Global Hunger Relief

"Hunger in Africa"

Dear friends,


The theme of the P52 photo project this week is Hunger.  What better time to highlight global hunger relief?


I chose the continent of Africa for my picture because that is where my mind usually jumps when I think of starving children.  I have no idea of whether black beans and rice are staple foods there, but I didn't have any exotic African root vegetables lurking in my pantry cupboard. :-)


I also chose Africa because that is where my heart goes  (along with my money and care packages) since I have been corresponding with Pastor Headson Makazinga in Malawi for about 10 years.  (See Christmas in Malawi, Christmas in America,  What in the World Is This? and Out of Africa: A Letter from Headson Makazinga.)  Pastor Makazinga, who oversees dozens of churches in the villages of Malawi and Mozambique, cares for widows and orphans in his ministry.  Please click those links for more information on how you can help!


Are you looking for other ways to help?


Read here for information on three reputable Christian charities with global hunger programs (all three are rated 5 stars at www.charitynavigator.org):

• West Africa Food Crisis Q & A (World Vision)
• Rescue Babies and Mothers (Compassion International)
• Children of the Nations International

Do you want hands on service opportunities?  Here are two more ideas from the same organizations:

I am extremely intrigued to find out that Children of the Nations has opportunities in the Orlando area (as well as in California and Washington State) for groups to sponsor and package nutrient dense meals to be sent to hungry children overseas.  See here: Meal Packaging Projects.

Last year, the youth at my mom's church in Maryland did a 30 Hour Famine to raise money for hunger relief through World Vision.

Yes, I know there is hunger in our country, too.  I am in the process of compiling a list of food and medical assistance resources in the Orlando area.  That will be my next blog post!  I already know of several organizations, but if you know of one, please send me a web link.  (Note on 3/23: The post is here! Food, Health, Jobs, and Family Crisis Assistance Resources in Central Florida)


Grace, 
Virginia Knowles
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com


This blog is linked to two memes this week:


Click here to see Project 52!

 

Click here to see Ann Kroeker's Food on Fridays

Christmas in Malawi, Christmas in America

Christmas in Malawi, Christmas in America

An Advent Poem for Reverend Headson Makazinga

December 2011

Reverend Makazinga,

Dear brother, precious friend,

You are in Malawi, a village pastor, a church planter

Baptizing the brothers and sisters

Ordaining new gospel workers

Caring for the widows and orphans

Year in and year out, month by month, serving in His name.

And it is almost Christmas

When you will gather again to celebrate

As you write to me:

“We are going to have thanksgiving to God

For the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ

And also to worship and praise him

As He is the one who made it possible

For us to reach to the end of the year.”

You live in a house in Nsanje without electricity

You walk or ride a bike to the other villages

Though you are getting older and weaker

And have been in the hospital just this year.

Yet you are also able to take a bus to Blantyre

To use the Internet to send me an e-mail

To buy Bibles and hymnals or pick up my care package

(I will send you some money for your ministries

And fruit tea and some Christian books soon.)

In your note, you say you want poems, my poems,

For blessing and encouragement.

This is your poem from me, though it doesn’t rhyme.

You write, “Wish you all the best of Christmas day!”

And I wish you the same.

You are in Malawi, where the land is

Drought dry, dirt poor, primitive

With shepherds and farmers eking an existence

Much like the Holy Land in the time of Jesus

I am in America, where it is not like that at all

(At least in my neighbhorhood)

I am in America, where I have a van

And electricity for my own computer

And my Christmas tree lights

And clean water and abundant food

The simple gifts I send will not erase all your peoples’ poverty

But I still say “Wish you all the best of Christmas day!”

Because Christmas is not in the stores but in the stories

The stories of Yesu Khristu (whom I know as Jesus Christ)

He said: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

Because he has anointed me 

To preach good news to the poor.” 

And at his birth the angels sang:

“Peace on earth, good will to men!”

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."  Luke 2:4-20

 

 

More on Pastor Makazinga and Malawi:

• What in the World Is This?
• Out of Africa (A Letter from Headson Makazinga)  

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7

If you would like to bless Reverend Makazinga's ministry, you can send a cashier's check to: Headson Makazinga, P.O. Box 187, Nsanje, Malawi, Africa

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

What in the World Is This?

