Song: Carry Me Through

Dave Barnes

There’s a mountain
Here before me
And I’m going to climb it
With strength not my own
He’s gonna lead me
Or the mountain beats me
Carry me through
Carry me through

There’s a river
Here before me
And I’m gonna cross it
with strength not my own
He’s gonna save me
Or the river takes me.
Carry me through
Carry me through

Oh Lord be gentle
I’m just a man
Please don’t crush me
Help me in.

Oh Lord remember
I try so hard
I walk and talk
Your kingdom love

There’s a city
Here before me
And I’m gonna get there
Strength not my own
He’s gonna carry me
when I get weary
Carry me through
Carry me through

Oh Lord be gentle
I’m just a man
Please don’t crush me
And help me in

Oh lord remember
I try so hard
I walk and talk
Your kingdom love

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Carry me through

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Lord Sweet Lord
Carry me through.

Peace of Christ.

lanecia

Heather’s Reporter Reflection

Mpenya, Galilea, Tiwasunge, Dedza, Blantyre— a few weeks ago these words were completely foreign and strange, now just typing them brings to mind images of singing children, laughing teachers, humble servant leaders, a thriving church, beautiful mountains, a lush green landscape.  These images, the people I encountered and the experiences we shared continue to shape me and my ministry.

From my initial and ongoing wonder at being in Malawi, to my joy at the amazing hospitality that is lived out on so many levels, to being inspired by the depth and breadth of the faith I had the privilege to be invited to witness and to participate in through prayer, worship and welcome–I have much to ponder and to pray about.

Again and again, I met people whose lives are shaped by prayer and through a fervent belief that prayers are answered.  Everything we did was bracketed and rested between opening song and prayer and closing song and prayer.  Shaping the living of the day with prayer, provides an ongoing reminder that God is with us.

And this ongoing reminder of God’s promise to be with us is certainly necessary in a country so wracked by the ills that poverty and little to no healthcare bring.  A great joy was to see the hope and resilience that the United Methodist Church of Malawi inspires in so many.  From the naming of leaders within the community to the calling of ministers of word and sacrament, the church is doing the work of reminding people that through God they can do more than they ever dreamed, through Christian community we can become more than we ever thought.  Seeing people’s faith allow them to love more and to give more reminds me to have the faith to love and to give, trusting that God will provide what is needed.

My learning and growing from this time away continues to unfold.  I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to see God at work in Malawi and see anew God at work here at home.

It was fabulous!

Daniel and Moty

We laughed, shared stories, reminisced, ate well, prayed together, offered annoucements (parting words) and delighted in fellowship with one another.

When we arrived home, there was a bag a treats waiting for us that were left by Lucy and Tereza of the Tiswasunge Community. They had carved each of our names into wooden rings.

Saturday morning came sooner than I thought it would on March 9. We shared our last cup of coffee with the Olivers, packed, Janet got her Malawi tea and coffee, Heather watched some cartoons with Jeff, Carter and Claire Marin, I played a bit with Christina, and had time for prayerful reflection. It was nice.

We arrived at the airport in good time, so we had less than an hour to wait on the outside deck before boarding our flight. One by one, friends of ours (pastors, women, men, and youth of the UMC of Malawi) can to bid us farewell. It was nice to have one more chance to laugh together and continue getting to know each other.

I was overwhelmed, to be honest. Most of these faces were the same ones who met us at airport when we arrived, to greet us and pray with us in the parking lot over a week ago and had joined us for dinner the night before. Yet, there they were one last time to bid us farewell and warm our spirits once again before we left Malawi.

I am so thankful for the pages of our story that were written over the past couple of weeks. The people, places and experiences will remain with us always. We each look forward to sharing the story of what God has done and is doing in Malawi with those who are willing to hear. Thank you for sharing the journey with us, each and every step.

Peace of Christ.

lanecia

Heather, Janet and I are safely back in the USA. Heather and I are at the airport in Atlanta, GA, and will be landing in Nashville a bit past 10am. Thank you for your prayers and support during this journey. We look forward to many opportunities for storytelling once we are home and settled.

Peace of Christ,

lanecia a rouse

Thursday morning we have breakfast together at the Dezda Pottery Lodge.  While we are waiting for our food, the United Methodist pastor from the Dezda circuit arrives to greet us.  After introductions, he joins us for breakfast.  He has a shy smile.

After breakfast we load into the SUV.   The countryside is beautiful.  Breathtaking lush green craggy mountains, rocky hills, sunshine peaking through clouds in an endless sky.  We stop for goats to cross, we wait for a herd of cattle to amble by.  Always there are people walking, carrying loads of sticks, bundles of everything.  We share the road with people lucky enough to have a bicycle, on which they can load more sticks and more bundles.

