April 14, 2008
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12: 1
Dear Friends,
Early on a recent Saturday morning at Domasi Mission here in southern Malawi, I was exploring the campus, trying to get a feel for the place. A crowd of noisy students was heading for the secondary school.
Three little children were playing in the water coming from a tap. The door to the mission church was wide open. The morning air was crisp and cool. I came upon a monument close to the church that read “Domasi CCAP Mission, established July, 1884, Alexander Hetherwick and Henry Hendreson.” What a revelation it was to me to realize that almost 125 years ago Christian missionaries had established this mission. I felt surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses that had gone before me.
Domasi Mission and the H. Parker Sharp Health Center was the site for a two-day training workshop for health care workers from three institutions in a technique used in developing countries to prevent cervical cancer. Most developing countries do not have the infrastructure to offer pap smears as a way of preventing this cancer. This technique involves visualizing the cervix with a speculum and applying vinegar to it. The vinegar makes rapidly-growing cells turn white. Some of these rapidly-growing cells could eventually become cancerous cells. Cancer can be prevented from developing by freezing the cervix with a special machine called a cryotherapy machine.
So, I was eager to make some new disciples in the worthy cause of preventing cancer of the cervix, which is the most common cancer in women in Malawi, because the vast majority of women have no access to an effective screening program to find abnormal cells in the early stages. Our lectures, demonstrations, and discussions went well. On that Saturday morning, 16 women came to the H. Parker Sharp Health Center for screening by visual inspection with vinegar. All 16 of these women were negative for any abnormal cells. Hopefully, many more women will be coming in the future for this test.
One of my history books tells me that Alexander Hetherwick was able to begin building a new mission station on the banks of the Domasi stream in July, 1884. He built a large, two-room, wattle-and-daub shed with wide verandas. One room was his living accommodation, the other along with the veranda, was the school. All was not peace and harmony during that time, as war parties of different tribes were active in the area. Hetherwick had barely gotten his work going when he was called back to Blantyre in February 1885 to replace a missionary who had to return home to England because of sickness.
Later, other missionaries were able to come to Domasi and continue the work that had been begun by Hetherwick. Now, there are just a very few missionaries in the Blantyre Synod, and the work is carried on by trained Malawian pastors and teachers. What a privilege it is to be surrounded by clouds of Malawian faithful witnesses as well as to be supported by Christians united in prayer around the world.
Sue Makin
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer &
Study, p. 337 |
