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April 15, 2001
Dear Friends,
I recently had an inspiring Easter experience and would like
to share it with you. The week before Easter I traveled to the
northern part of Malawi to work at Ekwendeni Hospital, another
mission hospital. The entire northern part of Malawi, north of
the capital Lilongwe, has no gynecologist working there. After
a productive week and good fellowship at Ekwendeni, I set off
on an African adventure.
When I first arrived in Malawi in September 1998, I had spent a
month in Zomba, the old colonial capital of Malawi, to study Chichewa.
While I was there, I met a young lady at church who was a student
at Zomba Theological College. We met only briefly, but had an
instant liking for each other. Kondwani finished her studies that
fall and returned to her home presbytery in eastern Zambia to
become head of the Women’s Department at Lundazi Presbytery,
a part of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Zambia.
We had kept in correspondence with each other since that time,
and I had decided to take a trip to Lundazi over Easter.
Decisions to travel in Africa are often decisions to take the
risk of not getting to where you originally planned to go, or
getting there a day or so late. If one cannot accept some uncertainty
about travel and adopt an adventuresome spirit about the whole
affair, then journeys will not be enjoyable. People pay money
to go to "adventure parks" in the United States; while,
in Malawi, just about every journey of more than a few miles can
be an adventure. Also, I have found that travel on public transportation
can be quite rewarding if one learns to enjoy the people you encounter
on the way. In other words, "getting there is half the fun."
So, having adopted a proper outlook, I set off on the Good Friday
morning bus from Mzuzu, in northern Malawi, heading for Jenda,
a trip of perhaps about four hours. However, two hours into the
trip our bus broke down. The driver said it had "seized"
and there was nothing to be done but wait for another bus, and
one would surely be along soon. I seized the opportunity to climb
onto the back of a truck heading in the right direction and got
to Jenda in another two hours. To my great delight, the vehicle
that I had arranged for from Embangweni Hospital, another mission
hospital in the area, was waiting for me at the dusty turn-off.
After a bun and a Coke, the driver and I set off on the dirt road
which runs along the border between Malawi and Zambia. In an hour
we reached the border post.
As I was going through some formalities with the Malawi immigration
official, I saw, to my great delight, Kondwani walking towards
me from the Zambian side. She had brought a friend and we three
walked over into Zambia where I purchased a visa on the spot.
I had not been able to call Kondwani and all our arrangements
had been made by letter. She was not sure when I would get to
the border. She said, "It’s like a miracle that you
are here."
In Zambia our transportation to the first village where we were
to spend the night was on the backs of bicycles. Young men provide
this service for a fee at the border. We cycled to a village and
stayed with one of the teachers at the secondary school in the
village. The hospitality was quite warm and wonderful. I slept
in the best room of the house and was treated to hot water for
a bath in the morning. The place to bathe was outside in a bamboo
shack, right next to the outside toilet.
Saturday we were transported in a pickup truck that belonged
to a local non-governmental agency to Lundazi, a provincial center.
This was a trip of 45 minutes. The presbytery offices are located
there in a compound that includes the church building and several
houses for the minister of the church and other staff. Kondwani
lives in one of these houses. A meeting was already in progress
when I arrived. I was very warmly greeted by what seemed like
hundreds of women and children. The entire weekend was to be meetings
for worship, prayers, and church business. In this particular
parish, there is one main church and seven prayer houses. Members
from all the prayer houses had come to Lundazi for the weekend.
A cow had been slaughtered so that there would be meat for all
the people. The visitors slept with church members or on the compound.
Easter was celebrated with women’s voices singing together
before the sun came up. Worship and communion started at 8:30.
People kept coming to the church during the morning. The Communion
service was just the beginning of the worship experience. By 11:00
the church was full, and people were still gathering outside.
So it was decided that we all would go outside under the mango
trees for the rest of the service. There seemed to be about 800
people in the shade of the trees. I had an opportunity to speak,
and I hope I said something helpful. One of the biggest issues
facing these people is the huge number of people dying from AIDS.
Funerals are taking place every day for victims of this disease.
Sunday afternoon was spent quietly. On Monday morning we were
able to hire another vehicle to take us back to the border. My
faithful driver friend from Embangweni Hospital met me on the
Malawian side. We got to Jenda by noon. Around 1:00 p.m. I was
able to pile onto an overcrowded bus heading south for Lilongwe.
People, chickens, baggage, corn meal, and anything else that needed
to be transported were stuffed onto the bus. I spent the night
in Lilongwe with friends and caught another bus to Blantyre and
home the next day.
It was wonderful to see the faith of these Christians and be
able to celebrate the Resurrection with them in Zambia. I will
never forget this Easter.
Sincerely,
Sue Makin
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 41
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