June 29, 2004

Harvest time in Malawi

It is harvest time in Malawi. You can tell it is harvest time because there is maize (corn) everywhere. Members of the Lingadzi congregation have maize by the bags in their garages and shelled corn all over their driveways. You see women lined up at the mills waiting to get their maize ground into flour. You see women and children in the fields harvesting groundnuts (as peanuts are called). Malawians are walking around eating stalks of sugar cane or with their hands full of groundnuts. Most of them are now eating two meals a day, instead of their usual one. You could also tell it’s harvest time because there are ox-driven wagons carrying produce to large storage baskets in the villages.

The best way to observe harvest time, however, is to attend Sunday morning worship. During June, worship was a harvest festival celebration all over the land. It was a time of singing, dancing, good preaching, and fervent prayers of thanksgiving. It was a time when the people presented the first fruits of their harvest to the church. At the Lingadzi CCAP Church, near the Communion table, there were bags of corn, stacks of pumpkins, piles of potatoes, squash, bananas, vegetables, and stalks of sugar cane, all presented by a thankful people.

On June 27, Earline and I were invited to worship in a village church one hour northeast of Lilongwe. I was asked to baptize a few infants (85), preach (to 1,250 people) and serve Holy Communion (to 1,025 of the faithful). Holy Communion was a separate service an hour later to which unrepentant sinners were barred at the door. The church gave us an honorarium of groundnuts, Chinese cabbage, sweet potatoes, beans, two shirts, five pieces of beautiful cloth and 83 Kwacha (about 75 cents).

It may be harvest time in 2004, but Malawians are far from having food security. Again this year they did not harvest enough food to take them through until the next harvest.

According to the Daily Times of Wednewday June 23, eight percent of households have already exhausted their meager harvest when normally they should have enough to last until November or December. The paper further reported that 1.3 million Malawians would face starvation this year. When this problem came to the attention of the United Nations, the special envoy for humanitarian needs, James Morris, urged the Malawian government to focus on the needs of children and families, particularly orphans and those affected by HIV/AIDS.

As mission volunteers here in Malawi, we see the people’s needs daily. Often we face their needs at our front door. Therefore, we urge all of you who may read this newsletter to know that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is uniquely situated for you to share generously through an Extra Commitment Opportunity (ECO).

Contributions may be sent to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Individual Remittance Processing, PO Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700. Write the title (Disaster Response in Malawi and Southern Africa) and the ECO number on the subject line (9-2000158) of the check and put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance at 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Or click the button below to give online.

Otis and Earline Smith