Among the Orphans in Malawi

URC Family Sets up House in Africa- By Caroline Van Dyken

Caroline, Scott with from left to right sons Derrick, Aaron and Nathan

Standing on Nkhoma Mountain, looking down on the green valleys below, it is difficult to believe that thousands of people make this land their home. But look a little longer, and thatched roofs appear between the trees, and fingers of smoke rise from unseen cooking fires. Sprawled below, hundreds of small African villages struggle to cope with an epidemic of orphaned children. These are the people Nkhoma Orphan Care Project strives to help.

Last September, my husband, Scott, our three sons, and I left our home in Canada and journeyed to Malawi. Our new home is the village of Nkhoma, a mission station and hospital established in 1889 by Dutch Reformed missionaries from South Africa. We have come under the auspices of Word & Deed. Scott’s work involves overseeing the orphan care projects which Word & Deed supports in Malawi. We labor alongside those involved in the project, encouraging them to use their God-given abilities and resources to help their neighbors in need.

Word & Deed has two branches of ministry in Malawi: Logos Ministries and the orphan care projects. Manuel Kamnkhwani, a Malawian and Westminster Theological Seminary graduate, is the acting director of Logos. This ministry’s mandate is to train Malawian church leaders in Reformed theology so that God’s truth may be proclaimed accurately and powerfully. Heretical teachings, like syncretism, the false doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the lies of Islam, threaten to smother the pure gospel message in Malawi. Logos works to build up church leaders in Reformed biblical truth so that they, in turn, can be used by the Lord to strengthen their congregants.

Word & Deed’s other work in Malawi involves assisting six orphan care projects across the country. Each project is a separate entity and composed of several orphan care centers. Word & Deed has found and partnered with indigenous people already caring for orphans by providing financial support, oversight, and encouragement. Orphaned children remain in their traditional villages living with a caregiver family, frequently their relatives. The care centers support the caregiver families in a variety of ways. They distribute donations of clothing, food, blankets, seed, and fertilizer. Bible-based teaching is provided by many of the centers. They also allocate available funds for medical care and school fees. Each center is administered by a volunteer committee made up of members of the community, including local pastors, elders, and deacons.

So far Scott’s role with the orphan care projects has included tasks as diverse as delivering a motorbike six hours north to Chintheche, and arranging for the drilling of a well two hours south in Lizulu. Our decision to settle in Nkhoma was strategic – Nkhoma Orphan Care Project is the largest and weakest of the projects. They have recently begun the construction of a multipurpose hall (a project being funded by the Word & Deed Business Group of Central Alberta) and much of Scott’s time has been occupied with that.

We are finding much joy in the work, but it is not without its challenges. Bernie Pennings (Word & Deed Canada) warned us to be careful not to take over the work done by local people. He encouraged us to come alongside and help them grow in recognizing and using their own gifts and abilities. We wholeheartedly agree with this approach, but have found it formidable to implement. Simply by virtue of his skin color, Scott is perceived to be an authority figure, to have superior problem-solving skills, and to carry a limitless supply of cash. He is regularly addressed as boss, or even “big boss,” by Malawians who are complete strangers. When you are identified as “superior” by those you are trying to help, they are inclined to want you to take control of the work and your ideas are considered the final word. It also means you need to regularly examine your heart for a growing lack of humility! (An honest wife is an asset with this, as well.) Scott is persevering and continuing to stress to the Malawians that their capabilities and leadership are vital and that they must work through problems without his help.

It is human inclination to measure the success of work by its observable outcomes, but here we must be wary of this tendency. We are learning that our task here is to humbly serve, doing what is best for the people, even if it means the physical project comes to a halt. Scott has already addressed some thorny matters with his fellow workers, including usury, corruption, and theft, along with an unwillingness to confront and discipline their neighbors. We need to remind ourselves repeatedly that although goals are important, the Lord’s purposes in our work may not include a completed multipurpose hall. And when we occasionally despair that “nothing is getting done”, we must trust that our part is to obediently serve and it is God who will bring the increase, in His time and His way.

