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September 4, 1999
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Malawi and Mulanje Mission Hospital. Today is
a special day for me because it is my one-year anniversary of
being in Malawi. I left Orlando, Florida, on September 4, 1998,
heading for Lilongwe, Malawi, via London. I thank God for the
opportunity to be here and for the continuing strength and enthusiasm
for the work here. In about two months, I will be celebrating
twelve years of being a Presbyterian missionary. I am thankful
for this call, which sustains me. We missionaries are very grateful
for the financial support of the churches back home and wish we
could strengthen the connections with our churches. One of the
easiest ways for me to do this is to write letters. So here is
a letter. By the way, up until now, I have been using e-mail about
every two to three weeks. This involved making six-hour trips
to Blantyre, where there was a suitable phone line. After a year
of doing this, I have decided that time would be better spent
writing letters, so I will not have e-mail for the time being.
I hope that sometime in the future the phone lines to where I
live will be improved so that I can send and receive email here.
There is an organization called Population Reference Bureau in
Washington, D.C., which publishes information about all the countries
of the world. Their 1999 World Population Data Sheet has just
arrived here. I was distressed to read about some of the statistics
for Malawi. The population of Malawi in mid-1999 was 10 million,
with a doubling time for the population of 41 years at the current
rate of growth. Life expectancy at birth for males and females
is 36 years. Twenty-two percent of children die before the age
of five, and the gross national product per capita is $210. The
percent of children in the United States who die before the age
of five is one percent, and the GNP per capita is $29,080. The
life expectancy for males at birth is 74 and for females is 79.
These statistics are shocking to me. But as I think about my
work at the hospital, and the suffering and dying we see here
every day, I guess I should not be surprised to see statistical
evidence that corresponds.
You might want to ask me: Where does the inspiration, the vision
come from to continue to work in a country like this? I would
have to say a lot of it comes from the people themselves. This
may be a poor country economically, but it is a rich country spiritually.
I can see this in the daily lives of the people I work with and
the patients I try to take care of in the hospital. There is a
strong family support system all over Africa, and we have it here
in Malawi. What happens to one member of the family happens to
all. The little they have of food and money is shared among all
the members of the family. We have many, many people dying of
AIDS. The families rally around these suffering people and support
them. The churches are full. There are many believers. This is
a very religious country. Because of the early Scottish Presbyterian
missionaries, the Presbyterian Church here is enormous.
I visited a pastor friend in Blantyre who has a church with 8,000
members and 5,000 children in Sunday school. He told me that the
first worship service at this church is in Chichewa at 6:30 a.m.,
and people have to come early in order to get a seat. The second
service is in English, and this is the one I attended one Sunday.
The building was packed with over a thousand people, and there
were no empty seats. The third service is in Chichewa at 10:30
a.m. My friend cannot possibly preach at all these services, so
lay people preach at many of them.
Something is going on here, and I think it must be Christianity.
When I think about America and the rat race for higher salaries
and better cars and houses, I am sometimes very glad that I can
live here with these people, who are, after all, part of God's
family—you might say the poor relations.
Last Sunday I had the privilege of preaching here at St. Andrews
Presbyterian Church in Mulanje where I live. I read from Isaiah
55: 1-3, where it says,
"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters,
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Why spend money
on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will
delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear
me, that your soul may live, I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, my faithful love promised to David."
It is quite a different thing to read this passage in a poor
country than in a rich country. But I was moved by the experience,
and I felt many of us were also moved by the ring of truth in
these words. These words are true in Malawi, and in the United
States of America, and all over the world.
So I am encouraged by your prayers and support and hope that
all of you can delight in that richest of fare.
Sincerely in Christ,
Dr. Sue Makin
The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 40
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