United Kingdom Welcomes News of Unilia

Vision to Reality!  Fresh from 3 months in Malawi, Jenny and Henry Kirk traveled to the U.K. to share the exciting story of the realization of a great dream!  Scotland is where it all began – Dr. Robert Laws was sent from Scotland to Nyasaland to begin a mission station in honor of Dr. David Livingstone, the pioneer physician and missionary.  He founded Livingstonia Mission Station at Cape Maclear in 1875.

Laws moved the mission to Bandawe in 1881, but permanently established Livingstonia further north in 1894 at an inspirational setting high on a plateau overlooking Lake Malawi.  There, in 1895, he began to train teachers, ministers and artisans.  His vision was to develop a full education system including a university.  From Laws’ Livingstonia institution radiated the early development of East Central Africa.  It became known as a center of excellence in education.  Unfortunately, Dr. Laws was unable to develop his envisioned university needed to train principled leaders for the country.

Laws’ dream, however, was not forgotten by Malawians.  For over 100 years, they carried in their hearts the objective that they were worthy of a Christian university and that their country needed such an institution.  In 2000, the Synod of Livingstonia set in motion plans to establish the University of Livingstonia.  Courageously, a broad-based citizen's commission and volunteer staff planned for 2 years.  Then, by the grace of God and with the financial help of many, the University of Livingstonia was formally launched August 27, 2003.

 Report from Northwest Scotland

Reverend H. Matiya Nkhoma, General Secretary of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Livingstonia, and his beautiful wife, Mariya, are participating in a Faith Share Program sponsored by the Presbytery of Ayr, Scotland.  The Nkhomas have been in Scotland since January 18, 2005, and will return to Malawi mid-July.  For a week, they shared with the Kirks their home in Prestwick, a charming town near Glasgow.  The Nkhomas speak at churches, schools, service clubs and other gatherings telling about the incredible history between the Church of Scotland and the Synod of Livingstonia.

Reverend Arthur A. Christie (row 1, center), pastor of Monkton and Prestwick North Parish Church, and his wife, Grace, are organizing the Nkhoma’s stay, and coordinated the Kirks’ visit.  The Kirks and Nkhomas participated in activities at Prestwick North Parish Church including the Tuesday Bible Study.  Good fellowship.

They also enjoyed tea and homemade baked goods at the highly successful Monkton Community Church “Pioneer Café.”  Mariya spends time there each week helping church women serve others and raise funds for church projects.  It may be possible to use this “Pioneer Café” concept at Livingstonia to raise money for Unilia – thanks for the idea!

Pastor Kenneth C. Elliott of Prestwick South Parish Church welcomed the Kirks to his sanctuary on Sunday, April 20 where Matiya preached his thought-provoking sermon, “Persistence in Searching for Jesus.”  The Elliotts joined the Nkhomas and Kirks for lunch at the home of Alan and Margaret Moir.

An evening meeting was held at North Prestwick and attended by members of the community interested in hearing more about Malawi and the Livingstonia projects.  Several expressed interest in short term mission work.  Perhaps Jim and Margaret Goodlad will come and teach geography and math! 

Allistair Moir (back row, right) is actively involved in a school project near Louden Mission Station at Embangweni, Malawi.  Small world, huge work!

Reverend David Watson arranged for Reverend Nkhoma and Dr. Kirk to meet Colin Paterson, head teacher at Prestwick Academy.  They told hundreds of students at academy assemblies about life in Malawi.  Later in the week, Reverend Nkhoma spoke at Prestwick Rotary Club and introduced the Kirks who talked about the need to provide a new water system for the Livingstonia community.  President Arthur Maxwell presented a banner to Jenny to take back to her Rotary Club of Mzuzu Malawi.

A special treat for both the Kirks and the Nkhomas was an outing to the Robert Burns memorial and the very setting of his poem “Tam O’Shanter.”  David Geddes did a marvelous job of relating the story complete with recitation!  (Liz Geddes – what fun it must be to have David read you poetry!)  His tour of the countryside including Culzean Castle gave them a good look at the green fields and coast of Scotland.  Lovely afternoon….

The Church of Scotland, Board of World Mission, Sub-Saharan Africa Office coordinated a visit to historic Edinburgh through the kindness of Colin Strang and his assistant, Fiona.  Representing Bobby Anderson of the World Exchange program, Lynn Whitehead offered to help advertise faculty vacancies for one year volunteer service posts at the University of Livingstonia.

