Milonde Manse Walk

One of the main things that I admire about the people of Malawi is their willingness and fortitude to help one another. The most recent example I have seen of this is the Mulanje District Presbytery, which is made up of all the Presbyterian churches in the area, working together to build a new Manse for the Milonde church. As part of  being a Pastor here, one of the things you are given is a place to live. Most churches are built with a Manse next to it for the Pastor and their family to live in. Not all of these homes are equal however, some are large and well kept, while others are small and in desperate need of repairs. The Milonde Manse unfortunately is the latter. 

I had the opportunity to visit the Milonde Church and Manse and to meet the Pastor and his wife who are currently living there. The church is about a 30 minute drive off the tarmac road, and what an eye opening experience it was to visit. The manse they are currently living in was affected by the earthquakes earlier this year and there are large cracks running through most of the walls that are made of clay bricks. The one room of the house is so bad, the family has completely moved out of it in fear that the walls will give out and the roof will collapse. The house is in no shape for a family to be living in, but as I talked to the Pastor he explained that they make it work in order for them to be close to the community they are currently serving. As we left, the Pastor’s wife gave us a hug and a bag of peanuts and thanked us for visiting. I was touched by the generosity of these people who were living in such poor conditions. 

Thankfully, the Mulanje Presbytery has partnered together to help build a new Manse for this congregation. The building has already begun, and when we visited I was excited to see the beginning stages of the new manse. Although the project was started, more money needed to be raised in order to complete the task. In order to raise the money they need to finish the construction, a fundraising walk was planned.

Being able to participate in the walk to raise money for the Milonde Manse will be a highlight of my time here in Malawi as I look back on this year. We gathered with about 50 other people, and a truck full of the church’s praise team to begin our 7.5 km walk from Mulanje Mission Hospital back to St. Andrews. As we walked wearing our matching shirts, the praise team sang and people from the community all stopped to see what we were doing. People lined the streets and donated money as we passed. Some members of the walk were much better at fundraising than I was. I don’t think being an Azungu helped me raise any money, but I was able to smile, wave, give out high-fives and hold the banner! 

I was amazed at the amount of people who stopped their cars to donate money, the people who reached into their pockets as we walked by, the ladies selling things along the road who donated money from their daily profits in order to help our cause. Malawians in general have so much less than we as Americans, but they are so willing to help a neighbor, support a good cause, and give back to others. The money we raised as we walked will go towards finishing the Manse at Milonde for the very deserving current and future Pastors and their families, but the lessons I learned from the people I walked with and the people that supported us as we walked will stay with me long after the house is finished. The example of willingness and fortitude to help one another is a lesson I will carry with me far past the 7.5 km walk, but one I plan to carry with me for all my miles to come.