Day's Diary

December 20, 2006 ~ Preparations for the Adventure

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“The stockings were all hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.”

Remember that anticipation as a child? There is a great deal of that that I am feeling as I prepare to leave in just 8 days for Malawi and the adventure of a lifetime. Christmas and then Malawi! But just as with Christmas, we make all the preparations but there are always surprises, the unexpected that comes in the midst of the best of preparations. That has certainly been the case in my preparations. Just when we think we have things under control, God says, “Wait a minute. You need to trust me.”

The day before Thanksgiving, I got an email for Rev. Daniel Gunya, the General Secretary of the Blantyre Synod, informing me that a few things had changed in the plans for my coming and that, while all the details had not yet been worked out, I would not be teaching in the Parallel Theological program, but at Zomba Theological College. I would be living there as well. All of this had come about because of Zomba’s financial difficulty.

It might be good to back up and give some background on Zomba and the Parallel Program, for those of you who are not as familiar with the workings of the Synod. Zomba Theological College has prepared pastors for all of the Central Church of Africa, Presbyterian (CCAP) since its beginning, but could only accommodate 6 to 8 students from each of the synods. With the rapid growth of the church, this was not enough to meet the needs of the congregations, so each synod had designed programs within their own synods to help meet the need. That is why the Parallel Program was designed and why I was invited to come and teach in the first place. Both Nkhoma Synod and Livingstonia Synod had done the same thing, but they both found it too difficult financially to maintain both commitments and had stopped supporting Zomba. That put Zomba in financial danger. In November, the Board of Zomba and the leadership of Blantyre Synod met together and decided that Blantyre would take over support of Zomba. That meant dissolving the Parallel Program and moving it into Zomba. That meant I would move with the program. That was what Rev. Gunya was telling me.

What it means for me is that where I will be living, what I will be teaching, who I will be teaching and with whom I will be teaching all changed with that email. And the details were yet to be worked out. God’s grace is great. There is great peace with all of this because I am certain that God wants me in Malawi for this year. He already has a plan and has the details worked out, even if we don’t. There are some of the details coming into place. I have been asked to teach New Testament and Greek (instead of Old Testament and Theology), so I have an idea of what I will be teaching, although that could change, too. Instead of living in a two room house on the Parallel Program property, I will be in a house on ZTC’s campus, amid the other staff housing at Zomba. Silas Ncozana has emailed me that my house is nice, roomy and secure. That is reassuring. Silas will not be teaching there because he has been offered a position with the National government. That, too, is still not settled, but that is the plan at this time. I will meet those with whom I will be teaching and working once I arrive.

I may not know the reasons for all these changes at this time, but I am certain that our God is in control and He has a purpose for my being at Zomba at this time. He has had this in place since the invitation was extended and we all thought it would be for the Parallel Program. It will be exciting to see what unfolds in the next weeks as my adventure begins and as this new phase for Zomba begins. God is up to his usual. He is full of surprises and adventure for us, if we will just trust Him. Flexibility in Malawi is a given. I’m not so sure that isn’t the way God would invite us to live all of life. At least, that is the way I am approaching life as I finish preparations to leave. The adventure has begun!