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Saturday, December 31, 2005 Sit in the River By Joanna Morrison on Monday, December 19, 2005, 7:10 PM :: 1440 Views A weekend away was a welcome change from bug-invaded, steamy hot Bangula!  We headed up through Blantyre and on to Mulanje Mountain where we had booked a lodge on Lujeri Tea Estate with our friends, the Harrisons.  In the shadow of that great mountain, how could I help but remember the greatness of God our Creator, his power and majesty.  ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountains?  Where does my help come from?' Read More..

Sunday, October 30, 2005 Feeding The Hungry By David Morrison on Sunday, October 30, 2005, 7:47 PM :: 2346 Views It’s sunrise and people begin their journey from all over the Bangula region to the Iris Ministries food distribution centre. Some walk for hours with empty stomachs and bare feet. They are hopeful that at the end of their journey under the intense sun, they will receive food. Read More..

Thursday, September 01, 2005 Malawi is Hungry By David Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:12 PM :: 1653 Views We recently hosted the first central region conference in two years. Our ministry team from Bangula, including our commissioners, Bible school teachers, choir and southern region overseers, set off from Bangula at 5AM to begin the eight hour journey to Lilongwe. We were joined by two of our Iris International Directors, Surprise Sithole, and Rolland Baker who flew in for the conference. We were also encouraged by a team of missionaries and nationals from Dondo, Mozambique who drove 16 hours in order to assist us. Read More..

Sunday, May 01, 2005 Why Would 15,000 People Come to Bangula??? By David Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:28 PM :: 1433 Views People come on foot, loaded on flat bed trucks, squeezed into various un-roadworthy vehicles…..they stream in from near and far. Why? What draws them? They come for food, for Good News, for fellowship, and for healing. Some come because they are curious, some just follow the crowds hoping for some free food. Read More..

Friday, April 01, 2005 Deeper with Him By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:32 PM :: 1066 Views The sieve has many uses here in Malawi. We use the smallest to remove weevils from flour. The next size up is good for removing bugs from the paddling pool. One step removed is good for removing rocks from sand. This last one is ingeniously made by poking holes in a piece of tin with a nail, big enough to let the sand through and hold back the rocks. I have been thinking about all the ways and means God uses to purify us, to sift us, to draw us into a deeper relationship with him. Read More..

Monday, January 10, 2005 The Feet of Those Who Bring Good News By Joanna Morrison on Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:35 PM :: 1067 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 :: 689 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 :: 1929 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 :: 634 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 :: 553 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..

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