Love, Fellowship, & a Building Dedication
by the Rev. Dr. William H. McNabb

Part I

I am still experiencing the warm feelings of love and fellowship that linger from our trip to Malawi. I will try in two separate articles to share with you about our adventure. First a bit of history. In 2003 I led PCC’s first mission trip to Malawi and we formed a wonderfully tight-knit group. Bob and Judy Wright, Sara Hirsch, Bob Cheatham, Mary Jo Cook, John White, and Dan Purnell visited Embangweni Hospital, the Ministry of Hope Orphans project, the Crisis Nursery, and most importantly, established the sister-church relationship with Kafita Church in Lilongwe.

On that trip the elders of Kafita shared their dreams of building a multi-purpose hall to be used for Sunday school classes, receptions, fellowship events, etc. When we returned we presented the idea to the Board of Deacons and Trustees who approved a 50,000 dollar grant from the Better World Fund to pay for one half the expenses for the hall. Kafita immediately began fundraising for their half of the expenses. It took four years to raise the money and build the hall and this year they wrote to us to tell us it was nearly finished and they would like to have the President of Piedmont Community Church, me, and anyone else who wanted to come to visit for a dedication ceremony. That was the occasion for our trip. (More on the dedication ceremony in Part II).

We were met at the airport by a jubilant group of 200 members of Kafita church including lots of women’s guild members and choirs. After singing, dancing, and prayers in the parking lot we took vans and busses into the city. Another group of Kafita members and new choirs met us at our hotel with songs and celebrations. One of the highlights of the first part of the week was the visit to the Ministry of Hope Crisis Nursery. When we went in 2003 the nursery was housed in a spare room in the missionary family Frank and Nancy Dimmock’s house. They had about 6 children. Now the Nursery has its own facility in a nice three bedroom house and there were 21 babies on the day we visited. Most of the children we saw had mothers who died in childbirth and the family was unable to care for the infant. Some were left on the doorstep or found crying in a field. It sounds pretty dismal but it wasn’t. The babies are cared for in a very loving and nurturing way and there was plenty of staff to give them the needed attention.

The other highlight was a visit to a typical rural village to visit a traditional primary and high school. The village we visited was the home village to both Rev. Kachipanda and Mr. Kafumbi Njewa, who both visited Piedmont three years ago. Most children in the primary school were too poor to afford shoes and books, and teaching materials seemed almost nonexistent. All they had were bare classrooms with cement or dirt floors, and classes ran to 80 kids each. It was evident that Rev. Kachipanda and Mr. Njewa (who earned college degrees) had come a long way from these humble beginnings.

On one trip we saw women gathering water from a dirty, muddy waterhole. It is the kind of situation that the shallow wells are designed to correct and we wished that we could have snapped our fingers and made one materialize. I am proud of our congregation, however, for over the past 5 years we have provided more than 100 such wells for Malawian villages.

One great project we visited was the farm that the Kafita Widows group purchased with our help and to hear of their plans to farm it with maize and other crops. It is slightly outside of Lilongwe but is on a good road with bus service that will help transport them to work and transport the crops. Mabel Ngoleka whom many of you met on her visit here last year is heading up the project with her usual enthusiasm and energy.

Thanks to all of you who have supported the Malawi mission in so many ways. Much good work has been done in Jesus’ name in a place where the need is evident and indisputable. I figure poverty ratings are somewhat arbitrary, but I was sorry to see that a recent ranking moved Malawi from the world’s fifth poorest nation to absolute last. But whatever their ranking, it is good to know that there are some glimmers of hope that are happening in the country and we have dear brothers and sisters there at Kafita. (More coming soon on the multi-purpose hall dedication.)

Part II

In addition to visiting mission projects we also had a night of R and R at a beautiful spot on Lake Malawi. We drove about two hours on a rutted road from Lilongwe, the capital city, to the town of Salima on Lake Malawi where we spent the night in the Safari Beach Lodge. We were the only customers at this small, beautiful lodge perched on the shore of Lake Malawi. We watched the sun set over the lake and at night saw the fishermen in their dugout canoes and lanterns scattered like jewels across the lake. We had a nice dinner by kerosene lantern outside on the lawn.

Then it was back to Lilongwe and Kafita church for the big celebration. July 19 was Piedmont-Kafita day and the ceremony to dedicate the Multi-Purpose Hall was scheduled to start at 1pm. When we drove into the church compound we were greeted by joyful church choirs and an amazing crowd of what must have been 2,000 people. They had erected a huge tent for the overflow crowd and the place was packed. I unveiled the plaque that was on the cornerstone of the church citing thanks to the members of Piedmont Church who helped build it. Then after a prayer and a blessing by the General Minister of the Synod and Rev. David Kachipanda, the scissors were presented to Bob Coleman, President of Piedmont Church, to cut the ribbon tied over the door.

With that, about 800 people streamed into the church for the ceremony which was also broadcast outside. There were women’s choirs, men’s choirs, dancers, children’s choirs and lots of speeches. Dr. Martha Sommers from Embangweni Hospital was there to receive a $50,000 grant from the Better World Fund to expand the maternity ward along with another check of contributions from the PCC Alternative Gift Market. Around 5pm — four hours after it started — the celebration finally wound down.

The next morning we attended the 8AM English speaking service (they also have 6 and 10 AM services in Chichewa) where I had the honor to preach. We presented gifts from Piedmont Church – an enlarged, framed copy of the photo of PCC members taken in the courtyard in May, t-shirts and white ties, and 4,000 pens for the children of the Sunday school.

After worship we went to the airport but not alone. An entourage of about 100 Kafita members came to see us off. There is no way to describe to one who has not been there the depth of the warmth and hospitality we experience when we visit Malawi. It must be experienced to be believed. We left behind our dear brothers and sisters from our sister church Kafita but we will always carry them with us in our hearts.