It is a tremendous encouragement to our African brothers and sisters to know the North American church is responding compassionately and generously to their plight. God is using deeds of kindness, together with His powerful Word, to point the unsaved in Africa to the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

Caroline Van Dyken lives with her husband Scott and three sons, Nathan (13) ,Derrick (11), and Aaron (7) in Nkhoma, Malawi. She and her family are originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, where they are members of Trinity United Reformed Church.

NKhoma Orphan Care multi-purpose hall

Scott Van Dyken has provided some pictures and a description of the Nkhoma Orphan Care project multi-purpose hall (funded by the Business Group of Central Alberta). Surrounding communities are expected to volunteer alongside the contractor. The project began in December 2008. The first phase of the project was to put in a solid foundation.

A couple of 14 pound sledges were employed and 50-60 tons of stone was broken, gathered, wheeled, carried on heads, etc.

The local masons showed their skill by expertly building and lining a 750 gallon water tank. Then the five "water women" began their task of filing and topping up this tank by carrying water from a borehole in the nearby village.

Secure storage for building materials and tools is important since a shovel is worth a week's wages and a bag of cement worth two. A steel container was moved using a flatbed truck, one five ton bottle jack, two partially crushed 50 gallon barrels, one over-stressed chain knotted in a tree, an odd collection of stones, a few bent pipes and 15 men. After two days of sweating, slipping and scampering out of the way, the task was completed. "We do it manual" was repeated with pride by the men involved.

Mountains of bricks were made by community volunteers. All the bricks were used up in the foundation.



The foundation completed at last with much of the work buried below ground.

True Friends update (Malawi)

Construction of the True Friends multi-purpose hall continues (funded by two businessmen from Chilliwack, British Colombia). Below are pictures taken at various stages of the project. There were a number of challenges along the way (including washed out roads) but even though it isn't complete yet, this building project has made excellent progress.








Here is Scott Van Dyken's son standing next to Ernest who is the True Friends orphan care project president and an elder in his local CCAP (Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian) church.

Here Scott "hands over the keys" of a much needed motorcycle (with funds coming from Grand Rapids, Michigan) to help with with travel to many remote areas where the orphans are being cared for. In Scott's words, "If you are wondering about my rather informal attire for the solemn event of handing over the keys, here is my excuse: I had just spent the last two hours running up and down the road, holding onto the back rack of the motorcycle, shouting instruction and encouragement to Ernest. There were a couple of times when I thought it would end with a disaster of some sort or another. In the end, he calmed down and started to get the hang of managing a task with both hands and both feet, while remembering to balance."

Some small buildings are also being put up in the remote areas (with funding from the St. Thomas Youth Group and the Sheffield Business Group)

New Life

Blantyre Girls’ Home in Malawi: By Erwin & Laura van der Meer

Blantyre Girls’ Home is a rehabilitation center for child prostitutes. Its goal is to give young prostitutes a chance to start a new life. The home started in February 2006, when my wife Laura and I, together with Rev. Wonder Kanyangira and his wife Esther, decided to do something about the young girls who were prostituting themselves on the streets of Blantyre.

The home had very humble beginnings, with a subsistence budget, but ever since Word & Deed agreed to sponsor the home, things have greatly improved. To date, about 20 girls between the ages of 10 and 18 have passed through the home, while 10-12 girls are in the home at any time. We work with both local and foreign volunteers, but also employ two house mothers and a qualified social worker. It is amazing how girls change after just a month in the home. So far, of the girls who have left the home to be reunited with their families, only two have again become trapped in prostitution. Two other girls recently came back to the home when they found that they were not ready yet for life outside the home.

The home is established on Christian principles. Many of them have come to know Christ, which really changes their life. Some of our volunteers, both local and European, have also come to know Christ in the home. The girls now have a very beautiful choir which performs in various churches and even made it to national television in Malawi.

