Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Mission Overseas - PW Office Bearers set off on 2½-week visit to Malawi

5th November 2009

Dorothy Marshall, President of Presbyterian Women (PW), and Overseas Vice-President, Edna McIlwaine, leave this Saturday, 7th November, on a 2½-week visit to Malawi.

Their programme will be a busy one, involving quite a bit of travel, and includes visiting all of our mission personnel currently serving in Malawi.

They also expect to meet with leaders of the Umanyano, the Malawian equivalent of PW, and with leaders in the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in each of the locations they will be visiting.

Itinerary:

They expect to arrive in Blantyre on Sunday 8th and will be based there for four days, during which they will spend time with Neil and Sara Kennedy and family and meet the General Secretary of the Blantyre Synod, CCAP.

Visits are planned to the Henry Henderson Institute (HHI), a CCAP-run secondary school; the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where Neil works; Zomba Theological College (a day trip from Blantyre); the Blantyre Synod Development Commission (BSDC) and the Madziabango Project, which Maurice and Helen Kennedy are involved with, though they won't be there at that time.

Early on Friday 13th, they are due to leave Blantyre and travel to Lilongwe, where they will stay one night before continue their journey north the next day, Saturday 14th, travelling with Una Brownlie to Livingstonia, where they will spend the weekend resting and attending church.

They will remain in Livingstonia until Wednesday 18th and during their time on the plateau they will visit and meet the people involved and those they serve in the David Gordon Memorial Hospital (DGMH), a number of Primary Health Care Programmes and Livingstonia University.

On Wednesday 18th they leave Livingstonia, descending from the heights of the plateau to travel the relatively short distance south to Mzuzu, where they will stay with Diane Cusick through to Monday 23rd. During the time they are based in Mzuzu, Dorothy and Edna hope to see something of Diane's pioneering work in the development of Early Childhood Education; meet the Livingstonia Synod CCAP leadership and Umanyano Coordinator.

They will also visit Robin and Helen Quinn in Ekwendeni, and meet those they work with there in the Lay Training Centre and Women's Empowerment Programme. Before leaving the north on Monday 23rd, they plan to visit Ekwendeni Hospital. Later that day they expect to reach Lilongwe, where they will stay overnight, flying out on Tuesday 24th and, God willing, arriving back in Belfast on Wednesday, 25th November.

A visit that will provide a host of new experiences:

This will be Dorothy's first visit to Malawi, and in fact her first time travelling to anywhere overseas, so she is both excited and a little bit nervous about all that lies ahead over the next couple of weeks or so.

Edna has the advantage of having been to Malawi before, but to the Northern Region only, which she did with a PW Group from her own congregation, Hill Street, Lurgan Presbyterian Church. While she's looking forward to going back to familiar ground and meeting old friends once again, she's also thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the South and the CCAP's Blantyre Synod area in particular.

As well as what's already been outlined above, Dorothy and Edna also hope to identify projects that PW could support in the future.

For Prayer:

With such a busy programme of visits and meetings, and all the travelling they will be doing, they value daily prayer support -

• For their safety at all times; for renewed strength for each new day; and that they will remain fit and well throughout their time in Malawi.
  
  
• That their visit will be an encouragement to all they meet; and for the ability to listen to and learn from their Malawian sisters and brothers.
  
  
• God's guidance for all they are planning to do and see, and that all will go smoothly without any major difficulties or setbacks.
  
  
• For wisdom in discerning how this visit can help strengthen the interest in, and support for, the work of the Church in Malawi amongst PW members throughout Ireland; and in identifying ways PW and Umanyano members can work more closely together in partnership.

Presbyterian Women (PW)incorporates the former Presbyterian Women's Association (PWA) and Young Women's Groups (YWG), and has a membership of c. 14,000 spread over 500 local, congregational-based groups.

PW aims to encourage its members to become disciples of Christ, and seeks to equip, enthuse and empower women to serve Christ, in the Church and in the community.

To find out more, visit PW online.