Aberdeen St Mark's Church of Scotland
   
 

Twinning Archive (2)

 		 
 

As our relationship with our friends in Mpachika grows so does the news we have to share so another page has been added to our site to keep older material available.

  
 
 

 

All of the material below was first published in our Autumn 2005 Messenger.

God Is Great

By Moses Chakhaza, Mpachika Church, Malawi

 

How grateful is this man

How Mercy is this Man

The man that the world knows

His deeds and messages will last forever

His Kingdom is about to be seen

Very soon we shall see Him eye to eye

 

As the Oracles made by old Prophets

Came true that a manger shall produce King of all Kings

As shepherds saw the light at first

As the Wise-men new the story

Indeed this is the man

That the whole world expected

 

I love this song

That the book of life gives out

How great the Father is

That he sacrificed his only son

To the sinful earth

His blood should be the path

And the Holy Spirit our light

Let us repent

 

Jesus! Jesus!

You are the Messiah

That the old Prophets Prophesized

We follow the Prayer You gave out

Whoever believes in God through you

Shall have eternal life

What a wonderful Messiah.

 

Sunday School

by Hazel Tembo, Mpachika Church, Malawi

 

I am Sunday School

He who dwells in Me shall lead a Christian life

 

At sunrise, while birds are singing their morning songs,

I dash to Church

 

As little children, we Praise the Lord through singing

Bible study at Catechumen is the next stage

All this is grooming us to be good Christians

 

The foundation of Reverends is Sunday school

The foundation of Women's guild is Sunday school

The foundation of Church elders is Sunday school

 

Let us work hard at Sunday school so that we become Deacons

Let us work hard at Sunday school so that we become reliable Christians

 

 

 

Our Malawi Trip

 

Just a few words from me-for now! - about my May trip to Malawi.  My lasting impression of Malawi - among others - was the singing, which was pretty much constant.  We had singing on our arrival at the airport, on our way to the Grace Bandawe Centre in Blantyre (they sang in the back of the truck in front of our car, clapping, smiling and laughing) and all the way through our trip,  until the day we left.  Throughout our trip, it was so obvious that God plays such a huge part in people’s lives in Malawi.  God was all around people - not in an overwhelming sense but just there, when we travelled, visited places, shared fellowship with people etc.

 

We were only in Malawi for two weeks but it feels as though we have known some of the people we met for years.  Our hosts were just so wonderful and the escorts who took us around places, were just super and we hope to see some, if not all of them in Scotland in the next few years so that we can return the experience for them and show them how caring and welcoming we are in Scotland too. 

 

Over the next few weeks (at time of writing the magazine) we have our visitors from Malawi with us—John and Jennifer have had Mercy staying with them from St. Columba’s Church in Malawi.  I have had the privilege of getting to know them all and have enjoyed introducing them to some of the beautiful sites in Scotland and to our culture and also to our cuisine—which  has been interesting!!

 

Malawi is known as the “warm heart of Africa” which is definitely true but there are lots of warm hearts too here in Aberdeen and I urge you all to remember all the lovely people in Malawi in Mpachika church and keep them in your thoughts.

Rosalyn Rennie

 

 

Personal Reflections on Malawi

 

My visit to Malawi was certainly an experience that aroused many emotions.  These included an element of disappointment that arose from the fact that advancing years meant hearing and seeing were not as good as they once were.  Consequently, I was not able to follow all that was being said and, yes, I think I did see the giraffes that were being pointed out to me at the game park!  Those who know me well will not be surprised that I found it difficult to recognise and put a name to faces of those whom I had previously met.  This is, as it is at home, most embarrassing.  But I was surrounded by a caring group of supportive people, both Malawian and Scottish!  For this I am most grateful. 

 

The welcome we received on arriving at Blantyre airport can only be described as rapturous including such wonderful and joyous singing which brought tears to our eyes.  The other occasion when I was tearful was at the other end of the emotional range when four of us went to the home of a lady being given her weekly supply of medication by an aid worker.  The conditions were so impoverished.  We had already visited dilapidated schools and hospitals but that visit drove home to me more than anything how cosseted we are in this country and how lacking we so often are in appreciation of the standards of our health and education provision.

 

I was impressed by the dedication and courage of those who were trying to meet the overwhelming need with limited resources.  Similarly the vitality and enthusiasm of the churches we visited was most impressive.  

 

The relationships that have been formed have brought a deeper understanding of what it means to be a part of the world wide family of the church.  We are indeed all God’s children and one in Christ in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Margaret Donald

  
 
 
 

Before her trip to Malawi, Rosalyn provided the following item to the Summer 2005 "Messenger"

Trip to Malawi

By the time you read this, I will just have returned from Malawi, having visited our twin church there, in Mpachika, just south of Blantyre .  When John asked if I would like to go on the trip – with 8 others from Aberdeen Churches, I did not hesitate to say yes!  Shortly afterwards, I thought “What have I done?!”  I didn’t know much about Malawi then - other than national parks and David Livingstone!  That was only 9 weeks before the trip was due to depart, so it didn’t really give me long to think about it all but I actually have been thinking about nothing else in those last 9 weeks.  I read everything I could on the country and was in a constant state of excitement and anticipation thinking about what a fantastic experience it would be!

 

Although I’ve travelled fairly extensively, I have never been to Africa and I really don’t know what to expect at all.  I have read lots of books on Africa but nothing prepares you for the practical experience of actually going there – what sort of clothes to take is my main worry!  Yes, I know – fairly shallow and unimportant - but I don’t want anything to interfere or hamper the experience of a lifetime!  I am looking forward to meeting the local people and finding out about the area they live in.  I have heard that the Malawi people are very friendly and that they are planning a big reception for us all at the airport when we arrive!!

 

We had our planning meeting last night when we (Margaret Donald is the other person to go from St. Mark’s) got to meet the travellers.  They were from High Hilton, Rubislaw and Ferryhill Churches. I found out that we were all in the same position of being excited and not quite knowing what to expect!  We got lots of good advice from Eileen Bishop, a Presbytery member who visited the area last year.

 

At the time of writing, we are flying out to Blantyre exactly one month tomorrow on 12th May and return on 27th.  I am really looking forward to the entire experience and feel so grateful for having been given the chance to experience the African way of life.  I promise you will have more in the magazine from Margaret and myself about our escapades and hopefully some good photographs of the people and places so watch this space!

 

Rosalyn Rennie

 

  

The Original Twinning Item.

Twinning Partners in Malawi

I have now received information about our twinning partners in Malawi.This is an exciting venture for us and although we may never be lucky enough to actually go there, I am sure that we will be of great value to each other in the years to come.

Here is a little information on our congregation in Malawi which will stagger you.

The congregation is called Mpachika and is situated in a district called Misesa about 20 minutes drive from the south east of Blantyre City Centre. The minister is called Rev. Takuze Saul Chitsulo and his session clerk is called Michael Kamono. The partnership chairman is Brian Kandiero.

There are 1,350 (committed) members of the congregation; 38 male elders and 9 female elders. They have in addition, 25 men on their Board and 19 women. They have 126 members in the Guild, 772 children in the Sunday School and 36 Sunday School teachers. They are an extremely poor congregation and people but yet they have saved enough money over the last years to build a new church of which they are very proud. The average wage in this part of Malawi is about £12 per week. I look forward to keeping you all up to date with the progress of our twinning agreement.

The Minister

 

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