Return Visit to Malawi - Africa.

Malawi had been our home from 1965 until 1981 and so our visit back after 14 years absence meant a renewal of old friendships and the opportunity to gain a first hand knowledge of how the country is today.

We knew Malawian hospitality and friendship would not let us down but we were nevertheless surprised by the overwhelming love and generosity from our former Churches in town and rural areas. Blantyre Synod officials also did their best to make our stay comfortable and happy and even put on a moving farewell for us when our time of departure came. I was not sure whether my old fluency in Chichewa would come back but I am glad to say that- except when I was very tired - it did return. This in itself opened many doors into the thoughts and hearts of Malawians of all backgrounds and enabled us to get a real feel for the country and the Church. The great bulk of our visit was to the Southern region. However during our first week Eleanor and I were by ourselves and we spent time in Lilongwe and then the Northern Region. We were given hospitality by dear Malawian friends in Lilongwe and were glad through them to renew our friendship with others too. From Lilongwe Eleanor and I went North visiting - with the help of Anne Dawson - Mzuzu, Ekwendeni, and Livingtsonia. We had an interesting tour of both Ekwendeni and Livingstonia missions and briefly met Livingstonia Synod officials in Mzuzu. We had unexpected re-unions with Mupa Shumba who we remember being taken away into detention during the cruel oppression of the former government. We found Catherine and Louis Chinula settled in a beautiful spot off the Nkhata Bay road, but feeling the financial strain of the collapse of the Malawian economy.Ian who had been in Zaire for one year arrived in Malawi after we had been there a few days and then a few days later Douglas and Keith joined us from England and Germany respectively. We spent the weekends visiting our former Churches in the Blantyre and Zomba areas and mid-weeks visiting the tourist sites of Zomba Plateau, Liwonde, Mulanje Mountain, and Lake Malawi as well as Mulanje Mission hospital. On our four weekends I was asked to preach eight times - four in English and four in Chichewa.During the whole time we spoke with many Malawians in senior positions in government secretariat especially those sections of government dealing with investment and negotiations with the IMF. We  had a brief but moving conversation was with Harry Bwanausi who as one of Dr. Banda's rebel ministers and had fled the country in 1964 and then returned once the new political freedom came. We also had many friendly and open discussions with Malawians who had little education and could not speak English. We summarise our impressions under the headings: 1. Politics and Government, 2. Church, 3. Health and Environment.