NDANI ANGATHE KUTIPULUMUTSA KU IMFA NDI ZOBVUTA ZA MOYO UNO?
Dziwani kuti kumwamba ndi dziko lapansi kulibe wina woposa Ambuye wathu Yesu Khristu. Inde ambiri amadziwa kuti kunja kuno kuli timilungu tambiri tomwe timapembedzedwa mu njira zosiyana-siyana, ndipo mwa timilungu timeneti mulibe chipulumutso angakhale moyo ndi kuchiritsa, timilungu timeneti timachedwa milungu yakufa yopanda moyo (ZIWANDA) Koma mwa zonsezi kuli Mulungu weni-weni wa moyo kudzera mwa Ambuye wathu Yesu Khristu amene ali nazo mphamvu zochiritsa ndi kupulumutsa. Mateyu 28:18. Yesu akutero nawo ophunzira ache ndi tonse amene; Mphamvu zonse zapatsidwa kwa ine kumwamba ndi dziko lapansi. Tiyeni tilingarile zomwe Yesu anena motsikimizira wina ali yense pa zonse zimene apatsidwa ndi atate wa kumwamba; apa zikusonyeza kuti iye ndiye woyamba ndi wotsiriza; kulibenso wina angampose iye. Atate akonda mwana wache napereka m’manja mwache: Ndi iye amene amkhulurupirila iye ali nawo moyo wosatha, Yohane 3:35-36, Yohane 13:3.

~*~*~

What in the world is this? It is an excerpt from a Christian tract written in the Chichewa language by Headson Makazinga, who is a pastor and church-planting evangelist based in Nsanje, Malawi. Here is a partial, rough English translation of the paragraph above...

WHO CAN SAVE US FROM DEATH AND THE TROUBLES OF OUR LIVES?
Let us know that from heaven up to earth, there is no one who is above our Lord Jesus Christ. In this world there are so many kinds of gods, and many people are worshiping these kinds of gods. In these gods there is no salvation or even healing. These gods are called devils. But in all these gods, there is one above all dead gods. He is precious and exactly God. He is Jesus Christ, one who had all power and all authority from heaven to earth. Matthew 28:18: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power and authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Beloved, let us believe the one who had all the power and authority -- Jesus Christ. See John 3:35-36 and John 13:3.

If you are curious about why I am putting this on my blog (which is my goal!), you can read more in this post from April 12: Out of Africa (A Letter from Headson Makazinga).

Virginia Knowles

Out of Africa and Into My Classroom: Rwanda and Reconciliation

I reckon you all have picked up on some recurring themes in my recent writing, among which are an awareness of what is going on in the world around us, as well as a desire (really a passion) for both God's beauty and justice to be made known in my life -- and rippling outward in increasing measure. That sounds so lofty as I type it, so "other" than much of what my daily experience is in a house that is riddled by the mess, noise, conflict, and other general chaos inherent in raising a large family. But it's in my heart nonetheless and I'm trying to find ways to put it into practice.

One of the things I most enjoy is being able to teach the 7th-8th grade English class at our home school co-op on Mondays. Again, I have been trying to impart to my students a compelling sense of global awareness, beauty, and justice. And yesterday, by the grace of God, these managed to converge in our classroom.

I don't know how many of you are aware that last week marked the National Week of Mourning in Rwanda. Fourteen years ago, on April 6, 1994 (the year most of my students were born), a 100 day massacre started. I suck in my breath (sharply!) when I have to type the staggering statistic of over 800,000 victims (not including the injured). If you look at a map of Africa, you might have to hunt for Rwanda. It's a teeny tiny country with a population of only 8 million. Can you imagine 10% of the population of the USA being slaughtered in 100 days? But this is not something that happened overnight. The conflict between the majority Hutus and the minority Tutsis had been brewing for centuries, seething for decades, carefully planned and organized for months, and whipped into a "sudden" murderous frenzy by government-sponsored radio propaganda. Plans for genocide against the Tutsis had already been openly discussed in cabinet meetings. The final trigger that set off the massacre was when an airplane carrying the Hutu presidents of Rwanda and neighboring Burundi was shot down. The paltry UN "peacekeeping" forces didn't accomplish anything substantial. The genocide did not stop until the Tutsi RPF rebel forces overthrew the Hutu regime.

