Moni onse, (Hello all in Chichewa)
Out of Africa, I can hardly believe I have been in Africa. It was a joy to be with the Malawians, Hospital staff in Nkhoma, Malawi and fellow travelers from Western North Carolina. We were in Nkhoma for 6 days and were able to be with Dr. Barbara Nagy (Missionary doctor at the hospital) and her three beautiful girls. The main project was the renovation of two rooms, one was converted into a children’s examination room.
More details about my experience and journey are on my blog, Malawi: Heart of Africa. The attached picture is my dance partner. At one of the orphanages, she called me out to dance and we did.
I am back safely and still waking up at 3 AM, but overjoyed with the callings from God in Malawi. It is a place I want to return. I ask for your prayers for me as I listen for God’s calling and pulling and not my own desires.
Saturday, I leave for Chiapas, Mexico to be with John & Ginny Mills and others serving the Tzeltal community through the medical clinic in Ocosingo.
Your prayers for the following would be appreciated:
Malawian orphans may they be safe and receive the love of God each day.
Dr. Barbara Nagy and staff working and caring for others in Nkhoma Hospital.
Charles and Joseph nursing students at Nkhoma Hospital
Vincent Kuthinoi, nursing assistant in Nkhoma Hospital in providing infant care in the children’s ward.
My faith in seeing and hearing God’s work around me and my adjustments to join his path.
Zikomo,
David Meacham, Missionary
WAE Mission Services
16033 Cramur Dr.
Huntersville, NC 28078
DHMeacham@Earthlink.net
704.402.6782
http://servingwithchrist-david.blogspot.com/
PS: More pictures.
More stories.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
WAE OUT Newsletter: June 2007
Malawi: Heart of Africa, June 2007
Malawi: Heart of Africa
June 2007
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” Ephesians 2: 19 (Thank you James for guidance to read Ephesians’ five times.)
My heart was broken in Malawi. My heart was warmed and opened in Malawi. My heart was touched in Malawi.
Our team from Western North Carolina Presbytery visited Dr. Barbara Nagy in Nkhoma, Malawi for 6 days. Here is a brief look at my time in Malawi, as I was supported by Bethel Presbyterian Church.
Love and support for Barbara, Melia, Anna, and Happy was the main purpose of the visit. It was a joy to be with them each day. We laughed a lot and sang “Are you Happy and you know it” many times. I was fortunate to spend time with Barbara in the hospital. She is so kind and caring to the patients and is a wise and compassionate teacher to the staff and students. The hospital environment is close to an emergency room. Patients come into the hospital with a high risk of having tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV, therefore high mortality rate. Barbara works a lot with the children and is working to reduce the infancy death rate.
Death in Malawi is high. The average life expectance is 37. I was honored to speak with a man who was 71 years old. The people of Malawi focus on relationships and less on possessions. If a Malawian has some thing they feel obligated to share with others. To have a lot means to give a lot. You should pay for something based on how much you have and you the buyer are responsible for having the correct amount to buy something, “no change”.
Smiles and warm greetings were felt every day from those in and around the Nkhoma Hospital. We had a small make shift Sunday School lesson using Ephesians the Sunday we arrived. Church was amazing, word of God, prayer and singing galore. It was packed, maybe 1000 in attendance. I was struck by the number of small children attending alone or bringing smaller children with them. The number of young boys, including teenagers attending by themselves, some thing is going on here we need to have in America. Malawi has more Presbyterian’s than United States, population about 10 million with 10% orphans.
We visited several orphanages. One outside of Johannesburg, South Africa was a joy to visit. We sang and danced with them. “Thumbs up, elbows out, legs apart, bums out, tongues out”, now sign the song. You have got to see the video, big Tom can dance. We visited two other orphanages in Malawi and were greeted and welcomed warmly.
