Challenges to Vital Services

A letter from Barbara Nagy in the U.S., on Interpretation Assignment from Malawi

November 2016

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Decatur, Georgia, where we are now doing mission interpretation (visiting you!) for the next few months and possibly through May of 2017. We would like to share news of Nkhoma Hospital coming to us from our colleagues, who are faithfully doing remarkable work, in part because of your generous support.

Malawi continues to face major challenges in terms of governance, finance and health, sadly surpassing places with ongoing wars and devastating natural catastrophes as the poorest country in the world. Our partner church, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, and Nkhoma Hospital face daily uphill battles to try to keep vital services going, provide compassionate care, education, evangelism and development. For the past two months water and power at Nkhoma mission station have been off most days, including the supply to Nkhoma Hospital, Josophat Mwale Theological Institute, Nkhoma Nursing College, and numerous primary and secondary schools in the area. Basic building blocks of hospital services like hand washing, cleaning surgical drapes, instruments, wards and theatres, have severely suffered, and power to run such things as oxygen concentrators, anesthesia machines and lights have all come from a backup diesel generator. This has resulted in major cost overruns for Nkhoma Hospital and outreach services. We were blessed that supporters donated funds to help drill boreholes in this time of crisis, but water pumps will have to be powered with diesel, again resulting in major costs to continue to provide hospital services.

Young girls carrying water as we trotted past on our horses

For mission workers and others living on the mission station, where there is usually non-potable tap water, the lack of water means that someone will have to carry water from a borehole on a daily basis. We will say goodbye to our vegetable gardens, since carrying water is difficult and extremely time consuming. We may close our eyes at a spot on a shirt or dress before sacrificing water to wash it. Baths become bucket baths with no hot water since the power is also off, and all wastewater is harvested to flush toilets. A bucket is a very valuable commodity in these circumstances! However, for people living in the villages half of the previously dependable water sources have dried up, so families are forced to drink contaminated water or walk farther and farther to get to any water source. Severe or fatal cases of diarrhea increase very significantly, and many girl children are kept home from school to carry water. Often they are walking hours each day to carry water, and waiting hours in line once they get to the borehole. Fewer than 10 percent of poor village girls in Malawi will finish secondary school, partly for this reason. They are also at significantly higher risk of sexual assault as they travel farther from their homes.

Prayers for rain this year have never been more heartfelt, as this is the second year of severe drought that has left millions of people facing starvation. We are thankful to friends who provided funds for emergency food relief last year, including Nickel a Meal funds from the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, which saved many people from starvation. We are working hard to strengthen programs that teach sustainable agriculture techniques, though change is difficult for village people who have practiced slash-and-burn agriculture for generations. Community transformation programs directed by Nkhoma Public Health Department and the Relief and Development Department of Nkhoma Synod are important supports to better farming. Teaching and providing supplies for kitchen gardens, crop diversification such as orange-fleshed sweet potato and cassava, and conservation techniques that leave foliage on top of dormant fields are slowly gaining some acceptance. These drought-fighting techniques are increasing food amounts and diversity for people in rural areas.

I have shared many challenges to life in Malawi in this letter, yet I want to close with gratitude for what you are doing to stand by the church and the Christian community in Malawi. In spite of these extreme challenges I have described, God continues to make a way forward. Hospital services have never been interrupted, and we continue to be known throughout Malawi as a place of compassion and excellent care. Schools are continuing to operate, and the Ebenezer Primary School achieved a 100 percent pass rate for students taking the primary school leaving exam last spring, a very significant achievement. Nkhoma Nursing College and Josophat Mwale Seminary continue to educate students and have been joined by Nkhoma University. And rain will come!

We will be transitioning out of Malawi after this time of itineration, due to educational and other factors for us as a family. We are considering another health-related assignment through Presbyterian World Mission and ask for your prayers as we try to seek God’s calling for this next phase of our lives. We are so grateful to have walked with you over these past 13 years of service in Malawi and feel God has used our time in Malawi not only to bring love to people there but also to enrich us as individuals and a family. Thank you more than we can adequately express for your support of our family and the ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Malawi. We would like to ask you to continue supporting us as a family in this time of transition, contributing to our sending and support accounts, but also to give financial support directly for Nkhoma Hospital, ECO# E051772.

Blessings and love from the Nkhoma community and our family,

Barbara

Please read this important message from Tony De La Rosa, Interim Executive Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:1b-2, NRSV)

Dear Friend of the Presbyterian Mission Agency:

Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support of Barbara Nagy this year, and any previous year. We hear from our mission co-workers how much your prayerful financial support has meant to them. Please know that you are a vital part of ministries throughout Malawi.

Even as I thank you, I want to let you know that this is a critical time for our congregations and all people of faith to commit themselves to support mission co-workers like Barbara. Our global church partners greatly value her service, and you well know how important this ministry is in building connections between the body of Christ in the U.S. and Malawi.

We have historically relied on endowment interest and the general offering from congregations to sustain the vital work of all of our mission workers. Those sources of funding have greatly diminished. It is only through the gifts of individuals and congregations that we are able to keep Barbara doing the life-giving work God called her to do. A year ago, in May 2015, we had to recall some mission workers due to a lack of funding. World Mission communicated the challenge to you, and you responded decisively and generously. Through your response, we heard the Spirit remind us, “Fear not!”

Today, I’m asking you to consider an additional gift for this year, and to increase the gift you may consider for 2017. Sending and support costs include not only salary but also health insurance and retirement contributions, orientation, language training, housing, travel to the country of service, children’s education, emergency evacuation costs, and visa/passport costs.

My heartfelt thanks for your prayers and support of our Presbyterian mission co-workers. In the coming season, we will celebrate God’s sending of the Christ child, the source of the good news we share. May you experience anew the hope, peace, joy, and love that are ours because “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18).

Thank you for saying “yes” to love.

With you in Christ,

Tony De La Rosa
Interim Executive Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)