arrived from Honduras. Shortly after eating we decided to practice the songs we prepared for singing on Sunday. We picked a corner and in front of hundreds we began to sing “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman. Once the ice was broken, nobody really seemed to mind being embarrassed so Doty and Ethan gave our team song a little choreography. On the 14 hour flight to Johannesburg it was recommended that we stay awake as long as we could to avoid jet lag. A common technique among the team was to go on a movie marathon watching spree.
After arriving in Johannesburg the team was split between being anxious and tired. Judy stayed up the entirety of the flight and still had plenty of energy to spare. We walked a few buildings down to our hotel and stayed there the rest of the night. We all had a wonderful night’s sleep and are excited to arrive in Malawi today!
Dear COR Missions,
I wanted to take a moment to share some of the memories I was able to create with the COR Medical Mission Team to Malawi, Africa. I am so thankful to have had this lifechanging experience with the rest of the team and would like to describe to you some of the tasks that we, as a team, undertook during our time in Malawi.
Following our arrival into Malawi on Sunday, we attended church at the United Methodist Church in Madisi (see Picture A below). This church service was full of beautiful worship, singing, prayer, and a message delivered by our Team Leader, Mary Beth Wiggins. Following the service, we set up a clinic to examine patients in the church along with a small pharmacy in the pastor’s house. Throughout the afternoon and into the late evening, we saw approximately one-hundred and sixty patients ranging from children to adults well into their eighties and nineties. Although one of the most chaotic clinics during our time in Malawi, the church clinic provided true outreach to individuals in the village who needed medical care but often had difficulty receiving care due to barriers to access.
On Monday, we partnered with Mercy Kafotokoza and her Wandikweza team to establish a clinic in a rural village near Madisi. We converted a primary school into examination rooms, a prenatal evaluation room, and a nursing station, while also converting an ambulance into a mobile pharmacy. In addition, the Wandikweza team provided COVID-19 vaccinations to individuals who had not yet received them. Tuesday involved a similar setup at yet another rural village outside of Madisi. It amazed me to see the number of patients who would walk miles fro care. They would sit outside on the ground waiting their turn to see the clinicians and nurses. The Malawian people had incredible patience and never once got angry or frustrated when the clinicians or pharmacy took longer than anticipated. On Wednesday and Thursday, rejoined Mercy, and her team, to examine patients at the Wandikweza clinic, a marvelous facility opened in February of this year. This clinic provides a space to examine patients, deliver children, and dispense medicine in an organized and efficient manner. In addition, the Minister of Health, Enock G. Phale MP visited us during our time at Wandikweza. It was an honor to meet a national official and bring attention to the work that Wandikweza and its many partners are doing to combat health challenges in Malawi. Mercy and her team were extraordinary to work with, and I am incredibly grateful for the chance to work with them as well as provide medicine to the Malawian community.
Although much of our time was spent checking on the physical health of the Malawian people, we made time to check on their spiritual health as well. Many of the people in Malawi were very open about their faith and not shy nor bashful to share openly and boldly. I quite admire the Malawian pride and spirit regarding their faith. While praying with them, not once did a patient ask us to pray for them to have more money or more power. Instead, they often merely wanted us to pray for their health and the health of their family. It was incredible to see the miraculous medicine of prayer work in the lives of our patients and I will be forever grateful that I could play a small part in this awe-inspiring wonder.
This trip has restructured how I view our world, especially surrounding community health. Here in the United States, we are saturated with urgent cares and emergency rooms as well as easily accessible modes of transportation to seek care. It is an incredible blessing that we take for granted daily. In Malawi, we would often see patients who hadn’t seen a physician in years because they either could not afford to pay to see a physician, or they lacked the means to access care due to barriers like transportation or food shortages. We served the people of Malawi and did everything within our power to love them as God loves us; with a perfect, unconditional love. Although our love is nothing close to the perfect love God provides, I believe that our time in Malawi had a tangible impact on the lives of the Malawian community. As we, and the Church of the Resurrection, continue our partnerships with the communities within Malawi, I believe God will continue to work in us and through us to support the Malawian people and help them achieve better access to healthcare and better overall health. With this, I strongly believe the Malawian people can continue to build an incredibly beautiful country and community that is God-centered and oozing faithfulness and gratefulness.
It was a privilege to have the opportunity to serve in Malawi, and I would not have been able to accomplish that without your support. I hope and pray that God continues to bless you in the ways, and beyond, that you have blessed me. May God continue to walk with you, guide you, and provide you with the strength and courage to do His work on this Earth as it one day will be in Heaven.
Thank you, and Mulungu Akudalitseni (God Bless You)