October 29, 2009

A commitment to serve

Dear Friends,

I stand in awe of the commitment that many of the pastors in Malawi have to serve God. They face challenges and situations that pastors in America could not imagine, and they do so with joy and eagerness to serve.

My Malawian son Thomas has just been assigned to his first parish, one that is typical of many in the rural areas of Malawi, where the majority of the churches are located. The main church of the Bamba parish is 35 kilometers from the nearest town. It’s the oldest of the six congregations and 13 prayer houses that make up the parish. A prayer house is a worship center that is not yet large enough to be considered a church. It’s attached to one of the churches by administration, but is independent for worship. So it is a worship center that must be served.

The Bamba congregation was founded in 1896 by Scottish missionaries, so it has a long history of faithfulness to God, regardless of its distance from creature comforts. The parish is located in the northeastern section of Blantyre Synod, on the Mozambique border. The next closest of the congregations is 15 kilometers from the Bamba church, and the distances increase from there. In fact, one of the prayer houses is in Mozambique, across Chiuta Lake. To visit that prayer house, the pastor needs to allow three days—one to get there, one to minister, and one to return. Just to paddle across the lake takes four hours in a dug-out canoe, the only means of lake transport.

The manse is adjacent to the Bamba church, but the nearest neighbor is about three football fields away; it is about the same distance to the closest well to draw water for cooking, bathing, and all other uses. There is no electricity in the area, so most activities are done in the daylight. Nighttime is totally dark. Cooking is done on a wood fire outside the house. Transportation from one church to another is on a bicycle. Biking to the congregations to the south and west of the church isn’t bad because that terrain is relatively level, but to the north and the east, it becomes mountainous, a challenge for even a strong cyclist.

This is just one of over a hundred such parishes in the Synod. These are faithful people who do not live in the comfort of the city, but who love God and who are eager to learn and grow in their faith. They live their Christian faith.

When Thomas and family arrived late on a Saturday afternoon, the church was not expecting them. They have limited communication with the presbytery because of the distances, so word had not gotten to them of when the new pastor would be arriving. There were two elders and two members of the ladies’ guild at the church preparing for the next day’s worship. In parish situations, the elders frequently take responsibility for the services, since the pastor often is not available. In this case, the parish has been without a pastor for the last three years because of the shortage of pastors in the Synod. When the large truck pulled into the church yard, loaded with the pastor, his family, and all their possessions, the elders moved to action. They sent word to nearby members to come and help. In a short time, there were willing hands to unload, carry, and unpack. Thomas did not lift one box or piece of furniture. Women came with food and supplies to help the family get settled. When the last people left at 8:00 p.m. to walk home in the dark, the family was unpacked, well fed, and hot water was prepared for them to bathe. These people had put their faith into action.

Thomas’s response to this new assignment is “Who am I that God would trust me with such a great responsibility? May I be faithful!” He is delighted for the opportunity to serve in this way. But he is not alone in this commitment. A few years ago I did a retreat for a group of pastors from the rural areas, and when I commented to one of them that he was making a great sacrifice to take his family to such a remote area to serve, he looked at me in surprise and asked, “A sacrifice? Compared to what? Compared to what Jesus did for me? This is no sacrifice. This is gratitude.” That is a commitment to serve. This is how many of the pastors and many of the church members of Malawi feel.

Thomas is just one part of the company of the faithful in Malawi. I am regularly humbled by their commitment. They encourage my faith each time I hear their stories. Will you join me in praying for these committed servants?

Kay