One of the
first tasks we undertook after arriving in the Zingwangwa Branch was to
assemble a photo directory of the branch members. We thought this task would help us get to
know the branch members and to memorize their names. The Malawians speak softly, so I often have
to bend down to hear them saying their names.
And many, though not all, of the names, are challenging to remember because
they are poly-syllablic African names, with sounds quite unfamiliar to the
Western ear. One of the teachers in
the Primary goes by “Thoko,” easy enough to recall, but her full name is
Thokokani Mzunga.
Thoko works with Carole in the Primary (the organization working with young children), and is an invaluable help. Carole doesn't know what she would do without Thoko's support.
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Fortunately,
the pronouncement of the African words is largely phonetic, with every letter
being pronounced, using consistent sounds, much like Spanish. There are a couple of tricks, “l”s and “r”s
can be pronounced interchangeably. Many
surnames start with multiple consonants—Mkochi, Nthenda, Nkhoma, the first
consonant sounded ever so lightly, and the final “h” not articulated at all.
Below is a picture of Brother Mkochi. He is the branch's executive secretary, and is a pillar of strength for the branch. He is several years off his mission to the Zimbabwe Hrare Mission. He and Thoko were engaged, at least for a while, but we don't know what their plans are now.
I am
constantly surprised by the number of Westerner names that surface, some
commonly used back home, some quite old fashioned. Several men carry the given name
“Clement”—“Clement” Chikapa, our branch president, and “Clement” Phiri. One of
our members is “William James,” another is “James William Tsegula.” There is “Stanford” Chimera, “Bessor” Petro, “Amos”
Monjeza, Kondwani “Ben” Mkochi, “Damiano “John” Chimaliro, “Elliot Francis”
Mkandawire, “Maxwell” Mbera, “Albert James” Kunje, and “Andrew Makwa Kajawo,
and “Wrighton Goodson” Magombo. Given
Malawi’s recent English colonial period, one should hardily be shocked by the
prevalence of English names. While most
young adults, adolescents and children speak English, it is still a “second”
language, with few speaking and readily fluently. Most are much more comfortable in Chichewa,
the predominant dialect in Malawi, though they frequently use English in
Church, sometimes I think in deference to the Westerner missionaries.
Brother Wrighton Goodson Magombo is as "African" as one can be, but carries a very British name. At 77, he is the oldest member of the Zingwangwa Branch; while he speaks English, I have never understood a word he says. He is surprisingly strong and active, and never tires of helping out at Church, stacking chairs, distributing hymnals before services, sweeping the meetinghouse.
The
Malawians have a fondness for religious-oriented names; “Grace,” “Praise,” “Patience,”
“Happiness,” “Goodness,” “Joy,” “Innocent,” are commonly used as given names,
sometimes appearing in their Chichewa forms—“Chisomo” (Grace) or “Chimwemwe” (Happiness),
sometimes appearing in their English counterparts.
Sister Chisomo Phiri, pictured below, just returned home after serving 18 months in the Nairobi, Kenya Mission. She is the half sister of Brother Banda and now "stays" with the Bandas in their modest home up Soche Mountain. The transition back to normal life for an African missionary can prove to be very stressful, as they worry about how they are going to fit in after being somewhat "westernized."
Another
motivation for doing the photo directory was to have an excuse to visit the
branch members in their homes. By now
we have been in the homes of over 40 branch members, located in all of the small
communities making up the Zingwangwa Branch, from Soche to Chilobwe, Chimwankunda
to Zingwangwa, from Chemwembe to Manga.
When I look around Sacrament Meeting on Sundays, I am pleased to see
we have now made friends with almost all of the regular members. Each Sunday there are non-members sprinkled
throughout the congregation, and the occasional members we haven’t yet met, but
for the most part we know everyone. It
is a nice feeling and gives us a greater sense of community and belonging.
Here are a couple of photos of the photo directory as it was being assembled in the living room of our apartment:
These
visits have been invaluable in building a bridge of trust between us and the
members. They are not just faces, but
families we know and enjoy. Usually we
leave a short message and prayer, visits usually lasting no more than 30
minutes; yet sometimes we do nothing more than stop by for a very brief
greeting or to schedule a follow up appointment.
Quite unlike the United States, we can invariably find
someone home, almost any time of the daylight hours. Our branch members frequently have neighbors
or family members visiting, for Malawians are extremely social and have a
strong communal sense. They look after
each others children, indeed children (even the smallest of toddlers) roam
freely, without apparent supervision, from one home to the next. As best we can tell, everyone just keeps an
eye out for their own children and their neighbors’ kids. There is always several adults around, within
line of sight, to help out if a child gets in trouble or is scared or takes a
tumble.
We have
found the branch members (indeed non-members) to be exceptionally
welcoming. Even without an appointment,
they invite us in to chat, and seem happy to see us. With hindsight, we did not need to have the
photo directory as an excuse for making these in-home visits. It has been our practice to take a photo for our directory of the family at the end of our first visit--though sometimes we retake the photo later at Church. We always have two prints produced, one for
the family, the other for the pin board at Church. Initially, we thought the “photos” might
disappear over time at Church, families or kids wanting to snatch copies for
their own use, but that hasn’t really happened.
