December 2005
Dear Friends,
Warm Christmas greetings from Malawi!
Warm wishes for a blessed Christmas from Malawi. In my Advent
readings I have been struck by Isaiah 40:11 (NIV): “He tends
his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and
carries them close to his heart; He gently leads those that have
young.” As I walk around our maternity ward at the hospital,
I can see young mothers and fathers gently holding their newborn
babies. The smiles on their faces are a great reward to me. What
a thought to believe that Jesus cares for us like a shepherd and
carries us close to his heart. There are waiting mothers outside
my office that sometimes come to the hospital very uncomfortable
with the first stage of labor. It is my privilege to sometimes
lead them to the labor ward where the nurses can help attend to
their labor.
I have been very touched by a Christmas card I have received
from a young Malawian mother. She is a widow, her husband having
died over a year ago. She is raising her two children and the
two children of her deceased sister. Life every day is a constant
struggle for her. Her card quotes John 16:33: “In this world
you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer for I have conquered
this world.”
Advent and Christmas in Malawi are much less commercialized than
in the United States. Even so, we do see “Christmas specials”
advertised in the local papers. There is a special ad from a food
store offering 10 percent off on “super rice,” classic
Malawian tea, Sunshine cream of maize, ready-mix flour, and soy-enriched
flour. Someone once told me a very nice Christmas present to a
family in Malawi is a bag of sugar, a bag of tea, and a bag of
rice. I am reading an ad entitled “Buy your family in the
village a sensible gift for Christmas: solar powered lantern.”
We will be celebrating the birth of Christ at Mulanje Mission
Hospital, probably with our traditional Christmas play and a good
meal, which will include rice, nsima, chicken, vegetables, mangos,
and pineapples. The hospital will stay open, as all hospitals
around the world, during the festivities. The birth of our gentle
Saviour will be celebrated by the gentle and loving people of
Malawi.
Yours sincerely,
Sue Makin
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
337 |
