Provide Water to Hospitals in Dedza, Malawi
As this year draws to a close, I cannot thank you enough for the kindness and caring you’ve shown this past year — not only to the men, women and children whom we serve in missions throughout Africa — but to our missionaries who sacrifice so very much as well. In all honesty and without exaggeration, it is because of your giving that many of those who had no food to eat, nor clothes to wear — and some without even a place to sleep — now are sharing meals with families and have enough to get by … even if it is just temporary.
Dear John,
As this year draws to a close, I cannot thank you enough for the kindness and caring you’ve shown this past year — not only to the men, women and children whom we serve in missions throughout Africa — but to our missionaries who sacrifice so very much as well. In all honesty and without exaggeration, it is because of your giving that many of those who had no food to eat, nor clothes to wear — and some without even a place to sleep — now are sharing meals with families and have enough to get by … even if it is just temporary.
If you will recall, last February I shared with you an urgent letter I had received telling about the emergency situation in Bamako, Mali (in West Africa). After northern Mali had been invaded by Islamist terrorists several months before, thousands of refugees (Muslims as well as Christians) had begun fleeing for their lives. In the midst of the chaos, many of our missionaries, including Fr. Laurent Balas decided to remain in Bamako and tend to those who were in need of medical and nutritional supplies as well as humanitarian relief.
Thanks to you, we were able to send Fr. Laurent emergency funds to ensure that the mission (and the dispensary on the grounds) stayed open and functioning for those needing urgent care!
Last summer, I wrote to you about Sr. Mary Babirye — a missionary in Lira, Uganda, in East Africa. Sr. Mary is in charge of a Health Center, in Oyam District in the northern region of Uganda. In her letter, she wrote of the incredible need for medical equipment for the Center which serves thousands of men, women and children. She explained of the need to replace medical equipment that was either terribly worn out — or in some cases — rusted through!
Your generosity enabled us to provide enough funds to purchase beds for maternity wards, as well as a delivery bed, scales, a stretcher, hospital beds, mattresses, bedding, an electric sterilizer, wheel chairs and other items. Imagine the difference your financial support is making for those who continue to depend on the hospital for life-saving care! It is the good that you do which makes a difference in the lives of the poor.
As I write this letter to you, so many people are still celebrating the holidays — with Christmas as well as New Year’s parties. Oh how I wish we could be celebrating the end of suffering and poverty — that we could say that the work of caring for those in need is finished — that no one else needs our help. But you and I both know that isn’t true.
There are still men, women, and children who are hungry. Families who need clothing and shelter. Villages that need water. That is why I am writing to you again.
Recently, I received a letter from Sr. Florence Kankota, a religious Sister who is in charge of the St. Joseph Health Center in Dedza, Malawi, in Central Africa. The hospital (in the rural Chiphwanya Region of Malawi) provides emergency outreach and care for thousands. The facility also provides outreach for those affected by the AIDS pandemic which has ravaged much of the continent. The tasks with which the workers are faced are enormous! But in her letter, Sr. Florence isn’t asking for medicine or even medical supplies. The hospital is desperately in need of water! She is asking for help in purchasing two 5,000 liter tanks (as well as the necessary pipes, faucets, valves, and other items) which will be used to store water that will be collected from the water which falls during the rainy season.
My dear friend, together you and I — along with our other benefactors and friends — have indeed helped so many. Thank you! As we draw near the end of this year, I am asking for funds to help make a water system at the hospital in Dedza a reality. While my hope is that we can raise at least $60,000 to help meet the needs of the hospital in Dedza, Malawi, as well as help with the medical and water needs in other places where our missionaries work, I recall that the Lord said, “Ask and you shall receive …,” so in His name, I am asking you for a gift! Whether it is $10, $100, or $1,000 — it is the generosity of a loving heart like yours that makes a difference in the lives of those who are suffering!
Your Missionary Friend,
Denis P. Pringle
Director of Development