Second Stay at Kongwe

After serving four of his six year third term, Rev Chienda was replaced by Rev Dr Kawale as General Secretary of the Nkhoma Synod. He was consequently moved to Kongwe in Dowa District, to pastor a congregation he had pastored in the 1960s as a young minister.

At that time Kongwe, as a congregation, had reached a very low ebb - the membership was low, the giving very poor and the morale had hit rock bottom. Suddenly, the former General Secretary found himself in a manse that had no power, despite all the other surrounding houses having been connected to Escom power. In the 1960s the same manse had been on the local power grid fed from a mini hydro-plant on the Lingadzi River.

The reverend wasted no time in getting to work. He got the rewiring in he manse finalised to Escom standards and used his personal initiative and contacts to get Escom to connect the manse to the national grid. In terms of pastoral work, he embarked on extensive door-to-door visitations of the congregants.

Kongwe is a hilly place, and a number of villages lie in areas inaccessible by car. The former General Secretary did not hesitate to engage in some cycling to get to these areas. on the average he would spend three to four days away from home (without returning) per trip.

Slowly life started to come back to Kongwe. The membership picked up, the giving tremendously improved.

Reverend Chienda seemed to be followed by centenary celebrations wherever he went. Kongwe celebrated its centenary in 1994 during his tenure as pastor. The main event of the celebrations took place in August 1994 and was attended by the then Vice President of the Republic of Malawi, Hon Justin Malewezi, himself an alumnus of Robert Blake Secondary School at Kongwe.

A young man then working at the Dowa District Hospital became friends with Rev Chienda, while the latter was at Kongwe. The young man was so influenced by the veteran reverend that he decided to join the ministry. He is now a full minister of word and sacrament. His name is Rev Chilindeni Nthara.

Back to Nkhoma

Late in 1988, Rev Chienda was elected General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod for the third time. Accordingly, he moved from Mlanda back to Nkhoma, occupying the same house as he had lived in for eleven years in the 1970s. He replaced Rev Conrad Chimkoka as General Secretary.

One of the major tasks he had to perform during his third term was to organise and coordinate the centenary celebrations of the Nkhoma Synod. Nkhoma Synod had its humble beginings with the arrival of Revs Murray and Vlok at Mvera in 1889. The misison station later relocated to Nkhoma on account of shortage of water at Mvera.

The celebrations fittingly took place in the year 1989. The Synod went to great lengths to have a special centenary Bible published as part of the celebrations. They also, naturally, arranged for a centenary cloth to be produced by David Whitehead and Sons.

The climax of the celebrations was on 27th August, 1989. On this day, His Excellency, the President, Ngwazi Dr Kamuzu Banda graced the occasion with his presence at Nkhoma. Rev K J Mgawi was the Centenary Celebrations Chairman, and Rev L Matanda was at that time the Moderator of the Synod. Together with these two, Rev Chienda welcomed the President to Nkhoma, amid beautiful singing by members of Chigwirizano (Women's Guild) who had lined the entire street from the market to the church singing "Kuwala, e kuwala, e kuwala, kumwamba uko!" (It is shiny, shiny up in gloryland). The clergy gave the President a briefing of the history of the Synod and asked him to sign in a specially arranged visitor's book.

Later, the President attended a church service in the church. He read in Chichewa the New Testament lesson, during the service. He was presented with a specially bound Chichewa Bible after the service.

Afterwards, the President and his entourage conducted a mass political rally at the William Murray football ground in the afternoon.

Pastoral Work at Mlanda

Rev Chienda was back in the Nkhoma Synod in 1988. He was posted to Mlanda Congregation in Ntcheu District.

His going to Mlanda afforded him the opportunity to renew his association with Mr and Mrs Retief, South African missionaries who had worked at Nkhoma and at Kongwe and were now teaching at the newly established Mlanda Girls's Secondary School.

Close to Mlanda is the Nkosini, the headquarters of the Ngoni paramount chief. The Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani III was a congregant at Mlanda, and became a very good friend of Rev Chienda. He (Rev Chienda) once took me to the Nkosini to have a chat with the paramount chief.

One day death struck in the royal family. The chief's sister died. My father and I rushed to the Nkosini to check on the funeral arrangements. We were surprised to learn that the chief had not been to the siwa (the house where mourners gather and the body is kept pending burial). We were told that according to strict Ngoni culture, the chief does not, under any circumstances, go anywhere close to the siwa.

Mlanda lies very close to the Malawian border with Mozambique. In the late 1980s, there were in Malawi scores of Mozambican refugees fleeing the conflict in their country between Renamo and Frelimo. One would see many refugee camps around Mlanda. Gunshots could sometimes be heard across the border. One day, while returning from Lilongwe, the vehicle that Rev Chienda was driving developed a flat tyre as we got to Mlanda turn off. It was after sunset, and we heard gunshots close by. In fright, we decided to drive the vehicle on the flat tyre until we got to the mission. The tyre was completely tattered.

At the end of September, 1988, Rev and Mrs Chienda traveled to Blantyre to attend the wedding of the man writing this blog to Elubie Kaliati. The wedding, like all the others before it, was officiated at St Michael and All Angels Church on 1st October, 1988.

Blantyre for Jesus

In 1983, the Africa (Evangelical) Enterprise, under the leadership of its founder, Michael Cassidy, entrusted Rev Chienda with the responsibility of coordinating a city wide evangelistic campaign in Blantyre, dubbed "Blantyre for Jesus". It was the first of its kind in Malawi.

Assisted by people like Evangelist Steven Lungu and others drawn from various churches in Blantyre, Rev Chienda and the team organised several rallies to take place in various residential districts of Blantyre. It was a new philosophy in the manner of conducting evangelistic campaigns, in the sense that instead of expecting people to come to a central place to hear the gospel, rather the gospel was taken to where the people lived. For a whole week, evening rallies were held in places like Chilomoni, Chilobwe and Ndirande.

They also involved the local churches by sending preachers to some congregations to preach during the normal church services.

Many people gave their lives to Christ during these campaigns. One of the enduring ones was Gerald Kandulu, who has since been used greatly by God. He subsequently went to a theological college in Zimbabwe, from where he proceeded to carry out his pastoral work in South Africa. Later he came back home and pastored in the Agape Church before rejoining the CCAP.

The following year, 1984, Africa Enterprise made the decision to engage Rev Chienda as a full time worker of the the organisation. Initially he operated from Blantyre but later relocated to Lilongwe, where Africa Enterprise provided a house in Biwi Township.

