Missing Malawi

A Letter from Jeremy and Luta Garbat-Welch, serving in Malawi

Summer 2021

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Dear friends,

It’s been almost 18 months since we left Malawi for what we thought was a short visit to speak with you all, our supporting congregations, and enjoy some family leave as we welcomed our daughter into our family. Eighteen months feels like a lifetime ago, and still, the end seems nowhere in sight. When we left Malawi, a dear friend said to me (Luta), “By the time you come back, your daughter will be big, and she won’t know us.” I responded light-heartedly, “Don’t be silly; we’ll be back by the time she’s three months old. She will know you.” I have thought of her words (which now seem prophetic in their telling) often in the past year as I watch our daughter, now 15 months old, grow up in relative isolation in the U.S.A., and I mourn the community in Malawi that has been waiting to welcome her.

We are regularly asked, “So when are you going back to Malawi?” It’s a question I have grown to dread. Early on in the pandemic, the PC(USA) instituted an in-person meeting and travel ban on all GA personnel. This ban has been extended multiples times over the course of this year and a half, each time giving us a target date to set our hopes on for a return to Malawi, that is then pushed further away as the Crisis Management Team looks out for the well-being of not just PC(USA) employees but limiting the potential spread of the COVID virus from place to place.

A friend of ours was recently given the opportunity to study in the U.S.A., though he expressed concerns about living in a new country. I assured him that just as God has been with him in Malawi, God will be with him in the U.S.A. because “God is already there.” It was an important reminder for me to hear myself. I yearn to be present in Malawi, my eyes are always turned towards Malawi, but God is here, in Shelbyville, Kentucky. God says to Joshua, “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9, NLT). God has provided for us in numerous ways during this “time of exile,” reminding us to be courageous as we wait patiently to return home.

Our work with the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) continues – the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) communities in Malawi and Zambia continue to grow and expand as the church and neighboring villages ask to be a part of the work they see their neighbors doing.

In Malawi, the CHE communities have been especially encouraged as the Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs), who are government-based community health workers, have been encouraging the use of tippy taps (hand washing stations), which the CHE communities have been working on for several years. It’s an affirmation to the CHE trainers and volunteers that what they are doing is good for their health and that they are ‘ahead of the game.’ The CHE Program in the Synod of Zambia continues to build on its “healthy homes foundations.” The “Village Savings and Loan” groups see more and more model homes’ best health practices, and families build income for themselves. They have also been participating in an Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) HIV program that encourages people living with HIV to take their antiretroviral medicines consistently to improve their quality of life and prevent HIV transmission. The CHE program is using its expertise and encouragement to address the needs of its church communities.

We do our best to support and encourage from afar through WhatsApp texts and calls and e-mails. We pray for and with our friends and colleagues, and we remember that God is here and God is there. We know that life brings stress and worry to us all at one time or another. And we hope that you will feel the comfort of our loving and ever-present God, wherever you are.

In Christ’s service,

Luta (for the Garbat-Welchs)

Please read the following letter from Sara P. Lisherness, the interim director of World Mission:

Dear partners in God’s mission,

I don’t know about you, but daily my heart grows heavier. News about the pandemic, wars, wildfires, gun violence, racism, earthquakes and hurricanes cloud my vision. It’s hard to see hope; our world is in a fog. Yet we trust that God’s light and love transcend the brokenness of this time.

God is at work transforming the world, and you, through your prayers, partnership and encouragement, are helping us share this good news. Thank you for your faithful and gracious support of our mission personnel.

How can we see through the fog? What will the church be after the pandemic? Could it be that God is doing “a new thing” and is inviting us to perceive it? Through all the uncertainty we know that God’s steadfast love and care for all creation will prevail and that God’s Spirit is at work in each of us.

We all have an integral part to play in fulfilling God’s mission. As we seek to grow together in faithfulness there are three important steps I invite you to take in supporting our shared commitments to God’s mission:
Give – Consider making a year-end financial contribution for the sending and support of our mission personnel. Your support helps mission personnel accompany global partners as together they share the light of God’s love and justice around the world. Invite your session to include support for mission personnel in its annual budget planning.
Act – Visit The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study to delve deeper into the work God is doing through the PC(USA) and its partners in ministry around the globe: pcusa.org/missionyearbook.
Pray – Include our mission personnel, our global partners, and our common commitments to share God’s grace, love, mercy and justice in your daily prayers.

Thank you for your faithfulness to God’s mission through the Presbyterian Church. It is my prayer that you will continue to support this work with your prayers, partnership, and financial gifts in the coming year. We hope you will join us and our partners in shining a beacon of hope throughout the world.

In the light of hope,

Sara P. Lisherness, Interim Director
World Mission
Presbyterian Mission Agency
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

To give please visit https://bit.ly/PCUSAmission

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16