The tarmac ends (the paved road) and we bump along a narrow one way path.  Driving up a hill, a large truck is stopped in the middle of the road as men load it up with wood.  There is much discussion and negotiating as to whether there is room for us to pass or if the truck needs to move.  The truck needs to move.

We continue on into the mountains.  Nestled in the landscape there are small groupings of thatched roof homes.  A goat might be sleeping on a porch, chickens pecking for food, or just walking around, children smile and wave as we pass by.

We drive down into a valley, at the bottom is a log bridge crossing a narrow river.  We pile out of the SUV.  There is much discussion as to whether we can safely cross the bridge in the SUV.  There is more discussion as to exactly how much farther it is to the village that is our destination.  We need to walk the rest of the way to the village, we walk across the bridge, and head up the hill.  On either side of us are rows and rows of cornstalks, and in the furrows, sweet potatoes are sending up their green leaves.

Everywhere the eyes look there is something beautiful to see.  Walking in this landscape fills me with joy.

We arrive at the village and learn that there has been a misunderstanding about our arrival time. (communication had been difficult because the pastor had sold his cell phone to be able to attend annual conference).  Still, kind people come to greet us, we are shown their thatched church.  We are a great curiosity to the children.  In no time at all, there are so many children, that Kara begins a game of duck, duck goose.  Since my recent foray into duck duck goose had not been successful, I turn around, and I see two little girls staring at me.   I say “Hi” and lift my hand in greeting they yell and run away.

I step onto the path, they see me, yell again, run, and look back to see what I am going to do next.  I look at them, take one step, they squeal, run, then look back.  I take a step away, as though to go, they move closer, I take a step towards them. Squeals of delight.  A group of children across the path, decide they are also terrified of me.  There are seemingly endless variations to this game and though, we were no where near to exhausting them, we are told, it is time to gather for worship.

Under a thatched roof, benches had been brought for the visitors to sit upon, everyone else sat on the ground.  We began our time together singing.  The shy smile of the pastor transforms into a huge grin as he leads us in singing of God’s love and of God’s promises.  We are introduced to the chief of this village and to the lay leaders of this congregation.  We hear of answered prayers.  From under our thatched roof we can see bricks stacked upon bricks, lots of sand, and piles of stone.  These bricks have been made and these stones gathered to build their church building.  The funding to help build this church has come from Belmont United Methodist Church.

It is wonderful to hear and to see how our church in Nashville, TN USA is connected to this United Methodist Church in the Dezda Circuit in Malawi Africa.  It is amazing to see how prayers are turned to bricks and stone and how bricks and stone are turned to churches and how churches hold our hopes and our dreams and our prayers.  Our time of worshiping together ends and we head off together to the SUV.   Voices are lifted in song and in prayer.  Laughter and joy carry us down the hill and over the bridge.

Heather came to me early this morning and shared Kara had taken Finna to the hospital again in the early hours of the morning. She had been to the hospital twice already, diagnosed with Malaria, only to find out she most likely has Measles. There is a Measles outbreak in Malawi right now, so this is a very real possibility.

Once I was out of bed, I put on bug spray and headed to Wilson and Finna’s home to hold Christina.

The heaviness  and weariness upon the hearts of Wilson, Kara, Jeff, Christina and Finna’s friends is so evident. You can see it in their eyes, behind their smiles, in their tears, their retelling of the story, and their silence.

Around 9am or so, Joseph, Christopher, and Kamoto stopped by to visit and receive a word about Finna. They had heard Finna was not getting better, had been taken to the hospital and they wanted to learn more and join together with us in prayer.

Prayer… for the past couple of days, God and I have been wrestling with regards to prayer and healing. This wrestling was not birthed from pity, guilt or any kind of lack of witness of God’s power at work in the lives of the people I have been blessed to share life with for a few days. No, it was birthed from my own lack of understanding, lack of belief, anger, pain and discomfort with the Mystery.

I shared my wrestling with my team and Ciona via email.  Ciona, my sister, is who I usually trust with such questions, but this time she was  silent as her own plate was  full, communication is hard and in her wisdom knew to listen to me and allow me  to wrestle.  She encouraged me to share my questions with Tereza, Daniel, Lucy, Kaunda and others I was journeying with at this particular time and listen to them. I felt her prayers.

Then there was Joseph…

Joseph, wise beyond his 22 years

Before we joined together in prayer he spoke inspired words. It was though he had been reading my journal or listening in on my private conversations with Heather, Kara and Janet. He began to talk about the power of God and the gift of prayer. He said we would join together to pray for Finna, because he believes God is able and with God the impossible is possible.

He said if we joined together, pray in faith, and boldly lay the desires of our hearts before God, God will hear those prayers and is able to offer healing. Joseph said Finna, Wilson and all those with them at the hospital would feel the presence of God surrounding them and be amazed because we prayed.