Since we are the only organization in Malawi that operates a rehabilitation center for child prostitutes, we cannot meet the demand for help. Due to poverty, child prostitution, especially among young teenagers, has been on the increase. We currently have insufficient space in the present home and there is an urgent need for at least two new homes to be opened in Blantyre. One of these will operate as a safe house in order to provide short-term shelter for abused girls and young women. We regularly get requests for short-term crisis shelter, but are unable to help because it will seriously disturb the girls in the long-term rehabilitation program.

There is also an urgent need for homes to be opened in other large towns in Malawi, namely Mwanza, Balaka, Nsanje, Zomba, Lilongwe, Mangochi, Mzuzu and Karonga. Various government and NGO (non-governmental organization) reports have indicated that child prostitution is common in these towns. If these homes are established in a rented house, the cost per home will be approximately $900 USD per month. It is our prayer that with God's help many more homes can be established and many girls can be rehabilitated and come to know Christ.

Rev. Erwin van der Meer is a missionary sent out by the Afrika Zending of The Netherlands to Southern Africa.

Orphan Care Impact

From Orphan to Father: By Caroline Van Dyken

It is January, the rainy season in Malawi, and Machitidwe awakens to the muffled drumming of a downpour on the thatched roof. A rooster crows and another provides a hoarse echo. Machitidwe has mixed feelings about the rain this morning. He must bike a long distance today and would prefer dry weather, but vivid memories of drought and famine prevent him from recklessly wishing the rain away. Without rain there will be no maize harvest. After his breakfast of tea and a piece of bread, the rain has eased to a drizzle, and Machitidwe heaves his bike out the door and down the single front step. He climbs on and begins the two-hour journey to the village of Madzambwa.


For the past year-and-a-half, Machitidwe Sepitala has been employed as one of three coordinators for Nkhoma Orphan Care Project. The project has 34 orphan care centers within a 30 kilometer radius of Nkhoma mission station. These centers serve approximately 900 small villages and the project has 4875 orphans registered in their program. Rather than placing orphaned children in an institutional setting, they remain in a traditional village, often living with relatives. The care centers attempt to support these caregiver families in a variety of ways. Donated items including food, clothing, blankets, seed, and fertilizer are distributed to the families. Each care center maintains a community garden: another source of food.

Many of the centers provide weekly Bible lessons for the orphaned children, with the goal being to have all centers do so. Financial assistance for the orphans’ medical and educational costs is also allocated if available. Machitidwe, together with his fellow coordinators, Notice Chada and Myamiko Bonongwe, oversees the activities of these care centers. Equipped with bikes for transportation, they spend many hours negotiating the narrow, rutted trails between the villages, trying to visit each center twice monthly to provide supervision, direction, and encouragement.

Machitidwe has been employed by Nkhoma Orphan Care for less than two years, but he has been a part of their work since their inception 11 years ago. This optimistic young man brings to his job a unique empathy and compassion for orphaned children because he also lost his parents as a child. When he was nine, his mother died of pneumonia and two years later his father passed away, leaving behind three orphaned boys. Machitidwe moved six kilometers to the village of Chimwaye to live with his uncle and aunt, Tolera and Christina Masauko, and he still resides with them today.

He remembers the first three years in his new home as a time of much struggle and hardship. His new family was very poor and his Aunt Christina fought to feed and clothe four children, often hindered by her husband’s alcohol abuse. When the Nkhoma Orphan Care Project began helping families care for orphans in 1997, Machitidwe’s family was one of the first they assisted. Through the project, together with generous overseas donations, the family was blessed with precious basic necessities: food, clothing, blankets, fertilizer, and seed. Financial assistance from the project made it possible for him to graduate from secondary school. Machitidwe firmly believes that the Lord used Nkhoma Orphan Care to provide for him during a period of desperate need and he is grateful to be in a position where he can now minister to children in similar circumstances.

