Mountains & Miracles in Malawi

If you're like me you value feeling in control and enjoy knowing you're a necessary contributor to your (work, family, community, etc).  We enjoy life, and everything may seem to be going well, but somewhere along the way we start to become aware something may be missing.  When we find ourselves content in our reliance on self, trust becomes unnecessary; recognition that the Lord designed us for communion with Himself appears irrelevant, or perhaps isn't a thought at all.

Am I really living a Kingdom-centered life? How often do I have eternity in mind? Do I really know Jesus on a day-to-day basis or do I simply refer to Him every once in awhile?

Nkhoma Hospital

It was with an awareness that the Lord may be trying to get my attention that I boarded a flight to the Nkhoma Mission & Hospital in Malawi, Africa.  I was a last-minute addition to the recent team Engineering Ministries International put together to assess the infrastructure at this 103-year-old hospital and help develop plans for necessary expansion and future growth.  The Nkhoma Mission has a vibrant history within Malawi. Not only is it a large African hospital (50,000+ outpatients/year, with 250 beds, and thousands of surgeries and births performed every year) but it is also having a large impact on the local community through its nursing college, seminary, schools, and local church.  The country itself is mountainous and beautiful and, although we were visiting during the dry season, it was not hard to picture how lush and green the scenery becomes during the rainy season--as we were told by many and got a glimpse of during our restful day at Lake Malawi.

Our rest day at Lake Malawi

Although Nkhoma has quite the legacy and current influence, there exist significant infrastructure concerns that limit their effectiveness and have nearly caused the hospital to close at times. Namely, the entire community experiences almost daily power outages due to their dependence on the national power company and live with strict water rationing (around 7 hrs a day of use) due to a limited ability to pump and store water and the hospital's constant need.  Many of the department buildings are also undersized for the demand and are in need of expansion.  For these reasons, Nkhoma had requested EMI put a team together with these goals in mind:

- Determine if solar panels are feasible to provide reliable and efficient power.

- Assess and provide recommendations for expanding water storage and distribution to prevent shortages from occurring.    

- Develop architectural plans for expanding the undersized maternity ward. 

Our team on Nkhoma Mt

Learning about the water system

As a civil/structural engineer I got to assist with evaluating the existing water/wastewater systems around the hospital as well as conduct a brief structural assessment of the general condition of the buildings and identify bearing wall locations for buildings they wished to modify.  It's the type of work I enjoy--getting to be out in the field hearing about the struggles as well as the provision, and future vision and hopes with developing the mission.  And yet, midway through the trip, I found myself discouraged and grappling with doubt.  There already was a lead civil and wastewater engineer on the trip; they probably could have done most of the work on their own.

It was Monday and thoughts seemed to jump into my mind with a steady pace: "You aren't needed here. Others could be more effective than you.  Your team knows you aren't necessary. You are wasting your time and your money." I felt exhausted and it took significant effort to remain positive and condemn such thoughts in the recognition that is never the way Jesus speaks to us. All morning I found myself asking the Lord for a word of encouragement or at least reassurance I was needed.  And to my surprise midway through the day a response clearly came. The tiredness looming over me suddenly lifted and with a sense of peace and purpose I heard these words:

"Rest in the serenity and ease of not feeling necessary yet called here all the same to be both a blessing and blessed."

That sentiment and promise from the Lord has been the resounding refrain in my heart and mind as I have returned and had time to reflect and think over the trip.  I strive hard.  I'm an achiever and a planner and I often want to feel important and necessary.  But the gift of being involved in missions is it forces us to step out of ourselves and recognize how much we need Jesus.  It was the same refrain we continued to hear from the missionary families and locals who graciously invited us into their homes and gave us opportunities to hear their stories.  Repeatedly we heard stories of God's providence and life breathed into the community when hope was fading.  The most dramatic of which has not left my mind since the trip ended.

As part of the Civil team I spent a lot of time on the trip with the staff engineer, Henni.  A persistent optimist and problem solver, Henni was the one who knew the Nkhoma mission infrastructure like the back of his hand and the first to be called when something wasn't working properly.  Before 6 new bore holes had been dug a few years ago, the hospital relied solely on water pumped from the local river nearby during the dry season.  Wrought with emotion, Henni shared about a drought the community had experienced about 3 years ago when the entire river had nearly dried up.  At wits end he cried out to God proclaiming there is nothing more we can do and began to head back to the hospital where he knew they would have to close their doors once the tanks were dry.  Within a matter of hours, Henni received an urgent call from a friend at the river pump house insisting he come back immediately.  "What more could be going wrong?"-Henni told us was his thought upon receiving the call.  To his amazement, what he encountered upon reaching the river again was water flowing nearly a meter deep. 

The River near Nkhoma

The Lord has come through time and time again for both individuals and the entire Nkhoma mission, at times in miraculous and profound ways, to ensure the doors stay open, funds are in place, and even water itself will continue to flow when none can be found. What a gift; as a team of engineers and architects to step aside from ourselves, our plans, assessment, and design ideas and simply recognize the one who truly sustains and equips life. The Lord is the grand architect of Nkhoma and whether or not we were there He would continue to accomplish His purposes. Yet He has provided us the blessing and invitation to participate; to play some small part and glimpse some small portion of His guidance and provision for the hundred years and growing legacy of the Nkhoma mission.

I think that's the point of missions in a short-term capacity. It's why I continue to serve with EMI.  The opportunity to recognize the Lord in each face, story, and need. To step out of ourselves and recognize the many ways we are each dependent and called to participate with others. To realize that we are impacted as much as we make an impact; that we carry others' stories even as we share our own.