Presbyterian Mission Agency

A letter from Kay Day serving in Rwanda

October 2014 - Equipping the Saints

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from Rwanda. As you are carving pumpkins and preparing for autumn festivities, we have just celebrated graduation at the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS). The timing may seem a bit off, from an American perspective, but it works well for us. Classes ended in July, so August and September are for students defending their final papers and finishing the paper work so they can graduate. Graduation is held just before the beginning of the new school term. The final-year students who do not complete the work in time go to the parishes to which they have been assigned to begin their internships and to struggle to finish their papers while serving in their village assignments. This presents a challenge, since in many cases they have no electricity, much less Internet access. For that reason it takes many of them more than a year to complete the process and return to campus to defend their papers and graduate. The weeks before graduation were busy as former students returned to finish the process. In addition to serving as an examiner for one of the papers, I assisted many in the editing of the final papers since English is a third language for them. I had plenty of work myself.

A letter from Kay Day serving in Rwanda

September 2014 - Two Contrasting Countries

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from Rwanda. I have just returned from a three-week vacation in Malawi, so this is a different kind of letter, not filled with what God is doing in ministry but a few observations from time away.

Even as we flew into Lilongwe, Malawi, I was struck by the open expanses of the countryside, compared to Rwanda. Two factors account for this. First, Rwanda is the land of a thousand hills. Most of the country is hilly and homes and farming are constructed on hillsides. That alone gives a feeling of being enclosed and nestled into the countryside. Malawi has open plains with short shrubs and small trees in much of the central and southern region. Second, a population issue. Rwanda is one-third the size of Malawi and yet has a population of 11 million compared to Malawi’s 14 million. Of necessity, people live closer together. These differences were reinforced as I rode with my friend Sam Ncozana into the capital of Lilongwe. I had just left Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, driving through tightly populated neighborhoods with iron-roofed houses lining well finished tarmac roads, with curbs and street lights. The drive into Lilongwe was much longer and the road, with chipped edges, meandered through open fields and past thatched-roofed houses with goats grazing along the road. Even the cities are different, with Kigali boasting new high-rise buildings that house the markets and shops while Lilongwe is afforded the space for low, sprawling buildings and open-air markets. Kigali is a new city because of the need for reconstruction after the fighting during the genocide. Lilongwe is an old city that is expanding, growing around what exists. Rwanda’s motorcycle taxis dominate travel, while pedal bikes and pedestrians carrying bundles on their heads take the forefront in Malawi. I was back to the more rustic setting that was so familiar for many years.

A letter from Dustin and Sherri Ellington serving in Zambia

September 2014 - Jump-Starting Life in Zambia

Dear friends,

It seemed almost like the set-up for a joke:

Q: How many jet-lagged Americans does it take to push-start a dead-batteried SUV on a bumpy dirt driveway, in their Sunday clothes, to arrive at church late and receive a round of welcoming applause?

A:  Four, with the 12-year-old at the wheel.

So went our morning adventure on the first day back in Zambia after being gone a year.  Chris had to steer the car in neutral without hitting any bushes while the three adult-sized family members pushed it down our curvy, bumpy, and narrow hedge-lined driveway.  When we made it to the slightly smoother dirt road encircling the main college buildings and playing fields we switched drivers; the clutch was popped, and with a jerk and a sputter we were off to church! 

The car-starting incident turned out to be a bit of a metaphor for our adjustment back to Zambia.  We had expected to encounter some curves and bumps after a year away—and we have.  But with some effort and determination, and by the grace of God, things seem to be popping into place, and we feel life has revved back up to full speed quite quickly!  Perhaps the most striking similarity is that once the car did get going that first morning, we marveled at how smoothly it ran despite a year without being driven.  Similarly, we’ve been surprised by how well life and ministry are moving forward for us in Zambia, despite our year away.

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The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 156

Rev. Janet Guyer

Mission co-worker in Malawi
Serving as Facilitator for Women's and Children's Interests

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Find a mission worker — Malawi

Nancy Collins, regional liaison for East  Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia) Jeremy and Luta Garbat-Welch Janet Guyer Rochelle and Tyler Holm James and Jodi McGill Barbara Nagy Learn more about the work of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Malawi.

Malawi is a relatively small landlocked country in southeastern Africa. It has a long history with roots in the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, and the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa. In Malawi unsafe drinking water is a severe and multifaceted problem. In addition, fewer than 1 percent …

A letter from Luta and Jeremy Garbat-Welch serving in Malawi

September 2014 - First Steps

Dear Friends,

Our first few months in Malawi have taught us several important skills for making this our home. One such skill is "How to Find a House to Rent."

Step 1: Decide which parts of town you want to live in. Since you are new to town, are not yet comfortable with driving a new vehicle on the other side of the road, and cannot figure out which robots (a.k.a. traffic lights) to obey and which to ignore, we recommend a guide to help show you around.

