Miriam's Burden

I went by to see Miriam, Harry's wife, this morning to thank her for doing an excellent job with our laundry. You would not believe how clean she gets George's white socks, and when Harry brings the laundry back, each time everything is ironed and neatly folded.  When I asked Harry to call her to come and see us, he said she was at the top of the mountain cutting trees and would be back in two hours. So, just before we arrived at Harry's house, Miriam had tied her infant son to her back, picked up a machete and a rag for tying the sticks together  and started the journey up the mountain.   We live two km from the top of the mountain, and collecting firewood for cooking takes Miriam two hours. What is it like for women in the villages down in the valley who must travel to the mountain top to collect wood? 

Every day, from our yard, we witness a stream of poor, barefoot, rural women as they make this journey.  This is the life of a woman in Malawi, consumed by labor intensive chores that take many hours of their day. If we can lift this burden, should we? I believe what I feel is the compassion of God.  He cares that their lives are over-burdened, and I long to both tell them and show them that God loves them.

As soon as we can arrange it with our interpreter and a brick mason, we want to launch a burden-lifting ministry to women in the rural villages by providing Miriam with a two burner, fuel efficient, clean burning brick cook stove.  The stove is made from 26 bricks, 5 liters of sand, 5 liters of water, and mud mortar. Although it is not very high tech by American standards, it will seem like a luxury to her.   It is called the Changu Changu Moto meaning Hot, Hot Fire in Chichewa. With this stove, Miriam will go from three big bundles of wood each week to one, saving her time and energy which she can use for more productive activities, like caring for her infant son.

We now have a skilled interpreter who has already caught vision for our work, but pray that we will find a skilled and reliable brick mason and that God will bless our work for the advancement of the Gospel.  George and I are excited about the opportunities to share the love of Jesus this will open to us out in the villages where we are working.