Feeding the Hungry

One of the delights of being on a church staff is being around when truly noble things take place.

St. Bridget has had a partnership with Namitembo parish in Malawi since early 1997 (see one of my earliest blogs, on 12/13/06). I've visited four times; my wife and younger daughter came with me once and my youngest son John came with me once. John is now in a 2nd year of volunteering there.

Last winter (our winter, not theirs), during the Malawian planting and growing season, the rains abruptly stopped in February, relegating the maize harvest to about 40% of the previous year's supply. Seeing a serious food shortage developing, we put out the word to the people of St. Bridget and their friends. We collected funds and sent over $30,000 to Namitembo, to be used when people began running out of food.

In January, our newly retired kindergarten teacher, Ann Nachtigal, went to Namitembo with her husband Chet, to visit and work with the people and in the schools for about four months. She has written a very simple but heartwarming letter about the distribution of food and funds, and took lots of pictures. I'd really love for you to read her first-hand description of what happened.

I wish I could have been there. A big THANKS to everyone who contributed time or funds to make this happen.