The Reverend's Children's Weddings

While he was in Blantyre, Rev Chienda had the opportunity to witness the weddings of some of his children.

The first wedding in the series was between his first born daughter, Mercy, and Herricks Gwazeni. It was officiated at St Michael and All Angels Church on 18th September, 1982. Rev Chienda bought a whole cow in Chikwawa, had it slaughtered there, and hauled the beef to Blantyre to feed guests to the wedding.

Next was Glady's wedding to Patrick Chimutu. Prior to the wedding the couple had a traditional engagement ceremony, which was ably hosted by the Reverend's cousin, Mr Kafumbi Njewa in Limbe.

The actual wedding took place on 3rd September, 1983. Like Mercy's wedding, this one too was officiated at St Michael and All Angels Church. A day before the wedding, Rev Chienda got news to the effect that his lifetime friend, Rev Abyud Mndala, was hospitalised in Lilongwe with a heart problem. Rev Mndala had wanted Rev Chienda by his bedside, but sadly this was not possible since the latter was deeply involved in the wedding arrangements of his daughter. Subsequently, Rev Mndala died. The Nkhoma Synod entourage to the wedding was split, with some people leaving Blantyre for Salima to attend Rev Mndala's burial, while a few remained to attend the wedding.

The third wedding taking place while Rev Chienda was resident in Blantyre was Cliff's to Ivy Sapangwa. It took place in August of 1985, after Rev Chienda had left the Bible Society. At that time he was with African Evangelical Enterprise. Ivy was the grand-daughter of Mayi Florence Tsamwa, a prominent member of Malawi Congress Party Women's League, who was a close and trusted associate of His Excellency Dr Kamuzu Banda.

Serving the Wider Christian Community

The stay in Blantyre afforded Rev Chienda the opportunity to associate with a number of Christian organisations. Among these was the Blantyre Keswick Convention, an evangelical, interdenominational grouping which conducted one big evangelistic rally every year. While serving the Keswick Convention, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Mr Luwani, Rev Le Page and Mr Willie Musopole, among many others.

He also became a regular at the New Life for All meetings, that time being held in the Red Cross Hall near Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. He normally took preaching engagements at these meetings, along with other clergymen like Rev Bomba and Rev Bwanaisa, who were from the Assemblies of God Church.

In the early 1908s an American relief organisation called World Vision International started its operations in Malawi. Its director was John Howell. Rev Chienda was contacted to serve on the Council of World Vision and he accepted. Also on the same council was his brother in law, Rev HA Kamnkhwani.

Following its registration with the Malawi Government, World Vision ran into a big problem. Somebody reported to the Malawi Police that the World Vision staff were taking pictures of naked children to be sold abroad, in an effort to raise funds for its projects. The Police raided the World Vision offices and seized boxes of photographs. In the meantime, threats were issued by the Police suggesting that the organisation would face immediate closure.

As it turned out, the pictures that were being referred to were only shoulder high, and did not bear any resemblance to the indecent material they had been made out to be.

Rev Chienda decided to personally take up the matter with the Malawi Police Force. He had a number of meetings with top ranking police officers with a view to explaining the plain truth about the contentious issue. He assured the police that World Vision was a well meaning organisation, which would not, under any circumstances, get involved in anything sinister. The officers took him seriously and the plan to close World Vision was dropped.

Not long after this incident, John Howell had to leave Malawi to lead World Vision Senegal, from where he would deal with the serious hunger situation in the Sahel. This left World Vision Malawi without a leader. The Council had to quickly look around for a John Howell replacement. The name of Jeff Thindwa (then 28) was suggested, but some Council members objected to to it because they felt he was not mature enough. Rev Chienda thought it was a great opportunity to try young leadership in World Vision. After all, he had so much confidence in the young man. After some deliberation, the Council decided to appoint Jeff Thindwa as Country Director. He did not disappoint.

Moving to Blantyre

The Bible Society in Malawi started its operations in the 1960s with Rev E Nyamurowa, a Zimbabwean, as its head. Over the years, Nyamurowa knew that he would one day retire and return to Zimbabwe, and he felt within himself that he should pass the mantle to a Malawian.

He strongly felt that Rev Chienda could be a proper replacement and he went ahead to convince him to take over his post. All the necessary arrangements having been made with the board of the society, Rev Chienda moved to Blantyre in August, 1979, to become the Executive General Secretary of the Society. Some of his senior staff were Mr Chingwanda and Mr Peter Mkolesia.

Following Rev Chienda's appointment, Rev Nyamurowa went back to Zimbabwe but sadly died the following year. Soon after his funeral, Mrs Nyamurowa and her daughter, Rabecca, flew back to Blantyre to spend time with their acquintances and to show them pictures taken during the funeral of the departed man of God.

In Blantyre Rev Chienda continued to be a jovial man, especially at home or in social settings. Jeff Thindwa remembers him as somebody who used to laugh a lot. Sometimes he would almost run out his breath as a result of having laughed so much.

One day a number of people gathered at Rev Chienda's house in Namiwama, Bantyre. Among them was Jeff Thindwa, then working for World Vision International (Malawi Office). Rev Chienda got up to distribute some mandasi (flitters). Realising that he was probably the youngest member in the team, Jeff offered to do the distribution, but Rev Chienda refused, saying he(Jeff) was a visitor just like the others. When his turn came, Jeff picked one flitter, and the Revered leaned forward to him and whispered into his ears, "Mukaan'tengeratu tiwiri kaya, chifukwa sizidziwika kuti zitsalako (My advice is that you pick two, because there may never be a second chance)." And sure enough, after the plate had gone round, there was no second chance.

Despite his jovial spirit - or rather, complimentary to it - Rev Chienda continuned to be a very serious worshipper and a provider of spiritual guidance. Noticing his zeal for God's work, the Blantyre Synod took him on board and gave him a congregation to pastor. He became moderator of Mtenjera CCAP Church at Lunzu, Blantyre.

Further Training in America

During the Internatioanl Congress on World Evangelisation in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, Rev Chienda had the opportunity of meeting one of Africa's leading evangelical intellectuals, Dr Byang Kato. Kato was among the keynote speakers at the conference.

Nigerian by origin, Kato received his ThD degree in May, 1974 from Dallas Theological Seminary. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Universalism and Syncretism in Christianity in Africa", and it was later published by Evangel Publishing House in Nairobi, Kenya under the title "Theological Pitfalls in Africa."