Step 2: Work your social network. The best way to find a house is to know the people who know people who heard of a house for rent. Networking occurs in the now, so be sure to allow plenty of time because the network gets activated as you go to visit houses, not before. This is a problem if you are new to the country, don't speak Chichewa, can't get people to understand your English, and don't have a social network. We recommend having a helpful guide.

Step 3: If you've exhausted your network, find an agent. The agents who operate in a manner most familiar to Americans ask for exorbitant rates, so you will want to use a community agent with a wide social network. Make sure you know their expected commission. We recommend having a helpful guide.

A letter from Jodi McGill serving in Malawi

September 2014 - Signs of Progress

Time flies! Somehow we have now lived in the northern region of Malawi for over 20 years. During those years we have witnessed many improvements in the life of Malawians and increasing opportunities for more individuals.  These changes in Malawian lives have led to significant changes in our roles as co-workers with our partner, the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian (CCAP) Synod of Livingstonia.

When I reflect on those 20 years, I feel as if I should produce a litany of accomplishments, and maybe if pushed I could give a few. However, each year as my responsibilities within the health, nursing, and education work of the Synod are being ably performed by Malawian nationals, my roles and contributions are more a case of being with others as they carry out the work, being an ambassador and bridge to churches and individuals who are praying and listening to how they can walk alongside the work of the Church. There are now more trained nurses who are the clinical supervisors for the nursing students, the secondary school scholarship fund is integrated within the Synod’s Education program, and it has been a few years since I have been directly involved with any of the activities of the Synod’s Health Office. The changes are not only wonderful from a development context, but also due to some special learning needs we find ourselves as a family in need of pursuing homeschooling for a couple of our children—so these improvements allow me to take on that role for this academic year.

A letter from Luta and Jeremy Garbat-Welch in Malawi

July 2014

Dear Friends,

Our time of itineration and interpretation has been a whirlwind! Starting at orientation, it seems we have been dashing from one speaking engagement or event to another, with plenty of packing, doctor appointments, and shopping mixed in between. We have been strengthened by reminders of God’s presence and guidance through the craziness of the process. We have been blessed by new relationships, by the hospitality and generosity of new friends, and by the rekindling of old relationships.

As missionary kids we have made many relationships over the years that we have lost track of across many moves. During our itineration we have been reminded of how small the world is as those relationships have been renewed. First, Luta was surprised while in conversation with a mission committee member of First Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Indiana, to learn that their pastor, Rev. Scott Hill, was Luta’s pastor during a year of home assignment with her family in Ithaca, New York.  Twenty years and so many miles, and God brought Luta’s pastor back into her life. Then, Jeremy was surprised by an email out of the blue from Rev. Jane Esterline at Park Presbyterian Church in Streator, Illinois, who had seen his name in the Mission Crossroads magazine, announcing us as new mission co-workers. She had been a PC(USA) mission co-worker in Cameroon and wondered if this was the same Jeremy who was a child of Baptist missionaries while she was there. What a blessing to rediscover friends as we have embarked on this journey. It is a true reminder of the gift of relationship.

A letter from Rochelle and Tyler Holm in Malawi

July 2014 - Not much of a Break

Hello from Malawi,
The University of Livinigstonia, Faculty of Theology, located in the northern Malawi town of Ekwendeni, has just finished another successful term, the students have returned to their home villages, and the final exams are graded. The University of Livingstonia, Faculty of Theology, is training students studying to be ministers in the Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP).

Mzuzu market

With the closing of the academic year we are especially excited, but also sad, to see some of the Faculty of Theology graduating students moving on to other things.  This year all of the students who have just graduated from the Faculty of Theology were ministerial students identified by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian as future leaders in the church, supported by the local Synod and overseas partners.  We are thankful for the commitment of many U.S. partners to sending scholarship support for our students.  Soon the recently graduated students will be assigned to congregations as new ministers. 

A letter from Barbara Nagy preparing to return to Malawi

june 2014

Dear friends of Nkhoma,

Greetings as we continue our travels to return to Malawi!  We have heard wonderful news of a successful mission team to Nkhoma from the Presbytery of Western North Carolina (PWNC), which renovated staff housing at one health center and installed solar lighting at another, helping over 100,000 people have access to basic health services.  We are so thankful for their work and gifts!  The PWNC commented many times that the changes they have seen in the past 10 years have been truly remarkable, and the improvements in services such as cervical cancer screening and the new "super peanut butter" factory to help treat malnutrition have been wonderful.  They continue a tradition of working closely with our partner church, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, and Nkhoma Hospital to support the goals and agendas of these two institutions and celebrate our faith as the body of Christ worldwide.