Mission to Malawi

As they usually do, the children came malnourished and near death. Twins had arrived one of the nights the mission group from Hilton Head Island's Providence Presbyterian Church was in Malawi. Three parishioners had traveled to the small African country this spring to volunteer at the Ministry of Hope. The ministry is, more or less, a short-term orphanage, a home for the thousands of Malawian children left without parents each year due to AIDS or other disease.

That night, the twins' mother died giving birth on an ox cart. As usual, someone notified the police of an abandoned child; police notified the social services office; social services notified the Ministry of Hope, an established and well-known organization in the country.

Within a few hours the twins arrived with a fever of 92 degrees and the director of the nursery, Mwai Nyirongo, was called in. Immediately, she began kangarooing, a process where the infant is wrapped tightly in a blanket then tucked underneath a caregiver's shirt for warmth.

Islander Jan Hoaglin did the same. A tiny heartbeat next to hers.

"It's life-changing," she said.

The twins now are healthy, if a bit undersized, and living in the Ministry of Hope, said Nyirongo late last month. She and ministry director Rev. Charles Gwengwe came to visit Hilton Head to "share and spread heart," as the African minister put it.

Providence church and the Ministry have been intertwined since last year when a parishioner traveled to Malawi. Now, church women are knitting tiny hats and blankets. Parishioners are sending medications and supplies.

"Jesus says, 'What you do for the least of these brothers, you do for me,'" said Providence associate pastor Carmen Fowler. "If you haven't been to sub-Sahara Africa, you haven't seen the least of these."

The idea for the ministry started in the late '90s when the college-age son of a man who was a minister in rural Malawi started to have children in for tea and words about God. The gathering began to get larger than an informal get-together, and the Ministry was born.

About 12 percent of the Malawi adult population under the age of 49 is living with HIV or AIDS, one of the highest in the world, according to the United Nations. The life expectancy is 43 years of age. About half of the population is under 17 years old.

The AIDS crisis also has led to an abundance of orphans. The Ministry of Hope has served thousands of children since 1999. At any one time the nursery will have about 20 babies.

The faith-based Ministry provides children with food, medical care, spiritual guidance, job skills, and, overall, safety and stability. The Ministry operates six feeding centers throughout the mostly rural country.

The Ministry relies heavily on donations and help from churches such as Providence Presbyterian.

Providence Presbyterian's Jeanne Carryl Wray first went to Malawi in April 2007 after hearing about their work from a missionary friend. She immediately fell in love, she said.

The church, which already performs mission work in other third-world counties, deepened its involvement the next year when Wray returned with Hoaglin and Fowler to provide whatever help they could. Wray and Hoaglin helped in the nursery. Fowler helped with the bookkeeping.

"After losing their parents, these children are hurt emotionally," Gwengwe said. "When someone comes to see them, they are charged. It's the sharing and spreading of hope."

What struck the islanders was the spirit of the Malawians with the Ministry. Here, in a country where AIDS has ravaged their population, they laugh and joke and begin each day with an uplifting prayer.

"Paul once spoke of the secret of being content in all situations," Fowler said. "They know that; we don't."

Nyirongo and Gwengwe came to Hilton Head to learn from similar U.S. counterparts. Nyirongo visited Volunteers in Medicine, the nonprofit clinic aimed at low-income islanders. Gwengwe met with the Charleston Presbytery.

The next time the two groups will meet is next summer, when Providence will return to offer more help.

Gwengwe said he is grateful for the fact that some make the journey just to be in the nursery. Like when Hoaglin helped care for the orphaned twins, they were there, at 10 p.m., to provide a warm body.

"We don't know what would have happened without them," he said. "When they come, they save lives."