Kato had great passion for promoting and encouraging theological scholarship and debate among African evangelicals. It was his desire to see a purely African theological discourse develop and flourish in the evangelical circles. He repeatedly charged African evangelicalism with "theological anaemia" and deliberately sought out and encouraged young African evangelical scholars in their studies and work.

Noticing Rev Chienda's dedication to God's work and seeing potential in him, Dr Kato suggested that he (Rev Chienda) should seek further theological education abroad. He went further, in the ensuing months, to find a suitable college, where Rev Chienda could pursue undergraduate and postgraduate programs. It was Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, in the United States of America.

In December, 1975, a few months before Rev Chienda left for California, Dr Kato and his family took a vacation in Mombasa, Kenya. The learned doctor disappeared from their lodging place on December 18, and his body was found the following day in Mombasa river. It has never been clear what the cause of death was: whether he had drowned or had been attacked and subsequently placed in the river. One thing that is clearly known is that Africa was robbed of one of its celebrated theologians through this tragic death. He was 39 at the time of his death.

Rev Chienda left for California, USA in 1976. It pleased Nkhoma Synod to appoint Rev EE Katsuluka Acting General Secretary, pending Rev Chienda's completion of his academic work and his return to Malawi. In 1977, Mrs Chienda and the two youngest children, Annie and Tertia, followed Rev Chienda to America. The family returned home in 1978 after the Reverend had obtained a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in Missiology.

While Rev and Mrs Chienda were away to America, the older children that stayed behind were being ably looked after by well wishing parents. Chief among these were Rev KJ Mgawi and Mr Nelson Chikusa. The latter was a tutor at the William Murray Teacher Training College.

On his return, Rev Chienda resumed his work as General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod, working for close to a year before moving to Blantyre to take up a new post at the Bible Society in Malawi.

Leadership in Times of Political Tension (Part 2)

On 21st February, 1974, Reverends KJ Mgawi and YA Chienda, Moderator and General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod, respectively, were summoned to meet the President, Dr Kamuzu Banda in Zomba. The Regional Ministers for the North and the Centre, Mr Chibambo and Mr Kumbweza Banda, respectively, had also been called to the meeting. Another person attending that meeting was Rev Kauta Msiska, the Principal of the Nkhoma Theological College.

The matter for which they had been summoned was that Mr Chibambo had received two letters from Rev Kauta, which were accusatory of Reverends Burger and Steytler, South African missionaries working in the Nkhoma Synod, and alleging that Nkhoma Synod was refusing to move the Theological College to Zomba.

Regarding the alleged refusal by Nkhoma Synod to move the Theological College to the university town of Zomba, Kamuzu said he fully understood such misgivings, as he had himself witnessed the difficulties of trying to annex a theological college to an American university (Brown, 2007). He, therefore, referred the matter back for further consultation. During the meeting, Rev Mgawi and Rev Chienda expressed their surprise that such a matter was reported to political leaders and not the Theological Board.

On their return to Nkhoma, Reverends Mgawi and Chienda requested an extra-ordinary meeting of the General Synod Theological Board, where Nkhoma Synod was to sate clearly that they had no problems moving to Zomba, and that they were already engaged in fundraising activities for purposes of implementing the move.

On 4th March, 1974, the Nkhoma Synod duo, Rev Mgawi and Rev Chienda were summoned to the Malawi Congress Party Headquarters to appear in the office of the Administrative Secretary, Mr Albert Muwalo Nqumayo. The general secretaries and moderators of Blantyre and Livingstonia syonds had also been asked to come. In attendance were all the three regional ministers and other party functionaries. Also present at that meeting were Rev Kauta Msiska and two students from the Theological College.

The two students had reported to the party that Rev Kauta had taken offence at their wearing of lapel badges depicting the face of Dr Kamuzu Banda. The hearing found Rev Kauta guilty of having commited a 'serious' offence. Brown (2007) reports that Rev Kauta actually admitted having made a mistake. He was accordingly ordered to lay down his post as Principal of the Theological College, and he left Nkhoma on 6th March, 1974.

Later the same year, the all-powerful Malawi Congress Party expelled from the party Mr Alison Reuben Nyanda, who was then Education Sectretary of the Synod, on allegations of double dealing within the party. The directive also came from the office of the Administrative Secretary, Albert Muwalo Nqumayo. Consequently, Mr Nyanda had to relinquish his post and he went to live at his home near Lumbadzi.

In 1975, two more South African missionaries, namely Reverends C Burger and P Botha were deported from Malawi. The issue at hand was that Rev Botha had began to carry out missionary work in Mozambique, operating from Dedza. He once organised a truck load of maize to feed some Mozambicans who were threatened with hunger. While in Mozambique, he came across an NGO team on a fact finding mission, who asked him if there was famine in Mozambique and he said there was. This displeased the Frelimo government, who denied the existence of famine anywhere in Mozambique. They (the Frelimo government) went ahead to launch an official complaint to the Malawi Government. This led to the immediate deportation of Rev Botha and, by association, Rev Burger, whom the government found out to be Rev Botha's immediate superior, being the Liason Officer between the Nkhoma Synod and the Mission office of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa..

Rev Chienda intervened by launching an appeal to His Excellency, Dr Kamuzu Banda for the matter to be reviewed. Although no immediate results were forthcoming, Kamuzu did allow the return of Rev Burger in 1983.

Leadership in Times of Political Tension (Part 1)

The 1970s were characterised by high political tension in Malawi as the sole and ruling party, the Malawi Congress Party, was in the process of consolidating its grip on power, following the 1964 cabinet crisis.

The Kongwe incident has already been mentioned in an earlier post. Apat from resulting in the closure of the school, the incident also led to the firing of some local academic staff and the redeployment of South African missionary staff: Mr CA Loots was posted to William Murray Teacher Training College, Dr JK Louw to Malingunde, and Rev MH Daneel to Lilongwe, where he was to continue his work as youth chaplain. Rev Chienda was at the helm of the Nkhoma Synod team that worked tirelessly, amid many fears, to bring order to Kongwe, in particular and to Nkhoma Synod in general.

