NOVEMBER 2009
Compass Rose Visits the Diocese of Southern Malawi
M e ss a g e f rom o u r President
… A Journal by the Revd. Daphne Grimes
Dear Friends, As I write this, the memories of our recent AGM and trip to Malawi are still fresh in my mind. By any measure, I believe our recent meetings in London were a success. We greeted new members and saw new faces from some of our member parishes. Enthusiasm for our work in the Anglican Communion was high. Kenneth Kearon shared events from his year, including a very moving trip to the Congo. In some areas of this country, the church is the only institution providing care for people, as NGOs and government agencies have pulled out because of the danger. Archbishop Rowan shared stories of his recent trip to the small but influential church in Japan. Malawi is the story, however, that I really must share. In many ways, Malawi is a country of too few. Too few teachers, too few doctors, too few resources, too few students willing to study at the University of Malawi and stay to build the country and too few schools. It is a country of too few. Yet these are observations of mine and not complaints of the people there. Malawians see the enormous potential of their country while remaining deeply aware of the magnitude of the challenges they face. These are people of dignity and people of peace. Remarkably, Malawi, which seems to have all the ingredients for a violent society is anything but. One federal politician we met said that when things get really tough, Malawians break into song and dance. We saw that time and again. From the greeting we were given at the airport (I felt like a rock star!) to the
Neil and Pauline Maxwell with the Reverend Daphne Grimes at a monument commemorating the arrival of Dr. David Livingstone and Bishop Charles Mackenzie to Malawi.
On October 2, Compass Rose members, from five countries were welcomed to Blantyre, Malawi by Bishop James Tengatenga his wife, Rose, and a host of women’s groups in blue and white, who greeted us with dance and song – a foretaste of celebrations that would prevail throughout our visit. Our Compass Rose president, Bishop Philip Poole of Toronto, along with Secretary General Canon Kenneth Kearon, were presented to the group, after which we drove to the very comfortable Hotel Protea Ryalls for a welcome opening dinner. Early the next morning, we set out through a very populous and active rural area of Magomero, the site of the first Christian mission in the then wild area, founded in 1868 by Bishop Charles MacKenzie. Several hundred people were gathered for a four-hour outdoor celebration and mass in his honor. The Mothers’ Union and other women’s groups led the singing, with many other groups joining in. We were struck by the attention of the children, many barefoot and in tatters, who sat quietly through the long service. Bishop James presided, with other bishops and clergy including Bishop David Urquhart of Birmingham, who preached. Both Bishop Poole and Canon Kearon were vested, and part of the long procession. In the afternoon, we went up a bumpy red dirt road to a small rural school sponsored by the diocese where we were greeted by swarms of children looking hungry and in rags, but very eager to wave to us and
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