Christianity thrives in poor Malawi

Lilongwe - A bus is idling at the chaotic terminal in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, its narrow aisles filled with sacks of maize, boxes of electronics, two live chickens and the spirit of the Lord.

The driver, sunglasses adjusted and nerves steadied for the jarring seven-hour journey north, hits the gas, abruptly brakes and turns off the ignition.

A Bible is passed forward and heads are bowed. Minutes later a chorus of "amens" is heard and the bus comes back to life.

"We were praying to the Lord for protection, to arrive safely at our destination," said Jordan Ngwira, the Malawian man who led the impromptu prayer session at the start of the 360 km (224 mile) ride to Mzuzu, the hub of northern Malawi.

The experience is a common in this impoverished and devoutly Christian nation, where Gospel music is the order of the day and newly-built churches and worship halls brim with devotees.

Travellers tell of itinerant preachers on minibuses dishing out salvation to the faithful or fire and brimstone to the errant, and of strangers offering their "testimony" at taxi stands, market stalls and in grocery stores.

If Africa has a Bible Belt, Malawi may be its buckle.

Christianity came to Malawi, or Nyasaland as it was known under British rule, in the 1880s when and a group of Scottish Presbyterians set up a mission on the shores of Lake Malawi.

Malawians took to the stern, clean-living ways of the incoming Scots with relish. Today, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), is one of the most active in the continent.

"Our congregation is growing all the time," said Reverend HG Gondwe, who heads the CCAP congregation near the site of the original Bandawe mission. "That is why we are building a new church here. The old church is too small."

Catholicism, partly due to influence from neighbouring predominantly Catholic Mozambique, is the biggest denomination here, claiming one-fifth of Malawi's 13,6 million people.

Presbyterians, Anglicans and other Protestant denominations account for the bulk of the remaining 7,5 million Malawians who describe themselves as Christians.

The established Christian churches in Malawi also have been able to hold on to their flocks in the face of advances by the so-called charismatic Christian movement, which has made huge inroads in Latin America and Africa.

Pentecostals and non-denominational evangelicals are still few in number in Malawi, a sharp contrast to their fast growth in Nigeria, Ghana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

But mainstream Christianity faces challenges in Malawi.

Some Malawians, including those who regularly attend Christian services, still follow traditional tribal customs that often conflict with various church doctrines.

The CCAP grappled with just such a problem in 2004 when some of its congregants refused to abandon drinking and polygamy and challenged church leaders to bar them from taking sacraments.

The churches have been at odds as well with Malawi's Muslim community, estimated to number 1.5 million.

Groups of Muslims stoned buildings belonging to the CCAP, the Seventh Day Adventists, Assemblies of God and Jehovah's Witnesses in 2003 after the arrest and expulsion of five al Qaeda suspects.

Christian leaders also have aroused suspicion in Malawi's government for taking strong political stands on certain issues, highlighted by the clergy's role in bringing down Kamuzu Hastings Banda, the nation's first post-independence leader.

Banda, an eccentric Presbyterian who was the focus of a pervasive personality cult, ruled the nation from 1964 to 1994, suppressing dissent, controlling the media and persecuting perceived enemies, including the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Banda's authoritarian nature prompted the Catholic Church to issue a 1992 pastoral letter sharply critical of his government.

The move triggered a groundswell of anti-Banda opposition among the churches and civic society, leading to a referendum in 1993 that dismantled Malawi's one-party state. Banda was swept from power in an election the next year.

Recently, the CCAP and Catholic Church played a key role in efforts to stop former President Bakili Muluzi, a Muslim, from changing the constitution to allow him a third term as president.

But the clergy's intervention in politics has prompted criticism and fears of a blurring of the line between church and state and of favouritism toward certain parties and politicians.

Labour news from UNI global union - for trade unions in a global services economy

A UNI Property Services fact-finding team that included trade union leaders from the UK, US and Europe, as well as academics, attorneys and NGO leaders has completed Phase One of an investigation into Group 4 Securicor’s operations in Southern Africa and is now finalising its recommendations.

Phase One involved a fact finding mission traveling to South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi to meet with and interview guards and their families, union leaders, clients, and government officials. G4S representatives refused to meet with the delegation.

The delegation found evidence of widespread and systemic abuse labour and human rights including the following:

· A case referred to South Africa Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration in which workers allege that Group 4 Securicor managers at the airport in Johannesburg refer to guards as “kaffirs” and “baboons”.
· G4S managers in Pretoria, South Africa provide white guards with keys to the company toilet whilst people of colour are forced to use the toilet in a nearby mall.
· Guards in Blantyre, Malawi are required to work four hours of overtime every day. For these overtime hours, guards are paid at half of their normal hourly rate.
· Guards in Malawi earn salaries which are insufficient for them to pay for adequate housing, food and for school fees.
· In both Mozambique and Malawi guards work seven days per week, year-round and are not permitted to take paid leave.
· In Mozambique, G4S has refused to comply with a judicial decision awarding back pay to guards who were not compensated for overtime hours. Police broke up a demonstration in Mozambique called to protest the company’s conduct.

UK-based G4S is the world’s largest security provider. It operates in more 100 countries with approximately 470,000 employees and last year its worldwide profits were £277 million. G4S is the largest employer in Africa, with more than 82,000 workers in 18 countries.

The delegation will release its report in London on 30 May, at an event hosted by the Transport and General Workers’ Union and War on Want.

Members of the delegation: Jackie Simpkins, War on Want; Peter Bremme, Ver di; Ijeoma Omambala, International Centre for Trade Union Rights; Professor John Logan, London School of Economics; Ashwini Sukthankar, human rights attorney; Dave Ritchie, Transport and General Workers Union; Gerry Hudson and Bill Ragen, Service Employees International Union; Wilfred Manphala, Swedish Transport Workers Union, Christy Hoffman, UNI Property Services Global Union; and, Fackson Shemanda, UNI Africa.

The start of emotional connection with poverty

I am sitting around in a circle of villagers and suddenly there is music. My toe starts tapping, my head starts bobbing and…. I can’t help myself, I have to get up and dance. The women of the village start to sing. I sigh with contentment as my soul moves with the joyful rhythm and powerful voices. I am at a village where a local band from one of Concern Universal’s water and sanitation projects is playing music. These bands are formed as part of CU’s project in order to spread messages about sanitation and hygiene within the local communities.

These women were smiling and laughing, singing about how they now have a washroom and clean water to drink… All of a sudden it dawned on me to try and equate this experience to my own world. I have to say that I came up painfully short. I tried to envision my own mother or my friends singing about washing their hands as if it were a wonderful gift. At home, these are considered part of the norm, things we are entitled too.

It has been 2 months since I first came to Malawi. Time passes so fast and my life here has become so familiar to me. Every once in awhile, while I am walking down the street on my way to or from work…letting my mind wander wherever it likes… I catch myself smiling unintentionally.

This is how I know I am enjoying my new life.

I often think of my time back home in Canada, when I would lie in bed on Sunday nights, dreading the thought of getting up and going to work in the morning. Here, I can barely get myself into bed because I am either planning for work or working already.

This is how I know I love my job.

Still there are times when I start to get a glimpse of what poverty really means and the understanding of what I am here for sinks deep into my being. I become burdened with sadness and question everything I know. Yet often as my eyes fill up with tears, I step back a little and a smile also starts to creep across my face. I realize that this is the start of my real, tangible and emotional connection with poverty. When it comes right down to the core; that is why I am Africa; to learn how to really care.