Malawi Diary
Board member Jim Skidmore and his wife, Jean, visited Malawi in May and June to conduct training sessions in accounting and budgeting with the MoH Malawi staff. The following is his account of some of the highlights of their three-week stay.

May 16 –
Left Asheville airport at 4:00pm for Detroit. After we checked through customs we headed up the escalator for gate A. Jean was pushing her new rolling backpack. When she reached the top it would not go over the lip and she fell backwards onto me, almost knocking me down backwards. I pushed her upright and then we did the same thing all over. By God's grace we had a big push the third time and made it over the top.

May 18 –
We arrived in jo'burg (Johannesburg, South Africa) about 10:00 pm. We had a great night’s sleep and a full breakfast.

May 19 –
At Lilongwe, Malawi we were greeted by Nancy and Frank Dimmock, PCUSA missionaries and members of the Ministy of Hope Board, and Vitumbiko and Maxwell, members of the MoH Malawi staff, and Kafumbi Njewa, Chairman of the MoH Malawi Board.

May 20 –
It is the beginning of winter in Malawi. The maize (corn) crop is about finished with harvesting. Thankful the food supply is ok. (At one feeding center) there are about 100-150 orphans to feed. Just before lunch I met the women who had cooked the meal and two men who helped. It was all cooked over a wood fire behind the home of the feeding center director, a man named Roderick.

The children made two lines. Roderick got them to recite the Bible verses for the day and then had a prayer. They had three big pans of water and three empty pans. Each child washed his hands. The women poured the water over their hands into the empty pan. This was all in the back yard where the ground was a bright red clay.

Each child received a large plastic plate. Each had a large serving of maize (looked like mashed potatoes) beans and greens. All were cooked and smelled really good. They took their plates and went to the porch of the Women's building where they sat and ate. No silverware or plastic. They ate with their hands. That's why they were washed carefully by the women before they ate.

After lunch we visited with about 10-15 farmers. They were very proud of their gardens because it provides their families with food. The whole country has 80% of people working in farming. They were growing: maize, tomatoes, pumkin, sugar cane, beans, greens and rice. All the work was by hand and they probably had more then 1 1/2 acres planted and growing.

They were all friendly and barefoot. I only saw two people during the whole visit who had on shoes. It reminded me of my boyhood when I lived on my grandfather’s farm and never wore shoes.

Vitumbiko introduced me to all the men and women. He was very kind, and he speaks three languages. Vitu also introduced me to the witch doctor who does not help with the work and has 10 wives.

He was introduced as the evil one.

I told Vitumbiko not to worry about him, with 10 wives he won’t live long.

May 22 –
Jean says it is evident this is a Christian country from reading the newspaper. I’m not sure what she meant by that.

Last night we saw a rat in the kitchen. We closed all the doors to limit his roaming. When I got up this morning I got Mr. Katonga to help me kill the rat. I went to get the mop from the bathroom. We could not find the rat, but Mr. Katonga started sweeping and mopping the floors. He did the whole house except our bedroom.

May 22 –
Vitumbiko is picking us up to take us to the Capital City Baptist Church where Nancy and Frank attend. They had a great worship service. Their music was very good and lively. We saw many Americans at this service and a lot of Europeans.

Jean cooked a wonderful lunch in the frying pan and we cleaned up the kitchen and took our power nap. Afterward we were just having fun reading the local papers and talking about what is going on in the country and the differences between the U.S. and Malawi. It has a lot of interesting things going on and the people are concerned for one another. Food is scarce and so they are trying to watch what they spend. Frank Dimmock said they will be on relief food by September.

May 26 –
I have visited 3 feeding centers. I am most impressed with the people. The personnel really love these kids and the Lord. Spiritual matters are very important in each center. Communicating with these centers which are all outside the city is a major concern. Getting stuff, rescources, to them is a major task. From purchase to delivery to getting back home is a daily challenge.

May 30 –
We took a trip over to the crisis nursery to get the big truck so we could get building materials. This is about an 8 or 9 room house where 30 orphan babies are cared for. Montreat Presbyterian Church (Montreat, NC) provided $10,000 seed money to get this house built.

They have lots of emergencies to go rescue babies when someone dies and it takes people to do this. The nannies work in 8-hour shifts and are covered 24/7 for 30 very small babies mostly under 24 months. This includes 3 or 4 babies where the mother had died and the father promised to come for them when they are about 18 months old.

June 1 –
Jean and I had left overs for supper which was rice and beef and cabbage. Jean is a good cook and we did not go hungry. Before 10:00 I had all the books reconciled and all the reports printed for March. Seven days remain for our stay in Malawi. Can we get it all done? Only the Lord can answer that question.

June 9 –
I went to the crisis nursery and worked with Winnie, the bookkeeper and receptionist. She is very clever and caught on quickly. So I just spent two days training her. The last item on the work schedule was to complete the 2005 budget.

This has been a wonderful experience for Jean and me. The Lord has given us so many new friends. And we see so much hope in the faith of these people.

June 10 –
As we left Lilongwe we were so thankful to our Lord for giving us the joy of newfriends with a meaningful call to serve those orphans and all who are brothers and sisters in Christ.