#4 Mid-week Mayhem

Tuesday was, officially, a day of rest. We set to work writing up our last post, slept in and explored Blantyre. While our students attempted to catch up on work from home, most of the team headed across the road to the Synod HQ and were given a tour of the site.

This historical Presbyterian mission station was an inspiring sight, and an encouraging one in our present work. It was established by Henry Henderson in 1876, and became a place of refuge for local people hunted by the slave trade. Duff McDonald and David Scott were sent from Scotland to strengthen the work, opening sites also at Domasi and Zomba, and St Michael and All Angels church was built in 1891 by local labour and 800,000 local bricks. This church stood right in the way of the slave trade route, a theological statement for freedom, dignity and faith. The modern-day Blantyre Synod, descended from this mission, is now made up of 1.6m professing Christians.

Craig Manners, who spent a couple of years serving as a missionary in Malawi with his family contacted Hui on Tuesday. Leonard, a member of staff and dear friend of Orbus Mission School for 14 years is very unwell and recently resigned as a chef.

Craig asked us if it would be possible to visit Leonard and bring him to Mwaiwathu Hospital for a thorough medical examination and a proper diagnosis - only possible if the hospital sees he is with someone able to pay for his medical fees. By God's providence, Wednesday morning Hui wasn't scheduled for any ministry and was able to bring Leonard to the hospital together with Soyoung and Miles.

After being seen by a doctor at the emergency, he was instructed to get a blood test and CT scan in the other departments in the same hospital, which was very impressive. Leonard was prescribed with some antibiotics and referred to see a specialist on Friday. As we couldn't accompany him due to our weekend Bible distribution at Thyolo Presbytery, Hui made an appointment for him and gave him the consultation fee. He was very thankful to God for this "ministry of mercy" (as John described). Praise God for the kindness of Craig who responded to Leonard's plight, and reminded Hui of the story of the Good Samaritan who loved his neighbour and made sure he was okay and reimbursed me all the medical expenses of around 400,000 Kwacha (~$400). Please pray for Leonard's recovery so he can start working again and take care of his wife, sons and extended family. May God also bless Craig and his ministry to Orbus.

On Wednesday night, the whole team was invited to Mlombwa CCAP for a mid-week service. This was a lovely time, visiting the Blantyre Synod moderator's church (although the moderator himself was still in South Africa). John was invited to preach, and spoke from Luke 7:1-10; highlighting the humility, kindness and faith of the centurion, as gifted by God, and calling on the congregation to take these attributes on themselves.

It was great to be able to share in worship with believers all the way on the other side of the world, feeling the unity of God's universal church, and in talking with the Malawians it seemed they shared the sentiment. After the service, cassava, sweet potato and tea were served and we briefly enjoyed chatting to various members of the congregation before taking a group photo and heading home for dinner.

Duan, Tom and Bec spent Wednesday and Thursday down at Orbus Mission School.

While many kids in the senior school were away for exams, we got to teach Forms 1 and 3 (equivalent to Australian Year 9 and 11). Bec did a wonderful job teaching a Form 1 class the song Jesus Strong and Kind. This is a beautiful song that describes what Jesus does for us ("Jesus said if I am lost, He will come to me") with very simple words and melody. There are also actions to go with the words, and by the end of the class the students were able to sing and do the actions unassisted.

Duan took a Form 1 Bible Knowledge class about the attributes of God and help them see how amazing our God is. The kids contributed to the discussion and got to look at Scripture as they discussed the topic.

Tom took a Form 3 Bible Knowledge class and picked up where they were up to this term in Luke, looking at the miracles of Jesus. Jumping from passage to passage, the class built up an image of Jesus' authority - to teach, and over both physical and spiritual, healing and casting out demons - about Jesus' identity - the Son of God, Son of Man and Son of David - and about Jesus' priority - the forgiveness of sins.

At around 2pm classes finished for the day and the rest of the team arrived. We turned our attention to the sporting field where all the children were assembled and ready to participate in soccer and netball. Much enthusiasm was shown as the balls came out with the students ready and excited to participate. Steve and Miles ran drills and a big game for the junior kids while Duan ran a difficult session with the older boys which had them asking for a break from all the heavy running.

Doug, Siew Teng and Bec ran netball drills and a game. They had many kids who joined in and showed natural skills in playing netball. Who knows, maybe one of those girls will one day come and play for the Melbourne Vixens!

Additionally, we had brought frisbees. The students had never seen a frisbee before and delighted in learning how to glide it through the air, before engaging in a game of ultimate frisbee with Tom.

While sport was being played, there were plenty of opportunities where others engaged in talks with students that were gospel-centred and meaningful. It was beautiful to see people scattered all throughout the school, games happening on every flat surface, groups chatting on every step, Malawians and Australians able to share alike in fun, games and conversation. After presenting the sports equipment as a gift to the school, we prayed and said goodbye to the children.

Tom was invited to return on Thursday to continue teaching, and Duan and Bec came along as well. Duan took the Form 1 class once again, and this time focused on the special revelation of God's Word, as revealed by the prophets in the Bible. With some time to spare, he also taught some maths.

Tom and Bec taught the Form 3 class together this time, using a mix of puppetry, acting out the stories, board illustrations and class discussion to teach the children about a significant number of Jesus' parables. We centred the parables around the question "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25) We discussed what we can't do - save ourselves through the law or works; find happiness in riches. We learned what we can do - return to God, repent, hear the Word and accept it and then persevere in it. The children engaged well and assured us they would be the "good soil" from the parable of the sower, that they wanted to accept the Word of God and produce fruit - spiritual fruit in their own lives, and an overflow of the Word to all they meet. Pray that this would be the case!

Four women of the team, Soyoung, ST, Jean and Diane, were taken by John to visit the Chigodi Women’s Centre on the outskirts of Blantyre on Thursday. This Centre has been a wonderful place for empowering women with income generating skills and business knowledge as well as encouraging them in their faith. Over 3 different missions, a small group of Aussie women worked there, teaching the women sewing, knitting, crocheting, cooking, composting and giving devotions and sharing Bible time.

The driveway is still very rough and hard to negotiate but once you turn the bend you see a beautifully kept tiered property with grass and tidy gardens and lots of vegetables and fruit growing. Abusa Nellie is now in charge of Chigodi and she has been able to organise running water for the first time. Martha, the matron, said she loved having a shower. The Abusa seems to have a heart for the place and is endeavouring to get classes running again.

This year there has been drought and people cannot afford to spend the equivalent of ~$350 for the 6 month course that includes accommodation on the site, so they haven’t held any classes. Hopefully they will have interest from some women in this next half year.

We had a fairly informal introduction time and then were given a tour of the buildings and property. A lovely walk in the sunshine and special memories for Diane who had worked there previously. Violet, the kitchen lady, made us morning tea and we sat in the hall and chatted about future plans for Chigodi. ST led a time of COMA Bible study method with the women and 2 male staff and it was well received. We prayed for them and their work.

Overall it was a special time to spend in a peaceful place amongst the chaos of what is a very busy city of Blantyre.