Dr. T. Jack Thompson and his wife, Phyllis, hosted the Kirks overnight in Edinburgh while the Nkhomas stayed with another couple.  Jack is Director of Post-Graduate Studies at the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh and a specialist in Malawi history and culture.  Reverend Nkhoma received his master's degree from the university and was pleased to tour New College again.  The group met briefly with Professor David Fergusson, Dean and Head of the School of Divinity.  Retiring faculty member, Mr. David Bone took the Kirks and Nkhomas to lunch to discuss the development of Unilia.  David spent years in Malawi as did Reverend Dr. R.W. (Bobby) Walker who met the party back at “121” (the Church of Scotland headquarters) to view photos of the work at Livingstonia.  Both commented favorably on the projects at the plateau.  They added their blessings to the university undertaking.

Other contacts made in Edinburgh included David Alexander.  He and his 3 sisters are establishing a scholarship for a student at Unilia’s College of Education in honor of their father who was head of station at Livingstonia some years ago.  Lindsay Graham, who, with her father began the Soko Fund, also resides in Edinburgh.  Soko Fund scholarships awarded to College of Education women, inspired the Alexander family to do the same.  Several young women benefiting from these wonderful gifts are most grateful for the support.

Northern Ireland Supports Malawi

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has long been actively supporting mission work in Malawi.  The Overseas Secretary Reverend Uel Marrs responded to a request from Reverend Maurice Munthali, Deputy General Secretary of the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia, to coordinate the Kirks’ visit to Northern Ireland.  Reverend Marrs encouraged the Kirks to explore ways in which PCI could assist the development of the university including finding skilled personnel for short and long term missions.

Marlene and Ken Nelson (and son, Ben) hosted the Kirks for a week.  The Nelsons are active advocates for Malawi mission.  Marlene has visited Malawi twice; the first time was with a group of 10 women from Hill Street Presbyterian Church.  Marlene and Ken traveled to Malawi together in 2004 when Ken was sent there as a part of his theological training through Union Theological College of the Queen’s University in Belfast.  Ken has left the teaching profession to pursue his call to the ministry.  Marlene does accounting work to support their ministry.  The Kirks look forward to greeting them in Malawi or when they travel to Washington State, USA.

Reverend Drew Moore, pastor of Hill Street Presbyterian Church, Lurgan, and his wife, Roberta provided lunch in their home following the Sunday worship service at Hill Street.  The Kirks enjoyed this and the informal mid-week service complete with band led by Ken Nelson.  The congregation learned more about Unilia and the Livingstonia community through the presentation given by the Kirks on Sunday morning.

The Missions Committee at High Kirk Presbyterian Church in Ballymena also saw the Livingstonia presentation.  Reverend Russell Birney (row 2, 3^rd from right), pastor, invited the Kirks to talk about their work and to explore the possibility of a building project at Livingstonia.  Reverend Binnie Mwakasungula (middle front row) participated in the evening.  This was a great opportunity to share the news and the delicious dinner prepared by Mrs. Birney (despite her bad back!).

Maurice Patterson (row 2, right) of Carryduff Presbyterian Church organized a Malawi evening which brought together members of the work party that traveled to Livingstonia in July 2004 from Carryduff, Mourne and Mersey churches.  The Kirks thanked them for their work and were pleased to hear the group is considering another work party visit in 2006.  This year, the churches are sponsoring medical students and two nurses who will spend time in Malawi.  Thanks to Reverend Alistair Smyth (row 3, right), pastor, and John McCandless, Youth and Family Worker, for the use of the church’s facility.  Blessings to the Pattersons and their 3 sons for providing transportation and a wonderful meal in their home.

Possible Linkage:  Union Theological College and Livingstonia Theological College  Before the Kirks left Malawi, they met with Reverend Dr. D.S. Mwakanandi, Principal and Reverend Debbie Chase, Academic Affairs, of Livingstonia Theological College to discuss partnering this new college with a well established institution.   College personnel prepared a packet of information about “Litheoco” (located at Ekwendeni Mission Station near Mzuzu, Malawi) to be presented to Reverend Dr. J. Patton Taylor, Principal of Union Theological College in Belfast, Ireland, with the idea of partnering for mutual benefit. 

Union, of the prestigious Queen’s University, recently celebrated its 150^th anniversary.  The college trains young and mature students for the ministry.  Professor Taylor received the information from Malawi and was quite enthused about the possibility of linking the two institutions.  Once blessed by PCI and CCAP Synod of Livingstonia, details regarding the new relationship can be developed.