Perhaps you have already watched the excellent movie Hotel Rwanda (rated PG-13 for graphic, though not gratuitous, violence). It is the true story of a Hutu named Paul Rusesabagina, who at great risk to his own life, sheltered 1,200 desperate refugees in the hotel that he managed. Many courageous Rwandans -- both Tutsi and Hutu -- saved the lives of other people, but that doesn't bring back the heartbeats of the 800,000 who did not survive.

(Skulls in Murambi Technical School)

I can't pretend to know even a sizable portion of the truth about what happened and why, but it grieves me to think of the statistic that 80% of Rwandans would have considered themselves to be "Christians" before this happened -- and yet they either stood by or participated in the horror! In fact, one priest ordered that his own church be bulldozed with countless helpless refugees inside of it. (Pause a moment and let this sink in...) Yes, I know there was tremendous fear of the threat to "kill or be killed." But that does not satisfy me. It certainly did not satisfy those who were being attacked by machetes and AK-47 machine guns. What happened? Some of the commentary I read on-line yesterday was lamenting the fact that for most of those people, their "Christianity" was a rather shallow affair. For them, it was a matter of getting converted (merely so they could be assured of going to heaven) and following a few basic rules, but not having a life change that worked itself out in a reflection of the radical beauty and justice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, they weren't following in the footsteps of the Savior, full of faith and compassion. There was a critical disconnect between their talk and their walk. They did not see the necessity of being courageous, sacrificial "salt and light" agents of change in their culture. They certainly failed to grasp the concept of Biblical love and peacemaking. Is this a problem just in Rwanda? Not hardly! We Americans are just as guilty of hypocrisy. Even the fact that we tune out the news of the world atrocities shows that we have become jaded to true tragedy. That is a tragedy in itself.

But I want to help change that. And so I teach and write and talk and pray and dream and give and lay awake at night... Maybe someday I will be able to go to Africa myself and visit Pastor Headson Makazinga in Malawi.

Yesterday, I took it to the classroom, as part of a language arts emphasis on how the media and the arts both report and shape culture. Fortunately, I had a little help (via technology) from musician Sara Groves. I recently bought her DVD Nomad, part of which documents of her trip to Rwanda with the International Justice Mission. I showed a vignette called "I Can't Breathe" (about her visit to one of the genocide memorial sites) and played the video segments of a concert with her songs "Why It Matters" and "Add to the Beauty" in which she tries to share how important it is to be a positive and healing influence in this violent, chaotic, selfish world of ours. I also read parts of an article from Wikipedia about the genocide, and tried to share about how important it is for each of us to walk as Jesus walked, with an authentic, life-changing faith rather than dry rules and shallow creeds. And, as their writing project for the week, I assigned an essay on how they can "add to the beauty" with their own unique God-given gifts and talents. As a side note, it is interesting that unbeknownst to me, my students had just been learning about Africa in their history class. And, by "divine coincidence" my friend Jeannette Walti, the 3rd-4th grade history teacher (and soon to be missionary to Italy), had just brought in a whole duffle bag of fascinating items from Zimbabwe, which she gladly came to show our class as well.

I am encouraged to hear that there are some positive forces of change at work in Rwanda, including a revamped judicial system that is geared toward rewarding repentance and reconciliation, and a government that is downplaying ethnic distinctions. Some churches are emphasizing restoration, compassion, forgiveness, justice, mercy, and hope. Villages are even being established where Hutus and Tutsis can live, work, raise their children, and even learn to love side by side. But there is much to be done. This is going to take generations of heart change to heal the horror and restore hope for the future.

