African minister on a mission

WELLSVILLE — The areas of Martins Ferry and Wellsville enjoyed a visit from kindered spirits on a mission to bring hope to their African village.

The Rev. Griffie G. Victor Banda and his wife, Esther, are from Kasungu, Malawi, where he is a pastor in Nkhoma Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian and serves the Ndonda Presbyterian Church.

As guests of the Grace Presbyterian Church in Martins Ferry, the Bandas have been addressing the challenges faced by the Malawian people in addition to speaking to congregations of local churches.

A longtime friend to Banda, Covenant Presbyterian Church Pastor Bruce Ballantine met him in 1992 when both were students at Zomba Theological College in Zomba, Malawi. Covenant has continued to help the Ndonda congregation by reserving a portion of each Sunday’s offering for relief.

The main focus of effort is to help the more than 400 orphans in the village whose parents have died from AIDS, said Ballantine.

The good days are few and far between for the children, Banda said, as the daily struggles of life usually revolve around searching for food and not having enough clean water to drink. Some must walk up to 10 miles a day in search of food, and firewood must be collected in dangerous jungle. Water is retrieved from a pond six miles away, and must be boiled and left to cool before it can be drinkable or used for cooking, Banda said.

“Money is the biggest obstacle to overcome,” Banda said. “Most of the orphans in our community struggle for food. Some go for weeks without a meal.”

The past two and half years have shown little rainfall, thus corn crops have been minimal or nonexistent. Since corn is the primary supplement to the diet of the approximately 8,000 Malawian people, corn meal must be purchased to make Nsima, the primary food, which is similar to grits but more dense and sometimes dipped in beans. Corn meal is expensive, however, so Malawi has experienced acute hunger and starvation.

To help with the water situation, a project has been planned to provide the village with water wells that will give the people clean water. A local Malawian organization can only dig the wells in a series of five. The project would take about a month and a half, and will cost $6,000, Banda said. Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in East Liverpool is currently raising funds for this project; Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wellsville plans to begin raising funds in the near future.

The AIDS epidemic has been a concern with Africa for some time, but little has been done to halt its continuation in Malawi, Banda said. “Many people are still dying of that disease and leaving the children behind. It is important to educate the local people to know what is good and bad, and how they can refrain from the disease.”

With no local doctors and the nearest hospital 70 miles away, sick orphans are left to die, Banda said. The hospital itself is not up-to-date with medical equipment and is very overcrowded. Banda said it is common to find two patients per bed.

Like the local Wellsville clergy, Banda serves the community by providing spiritual guidance as well as lending a hand whenever he can. He sees very little difference between himself and the pastors he has met during his three visits to America, with the exception that he must walk to his destination rather than drive.

“I usually help my wife looking for wood in the jungle, sometimes traveling as far as 10 miles,” Banda said. “Sometimes I go visit the parishioners in the community, and if some are sick I must go visit them.” He also serves as a figure in the community by assisting village leaders and the chiefs for special projects.

Kasungu has one main church and about eight other small prayer houses many miles apart, and sometimes Banda must walk to these places for mass. Banda said the Western parishioners are blessed in many ways. Houses with plumbing and electricity, as well as having a car to drive are conveniences the people of Malawi do not share with Americans. “But,” Banda added, “faith and commitment to the work of the Lord are the same.”

Banda realizes that he cannot be a pastor, both literally and figuratively, without the aid of his wife Esther. Being married is a necessity to African pastors so that they are held at a certain level of respect by the community, Banda said. While a pastor attends theological college, his wife will take classes at a Wives School for the same amount of time as her husband to attain her own certificate.

Esther Banda serves as a leader for the women of the community, much like a pastor does. She also leads Bible study and cares for the village orphans by cooking for them and feeding them, seeing to it that all have an equal share.

“You can’t be accepted at a church if you have no wife,” Banda said. “As the saying goes — behind every successful man is a successful woman.”

Griffie and Esther Banda were wed on Aug. 6, 1988, and have three children: two girls, aged 18 and 16, and a son, age 13. Their eldest will be graduating high school after this year and wants to pursue accounting in college. In addition to their own children, they have adopted 10 of the village orphans, Banda said.

Educating the children is another big problem, Banda said. They try to support some, but it cannot go far because sometimes the children must search for food or wood, or care for their younger siblings instead of going to class.

“The schools are not free,” Banda added. “The government has tried to make school free in the past, but we still have to pay something to purchase the school materials.”

The Malawi people do make time to relax and enjoy the main national sport. “We watch football,” Banda said. The Bata Bullets are one of the best Malawian football, or soccer, clubs in the country. Six or seven of their players are usually taken every year to play with the national team.

Banda said he and his wife are thankful to the churches who have hosted them during their stay. “We look forward to returning home to our people, and we hope our friends continue to keep us in their prayers.”