Projects Malawi A Close Up View
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Wednesday, 25 January 2012 02:40

By Hanna Luong as referenced in Winter 2012

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In early August, while preparing for my impending trek to Malawi with Word & Deed, John Otten was explaining the difference between optical and digital zoom to me. As I attempted to absorb what he was saying about pixels, cropping and magnification I was struck by how much zooming in and out I was about to do. Yes, with my camera, but in other ways too.
Zoom 35,000 feet out. Early on Thursday, August 4, Bernie & Ina Pennings and I flew out of Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario and didn’t come back down until noon the next day, in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Lilongwe, Malawi. Zoom in. The roads were hectic with people walking, biking and selling fruit, meat, plants and tires (etc.). Bernie notes that there are less cars on the roads than there would normally be; a gas shortage is preventing people from getting around, and the gas stations are jammed tight with dozens of cars. Manuel confirms that some people are prepared to wait overnight at the gas station, just in case a “petrol tanker” shows up.
Despite the shortage, Manuel managed to find enough gas to fuel the Logos Ministries pick-up and filled a few jerry cans beside. Our first visit was to the dilapidated Logos Ministries offices. The Logos staff members are eagerly awaiting their new facilities, a building project supported by Word & Deed. The facility will provide them with offices that aren’t congested, a central training room, a small kitchen, bathrooms and a library.
The better part of our first week in Malawi was spent at the Namoni Katengeza Lay Training Centre, watching Logos Ministries in action. Bernie Pennings was guest speaking for one of their In-Service Lay Training conferences. The sixteen church leaders who attended were intent on the subject at hand, Biblical Leadership, and were open about the many questions they had. The conference served as a means of training these attendees in scriptural concepts of leadership, but it also served as a platform for the older, more seasoned saints in the room to counsel their younger counterparts. Many good discussions were had, both in the classroom and during meals and times of fellowship.
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Blantyre, Malawi. Zoom in a bit further. Two years ago a mother burned two of her daughters to death because she believed they were witches. More recently, two boys and a girl were being starved in their homes because of the same fear, and one girl was beaten unconscious by her church after her pastor claimed that the Lord showed him she was a witch. The girl in this last case is now living at the Manja Safe House, a haven for girls who have suffered abuse for being accused of involvement with witchcraft. These girls have been living here since October 2010, and are receiving not only a safe place to stay, but also counselling, an introduction to biblical truth, reconciliation with their families and reintegration into society. Through the work of the home, all four of the girls who actually were practicing witches have rejected what was, for them, a type of religion.
Salima, Malawi. Zoom way in. Catherine lives in a small, one room, 5’x10’ hut. It’s situated behind a half-built brick structure that was begun when her husband was still alive, but since his death five years ago no work has been done to it. Catherine has seven children of her own, four of whom are still at home. She is also “mother” to her deceased sister’s six children, four of whom are still at home. Catherine has a garden, which helps provide for the needs of her eight little charges. She also does odd jobs for money (weeding, laundry, etc.) and can expect to make an average of $250 Kwacha each month (about $1.50 CAD). She attends the local mosque.
Catherine’s nieces and nephews, and countless others like them, are “AIDS orphans”, sent out to live with an aunt, a grandmother, or a close family friend. Catherine’s story is like many others we heard, although some were a little better and some far worse. These children are also a part of the Neighbour Mission Salima orphan care program, which is one of five Word & Deed supported orphan care projects. Like Catherine’s household, many of these homes are Muslim. Our partners explained that the local mosques in these communities do very little to offer aid to these needy families, which leaves an open door for Christian organizations, like Word & Deed, to step in and offer not only physical support, but also the opportunity to present these children and their caregivers with an introduction to the Gospel message. Over 5,500 orphans and their families are reached through Word & Deed’s projects alone.
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St. Thomas, Ontario. Zoom out again. My rare opportunity to travel to Malawi with Word & Deed enabled me to “get close” to many of the projects and people that I’ve read much about, and left me with a deeper sensitivity to the many needs that exist there. Now that I’m back home, the daily realities of pastors, teenagers and orphans in Malawi isn’t as sharp as it was, but I have millions of pixels to remind me, and you, of what is reality for many in the developing world. Although Catherine and her family, as well as the many others we read about, are physically far away, there’s no barrier to keep us from holding them very close in our thoughts and prayers.
Hanna Luong is the Administrative Assistant of Word & Deed Canada.
 
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