When asked about his plans for the future, Machitidwe does not hesitate with his reply. He would like to attend the technical college in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital, to upgrade his education and improve his ability to do his job. He and his wife, Snedia, and infant son, Vincent, live with his aunt and uncle, but he recently acquired a partly built home from relatives in the same village and he is working on finishing it. The home includes a separate space for a small shop and he hopes that Snedia will eventually be able to supplement their income by selling groceries to the villagers.

It is evening and Machitidwe pedals wearily through the village to his home. The sky has cleared and the setting sun covers the lush green landscape with a soft, golden light. Laughing children race along side his bike, welcoming him home. The scent of wood smoke from his neighbors’ cooking fires fills his nostrils. He finds Aunt Christina and Snedia sitting companionably just outside the house. His aunt is cooking their simple supper of maize meal porridge and greens on a small woodstove, while his wife nurses the baby. As he settles down beside them and takes his son into his arms, Machitidwe is thankful for how the Lord has faithfully provided for another day.

Caroline Van Dyken and her husband Scott are members of Trinity Orthodox Reformed Church in St. Catharines, Ontario and are currently on a two year placement in Malawi where they are supporting Word & Deed projects.

Malawi Projects

True Friends Orphan Care ($11,500)
Lizulu Orphan Care ($16,560)
Neighbor Mission Committee Orphan Care ($12,700)
Nkhoma Orphan Care ($28,700)
Orphan Care & Social Rehabilitation ($23,000)
House of Bangwa (home for child prostitutes) ($9,200)
Logos Ministries (pastoral training and education) ($65,550)
Behavioral Change Program (Biblical lifestyle training for youth) $25,000

There are an estimated one million orphans in Malawi mostly due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The above community based orphan care projects working with the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian (CCAP) and Word & Deed strive to meet the basic physical and spiritual needs of 5,500 orphans.

Malawi Orphan Basic Group Sponsorship

Word & Deed North America has launched an urgently needed basic form of the child sponsorship program in Malawi. Word & Deed partners use home-based orphan care in which orphans are placed with Christian caregiver families rather than in orphanages. For a monthly donation of $35 (in Canada) or $32 (in the US), you can sponsor five orphans and restore hope. Children and teenagers are also encouraged to become involved by sponsoring one orphan for $7 (in Canada) or $5 (in the US). Help make a world of difference in their lives!

Malawi – Bangwa House of Hope ($9200)

The House of Bangwa project was put in place to rescue young girls from prostitution. The girls stay in a home led by a Christian couple. Bible lessons, counseling and role modeling are used to help the girls reintegrate into society. The home has a capacity of 10 girls and is located in Blantyre.

Malawi – Logos Ministries ($65,550)

After working closely with the CCAP for a number of years on the orphan program, Word & Deed has been given the opportunity to provide the CCAP pastors, elders and leaders with the practical and doctrinal tools they need to better serve their congregations (which often number in the thousands). We are working closely with the Central Church of Africa, Presbyterian (CCAP) to offer training seminars conducted by visiting pastors and teachers, as well as Logos staff to better equip men in those churches to lead and instruct their flocks. What an amazing opportunity to impact a one million member denomination! Above are Dr. Timothy Monsma (left) and Dr. Van Velden (rear) with their students during one of the courses. A significant proportion of the costs associated with this program are underwritten by one of the United Reformed Churches in Canada.

Malawi – Behavioral Change Program

This is another program which works through the CCAP churches, in this case to educate youth about biblical lifestyles. The root of the AIDS problem in Africa is behavioral and needs to be addressed using the instructive principles of God’s Word. Groups of youth who have demonstrated leadership qualities attend several days of instruction sessions and then go back to their own churches where they share that same information with others.