We had a great group of individuals on our team. Big Tom Burleson is a gentle giant. He was in constant prayer, especially when the car broke down. Steve and Jane Hansel explored many educational opportunities and opened doors to know and assist in Nkhoma schools. The recess the Hansel set up for the students and the big guy was a big hit for all. Teresa Locke did a little of very thing, including counting the 1300 infant caps and pulling together the inventory of medicines and supplies brought by the team. We did get pictures of Teresa, as she was the team photographer always taking pictures of others. Tom Kilgore had the steady hand and the will to stand for hour as he made the renovated room by the team come alive as the new Children’s Examining Room with balls, bottle push cart, and an elephant. He was able to also hear the song and prayers every morning in the hospital lobby area by staff, patients and their families. Grace Boyer was with the team coming and going. She was a grace and comfort to us, especially during celebration of communion (Matrin’s home made bread and coke) through the language of the holy spirit on the day we left Malawi. Kyle Nelson brought youthful joy and energy. He did not think he snored until the men got a chance to be together in one big room at the Guest House of Nkhoma CCAP (Church of Central Africa Presbyterian) Synod. He shared his faith journey, as well as opened and encouraged each one of us in our faith journey. Billy Wilson, our team leader was a blessing and flexible leader. He used his gift as a commissioned lay pastor to lead our evening devotions as well as the men’s sleeping quarter’s nightly discussions under protection of mosquito nets. The ants got through to his bed. God worked through us all in many different ways and I am blessed to have been with such wonderful Christians.
We were also fortunate to be with “The Three Nurses”; Annjo, Wilma, and Geanne in the Nkhoma Presbytery Guest house. They are nursing students from Holland. I was fortunate to work with them in the hospital and see the love and care they gave to the patients as well as learned how to carry children on their backs with a chitjenjie (cloth made into back pack). Annjo and Geanne joined us to climb Nkhoma Mountain and shared on their blog web site, “The view is overwhelming and we realize again how small we actually are.” Dat voelt heerlijk! (That feels delightful!).
Working as a nurse in the hospital was incredible. I observed surgery (skin graft, intestine repair, fallopian tubes tied, TB on a liver and removal of a uterus) and participated in critical infant care (twin just about died), out patient examinations, removal of a stuck catheter tube, and patient intake with Mrs. Harry. Mrs. Harry was my home base, I could always go their and join her and Edina to welcome patients and take their initial vital signs. I also got to meet Mrs. Harry’s daughter and grandson, Wisdom. What a joy to meet Wisdom.
On the children’s ward I was struck by a young child, maybe 8 or 9 on the floor crying scream and swing at her mother. I sat on a bench near her and sang gently. She came and cuddled next to me, we sat for a while. Later in the day I heard the screaming again. She was in getting her bandage changes from the burn on her right arm. She had fallen in a fire during an epileptic fit. I joined Mr. Vincent Kuthinoi, a nursing assistant to change the girl’s dressings. Every day he leads the morning prayers and singing in the children’s ward for all the patients and family members. I assisted him in changing bed sheets that morning. Vincent was so gentle in cleaning and caring for the girl’s burn as I held her head and arm from jerking away. The blood poured out in the tub as the old bandage was removed and he cleaned and cared for the damaged arm. It was a tough and emotional time, I saw the hand of God in Vincent as he cared for this young girl and as he comforted me as I cried after. God provides comfort in and through us all.
Thanks be to God for this time in Malawi. My heart was broken. My heart has grown. I look forward to being closer to God… so close to hear his heart beat as I call out, screaming and crying.
“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame, you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:11 (Bedankt)
Zikomo,
David
PS: More pictures. More stories.
June 2007
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” Ephesians 2: 19 (Thank you James for guidance to read Ephesians’ five times.)
My heart was broken in Malawi. My heart was warmed and opened in Malawi. My heart was touched in Malawi.
Our team from Western North Carolina Presbytery visited Dr. Barbara Nagy in Nkhoma, Malawi for 6 days. Here is a brief look at my time in Malawi, as I was supported by Bethel Presbyterian Church.
Love and support for Barbara, Melia, Anna, and Happy was the main purpose of the visit. It was a joy to be with them each day. We laughed a lot and sang “Are you Happy and you know it” many times. I was fortunate to spend time with Barbara in the hospital. She is so kind and caring to the patients and is a wise and compassionate teacher to the staff and students. The hospital environment is close to an emergency room. Patients come into the hospital with a high risk of having tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV, therefore high mortality rate. Barbara works a lot with the children and is working to reduce the infancy death rate.
Death in Malawi is high. The average life expectance is 37. I was honored to speak with a man who was 71 years old. The people of Malawi focus on relationships and less on possessions. If a Malawian has some thing they feel obligated to share with others. To have a lot means to give a lot. You should pay for something based on how much you have and you the buyer are responsible for having the correct amount to buy something, “no change”.
