March 31, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

We have exciting news. Thursday, March 27 Mzuzu University released its list of successful candidates, and Chrissy Zimba, the young woman mentioned in a couple of our newsletters last year, has been accepted for a degree program in information communication technology. There is much to be arranged—from making sure her accommodations are wheelchair-accessible, to school supplies, to funding—but it is a very exciting time for her, her friends, and family.

Chrissy has been acting as surrogate mother for her three younger siblings since her mother left for South Africa nearly a year ago, and although she will be in town, she won’t be at home with them. Earlier this year the youngest sibling was starting to skip his grade 6 classes, so in order to provide social and scholastic supervision he was enrolled at Embangweni Primary School as a boarder. His first term’s report is promising. Please pray for her and her siblings as they navigate this new phase in their lives.

One morning, shortly after the New Year, some groceries were stolen out of the back of the vehicle Jodi was using. What came out of that episode was a reflection on indebtedness.

When Jodi was returning to the car from the market, a woman who habitually begs approached Jodi to tell her that someone had stolen groceries from the car, that the woman’s cousin, also a beggar, had followed the thief into one of the shops down the street, and that the police had been notified.

Jodi went with the woman to where her cousin was standing. A policeman soon arrived carrying a box of items and accompanied by a well-dressed young man. Immediately, we were surrounded by a group of interested and vocal observers. The policeman asked Jodi to identify the contents then asked what should be done with the thief. Jodi replied that since the goods were returned the man should be released if he agreed to make some kind of restitution, such as carrying the supplies back to the car.

The crowd and the policeman made it clear they were not pleased with her decisions, as it meant a thief was free, but as Jodi is obviously not a Malawi national, they accepted her peculiar decision. What they could not accept was her suggestion that he carry the things back to the car. The act of being of service, of bearing someone’s physical load, is so closely intertwined with the core cultural concept of respect that no one would allow the man to carry the stolen items. By stealing, he had forfeited the right to be of service to someone. The woman and her cousin who had seen the theft, the perpetual beggars, were given the responsibility of carrying the carton.
 
The respect Jodi was being shown was not because she was an expatriate, or a woman, or wealthy, or because she was a benefactor. The same kind of service is demonstrated routinely when an adult member of the family or a visitor arrives at a home. Someone from the house will come forward to meet the arriving person and take whatever item that person is carrying from them to the house. Even if it is only an umbrella it will be taken and carried by the greeter.

Being the recipient of such a service caused a temporary shift in the social positions between Jodi and the two begging cousins. Jodi, who is usually their benefactor, became their beneficiary. This created an uncomfortable sense of indebtedness in Jodi towards the two and prompted a discussion with some friends on being indebted to others. Then, since we are in the Lenten season, this led to our feelings of indebted towards Christ. Do I feel the same indebtedness to Christ as I did towards those two beggars? Should I feel indebted at all? My acts of service are to be done with a spirit of love and done in gratitude recognizing the burden that Christ took upon himself for me. But are they? Are my acts of service done with a sense of indebtedness and obligation or done as a way to follow Christ’s example? I didn’t come up with an answer, or at least one that I wanted to acknowledge, and probably my attitude changes from moment to moment depending on the weather and how much sleep I have had the night before.

However, in reflecting on being grateful, we are consistent in our gratitude for all for your continued prayers and financial backing. We will be starting our home assignment in July 2008 and will be based at Mission Haven in Decatur, Georgia. We will keep our same email address, mcgill@africa-online.net, so we can stay in touch and hope to be able to meet many of you while we are home. Our son Michael will probably need a fourth ear surgery to improve his impaired hearing so we ask that you pray for a successful and uneventful surgery and that the transition for us all, especially the four older children into the U.S. school system, may be smooth.

Peace,

Jodi, Jim, Michael, Jason, Salome, Selina, John, and Joseph

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 23