Reverend Desi Alexander, Director of Christian Training, listened attentively to the needs for training lay persons for ministry in Malawi.  Often a pastor will be assigned a church with many outlying prayer houses.  For a congregation of 2,000, many lay people are used to assist the minister with pastoral duties.  Desi has developed modular courses which may be helpful in the Malawi context.

It was good to see Reverend Binnie Mwakasungula, former head of Livingstonia Mission Station, hard at work on his master’s degree at Union Theological College.  The Kirks made a presentation at morning devotions with students and dined in the commons with Binnie, Patton, and Ken.  They toured the Union and Queen’s campuses and the surrounding area.  They also visited with Una Brownlie, former nurse for many years at David Gordon Memorial Hospital at Livingstonia and widow of Dr. Donald Brownlie who served as lead physician at DGMH.

While in Belfast, the Kirks contacted other friends including Dr. Maureen Stevenson, on study leave from DGMH and Brenda and Richard Kerr who served in Malawi and now help organize containers to ship donated goods to Malawi from PCI churches.

Ken Nelson arranged for the Kirks to talk with Lurgan Mayor David Simpson and to give a presentation to the Lurgan Rotary Club.  These meetings gave Lurgan businessmen an opportunity to hear about the changes occurring in the Livingstonia community and to think about how they might become involved.

Return to the Foreign Missions Club in London, England

Landing in London on April 22, 2005, the Kirks took a break from presentations to organize contact information, sort photographs and begin to make the transition back to their home in Washington State to be with family and friends.  While in London, they weren’t idle, however!  FMC offers a quiet, comfortable place for missionaries and Christian travelers from all over the world.  What an opportunity to compare notes, learn of others’ accomplishments and gather interest from mission-minded folks from all walks of life. 

Contact was made with Malawi friends including Walije Gondwe of Vinjeru Educational Foundation; Janet Wagner-Parsons, who hosted the Kirks in her home near Cambridge in October 2004; and David Stuart-Mogg, a former tourism and hotel developer in Malawi.  Encouraged by Dr. Austin Mkandawire and others in Malawi, Dr. Kirk spoke with Simon Broadbent and Chris Renwick, members of the Friends of Malawi group that meets periodically in England.  Secretary Chris suggested the Kirks write an item for the July Friends of Malawi newsletter and schedule a presentation about Unilia for the group’s October 2005 meeting.

Planning with Legson and Julie Kayira

On two occasions, the Kirks met with Legson and Julie Kayira in London.  Perhaps Legson is best known internationally because, as a young man, he walked nearly the length of Africa to go to America for a college education.  His award-winning book, I Will Try, details his amazing 2 year odyssey.  This effort taught Legson, “…  I was not, as most Africans believed, the victim of my circumstances but the master of them."

Legson made it to America and walked through the gates of Skagit Valley College in Washington State with a Bible and a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress that he had carried throughout his journey.  During his years at Skagit, Legson came to know Julie’s family.  Legson graduated from Skagit and continued his education at the University of Washington where he earned a bachelors degree.  He received a scholarship to Cambridge University in England and moved away from his United States’ family.  Legson was awarded a bachelor’s/master’s degree in history from

St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge in 1965, and taught at the University of Ghent in Belgium for a few years.  He spent most of his career working for the British Home Office in London.

Legson and Julie reconnected several years ago and married in 1996.  They are looking forward to returning to Legson’s home area in Northern Malawi in July 2005.  He will join the faculty of the University of Livingstonia’s College of Education.  Julie, who will visit Malawi for the first time, is enthused about seeing her husband’s village near Chitipa and spending time at Livingstonia where Legson attended secondary school.

Unilia – Educating Leaders for Malawi

The mission of the University of Livingstonia is to educate and inspire principled leaders for Malawi, Africa.  The purpose of the University of Livingstonia Foundation is to bring together friends who want to advance Malawi by helping educate a new generation of:

      ²   Primary and secondary school teachers who will educate Malawian children

      ²   Health professionals to care for the sick and teach Malawians healthy living practices

      ²   Technicians to help bring Malawi into the 21^st century in the areas of construction,

            automotive services, technology and other practical application areas

      ²   Ministers to preach and spread the Gospel

      ²   Business professionals to move forward Malawi’s economic growth and development

Friends of Malawi may make an investment in the future of this nation by contacting or sending donations to:

University of Livingstonia Foundation

555 N.E. Jefferson Avenue  Chehalis, Washington  98532  U.S.A.

(360) 748-8761       e-mail:  ulivingstonia@localaccess.com       website:  ulivingstonia.org 

Thank You for Considering how You Might be Involved in this Worthy Project