The Harvest is Plentiful

By: Katie Dejong

"Therefore my beloved brethren, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:58Amy With Child

Word & Deed partners with a variety of mission and relief organizations within Malawi. This past summer we had the opportunity to witness and participate in the testimony of the work done in Nkhoma, Malawi, among the orphans. We hoped that our trip would provide both encouragement and support for the local workers of the Nkhoma Orphan Care Project.

Six young women made the trip to Nkhoma, Malawi: Monica Bos (Cambridge, Ontario: Zion URC), Amy Brouwer (Cambridge, Ontario: Zion URC), Katie DeJong (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Trinity URC), Ruth Ann Freswick (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Bethany URC), Lenelle Moerdyk (Grand Rapids, Michigan: FRC), and Caroline Molenaar (Zoetermeer, The Netherlands: Walkerton OPC). Our team was equally partnered with local workers. We must especially thank Davison Mtionakutha, Machitidwe Septala, Notice Chada, Chisomo Nkhoma, Mary Chimutu, Job Mwale, and Manuel and Karen Kankhwani. Of our team members, Lenelle, remarked, “Their ideas exceed beyond our self-centered minds; it humbled me every time. Chisomo Nkhoma has shown us the true meaning of singing from the heart. Her favorite quote is 'God is good all the time! All the atime God is good!'”

Katie addressing a Bible class

"But Jesus said, Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14

The Nkhoma Orphan Care Project seeks to provide practical assistance to the guardians of the approximately 5,000 orphans living in 21 different villages surrounding Nkhoma. The project helps provide food, clothing, and school fees for the orphans. Machitidwe describes their mission as, “To visit orphans and widows in their trouble and keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27b), for our God is “a father of the fatherless and a defender of widows”(Psalm 68:5).

Providing both child care and educational assistance, the Orphan Care Project also develops nursery schools within villages. Young children meet in the mornings to hear Bible stories and receive basic instruction in preparation for Primary School. We told and taught Bible stories with the assistance of a flannel graph and translator. We also provided practical tools, like alphabet flashcards, and held a teacher seminar.

Caroline singing with kids at Bible club

“When we play a game of Simon Says it is funny to watch them try to rub their belly and pat their head at the same time” says Caroline. “The nursery school teacher often uses singing to teach, and at the end of the day they all pray out loud.”

"Now Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases among the people." Matthew 4:23

Lenelle and Ruth Ann teaching nursery school

In the afternoons we started Orphan Bible Clubs within local villages. Children gather two afternoons a week to sing, play games, and hear Bible stories. They are also growing a garden to provide more food for the orphans, especially during the dry season.

“The voices of all those joyful children raised in songs of praise to God is a beautiful thing,” says Monica. “Each club also holds a service day once a month, to help the children learn the joy of helping other people. On one service day we helped an elderly woman in the village of Kalamba: the boys swept her yard and the girls washed her dishes.”

The Bible Clubs encourage local leaders to develop self-sufficiency, education, service, and ultimately thanksgiving to God within their communities. They are a place for the community to grow together, creating a safe place for children to hear the Word of God.

“Twice a week at Livuadzi, two year-old Marison would find me, his huge eyes pleading to be held,” says Katie. “Then, he would snuggle up and simply go to sleep. He did not want anything in particular, he just needed a hug—a safe spot to feel loved and protected.”

Monica with gardeners

"And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Ruth Ann spent most of her time working at the Nkhoma Mission Hospital in the surgical ward. While she found the transition from western medicine difficult, the experience was also full of joy. “The staff works together, overcoming daily frustrations of limited resources with incredible endurance,” she says. “When a man needed a prosthetic leg, a South African charge nurse raised special funds to fit him with one. The resourceful staff and content patients motivated me to glorify God with whatever I am given.”

Lenelle with children

Throughout our time here in Malawi we have been blessed by those we have met. Malawi calls itself the warm heart of Africa. Everywhere we went the children would run out and greet us, seeking only a wave in return. We were always warmly welcomed. It is our prayer that God would increase both our efforts and the efforts of those working full-time

in Malawi.