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RSSMalawi
by The Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton
11/11/2005
...those who say in their hearts, "The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm."- -- Zephaniah 1:12
Does God intervene in human life? What role does God play in human tragedy? Does God send us the good things in life, or do they just happen? How are we to see God when life is hard?
Life is hard in the best of times in Malawi, one of the least developed countries in Africa. Families are large and children are numerous -- half the population is under 18. The average life expectancy is 41 years.
Almost everybody in Malawi farms for a living. Now, after several terrible years of drought, four million Malawians are threatened with starvation -- fully a third of the population.
Will God do good in Malawi?
Seventeen parishes in southern Malawi are receiving maize for eating, seed maize and fertilizer from the Anglican diocese, so that they can begin planting next year's crop. "We are using the parish church, the priest, and the local village heads to distribute food supplies after the village heads have identified the most needy people," says its bishop, the Rt. Rev'd. James Tengatenga. In the North, at least half of the 3,000 families most endangered by the poor harvest will also receive what they need to stay alive for now and to plant for the future.
Will God do good? God is already doing good, in the way God most often accomplishes good: through the actions of human beings. Bishop Tengatenga may not have the resources to come even close to supplying the food needs of his people, but we do. Through the relationship that already exists between Episcopal Relief and Development and the Church in Malawi, we get it there fast.
We can't make it rain: only God can send the rain. But we can send other things necessary to human life, and make a change for the better in Malawi.
