I am so very grateful for all of the prayers and support during my recent trip to Malawi in Africa. The trip was a great success as God blessed us in so many ways. As you may know, Malawi is a very poor nation in southeast Africa. A land-locked country, Malawi is bounded by Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. About 90 percent of the people of Malawi are Christian, mostly Roman Catholic, but many Presbyterians as well. In fact, there are far more Presbyterians in Malawi than there are in the United States!

My month-long odyssey had two purposes. First, I went as a volunteer worker for Malawi Matters Inc., a faith based HIV / AIDS education program. The Mission of Malawi Matters is to train leaders of congregations in creative methods of teaching about HIV/AIDS. They, in turn, go back to their churches to teach the people how to prevent the spread of HIV and how to care for infected and affected people. ("Infected" means people who are living with HIV or AIDS and "affected" means people who are in some way touched by the lives of those infected people.) This lifesaving work is an all-volunteer effort and is largely carried on by the Malawians themselves. The goal is to eventually have all the hands-on training, teaching and supervision done by Malawians with Americans in background support and funding rolls only. At this point congregational leaders, including many pastors, from every Presbyterian congregation in the central region (Nkhoma Synod) of Malawi have been trained. A new program called "Educating Women - Empowering Girls" was also initiated with a pilot project this year. This program aims at training women church leaders so they my teach girls in their congregations about HIV/AIDS and women's issues. In the male dominated Malawian culture, having women empowered to resist practices that spread infection is key to reducing the infection rate and ending the pandemic.

The second purpose of my trip was to begin the process of nurturing a partnership between First Presbyterian Church in Peru, Indiana and the Mthandiza C.C.A.P. congregation in Malawi. (C.C.A.P. stands for Church of Central Africa Presbyterian). The purpose of this partnership is for our congregations to mutually support one another in prayer and fellowship, and to find ways to foster our mutual development. Mthandiza C.C.A.P. in a congregation of about 2000 Christians who love God deeply, but live and worship in very primitive conditions - most, for instance, have no electricity or running water. Their faith is strong, however, and they have much to offer us in terms of prayer support and encouragement. As God had it, the first day of my visit there was also the first day of their new pastor's work among them. Pastor Henry Masina is a seasoned man of God with a great love for the people and a real vision to see them develop in their lives. I am confident that as our partnership progresses over time, God will bless us and make us mutually fruitful in the Lord's service.

One moment in my trip was especially poignant. During a meeting one afternoon, several Malawian women approached me and asked me to go with them. "Pastor Steve, Pastor Steve, please come outside with us, there is something we want you to see." I had no idea what was up, but I followed. Outside in the parking area a Malawian Youth Choir was joyfully singing and dancing. Nearby on the grass sat one girl singer who was obviously disabled. The women brought me to her. "Pastor Steve, this is Ligness. She is 15 years old and has never been able to walk. For her to go anywhere, she must be carried. She is getting too hard to carry. She often can't find someone to carry her to school or to choir practice. She has only been able to progress through 3rd grade." "Pastor Steve, what can we do for her?" As it happened, the Mission Committee at my church had given me $300 to take with me just in case an immediate need came up. "I don't have much money," I said, "but perhaps what I have will help in some way. Could it go toward a wheelchair?" A few weeks after I returned home I received a message from our partner church along with a photograph of Ligness's new hand crank tricycle style wheelchair made from easily repairable bicycle parts. As it turned out the wheelchair has cost almost exactly $300. Now Ligness will be able to get herself where she needs to go. For 15 years she had been immobile for want of $300! God provides in astonishing ways!

Blessings,

Pastor Steve Quinlan, First Presbyterian Church Peru