Malawi Mission Trip - Day 5

DAY 5 – Friday, November 13

Due to the diesel fuel shortage, we have had to adjust our plans somewhat. It’s no big deal; it is part and parcel of almost every mission trip taken, especially trips overseas to Third World nations. Experiencing a mission trip involves a willingness to be flexible and to allow the Holy Spirit to work in the midst of fluid – not just flexible – situations.

While the Pastors’ Training Conference was unaffected by the changing schedule, our trip to the Bodza feeding center did not take place today. It will have to wait until Saturday. So, since the mosquito nets supplied by Streets of Africa – purchased from HIS Nets – are still sitting in customs. Doug and Brad had the chance to go with Danny Gregory to the Malawi Revenue Authority and see the bureaucracy of a developing nation up close. Some haggling went on, but in the end, the Malawian government was paid a far higher duty for these humanitarian supplies than it was entitled to claim. Life goes on…

Two of our team members with considerable experience in the medical field – Stacey and Valerie – were already scheduled to visit the Malawi College of Medicine and to tour the Queens (sic) Elizabeth Central Hospital. Given the change I n plans, all of the ladies on our team made the trip together. What they saw was eye opening. As one team member described it: “It was interesting, but shocking.”

To honor the request of our hosts and to respect the patients at the hospital we did not take photographs during our visit. So, I want you to picture in your mind the level of medical care and the quality of healthcare facilities that you observed on the old M*A*S*H sitcom in the 70’s and early 80’s. Now remove all resources and funding for even the most basic of medical supplies and you are beginning to get a picture of what our team encountered.

Stacey was scheduled to give presentation to the surgical staff on the benefits of using surgical staples. Well, using surgical staples IS a benefit…if you have a choice. All too often that is not an option during surgery because the doctors do not have access to these types of surgical supplies. Stacey later said that as she prepared for her presentation she wanted to discuss various options in patient care. She soon realized that these professionals have NO OPTIONS and that they make do with whatever they have. It was very humbling to experience their poor and meager working conditions.

From the College of Medicine the group moved to tour the Queens Elizabeth Central Hospital. If what the team encountered at the College was “shocking” then the conditions at the hospital were “heartbreaking.”

The group visited many parts of the hospital: operating room, patient wards, labs, ICU and the burn unit. Everywhere they went the team members were struck by how blessed they are to have access to the level of medical care that we have in the United States. No American would ever want to have to rely on this level and quality of medical care. Crowded wards that featured rows after rows of patient beds, with family members sleeping on mats next to their beds. Each floor had one nurse for the entire ward. Pain medication is not dispensed after a patient leaves OR recovery because there just is not enough to go around. If a patient needs additional pain medication then a doctor will write a prescription for the patient and the family must go out and purchase the needed meds…if they can afford it.

While the staff at the hospital seemed genuinely proud of where they work and the care they provide, the members of our team who toured the hospital all mentioned how eerily quiet the wards were. One team member recalled how hopeless everyone looked. It was almost as if they knew that they were waiting to die.

The sad truth is, you don’t have to travel across the globe to look into the eyes of hopeless people. Right where you live, you work, you shop and where you play you can find hopeless people. Often, our trouble as American Christians is that we no longer notice them. It is easy to notice them when they look different than you and when they are lying in a hospital bed that barely meets the description of a bed and recovering from major surgery without the benefit of pain medications. But what about those people who look just like us, whose kids go to the same schools as ours and who are out mowing their lawn just like us on the weekends? Do we notice the hopelessness in their eyes? Do we look for it? Do we even care?

The benefit of a mission trip is that it allows us to be singularly focused on how God is moving and we are often more receptive and responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Back home we become so pre-occupied with work, family schedules and the endless and non-stop activities of our daily routines. We are afflicted with the “Barren-ness of Busy-ness.” We become so tunnel-visioned that we miss out on where God can use us right here, right now. We no longer see the world as God sees it. The things that break the heart of God no longer break our hearts. We are merely going through the motions of our Christian faith.

My prayer for our team is that our experiences on this trip will heighten our awareness to where the Holy Spirit is at work around us. I am also praying that we will have an increased sensitivity to the spiritual condition of the people around us. But not only is this my prayer for us, it is my prayer for you.


Soli Deo Gloria,
Michael