I may not be able to go fix all of Rwanda's problems, but I can do my part to teach reconciliation in my own sphere of influence. Part of our curriculum in my English class this year has been the Young Peacemaker program. I desperately want to equip these precious kids with the communication skills and attitudes to prevent and resolve conflicts in a way that honors the God who made us. I am so grateful to be able to teach and have my own children learn in an educational environment where peacemaking is a priority. Yesterday while I was grading papers, one of the other moms popped her head into the teacher's work room and informed me that one of my children seemed to be having some sort of conflict with another student. I immediately walked over to the classroom and summoned my child out to the hallway for a chat. Within just a few minutes, the other student came right out of the classroom (on his own initiative) and apologized for his part in the conflict. My child also apologized and they quickly forgave and hugged each other, walking back into the classroom as buddies again. And I thought "YES! That's the way it is supposed to work!"

I wish it worked that way all the time. Petty conflict in our home is a near constant, and I find myself pleading with my younger kids, "Give me some hope that this is going to change -- soon!" I try to be faithful with dealing wisely and consistently with it. When my kids have been "in the wrong" I don't allow them to grunt the word "SORRY!" with a glare on their faces. I want them to politely and humbly acknowledge their responsibility. At a bare minimum they should use the simple statements, "I was wrong. I apologize. Please forgive me" in a pleasant voice. And yet I can't leave it at patching up the quarrels after they happen. I want to prevent them! Almost every day I sit down with my five youngest children (ages 2-10) and we take turns reading a little from the Scriptures. (We have a stack of small New Testaments that we keep in a basket in the living room, so they don't have to waste time running for their own Bibles.) Lately, I have been trying to pick passages to motivate them to get along with each other better, such as passages about love from 1 Corinthians 13 and 1 John 4:7-21. Last night's selection was one of my favorites on humility, wisdom and peacemaking:

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." James 3:13-18

If we each lived by these words, in the grace of God, wouldn't the world be a better place for all of us? Let us each add to the beauty and do our part.

Out of Africa (A Letter from Headson Makazinga)

Several days ago, an airmail letter arrived from my friend Headson Makazinga, a church planting pastor and evangelist in Nsanje, Malawi. We have been corresponding with him for several years since he read an article I wrote in Above Rubies magazine. The profits from my Learner's Journals lesson planners go to meet some of the needs there, most especially Chichewa language Bibles and tracts.

Here are two pictures that Pastor Makazinga sent a few years ago. The first is of the Makazinga family (from left to right): Headson holding Faye, his wife Regina holding Connie, Gloria, Misheck, George, Steph, Ida, Emmanuel and Carlos. The second picture is of revival meetings under a tree at Mtasa village.






I tore the letter open and was so relieved to find that he had gotten the care package I had sent him in time for the big Easter conference that they host for the folks in all the churches he oversees. Our own church here in Florida had kindly agreed to print up 160 minister's certificates and 100 Chichewa tracts for him, and since I was shipping it in a flat rate priority mail box, I was able to tuck in some little extras, like pens, books, candy, a well-wrapped jar of honey, and a pair of eyeglasses for no extra charge.

(You can click on the letter to enlarge it.)

Why am I writing about this to you all? Because he needs much more help than I alone can give him! I am just one person, but I serve a God who miraculously multiplies the loaves and fish to turn even little offerings into big blessings. It is a small thing for me or you to send money or a box of stuff, but it is a huge boost to Pastor Makazinga. Not a young man at all, he works so hard pastoring and planting churches while also trying to meet the needs of widows and orphans in a country that is alternately plagued by devastating floods and droughts (most recently deadly floods). He has repeatedly asked me to come and visit, but I don't think that is likely to happen any time very soon.

Here are a few excerpts (pardon the grammar) from the end of his letter: “My sister don’t be tired with us, I always ask you many things but take me as your brother… In the way you are doing it means you are assisting the ministry of God richly and bountifully… Go ahead hunting friends those can allow to help the orphans and the ministry. Pray for us in your daily prayers... This year we are going to build up the orphanage for the orphans. We ask the good wishers to help with this project.”

If you would like to send financial donations, care packages, or letters of encouragement to the Makazingas, their address is: Headson Makazinga, P.O. Box 187, Nsanje, Malawi, Africa. Please let me know if you plan to do this or if you have any questions. (FYI: I usually send a certified check, which costs a few extra dollars at the bank, but is safer and easier for him to cash. And no, you can't get a tax deductible receipt. Sorry!)

God bless you as you consider this vital opportunity to go global and do good to others!

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles