Day's Diary

July 2 , 2007 ~ Family Time

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With all the activity in the past few weeks with the Partnership trip and all the preparations that went into it (a member of the Partnership Committee and I were in each of the partner churches ahead of time helping with arrangements), we decided that July 1 would be a day of rest from Partnership travel. This would mean that the committee members would be able to worship in their own congregations and I would have a free Sunday. That seemed like a good idea to me, especially right before exams begin.

I shared this with one of my students, Thomas, when he asked where I was going on Sunday and he immediately asked if I couldn’t go to his sending church, Mpingwe, which is not in partnership with any congregation, since I was free. He has traveled with me to a few Partner congregations and has had lots of questions about the Partnership. I said if his pastor invited me, I would go with him, but the invitation had to come from the Pastor. This conversation took place on Monday and on Tuesday I had a call from his pastor, inviting me to greet his one congregation and preach at the other. I agreed.

On Sunday, I headed off to a non-partner church to enjoy fellowship. It was a great blessing. It became a time of family worship. Students never travel alone so at 7 a.m. Thomas and his good friend Moses were at my gate, ready. I sensed that they had a question first and so I asked and they did. Could we please go to their houses here on campus and pick up a few bags of rice they had brought for their families in Blantyre and take them with us? Otherwise they would have to transport them on minibuses at the end of the week when the term is over. Of course I said yes, so we stopped to load the rice in the back of the truck – 6 bags of 50kgs each (that is over 600 pounds of rice). That gives a different ride to the truck. Off we went to Bangwe, Thomas’ home. On the way, the fellows told me they had asked their wives to join us, so they could worship together as families. So we made a stop in Limbe to gather Moses’ wife and daughter and then to Bangwe to collect Thomas’ wife and son, then on to the abusa’s first church. As the truck filled, it rode lower to the ground and when we turned off the tarmac onto a rutted village dirt road, I held my breath to hear the truck creak. As the road deteriorated, I prayed for the suspension system of the truck. All was well but it was slower going than usual.

(Thomas, Moses and their families)

We were to collect the abusa at his first church and he would go with us to the second. The service was in progress when we arrived. He came out to greet us and invited me in to greet the congregation, since this congregation, Thundu, is in partnership with Cross Roads in Monroeville. Dr. Don Dawson had been there during part of his visit to Malawi in June, so they were excited to continue the Partnership connections. Only in Malawi would a worship service be interrupted to greet a visitor who comes in, gives greetings and leaves with the pastor to go to another church. Before I left, though, I had to promise that I would come back for “a real visit” in the near future. Then we headed on down the dirt road to the Mpingwe congregation, the abusa and I in the front, the two couples and their children in the back seat and the rice in the bed of the truck.

The congregation was waiting for us and warmly greeted us. Since we were a few minutes late due to the slower truck, we moved quickly to set up the service. The abusa graciously turned the program over to Thomas who served as MC for the service. This was a homecoming for Thomas and he was pleased to be home. Moses had a part in the service as well, and I gave the children’s sermon and preached. The wives were part of the congregation. For Jean, Thomas’ wife, this was not easy, since their young son is suffering with malaria and he had a difficult time in worship. Jean left for much of the service to care for him. After 26 different worship services that all follow the same pattern, one might think that this would become routine, but this service (as all are) was unique and a wonderful worship time. The music was one of the great points of delight in worship. In this small congregation of just over 200 worshippers, there were four choirs, all enlivened by the Spirit. The Sunday school choir was accompanied by drums, played enthusiastically by two of the elder; the men’s chorus sang beautiful harmony; the youth choir sang a worship song in English that was touching and the Mvano were joined by one of the male elders who sang with them. At two points in the service we sang choruses and the church rang with praise. The closing hymn was “Amazing Grace” and for the first time since I have been here, it was at an American tempo. The whole service was a great blessing to me.

(Elders at Mpinwe)

After the service, the elders met with me in the vestry for a time of questions about the church in America and what partnership is about. While we talked, the mvano were preparing lunch for the visitors and Thomas went to be with Jean and the baby. When lunch was ready, the elders left and Thomas and Moses and their families were ushered in to join the abusa, me and the clerk of session for the meal and the fellowship continued. When it was time to leave, the elders came back to say goodbye and wish us well, with the invitation to please come back and bring more news of partnership. There is a new link here for Pittsburgh. I’m praying there is a congregation in Pittsburgh that will become as excited about beginning a partnership as is the Mpingwe congregation.

Once we piled back into the truck, we began the process of distributing rice and people. The first stop was Thomas’ sister’s home, just down the road from the church. One bag of rice went to her. Then we retuned the abusa to his home and then went to Thomas’ home. There we unloaded two more bags but we couldn’t just leave his wife there. This is Malawi, so we needed to go into the house, say goodbye and offer prayer. It was hard for Thomas to leave since his son was sick and he knew that Jean would have to cope with the baby alone, but because exams begin this week, there was no choice. Then we headed to Moses’ home. On the way, Moses saw the college accountant standing at a minibus stop and alerted us to stop so we could offer her a ride back to Zomba. That is what is done here. She was thrilled not to have to take the minibus. Then it was on to Moses’ home where we unloaded the last three bags of rice, and again, we needed to go into the house, bid farewell and offer prayer.

This trip, unlike most of my others, had really been a family time for Thomas and Moses with their wives and children and for Thomas and his congregation. The ride back to Zomba was a time to reflect on the joy of family and fellowship and the hope of a new partnership that may form for Mpingwe.