Smiles and warm greetings were felt every day from those in and around the Nkhoma Hospital. We had a small make shift Sunday School lesson using Ephesians the Sunday we arrived. Church was amazing, word of God, prayer and singing galore. It was packed, maybe 1000 in attendance. I was struck by the number of small children attending alone or bringing smaller children with them. The number of young boys, including teenagers attending by themselves, some thing is going on here we need to have in America. Malawi has more Presbyterian’s than United States, population about 10 million with 10% orphans.
We visited several orphanages. One outside of Johannesburg, South Africa was a joy to visit. We sang and danced with them. “Thumbs up, elbows out, legs apart, bums out, tongues out”, now sign the song. You have got to see the video, big Tom can dance. We visited two other orphanages in Malawi and were greeted and welcomed warmly.
We had a great group of individuals on our team. Big Tom Burleson is a gentle giant. He was in constant prayer, especially when the car broke down. Steve and Jane Hansel explored many educational opportunities and opened doors to know and assist in Nkhoma schools. The recess the Hansel set up for the students and the big guy was a big hit for all. Teresa Locke did a little of very thing, including counting the 1300 infant caps and pulling together the inventory of medicines and supplies brought by the team. We did get pictures of Teresa, as she was the team photographer always taking pictures of others. Tom Kilgore had the steady hand and the will to stand for hour as he made the renovated room by the team come alive as the new Children’s Examining Room with balls, bottle push cart, and an elephant. He was able to also hear the song and prayers every morning in the hospital lobby area by staff, patients and their families. Grace Boyer was with the team coming and going. She was a grace and comfort to us, especially during celebration of communion (Matrin’s home made bread and coke) through the language of the holy spirit on the day we left Malawi. Kyle Nelson brought youthful joy and energy. He did not think he snored until the men got a chance to be together in one big room at the Guest House of Nkhoma CCAP (Church of Central Africa Presbyterian) Synod. He shared his faith journey, as well as opened and encouraged each one of us in our faith journey. Billy Wilson, our team leader was a blessing and flexible leader. He used his gift as a commissioned lay pastor to lead our evening devotions as well as the men’s sleeping quarter’s nightly discussions under protection of mosquito nets. The ants got through to his bed. God worked through us all in many different ways and I am blessed to have been with such wonderful Christians.
We were also fortunate to be with “The Three Nurses”; Annjo, Wilma, and Geanne in the Nkhoma Presbytery Guest house. They are nursing students from Holland. I was fortunate to work with them in the hospital and see the love and care they gave to the patients as well as learned how to carry children on their backs with a chitjenjie (cloth made into back pack). Annjo and Geanne joined us to climb Nkhoma Mountain and shared on their blog web site, “The view is overwhelming and we realize again how small we actually are.” Dat voelt heerlijk! (That feels delightful!).
Working as a nurse in the hospital was incredible. I observed surgery (skin graft, intestine repair, fallopian tubes tied, TB on a liver and removal of a uterus) and participated in critical infant care (twin just about died), out patient examinations, removal of a stuck catheter tube, and patient intake with Mrs. Harry. Mrs. Harry was my home base, I could always go their and join her and Edina to welcome patients and take their initial vital signs. I also got to meet Mrs. Harry’s daughter and grandson, Wisdom. What a joy to meet Wisdom.
On the children’s ward I was struck by a young child, maybe 8 or 9 on the floor crying scream and swing at her mother. I sat on a bench near her and sang gently. She came and cuddled next to me, we sat for a while. Later in the day I heard the screaming again. She was in getting her bandage changes from the burn on her right arm. She had fallen in a fire during an epileptic fit. I joined Mr. Vincent Kuthinoi, a nursing assistant to change the girl’s dressings. Every day he leads the morning prayers and singing in the children’s ward for all the patients and family members. I assisted him in changing bed sheets that morning. Vincent was so gentle in cleaning and caring for the girl’s burn as I held her head and arm from jerking away. The blood poured out in the tub as the old bandage was removed and he cleaned and cared for the damaged arm. It was a tough and emotional time, I saw the hand of God in Vincent as he cared for this young girl and as he comforted me as I cried after. God provides comfort in and through us all.
Thanks be to God for this time in Malawi. My heart was broken. My heart has grown. I look forward to being closer to God… so close to hear his heart beat as I call out, screaming and crying.