He reminded us that Scripture bears witness to God being able to make impossible things possible. He pulled on the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, then upon the three men being in the fire and Daniel in the lion’s den. Mary and Martha thought Jesus was foolish for thinking he could raise Lazarus up after so many days, but God is able.

God is able.

After Joseph, Christopher and Kamoto sang a glorious hymn, Joseph called us to pray and pray boldly. All the bodies around me began to pray aloud. I sat, still and silent, allowing the Holy Spirit to pray for me the words I could not find or bring myself to utter. The tears poured from my eyes, overwhelmed by the power of prayer, the importance of prayer in Malawi and the privilege of sitting in a room and praying with friends for healing.

Joseph closed our time of prayer. After uttering “Amen” he said, “Now breathe. God has heard our prayer. God is able. Breathe.”

In Like Breath and Water Ciona writes, “Prayer, for the people I met, does not simply petition God for the latest iGadget or beg for a quick fix to a real problem. For all of us prayer is a life force, like breath and water. Our ability to communicate with God is one way to know that we are alive.” Ciona Rouse

She is so right. Prayer is not passive, it is active and it is a life force. It is not “like” a life force, it IS a life force. Prayer is like breath and water. My soul has been thirsty and weary as I constantly live a marathon life, not stopping to be still to breathe and take big sips out of the well that does not run dry.

Lord, teach me how to pray. Teach me how to breathe and show me how to drink.

Before teaching Joseph, Christopher and Kamoto the “3 Men in the Fire” song my friends from South Africa taught me last summer, I realized that I had been asking the wrong questions the past couple of days due to my own limitations and pain. I was getting distracted by these questions, allowing them the power to drain me.

Thank God for grace upon grace, and as Heather reminded me Monday night, “God will not let us go.”

Praise God!

God is big enough for all the questions, even the ones that bring laughter to God’s heart and even grief, because God loves us. This morning I am surprised by such love, thankful for such love, healed by such love and resting in such love.

May you know the surprise, gratitude, healing and rest of such amazing Love.

“Noel’s words shaped the journey for me. The expatriated Malawian said that if we were interested in learning about oil, then maybe we should visit the Middle East. Oil runs deep in their ground. But learning to pray requires a trip to a place where prayer runs beneath it all.” Ciona Rouse

After many days of new and intense experiences it is good to have a day to rest and to reflect a little bit.  We began the day with coffee in Blantyre in a shop that is housed in one of the oldest buildings in the city.  Originally built by the English, and now home to a coffee shop owned by an Italian family–there was much that felt familiar, from the European architecture to the cappachino and lattes on the menu.  Sipping coffee, eating cake, talking with Kara, Janet and Lanecia, it felt like a little bit of home.

However, for Kara and Jeff, in their life here as missionaries and as friends there is not much time to rest.  In the midst of providing a much needed respite for me, they were making sure their neighbor and dear friend got to the hospital (by taking her), checking in with her husband throughout the day (on the phone Jeff had lent), visiting and praying with her in the hospital and bringing her home.  Providing friendship and support to her husband and baby daughter throughout the day.

Meanwhile, making sure I had a chance to find souvenirs for my children, a time to nap and to read, and to make a delicious dinner for eight (thanks, Jeff!)

And then there are the regular tasks of their life of ministry with meetings to attend, phone calls to make, administrative work to do, and the general unending busy-ness of the local pastor.

I don’t know how they do it, but I am thankful that they do.

Living a life where death is so present as to be palpable, they, like the dear friends and mentors who love and also care for them, live lives that brim with joy, purpose and lots and lots of love.

Pictures taken and shared by Heather Harriss

We all need a place to be loved, nurtured, seen, cared for and held. As the author of the book I have been reading this trip writes, “From the cradle in the apartment or house where we are born to the bed in the house or hospice where we will pass on to God’s presence, we need our place. We need to belong to real families, neighborhoods, churches, and communities.” We all need a place of love and belonging… an oasis… home.

This morning I found another place of love and belonging in the world. It was an oasis, a home, where the host was Christ.

Tiwasunge, which means “we keep them,” is a community in Kampala, Blantyre, Malawi, of people living with HIV/AIDS. Disowned by their families, they have journeyed from all over to this small community where they are loved, nurtured, seen, cared for and held. This morning we were privileged to receive time and space with the men and women of Tiswasunge.

We were first greeted by Lucy. I will never forget her warm joy-filled welcome to me. With a big grin and giggle she looked at me and said, “Ah, you are home.”

When we arrived at the chief’s house, the Tiswasunge community were waiting under the trees to greet us with singing and the warm Malawian handshake.

Holy ground.

It was surreal. Many of the people who stood before me singing, smiling and rejoicing I have been praying with by name and request for months. For months I have watched their stories shared through the Pray With Africa film a number of times, read their stories in Like Breath and Water and heard so much about them from Ciona. What an opportunity to be with them in flesh and blood.

There was this holy moment when a little girl who I had prayed with through Pray With Africa a couple of weeks ago ran into the mix of women and men of the Tiswasunge community. Oh my,  I wanted to jump up and embrace her.  I refrained myself for fear of scaring the living daylights out of her or interrupting the program, but gosh it was so tempting.  I was overwhelmed.  I kept thinking to myself, “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place and in this moment, surely.”

For two hours we got to visit with the Tiswasunge community. We shared greetings, learned more about the way they share life together, sang songs, prayed together, collected prayers, taught each other songs, and reveled in the love of God that had brought our lives together.

During Kara’s greeting, she gave thanks for the healing Tiwasunge had offered Jeff. She also shared one of many holy moments of her time here, when she prayed a prayer for her friend Lucy she had only allowed herself to pray for her children. As she held Lucy’s head in her lap at the hospital in Blantyre a few weeks ago, waiting for medical care and attention, she prayed for God to take some of her strength and give it to Lucy.

Tonight as I prepare for sleep, heart and mind still a bit restless and weary, I pray for God to grant me the gift of an ounce of the strength and hope Lucy, Thereza, Esther, Patrick, William, Ida, and the many other beloved persons of the Tiwasunge community have.

Have you ever been transported back in time to a place in your childhood that held a precious memory?  Is there something there you would wish to see, hear, taste or smell again?  Is there something you would change?

This morning as we entered into the worship experience, I had that feeling of being transported back in time to a place I have been before.  The music, the language, the ritual, all so familiar. I remember all those years ago, Malawi taught me to pray.  Malawi taught me how to worship.

Daniel led us in the first two songs.  “I want to hear you sing louder than me this time” he said.  A woman in the congregation started the next song, a song obviously meaningful to her.  Our voices were getting stronger as we got into the rhythm of worship song.  Before long, we were enthusiastically clapping and dancing our praise.  Then we prayed…our individual voices lifted in prayer together…like bees in a hive, voices on the wind, hearts in a throng.  More greetings and the choir sang. More people joined us. Children moved in and out as they pleased.

As we settled in for the sermon, I couldn’t resist something I had always longed to do.  I had so often, as a child, wanted the freedom to slip outside to play with the other children, but we were never allowed. Today, I allowed myself to be as a child.  And today, I was surrounded by other children when I stepped outside.  It was all I ever longed for…to be as a child playing with other children.  We banded together in spite of our language and cultural barriers (not to mention age) and played.  In those moments of jostling laughter we were all the same, regardless of our differences…precious children of God.

Kara came out to ask if I wanted to sing the last song with them. We went inside to re-engage with the community of adults.  The Nashville group and friends led the congregation in a round of “Go Now in Peace” and then we followed the recessional.  As we all left the building, we formed a circle, adults and children alike….precious children of God.

Heather leading the second part of the teacher training event

May the Love of God Surround You
posted by Heather Harriss

Over the last two days we have gathered with a group of 7 preschool teachers.  Six women and one man.  The teaching they are called to do requires creativity, stamina, superior intelligence, delight in children, love of God, a joy for life and hearts bigger than all of Malawi.  The teachers nurture their children with love, clear rules and a whole lot of singing.

Our time together was filled with love, laughter and a whole lot of singing.  Mission Consultant, Kara Oliver and United Methodist Women President Moty Mhone envisioned this time for the teachers as a way to learn more about children and their developmental needs, to meet with other teachers who face similar challenges, and to have the opportunity to share ideas of their best practices in the classroom.

The challenges are many, one teacher has an open air school for 120 preschoolers, another teaches 80 children, half of whom are orphans, all teach children who come to school hungry, the teachers are paid very little, and some go months without seeing their monthly salary.

For those who know me, it will come as no surprise to hear that the thought of teaching 120 preschoolers outside, in the heat, even though there are beautiful flowers, plants, trees and mountains in the distance, is mindboggling, inconceivable, yet day in and day out this is what happens.  Every day, they carry the heartache of children having to grow up too fast, of children who do not have their basic needs met and everyday, these teachers are a smiling face to greet them and to show them that they are loved.

At the end of one of our sessions, Lanecia taught everyone to sing the song, “Go Now in Peace,” a song that the preschool children at our church learn early and sing often.  It makes me happy to know that at some point, children and teachers in Malawi will be singing, “May the love of God surround you,” at the same time children and teachers at Belmont UMC are singing, “everywhere, everywhere, you may go.”  Amen.