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Monday, January 10, 2005 The Feet of Those Who Bring Good News By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:35 PM :: 883 Views A few weeks ago I did something I have been longing to do since coming here. I washed the feet of the women in my Bible study. Their feet are so worn and scarred. Their toe nails, ragged and torn if not missing altogether. I brought out a comfortable chair and had them sit while I washed their feet with soap, and rubbed cream into their calloused and cracked feet. They didn’t mind. They enjoyed it. They seemed content to sit while I served. They are worn down by the ordinary cares of living, and don’t have energy to spend questioning who should serve who. Read More..

Friday, October 01, 2004 Going North By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:37 PM :: 520 Views When someone mentions ‘going north’ in Ontario, we all think of heading to Huntsville, or perhaps Parry Sound. ‘Going north’ in Malawi generally refers to somewhere at the Lake. Lake Malawi is a huge lake which shares its shores with Tanzania and Mozambique as well. When Livingstone was searching for the source of the Nile, he spent a lot of time on or near Lake Malawi. Read More..

Sunday, August 01, 2004 How to update you without sounding melodramatic! By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 3:20 PM :: 1055 Views This afternoon I held Rose’s baby, now an orphan. Rose died yesterday, and her family who didn’t care for her in life, barely grieved her death. I was very sad. Baby Alucia is very sick, and may not live long. That was my second funeral in two days. Yesterday, I was at the funeral of a faithful man, a neighbour to Peter who works with me. Many gathered, and I was coached by Peter, as to what I should do. I took my place with the women. Inside the small house women wailed, as many as could fit in that small room. The men were busy: working on the coffin, making rope out of palm leaves, to carry the coffin. The women were quiet, silently caring for their neighbour with their presence. Charles’ wife was in a corner beside the body. The women stopped wailing when someone said I wanted to pray. I felt that I may have been intruding, and yet, I know that Jesus does comfort. I prayed, giving thanks for the faith I had seen in Charles, and asking the God of all comfort to draw near. I stayed for a while. Many had been there all night, and would stay through the next. I returned home with a heavy heart, as I realized the lot of a widow in Malawi. Veronica has a house and three children, but little else. Friends of her husband took many of his possessions as they believe she will die if she continues to use such useful things as a bucket. Her roof leaks and she is alone. Still, she is a woman of faith and joy…rarely have I seen her with any other expression but a smile! Read More..

Tuesday, June 01, 2004 Woman at the well By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:48 PM :: 447 Views I just walked out my kitchen door and into a story, a story about a woman sitting at a well. Her name is Rose. My heart breaks for her. She is a single mum of two. I so want to know her. She has a tin bucket with no handle, and waits while water pours from my tap, with no effort on her part. The village pump is broken again. Until yesterday, we had been without water for three days. Jesus said, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never again be thirsty. The water I shall give will be a spring of water within her, welling up and bringing eternal life.’ Read More..

Monday, May 17, 2004 A night in the bush By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:51 PM :: 382 Views Saturday morning at 10 a.m. we climbed onto the already loaded flat bed truck. Lauren (a friend who has been visiting this month) and I (Jo) were on an adventure, an overnight choir trip up to Mulanje Mountain. The choir was already singing as we piled in, and found a space. This was my first time away from our kids since our arrival six months ago, and I was ready. We sang some familiar songs first, and then learned some new ones. Malawian songs always have a lead line, which is great because they cue the rest of us. The harmonies are incredible. The road was very bumpy because of the rain and I was glad to have a mattress beneath me. The tarmack was a welcome sight. Read More..

Monday, May 17, 2004 'Odala ali osauka mumzimu cifukwa uli wao Ufumu wa Kumwamba' By David Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:59 PM :: 347 Views Several of you know what those words mean, because you cut out the letters to make banners which now hang in our classroom. They read: ‘Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’   The banners were an idea, which I mentioned to Marie (a friend who is here visiting as I write). She took the idea and the Scripture to some friends who made these beautiful banners for our pastors. The amazing part is this. In my usual fashion I forgot to include the dimensions of the spaces available, and the banners fit perfectly between each of the windows. Read More..

Monday, March 29, 2004 Lost and Found By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 3:24 PM :: 356 Views Rose has been coming here daily to get a bottle of milk, plus oil, plus sugar (as many calories as I can cram into a bottle) for her baby who was near death. She may have AIDS and her baby, Lucia, is tiny. In five days, both mother and baby look different. Rose came looking for help – anything I could give her. Magdalena is grandma to two little boys who are only about nine months apart, one of whom is always crying (They live just on the other side of our fence so we hear him every night). The children’s mother has been sick, and Magdalena always carries a baby on her back and came, needing medicine. Nduzen helps me with my laundry. She is a single mother of two, and almost danced for joy when I gave her a gift from the Browns for the extra laundry. These are some of my neighbours. The best help I can give is to help each of these lost ones find Jesus. The hard part for me is how to get out of the way, so that they see Jesus, not me. Read More..

Sunday, January 25, 2004 Is there an edge to the rain, Mummy?! By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 3:26 PM :: 314 Views That is the question that came from Daniel, as we drove towards a very cloudy sky, earlier today. In Africa, the sky is always changing and you can see the weather miles away. You can see the ‘edge’ to the rain. ‘Can you see out of the rain to where there is no rain, if you are close enough to the edge?’ chimed in Patrick. Great questions, arising because of a beautiful, expressive sky, loaded with rain clouds. Yes, we have had rain. Yesterday it rained hard most of the day. A friend came by in the morning and together we looked at 1 John 1, and prayed. There was much to pray for, and we inevitably pleaded for rain. The same day the newspaper declared that 3.5 million people would starve in the Lower Shire Region. Just the night before, I had passed a neighbour, who told me she was hungry. The pump which supplies our village is broken, and so people are without even water. I wonder how God will meet all these needs. Read More..

Sunday, January 25, 2004 Finally!!! By David Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 3:02 PM :: 290 Views After four months traveling by rail, sea and road, the two 20’ containers arrived safely the other day to Bangula. Long before the containers were expected in Africa I started the process to clear them. I’ve learned that getting clearance is no easy task. After numerous trips back and forth from Blantyre (2 ½ hour drive each way), two trips to Lilongwe (7 hour drive each way), persistent phone calls, meetings with people in the offices of the Registrar General, Solicitor General, Attorney General, Commissioner General, the Malawi Revenue Authority, Customs and Immigration, we finally received approval. We appreciated the special attention we received from our MP who in December ushered us into the office of the Attorney General on Parliament Hill in Lilongwe to help plead our case. However, once given approval, our challenges were not yet over. Read More..

Thursday, January 01, 2004 Waiting and Creating By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 3:28 PM :: 289 Views Two themes have surfaced for me this Christmas, waiting and creating….waiting, because we continue to wait for rain with longing, and expectancy; and creating, because we have had to create everything with simple materials and yet we have found joy in so doing. Read More..

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