“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame, you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:11 (Bedankt)
Zikomo,
David
PS: More pictures. More stories.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Team E-mails from Malawi
Malawi – E-mails (From: Kyle Nelson, team author and To: Ginnie Steves, Western NC Presbytery contact)
5/25/2007
Hey Ginnie, It's the team. We just sat down to eat at the Korean Gardens (FYI: hotel where they are staying first and last nights in Malawi), and a young preacher we met earlier has a lapto
p, so we asked if we could borrow it to talk to the loved ones back home. South Africa was amazing. We didn't get to do the basketball clinic due to a flat tire, but we had an excellent visit with the after school care. The kids were awesome; they were a double treat with song and dance. We are real excited to go with Barbara to Nkhoma. We went by the market today and got all of our food for the week. I guess we'll talk to you the next time we get hold of a computer. Keep us in your prayers. We love you, Kyle Tell my dad to call Rose Brooks and tell her we made it through customs.
5/25/2007
Hey Ginnie, It's the team. We just sat down to eat at the Korean Gardens (FYI: hotel where they are staying first and last nights in Malawi), and a young preacher we met earlier has a lapto
p, so we asked if we could borrow it to talk to the loved ones back home. South Africa was amazing. We didn't get to do the basketball clinic due to a flat tire, but we had an excellent visit with the after school care. The kids were awesome; they were a double treat with song and dance. We are real excited to go with Barbara to Nkhoma. We went by the market today and got all of our food for the week. I guess we'll talk to you the next time we get hold of a computer. Keep us in your prayers. We love you, Kyle Tell my dad to call Rose Brooks and tell her we made it through customs.5/29/2007
hey Ginnie,
It’s Kyle; we're here in Nkhoma at the hospital. Things are going well. We are almost finished with the remodeling of the examination room. David is having a good experience with doing some nursing here, and Jane and Steve today are going out to one of the schools. Yesterday Tommy tried to go in to town but the car broke down on the way, but he got everything he needed by the end of the day. We finally got all of the luggage yesterday so
everything is here. The hospital is doing a lot better and it seems all the nurses are really excited that were here. Dr. Linden even gave us his approval of our job in the examination room. Well I better get back to work I'm sure Tommy could use a hand. talk to you later and keep us in your prayers
love,
the team
hey Ginnie,
It’s Kyle; we're here in Nkhoma at the hospital. Things are going well. We are almost finished with the remodeling of the examination room. David is having a good experience with doing some nursing here, and Jane and Steve today are going out to one of the schools. Yesterday Tommy tried to go in to town but the car broke down on the way, but he got everything he needed by the end of the day. We finally got all of the luggage yesterday so
everything is here. The hospital is doing a lot better and it seems all the nurses are really excited that were here. Dr. Linden even gave us his approval of our job in the examination room. Well I better get back to work I'm sure Tommy could use a hand. talk to you later and keep us in your prayerslove,
the team
6/02/2007
Hey Ginnie, It’s Kyle. we just got back from the lake and now are getting settled into Lilongwe, the lake was good, food was slow, water was warm, we had a great time with the women’s guild, we got a lot of things at the wood market, but everyone was grumpy on the way back with wood piled everywhere, we're about to eat again. We’ll talk to you later in the morning before departure, pray for safe travel. lovethe team
6/03/2007
Hey Ginnie, it’s a very brisk morning in Lilongwe, Malawi as we finish our breakfast and then head to our service were having together with the team and the Nagys. Were gonna have communion so barbs really excited about that. We all dread having to leave but we are also happy to come back to see all of our loved ones and to share our experiences. Malawi has really opened all of our eyes and we are ready to share the warm heart of Africa (Malawi) and there abundant love. Keep us in you prayers as we travel for the next 30 hours we love everyone and miss them. see you in Douglas at 10:30 am American time and 4:30Pm Malawian time, the team
Hey Ginnie, It’s Kyle. we just got back from the lake and now are getting settled into Lilongwe, the lake was good, food was slow, water was warm, we had a great time with the women’s guild, we got a lot of things at the wood market, but everyone was grumpy on the way back with wood piled everywhere, we're about to eat again. We’ll talk to you later in the morning before departure, pray for safe travel. lovethe team
6/03/2007
Hey Ginnie, it’s a very brisk morning in Lilongwe, Malawi as we finish our breakfast and then head to our service were having together with the team and the Nagys. Were gonna have communion so barbs really excited about that. We all dread having to leave but we are also happy to come back to see all of our loved ones and to share our experiences. Malawi has really opened all of our eyes and we are ready to share the warm heart of Africa (Malawi) and there abundant love. Keep us in you prayers as we travel for the next 30 hours we love everyone and miss them. see you in Douglas at 10:30 am American time and 4:30Pm Malawian time, the team
Additional Photos: View photos
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
