A letter from Debbie Chase in Malawi
December, 2010
Dear Friends,
Joyous Advent and Christmas Greetings from Malawi!
The Season of Advent marks the beginning of a New Year in our Christian calendar. As John the Baptist cried out in the wilderness, it is time to prepare for the Coming of the Lord, the Coming of Salvation: “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; and the crooked made straight, and rough ways made smooth” (Luke 3:4-6). Prepare the way for the birth of the babe in a manger, God’s ultimate gift of love, who comes into our lives to break down the barriers between us and to fulfill God’s promises for humankind to dwell in the Peaceable Kingdom. “What wondrous love is this, O my soul!”
Now is the time to prepare the way to receive this wondrous gift of love into our hearts and homes. It is time to brush away the cobwebs, sweep away the dust, throw out all the clutter and get rid of all the obstacles within our lives to make room for this child of love. It is time to make a fresh start, a holy place within us for the child to dwell.
Prepare the way for the Lord — what a challenge! Can you imagine making a smooth and straight highway for the Lord here in Malawi? Those of you who have visited the northern region of Malawi know our mud roads filled with stones and ruts and ridges and gullies. Life-threatening hairpin turns wind up to Livingstonia Plateau and down again to beautiful Lake Malawi. Even our paved roads pose a challenge during the rainy season when they are filled with potholes. When asked what side of the road we drive on in Malawi we often respond “the side with the fewest potholes!” Metaphorically, this reflects life here in the seventh poorest country in the world!
In Malawi the obstacles are many as we strive to prepare the way for abundant life that comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ! Most people struggle daily just to have enough food to feed their families; most cannot afford to pay the school fees that would permit their children to have a secondary education. HIV/AIDS, malaria and road accidents daily bring us to death’s door, burying the young and vibrant in our land. Rampant corruption, a dearth of well-trained, wise leadership, rising dictatorial tendencies, and over a million orphaned children seem to be a recipe for chaos.
For the College of Theology, this year has been filled with such rough places. For a good part of this year, limited funds caused us to fall several months behind in paying staff salaries and student allowances. Our leadership changed with the changing winds of the church. Due to the declining quality of primary and secondary education, it has become increasingly difficult for students and lecturers to meet the standards of a quality college-level education. Students still eat out of a construction shed. The women’s hostel remains without power as we wait for the electric company to provide a cable and a meter. Almost every week we receive notice that a relative of one of the members of the college community has died. How can we overcome these obstacles to prepare the way of the Lord?
At the College of Theology we have just completed the first semester of the 2010-2011 academic year. It has been a busy and challenging semester for faculty and students. For the first time we have four classes of students, so coordinating the day-to-day routine of classes and residential student life is more demanding than ever. We are especially blessed by the presence of four very capable female students who bring fresh new perspectives to a predominantly male profession.
Graduates and faculty.
As lecturers we are challenged to teach our students the skills of critical thinking, not an easy task in a nation where books are few, expensive and beyond the reach of most. The students are often frustrated in their efforts to meet this challenge. But their commitment along with the patience and dedication of their lecturers enables them to rise to the challenge through hard work, the grace and power of the Spirit of God and the support and encouragement of the body of Christ.
Communication and working in unity are further challenges for students from different cultures, tribes and languages, not to mention different personalities! But still we forge ahead, often floundering, sometimes despairing, but never alone because, indeed, Immanuel is in our midst. God is with us, and when we remember to prepare the way for Immanuel in our hearts and minds we seem to find a way to make the rough places smooth and the crooked, while not straight, at least straighter than in the past. Every valley is lifted up as together the community of students and lecturers lift up each other during difficult times.
Graduates, wives and children
You too help lift us out of the valley of despair through your many gracious gifts given from deep down in your hearts. Just this past month we have finally been able to pay in full pending salaries and allowances. In addition, these gifts come not only from abroad but also from our local congregations that have renewed their commitment to support the life and work of the college.
Let me end by sharing with you the fruit that is born of hearts devoted to preparing the way of the Lord: Nine students (now ministers serving congregations) received the Bachelor of Theology degree at the November 8, 2010, University of Livingstonia graduation ceremony! They are the first group to go beyond the licentiate and diploma levels. What a joyous celebration!
Preparing the way of the Lord is hard work, and this weary world longs for it to become easier. Indeed, it does become easier as we open our hearts and minds to receive Immanuel, God with us, to uphold and sustain and give us new life! May this gift of Immanuel be yours!
Grace and Peace,
Debbie
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 59