Thus far, only one photo has gone missing, so perhaps the two-photo
approach has been effective.
Recently I
started charting our visits or “meaningful” one-on-one contacts on an excel
spreadsheet, in an effort to keep track of what we were doing and to ensure
that our visiting was spread out more evenly across our branch family. There is a risk of getting stuck in a rut
of contacting “favorite” members, or those most accessible, rather than doing
the hard work of tracking everyone down, including those less accessible or less
enthusiastic about our visits. Over the
last five weeks, we have averaged 18 contacts per week, with a high of 24 and
low of 11. If my records are roughly accurate, Carole and
I have made over 165 visits to branch
members, covering over 40 households, during our three plus months in the
Zingwangwa Branch.
We have only one
regularly scheduled appointment. Each
week we meet with President Chikapa, the branch president, to report on our
activities and talk about what we might do to help strengthen the members. Carole and I have been hesitant to take up
much of his time, knowing how busy he is, and how little time he has for his
family. He devotes much of his
Saturdays and Sundays to Church service and is frequently at the chapel at
least one evening during the week. Like
all members, he has a long walk to and from Church, about 30 minutes each
way. President Chikapa works in Limbe,
an hour and a half walk from his home in Chilobwe. If the weather is decent, he usually walks to
and from work, even though this consumes close to three hours. It is faster of course to take a minibus
(about 30 minutes each way), but a one way trip costs 250 kwacha or about
$.50. One day he mentioned in passing
that using a minibus back and forth to work each day would eat up much of his
profit, taking food off the table for his family. He said it in a matter-of-fact way, not
complaining, not whining, not asking for sympathy or support. Several weeks ago, we proposed to President
Chikapa that we pick him up at work at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon and
give him a ride home. This would allow
him to get home quickly, and without expense, and at the same time free up some
time for us to visit about Church matters.
Generally speaking, this worked out super. We have time with the President, and yet
don’t feel as though we are encroaching too much on the precious time he has
with the family.
Apart from
President Chikapa, Carole and I have visited the most with the Banda family,
since Brother Banda is the Elders Quorum President and Sister Banda the Relief
Society President. Those visits have been made on as-needed
basis, as I have coordinated with Brother Banda about home teaching, and Carole
with Sister Banda about visiting teaching.
The Bandas are a wonderful family, with a great commitment to the
gospel, with an amazing capacity to make exceptional personal sacrifices. I think of Sister Banda as a modern-day
saint, always prepared to strap her three-year old on her back and march off to
visit those mourning or in need. But
other than these two families, we have spread our efforts across a broad swath
of the branch members.
In about a
month, the Reynolds, the other MLS (“member leader support”) missionaries in
Blantyre, return home to Everett Washington, after two years of faithful
service. We will miss their companionship;
occasionally it’s nice to share experiences and frustrations, and to
commiserate with someone from back home, however much we enjoy our fellowship
with the members here in Malawi. Their
departure will also effect our assignment.
To date, the Reynolds have handled all of what we refer to as the
“office couple” functions in Blantyre—this means paying the bills for the
missionaries, dealing with landlord issues, shuttling missionaries to and from
the airport, taking care of the five vehicles used by the missionaries
(registration, insurance, repairs, and routine maintenance). At least twice a month, the Reynolds have to
balance the checking account with Standard Bank and send financial reports to
the Area Office in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Elder Reynolds is a gifted handy-man (he has an amazing breath of
knowledge of all things practical), and has done much of the day-to-day apartment
maintenance by himself. They have deliberately
spared us of these tasks in order to give us a time to get to know our branch
members.
When they
leave toward the end of March, we will, by default, inherit their
responsibility for all of these office functions. This news will, or at least should, send a shiver
down the spine of all who know me well.
I do not have a practical bone in my body. Over the years I have always turned to
others, Carole at home and Vicki Lynn at the office, to take care of the
practical things—Carole handling car maintenance, flight and car rental
reservations, birthday presents, and holiday planning; Vicki Lynn tackling CLE
reporting, computer glitches, working around administrative hassles at work,
making lunch and dinner reservations, working with accounting, and interfacing
with clients. Taking on these tasks will, no doubt, cut into the time we can devote to visiting members. I worry about this, and know we will have to find ways of being more efficient.
These
visits are truly the best part of my missionary labors. It is the grassroots, one-on-one experience,
Carole and I wanted to experience. I
love walking the lane and byways, searching out the homes of our members, meeting
with them and sharing a few thoughts about the good news. For the most part, I am not discouraged by
the heat, the sunburn on the top of my head, the sudden rain squalls, the
occasional rejection, the fatigue we feel at the end of the day. We know progress may be slow. Daily we remind ourselves that our members,
even the most stalwart, have only been in the Church for a few years. It takes a while for the gospel to season and
for members to appreciate its beauty and reach.
Patience is a virtue we, and other missionaries, must nurture. Often Carole and I have thought how
different the Church will be in Africa in 10 years, when current members gain
more experience and become more comfortable with Church doctrine and
practices. But, even now, they have a
wonderful spirit and have a spiritual maturity far beyond their years in the
Church. We have great expectations for
them and are confident that they will learn much in the years to come, as long
as they remain steadfast in their commitment.
We certainly hope we are doing good—knowing we bring a message of
great peace and hope.
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