Difficult Days

A letter from Barbara Nagy serving in Malawi

September 2015

Dear friends,

Greetings once again from Nkhoma, where the trees have begun to bloom weeks ahead of the expected rains. I always find this a picture of faith.  Purple jacaranda followed by yellow cassia, many-colored frangipani, white and pink mopani and finally the spectacular scarlet flamboyant trees color the landscape.  Africa is not muted at this season of the year!

A similar colorful display met my eye on Sunday.  As I drove to town at an unusual hour, I passed streams of village people walking to church in their best clothes, their way of showing respect for God and for worship.  Zitenji (local cloth) of every possible color, head wraps and clothing from all over the world competed with each other for the eye. Many of the friends and colleagues I passed carried their Bibles, prized possessions in a culture where any sort of book is scarce and valuable—especially scripture—and literacy is a distinction.

There were also those in special uniforms, the white blouses and black skirts of the Chigwirizano, the Presbyterian Women of Malawi.  These women tirelessly work for the good of their communities, building wells, building houses for handicapped people, helping children with school fees, and acting as a much-needed backbone of society.  Choirs passed by, wearing similar shirts or dresses, ready to be part of worship services that will last hours, providing numerous musical offerings throughout the services accompanied by drums, other traditional percussion instruments and always dancing!

Other news from Malawi these days is not so bright, and I pray that all are aware of the special day of prayer and fasting announced for October 18 being held to support people whose lives are in peril due to the floods and droughts of the past year.  Usually we think of “hunger season,” when food is scarce, as being from January through March, but people in many villages here have already run out of food, and we fear many, many deaths due to malnutrition, as well as untold other suffering.

I have written previously about Cashgate, the government financial scandal that has caused Western donors to withhold funds.  Investigations of the culprits have proceeded at a snail’s pace, which means that Malawi has had to rely on only its meager tax base for the government to function.  Hospitals across the country have run out of basic medicines, ambulances are without fuel, teachers, clinic workers, judges, and policemen are paid late or not at all, and we have just been informed that all health worker graduates from this past year will have no jobs because there is no money to pay them.  The nursing shortage is one of the most critical factors in the health crisis here.  The government announced yesterday that all public school students will now have to pay to attend even primary school and there will be no scholarships.

Nkhoma Hospital has often been shielded from the worst consequences of these decisions because of generous support of people like yourselves, but in these circumstances even our resources have been insufficient, and the Service Level Agreement between Nkhoma Hospital and Malawi government to provide free care to pregnant women and children under 5 came to a halt two weeks ago.  Whereas maternal deaths at the hospital have dropped precipitously since the Service Level Agreement came into existence, with only one maternal death this year, we have had to re-introduce very limited fees for women, and the number of new prenatal visits has plummeted.  Pediatric outpatient visits and patients coming to the pediatrics ward also have dropped markedly, which means people are just staying at home with their sick children.  How well we embody the scripture in Proverbs, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (NIV).

In spite of these challenges we continue to seek the best paths of service for the people in our environs, and we rejoice that a maternal child health coordinator has been assigned to the community health department who is a gifted and capable person.  We have already begun to make plans to improve outreach to the communities, which will hopefully make much of the care for the sick unnecessary because people are healthier in their communities.

Please continue to pray for us.  Patient care, education, evangelism and community health work continue as we are able.  We are unsure where funds to buy drugs or pay staff for the month of October will be found. We can only look to God to be faithful as we continue to serve Him with our best.

Thank you for continuing to provide financial support for my ministry.  It is especially important that I can be here now, during these difficult times.  If you are not currently supporting this good work, I invite you to consider prayerfully how you can do so.

May God be with you in all that you are doing.
Barbara Nagy for the Nkhoma Community

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 156
Read more about Barbara Nagy’s ministry