In February, 1973, Dr CJ Blignaut and Rev M Pauw were suddenly deported from Malawi, following an incident where somebody (probably Rev Pauw) brought an injured dog into the Nkhoma Hopspital, and Dr Blignaut went ahead to treat it. Dr Blignaut, an eye specialist, was the Administrator of the Nkhoma Mission Hospital and Rev Pauw was a lecturer in the Theological College. The latter had a 'hybrid' motorcycle, fitted with pedals like a bicycle. The pedals were meant to be used to manually propel the bike in case of a breakdown or on running out of fuel. He also had a small pack of tiny dogs. It may well be that it is one of his dogs that got injured and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

A Malawian who learnt about the dog's treatment at a facility meant for humans was offended and proceeded to report the matter to the political authorities. As a result, a deportation order came from the President's office to the effect that the two South Africans were to leave Malawi by 17th February, 1973.

This distressed Rev Chienda so much that he requested an audience with His Excellency, the Life President, Dr Kamuzu Banda, to appeal for the reversal of the deportation order. The audience was granted, but Kamuzu never bulged, and went ahead to implement the order. Consequently, Malawi lost its premier eye specialist with the deportation of Dr Blignaut. However, Rev Chienda's plea was not in vain, for in 1974, Dr Banda actually granted permission for Dr Blignaut to come back to Malawi to continue his work at Nkhoma Mission Hospital.

Because he was involved in academic work, Dr Blignaut could not return immediately. In March, 1975, the eye specialist came back to Nkhoma where he continued to work until his retirement in the 1990s. Shortly after the return of Dr Blignaut, Rev Pauw also mnaged to come to Malawi for a short visit.

Lunatic Alene and Company

Nkhoma had its fair share of mentally disturbed people, some living at the mission, others in villages around the mission. There was a gentleman called Madokera who had his abode at the market. He literally lived in a world of his own, having very few interactions with other people.

Twice a day, Madokera would walk up the road from the market towards the primary school, and stop at a certain tree a few metres past where Kandodo shop used to be. He would then go round the tree a few times and return to the market. That was his life, day in, day out. Not once did pick up a quarrel with anybody.

Another lunatic was from Zeze vilage, six kilometres north of Nkhoma mission. His name was Alene. Unlike Madokera, Alene was vocal and always sought attention. He used to move around with two hoe heads, which he used to bang, one against the other, making a sharp, ringing sound, to the accompaniment of his singing. Alene was basically a beggar. Some people advanced the theory that he was actually a normal person but was driven to the point of faking insanity in an attempt to run away from the problem of poll tax, which used to vex many Malawian men without a stable income.

Alene used to go door to door at the mission asking for money and food. When he was going to a white man's house, he would sing a nice hymn like Konda Dzinalo La Yesu (No. 61 in the Chichewa Hymnal), but would sing un-Chrisitian songs, sometimes loaded with profane language, on his way to a black family's house.

One day Alene came home, like he had done so many times before, and he was given a roasted sweet potato. Not satisfied, he attempted to force his way into the house, whereupon he met my father who was coming out of the house to check what was happening. For once, my father lost his temper on account of Alene's overstepping his boundaries. He pushed him outwards, and he (Alene, that is) momentarily lost his insanity. He shook his head, picked up his potato and left. As he waled away, he said, "Ee, obusa okadampanda lero! (The minister of God nearly clobbered me today)."

There was yet another mentally disturbed man at Nkhoma. His name was Nikisi. I cannot exactly recall which village he hailed from, but he was a regular visitor to people's homes. He was quiter than Alene and had an altogether more pleasant character.

Nikisi came home one day asking for money, and my father ordered that we give him some peaches. He got them and immediately started eating them. One of my sisters said to him, "Aren't they nice?" His reply was, "Unyung'unya bzunyung'unya, koma ine mfuna ndalama (Yes, they are sweet to the taste, but it is money that I want.)" With these few words, he left the scene.

Working with White Missionaries

When Rev Chienda was General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod, there was a sizeable white community at Nkhoma Mission, and at other centres within the Synod.

His Vice General Secretary was Rev C Human, a quite, organised man with good temperament. He used to live on the hill above Mr Honde's house. One day, during the rainy season, the Honde boys and the Chienda boys decided to make life a little tougher for Rev Human by beating up the mud (with bare feet) on the road to his house. When he came along, his vehicle swerved in all directions, but he never lost his cool and still proceeded home, albeit with great difficulty.

It appears Rev Human possessed some music literacy. In the seventies, the tonic-solfa edition of "Nyimbo za Mulungu" (a Chichewa Hymnal) was developed. It was eventually printed by the Petro Van Wyk Press (now Nkhoma Press). During the proofing process, copies were sent to both the General Secretary and his vice. My father would simply keep the proofs on his shelf, but Rev Human painstakingly went through them, correcting any mistakes he would find.

The Treasurer of the Synod was Mr Reynecke. He had a passion for nature and used to keep an extensive woodlot behind his house. Within the woodlot he kept a flock of guinea fowl, which were left to roam freely. Mr Reynecke used to fly into a rage if anybody dared kill one of his fowl.

Rev Burger used be the Liason Officer. He was the linkman between the Synod of Nkhoma and the missions office in South Africa. He later got into trouble with Dr Banda's government and was deported.

Mr Gideon Retief was briefly Principal of william Murray Teacher Training College, succeeding Mr Honde. In the early seventies a serious incident happened at one of Nkhoma Synod's institutions, Robert Blake Secondary School, where a student tampered with Dr Banda's portrait by drilling holes through the eyes and writing on on the portrait, "You are a great fool." This incident naturally led to the closure of the entire school, and on reopening, a year or so later, the government demanded that Nkhoma Synod should send a strong disciplinarian to become headmaster. The task fell squarely on Mr Retief; so he left Nkhoma for Kongwe, and was succeeded by Mr Van Rensburg.

Other heads of department within the Synod were Dr Blignaut, a renown eye specialist, who headed Nkhoma Mission Hospital; Mr Vilejon, who was in charge of the Mission Garage and the Water/Electricity Departments; Mr De Wet headed Petro Van Wyk Press; and Mr Decock was head of the Building Department. Mr Decock used to be a man of peculiar tastes. He used to wear bell bottomed trousers long before bell bottoms were introduced to Malawi.

My father used to get along very well with all these, and others that were working for institutions that were not directly under the Synod such as the Theological College. Because of the cordial working relationships that flourished, the Synod lacked nothing in terms of basic services and utilities.

There were about fifteen white South African families living at Nkhoma at that time. The population warranted a special school for the children of the missionaries right at Nkhoma. Once or twice a year the school would stage an athletic tournament where events like sack racing, relay race, pole vault and others were featured. The white adults had a huge tennis court and they too would stage tennis tournament every now and then.

Mr Van Rensburg used to own a bee hive. Some boys one day decided to ransack the bee-hive, with a view to collecting some honey. I was among them. As it turned out, the activity was badly organised and although we managed to overturn the wooden box, we were chased by the angry African killer bees. One of us, James Levi (popularly known as Dala) had a special tough time with one bee that never left him. He ran and ran and ran, shouting, "Anyamata, tandiphani! (Colleagues, please kill the insect for me)." Somehow Mr Van Rensburg noticed that among the mischievous boys were the two sons of the General Secretary. He did not hesitate to let Rev Chienda know about it. Surprisingly, my father handled the issue without any extreme emotionalism. He simply asked us to go get everyone of the boys involved and go back to put the box in its proper place. It was at night, but we obliged.

Caring for Visitors

The work of the General Secretary was extremely demanding in the sense that it was by no means confined to the office. My father had the added responsibility of looking after hoardes of visitors that frequently came to Nkhoma for a whole range of reasons. Nkhoma mission did not have a decent public lodging place or a guest house at that time, and therefore, many of the visotors coming on Synod related business had to lodge at the General Secretary's residence.

The irregular visitors would comprise those that came from all corners of the Synod to purchase some stock, things like altar wine or church stationery, and those that came to the hospital. The more regular ones came to attend departmental meetings or committee meetings such as the General Administration Committee (GAC).

While many visitors arrived during the day, it was not unusual to receive some way after sunset. Whatever the case was, Rev Chienda had to ensure adequate care for them in terms of food, bedding and other lodging needs. Some of the regular ones like Rev Chikapa, Rev Kachaje and Rev Mlenga always demanded to be served with nice, hot tea. They made it clear that they wanted the tea served from the gigantic teapot, which was part of the crockery set in the home.

Rev AWW Mlenga used to be very particular about taking a bath. Whenever possible, he would give advance notice about his coming, with the special instruction that the boiler should be heated adequately so that on his arrival he would take a nice, hot bath. The houes was not equipped with an electric geyser at that time, so the water had to be heated in a specially provided boiler using firewood.

My father employed a local man called Mizilemu, from Mtenje village just outside Nkhoma mission to help with house chores. It was his duty to always make sure that there was enough firewood for the boiler and that a fire was kindled in the boiler every evening. These efforts were to be doubled each time the likes of Rev Mlenga were coming home.

Mizilemu harboured the ambition to one day go to South Africa to work in the mines. He consequently gave himself the special task of learning Fan Kalo, the language of the mines, as a way of preparing himself for his eventual trekking down to the south one day. He got into the habit of trying out his broken Fan Kalo on unsuspecting individuals like ourselves. Each time he learnt about the instruction from Rev Mlenga regarding the boiler, he would say in a mixture of Chichewa and his version of Fan Kalo, "Obusa omenewa ngotchaya phambele eti (I think this minister of God is highly ambitious)."

My father, in his usual joking mood, relayed Mizilemu's remarks to the visiting team of ministers, and they all rolled into bouts of laughter. One Rev Katundu gave Mizilemu the nickname "Phambele". Each time he came home, he would enquire about the whereabouts of his special "friend" Phambele.

To help with supply of meat, my parents reared some chickens. One day Mizilemu picked one white chicken and placed it under his armpit as he walked to his home. My sister, Mercy, saw him from a distance and, without knowing what he was carrying, she called out "a Mizilemu!" (Mr Mizilemu!). Startled, he replied, "N' chipepalatu ichi!" (It is a white sheet of paper that I am carrying!").

Local and International Trips

The Ford Cortina was traded in with a Renault 4 in 1972. Being a front wheel drive vehicle, the Renault 4 was better suited than the Cortina for the rugged terrain on which Rev Chienda trod as he criss-crossed the Nkhoma Synod territory on official business.

I remember once travelling with him to Ntakataka on the lakeshore side of Dedza district. The route taken was the one branching off the M1 at Masasa Trading Centre, going down the meandering escarpment road via Mganja to Ntakataka below. It was an earth road at that time, and therefore quite a challege to drive on. On this particular rainy Sunday morning, our major challenge was not so much the condition of the road as the rainwater itself. The rain had been so heavy that, although the poor Renault never got stuck in the mud, yet some water spilled over into the bonet. Just before we reached Ntakataka, the vehicle stalled.

An officer in a police Land Rover that pulled over discovered that water had gone into the carburetter. After some fiddling by the officer, the vehicle roared back into life and the journey continued.

In 1973, Rev and Mrs Chienda decided to take my brother and I to Blantyre to attend Republic celebrations. He used to get invitation cards and special windscreen stickers every year to attend these celebration at the Kwacha International Conference Centre and at the Kamuzu Stadium. This time round, he thought it was necessary to expose us to this important state function.

We started off in the morning by the Renault. Initially it appeared that the trip would be uneventful. However, as we pased through the Chilobwe area in Ntcheu, we had a flat tyre. To add insult to injury, we did not have a spare wheel. My brother and I helped my father take off the wheel, and he stopped a bus to go to Ntcheu boma to get the tyre mended. When he was gone, a lady passed by and noticed that we were stranded. She quickly went back home and came back carrying a meal for us. My father reappeared about an hour and half later. We fixed the wheel and hit the road again.

The Zalewa road was not developed then, so we had to go via Zomba. Just after Namadzi - and after sunset - the same tyre got flat again. There was not much hope of any relief this time round. In his usual sacrificial spirit, my father disappeared into the darkness to look for a place where he could phone from. In his search, he landed on another good Samaritan, for not only was he able to phone his cousin, Mr Kafumbi Njewa, but the family from whose home he phoned were so kind as to prepare some food for us, just like the Ntcheu lady had done earlier in the day. An hour or so later, Mr Njewa arrived, equipped with everything needed for tyre mending.

In 1974, the Reverend undertook a trip by road to Livingstonia to attend the centenary celebrations of the Synod. He carried with him a fellow minister and two family members. The relationship between the two Synods was very cordial then, a far cry from today's situation. A year earlier, the Nkhoma Synod had, in collaboration with Bible Society, organised and conducted the 50th anniversary commemoration of God's word in Chichewa at Kaso Hill in Mvera. It was from Kaso Hill that William Murray had spearheaded the translation work 50 years earlier. In his capacity as General Secretary, Rev Chienda played an important role in the Kaso celebrations.

He also travelled extensively, internationally, to attend the so many ecclesiastical meetings abroad. In July, 1974, as he was attending a meeting in Lausane, Switzerland, Mrs Chienda back home gave birth to a baby girl. Rev Mgawi, then in charge of Nkhoma CCAP, relayed the news by telegram to his "brother" in Switzerland. A response came back, by telegram too, stating that the name of the girl would be Tertia, Lausane. The name Tertia given to her was somethig of misnomer, as it actually means third born daughter, which our Tertia was not. She was in fact fourth born daughter.

The Chienda - Honde Axis

Nkhoma was not a strange place for Yeremiah and Elizabeth, having lived there before. It was for the children, though. It turned out to be quite different from Lilongwe, cast in a semi-rural setting. It was like Kongwe, multiplied roughly five times.

The transfer to Nkhoma afforded Yeremiah the opportunity to renew his association with an old school mate, who had married a lady from Chikhutu, Josephat Honde. That time, Honde was Principal of William Murray Teachers' Training College.

The two families quickly clicked. The two Chienda boys and the four Honde boys literally did everything together. Mr Honde used to own a white Peugeot 404 saloon, and the Honde boys would tease their Chienda counterparts, saying while the Peougeot could run like a lion (it had the emblem of a lion on its body), the Anglia could only manage the speed of a chicken.

In 1969, Rev Chienda sold his Ford Anglia (nothing to do with its apparent inability to run like a lion) to Rev Kasusu, who was then at Malingunde CCAP. He (Rev Chienda) acquired a Ford Cortina to replace the Anglia. One day, as he was driving along one of the streets of Nkhoma, with his two boys and two or three Honde boys on board, he saw a vehicle parked ahead of him but could not immediately recognise it. Coming cloer, he realised that it was Rev Kasusu, and he said on top of his voice, "Ha, chi Kasusu, Demeti! (It is you, Kasusu, damn it!) The two gentlemen were always in a jovial mood when they met, and this was meant to be a very cordial greeting.

Mr Honde later left for Blantyre to study for his bachelor's degree at Chancellor College (before the college moved to Zomba). After graduating, he proceeded to become the first Malawian Principal of the newly inuagurated Government Teacher's Training College in Lilongwe (Area 25).

One day, as my brother and I were playing outside the home, my father, sitting on the steps that led to the kitchen, called us and said, "It is with sadness and sorrow that I have to tell yo that Mr Honde is dead. He died in a car accident as he was driving George (his son) to school. But George himself appears to be okay." It was the first time I heard of the death of a person I had known so well, and we were all devastated. My parents attended the funeral at Mzumazi village, near Dzenza Mission.

Later, my father identified an opening for Mrs Honde at the Nurses Home, Nkhoma, where she became Warden. Mrs Honde had earlier trained in domestic work at Madisi, and this job fitted her like a glove.

Following the death and burial of Rev Chienda, one of the Honde brothers, Maxwell, expressed his sentiments in a text sent to me, which read as follows: "In 1975, Reverend Chienda exercised his selfless spirit of compassion and kindness to the family of an old former colleague, late Mr Josephat Honde. Mr Honde had served as Principal at the William Murray Teachers' Training College of the Nkhoma Synod, up to 1969 when he proceeded to University of Malawi (Chancellor College) for this Bachelors degree. In November, 1974, Mr Honde (42) died in a tragic car accident, just a month after he had been appointed first Malawian Principal of the Lilongwe Teachers Training College. He was survived by a wife and eight children aged between 18 years and 2 months old. Sadly, Mrs Honde was a housewife and so the family was forced to go and live at their village. This worried Rev Chienda deeply and he intervened by persuading the Nkhoma Synod to give Mrs Honde employment at any of the institutions at Nkhoma so that the family's livelihodd would be restored. The Hondes returned to Nkhoma in Februray 1976, where Mrs Honde worked at the Nurses' Home as Warden until November 1996.

Without Rev Chienda and the leadership of Nkhoma Synod, our family would have disintegrated and been swallowed in hopelesness and destituteness. I have seen the grace of God, the love of Jesus and the communion of the Holy Spirit working in real life through Rev Chienda. He shall remain my inspiration and mentor in the ministry of Jesus. I remember him for his humility and great sense of humour and I will always sing Hymn 30 Ife Timakufunani in his memory... till we meet again."

Youth Work in Lilongwe

The Youth Hostel in Lilongwe used to accommodate, at a small fee, young men employed or seeking employment within the municipality. It was my father's responsibility to ensure that the young men were living peacefully and to provide spiritual guidance to them. Where necessary, he would engage some of them in one-on-one counseling sessions.

His main mandate, however, was to look after the CCAP faithfuls in post-primary educational institutions. These included all secondary schools in and around Lilongwe, plus the Lilongwe Technical School situated close to the Youth Hostel.

Later, Rev Dr Chingota (at the time of writing Moderator of St. Columba CCAP in Blantyre) testified to the fact that he had received so much spiritual assistance and guidance from Rev Chienda while he (Chingota) was a student at Mtendere Secondary School in Dedza district. His interaction with the Reverend had the effect of making him decide to go into full time ministry, according to his testimony.

While in Lilongwe, Yeremiah sold his motorcycle with the intention of buying a car. He looked around and eventually one became available from Miss Obbi, who was a South African missionary. It was a Ford Anglia, the one whose rear windshield slants in the opposite direction to other vehicles. In those days, Japanese vehicles had not yet infiltrated the African market.

On 14th November, 1967, the Anglia was deployed to take my mum to hospital at Nkhoma. It came back without her. We learnt that she had been hospitalised. The following day we got news of baby girl having arrived. We were all intensely excited with this news. Mother and child came back two or three days later, and the baby was name Annie Zione, the fifth child in the family.

During his stay at the Youth Hostel, Rev Chienda used to help out at a a prayer house a stone's throw away. The name of the prayer house, which was an arm of Lilongwe CCAP some 5 kilometres away, was Msonkhamanja. Today, Msonkhamanja is one of the big CCAP congregations in the city of Lilongwe.

In 1968, the Synod resolved to move Rev Chienda to Nkhoma to become the General Secretary, succeeding Rev Killion Mgawi, who would take Rev Chienda's post as Youth Worker. In other words, the two gentlemen were to swap positions.

Rev Killion Mgawi was a young, bespectacled minister, originally from Chauwa village on the eastern slopes of the Chilenje mountain close to Nkhoma. He had a great passion for the work of Nkhoma Synod; and for the Volkswagen beetle! During his tenure as General Secretary, he owned several VW bettles, one after another.

In 1962, the CCAP Nkhoma Synod decided to Africanise its operations, and handed over the running of Synod affairs to the first Malawian General Secretary, the youthful Rev Mgawi. Mgawi's predecessor was Rev Hugo, a South African. The 1968 handover of the mantle to the second Malawian General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod was the beginning of a long and passionate association between the Reverends Mgawi and Chienda.

Pastoral Work at Kongwe

The Kongwe congregation had been founded by Rev Robert Blake in 1894 (Chilenje, 2007), the second congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church after Mvera which had been founded six years earlier. Geographically, Kongwe covered a wide area, with a radius of over 20 km.

Pastoral work at Kongwe was, therefore, quite a challenge for Rev Chienda. As a result, he acquired a motorcycle, a Honda, to help him quickly move around. Sometimes he would be gone for days on end, visiting his congregants in villages such as Jemusi, Chamvu and Kagwamtsobola. Sometimes he would go as far as Chibanzi, or even farther afield, to conduct evangelistic rallies.

One day he rolled with his bike and was burnt on the leg by the exhaust pipe. He stayed indoors for some days, while my mum nursed him. Once he recovered, he hit the road again to continue his pastoral work.

It was at Kongwe that he first came into contact with a young South African missionary called Rev Pauw (now Professor Pauw). Rev Pauw used t come home together with Dr Louw, who was then the Headmaster at Robert Blake Secondary School. I have no idea what subjects the missionaries were discussing with my father but one thing I do know is that Rev Pauw cherished those early days in Malawi. He (Professor Pauw, that is) preached in the Multipurpose Hall at St. Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, a few years ago when the General Assembly was sitting. His preaching was in English and in Chichewa, and his command of Chichewa was impeccable. He told the congregation that he had learnt Chichewa so well as a result of his association with Rev Chienda at Kongwe.

When he had some spare time, Yeremiah would take his children around the mission to visit some people or to admire nature. Close to Kongwe mission is the perennial Lingadzi River (not to be confused with the Lingadzi River that flows through Lilongwe city), which the South African missionaries dammed to provide water and electricity to the mission. One of Malawi's earliest hydro houses was planted on the Lingadzi. This was a favourite destination for Yeremiah and children, because it afforded them the opportunity to admire not only God's nature, but also human ingenuity to harness the nature into a useful resource.

Every evening, almost without exception, Yeremiah would bring all members of the family together for family devotions. Hymns would be sung, recitals said, prayers offered and the devotion would be crowned by a faithful exposition of God's word by the man of God. My mum would take this role when the Reverend was away. I knew most the hymns that I now know from these sessions.

He would, in addition to the family devotions, lock himself up in the study room to personally seek his God through reading and praying. By this time, he had built up a sizable library consisting, almost entirely, of spiritual books. He lived this type of life up until the time he was hospitalised in April, 2011.

In 1967, Rev Chienda was trasferred from Kongwe to Lilongwe to take charge of youth work. He was based at the Youth Hostel premises just beyond Falls Estate in the municipality.

The Early Years of His Ministry

The Chiendas did not stay long at Livlezi. They transferred the following year to Lilongwe CCAP to succeed Rev. Chisanu. By this time they had taken into their home some close relatives: Andion Chimbalanga from Chikhutu Village and Lesina Chintande, a relation of Elizabeth. These young people were a great help in bringing up the young ones.

In 1963, a fourth member of the family arrived, a second boy, who was christened Cliff. In the same year Yeremiah Chienda left for Birmingham, UK, to pursue a course in youth work. He went together with Rev Franklin Chunga from Livingstonia Synod.

He returned from the UK in 1964, arriving at the old airport in Lilongwe by a small plane, apparently after changing planes at Chileka in Blantyre. A number of close relations and associates, including Rev Gabriel Kachaje, went to the airport to welcome home. As soon as he disembarked from the plane, Rev Kachaje shouted "mtambe! Chigwada! Nsinjiro! (names of Malawian traditional dishes). You have found them." For emphasis, he leapt into the air with each each exclamation, adding pomp and colour to the welcome.

Rev Kachaje had the special gift of adding unique creativity to any situation. About five years ago, he visited my parents in Area 47, Lilongwe, arriving at dinner time. My parents asked him to join them at dinner and he quickly said, "No." They proceeded to the dining room, leaving him in the sitting room. No sooner had they finished the prayer than Rev Kachaje appeared in the dining room, saying, "Ah, you only asked me once! You should have asked me a second time and I would have said 'Yes'." They heartily laughed in merriment and had dinner together.

The same year (1964), the Chiendas moved to Chongoni (now Namoni Katengeza Lay Training Centre). The association between the Chiendas and the Kachajes continued to flourish, resulting in, among other things, a Kachaje relation, Mr Chikatiko, courting and eventually marrying Lesina Chintande. The wedding took place in 1965. I was then a toddler but I remember travelling from Chongoni in Rev Chalungama's car, a VW Kombi, to the venue of the wedding, where upon arrival, women engulfed the vehicle singing "Omake mwana ngoti apa? Sidze nzambina. Sosowa, sosowa, sosowa, eyae, nsidze nzambina!" It was pure Greek to me at that time, but I later realised that they were saying, "Who is the mother of the bride? She will will not hide, because she has curly eyelashes." They were, of course, just bluffing. In Africa, wedding ceremonies provide opportunity for plenty of bluffing, but the marriage itself is taken as very serious business.

In 1965, Rev Chienda was posted to Kongwe CCAP, where he succeeded Rev D C Kamphinda. The following year, his sister, Florida, who came after him, got married to Mr H Kamnkhwani, who was then a teacher, as she was. Later, Mr Kamnkhwani went to the Theological College and qualified as full time minister. Later still, he became the fourth Malawian General Secretary, after Rev I M Kainja; obtained a PhD from Stellenbosch University, and sadly passed away while he was Principal of Zomba Theological College.

The other siblings of Rev Chienda were Nella (now Mrs Mbewa), Phylis (now Mrs Rev Katsulukuta) and an elder brother known as Mr Kawayula (deceased)

His Teaching Career, Marriage and Theological Training

In 1954, Yeremiah Chienda entered the Teacher Training College at Nkhoma and qualified as a teacher in 1956. The first school that he taught at was Kabweramchombo in Dowa west.

He became friends with a prolific man called Isaac Chintande while he was at Kabweramchombo. Chintande was from Lodzeni-Zongendaba village close by. Chintande's mother had died while he was a boy and he was raised by his mother's elder sister, or in local tradition, his "elder mother."

Chintande's elder mother had a daughter called Elizabeth who had been a pupil at Kabweramchombo but later moved to Sindeya school. It pleased Chintande to use his influence to introduce his new friend, Yeremiah, to Elizabeth and with the passage of time news was rife about a wedding between the two.

Elizabeth was the third child of her mother, the first one being a man who she never really got to know because he migrated to South Africa while she was a toddler, and never came back. The second was a woman who was several years older than Elizabeth. The father of the two died before Elizabeth was born. In her old age, the mother married Mr Kaching'ona, who fathered Elizabeth.

From her father, Elizabeth had several half brothers and sisters, among them Caleb who later moved to and settled in Southern Rhodesia, and Edward. As the wedding day drew nigh, Edward Kaching'ona was alarmed that he had not been officially approached by Chintande about it. Full of chagrin, he summoned Chintande for a discussion, and the two went into a verbal war lasting, according to Kaching'ona's own recollection, a good part of the night. His (Edward's) reasoning was, "This girl (Elizabeth) shares the same blood as me, and yet someone is marrying her off without my knowledge, let alone my approval. This is not on!" However, some settlement was reached, resulting in a truce between the two.

When the actual wedding day arrived, the dreadful happened: Mr Kaching'ona senior suddenly collapsed and died while the bride and groom were at church waiting to exchange their vows, forcing a last minute postponement of the wedding to a later date in September of the same year. It is not without a good reason that people today will stand up and say, "Rev Chienda has fought a good fight."

Mr Kaching'ona used to be very tall man. Some people who have known Rev Chienda and known his children have wondered why some of the children are tall, while the Rev Chienda himself used to be small in stature. It is the Kaching'ona genes that determine the heights of Rev Chienda's offspring. The grandchildren are getting even taller!

Following the wedding, the couple moved to Dedza, where Yeremiah continued to discharge his teaching duties with commitment and determination. One of his pupils at Kabweramchombo had been Winston Kawale, who later followed his former teacher and mentor into the ministiry and rose to become General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod in his own right. At Dedza, Yeremiah taught a pupil from Mozambique called Wallace Chikakuda. Like Kawale, Chikakuda was also inspired to become a minister in the Nkhoma Synod and in the course of time obtained a PhD from South Africa. He died while he was Principal of the Theological College in Zomba. While at Dedza, the Chienda couple had their first born daughter, Mercy.

It was from Dedza that Yeremiah obeyed the Lord's call to become a full time minister. A colleague of his, Mr Ganizani, and he were both admitted to Nkhoma Theological College. When he arrived at the college in 1957, Yeremiah was surprised to learn that his friend did not show up. He had apparently changed his mind.

During their four year stay at Nkhoma (at the Theological College) the couple had two more children, Gladys and Joshua. The latter is the one writing this blog.

The 1957 - 1961 cohort comprised Rev Sankhani, Rev Jekapu, Rev Chipeta, Rev Chinkhadze, Rev Chalungama and Rev Chienda. Mr Mwalamwaza had joined the course but did not finish it.

He graduated from the Theological College in 1961 and was posted to Livlezi CCAP in the rift valley in Ntcheu district. Livlezi was among the congregations that had developed as a result of missionary work by the Free Church of Scotland working in the Cape Maclear area. These congregations were initially part of Livingstonia Synod but were later handed over to Nkhoma Synod.

His Youth

Yeremiah Chienda was born on 5th May, 1933 at Chikhutu Village in the area of Chief Chitukula, some 12 kilometres west of where the Kamuzu International Airport now stands.

His father was a Phiri by clan. In Chewa hierarchy, the Phiris used to constitute the aristocracy, the ruling elite, while the Bandas were the religous elite (en.wikipedia). All other clans used to be subordinate to these two. His full name was Kawayulachiyendan'chiwanda, which translates to something like "the trendsetter who moves like a ghost". So, not only was he a member of the privileged clan but he was also a leading light, if his names are anything to go by.

Later, family members partitioned this mouthful of a name among themselves, some calling themselves Kawayula, others Chiyenda and yet others Chiwanda. The modern format of the Chienda name, spelt without a "y", was a corruption by the Dutch missionaries, who preferred to spell it that way.

Rev Chienda used to be intensely proud of his Phiri clan name. Some of his contemporaries, like Rev Chimutu, Rev Sankhani, the late Rev Kachaje and the late Rev Mlenga, always used to refer to him as "Phiri" or "Jere", the Ngoni equavalent. When my youngest sister, Tertia, was born, she was given the name Nagomo, which is a Shona version of Phiri (Mountain).

That he was literate at a time when going to school was the rare exception rather than the rule, and that he raised his family on Christian principles against all odds is perhaps testimony to the fact that the Senior Chienda was indeed a pacesetter. His son, Yeremiah, was among the first in that area to go to a high grade school at Kongwe in Dowa district. Mr Kafumbi Njewa, former head of news at the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, recalls that when he was a boy he used to by inspired by Chienda, Chatsunda, Chimphanje and one or two others, all of whom received their education at Kongwe.

These boys from Sentala (corruption for "Centre" for Education) would come back from school during holidays and would get themselves neatly dressed, mostly in white. Probably unknown to them, they would in so doing inspire the younger ones, like Kafumbi Njewa. In turn, Kafumbi Njewa himself later inspired his own team of young men, the likes of Davies Mussa, who later became a well known radio personality.

His mother was called Lucy. She too could read and write, which was even more remarkable for a village woman of that time. She had migrated from Ntchisi along with other three sisters, apparently at the invitation of their brother who had left Ntchisi earlier. At that time (the beginning of the 20th century) the Dutch Reformed missionaries were planting churches in parts of the central region. Along with a church, came a school as well, normally. They (the missionaries, that is) set up such a centre at Chimwang'ombe in Chikhutu Village, and those with a trendsetting disposition, like Bambo Phiri and Mayi Lucy, were obviously quick to take advantage of these facilities to learn new things.

When they set out for Chikhutu, Lucy and her sisters were warned that they were going to a Christian area, where use of obscene language, among other vices, was not tolerated. As they walked, one of the girls is reported to have ordered the others to stop so that she could for the last time curse a tree, heaping all manner of obscene language on it. That was her own way of bidding farewell to the old lifestyle as she was about to embrace a new one.

After completing the highest class at Chikhutu, it became necessary for Yeremiah to go to a higher school. The nearest such school was at Kongwe. Along with the other boys mentioned earlier, they would walk to Kongwe, some 50 or so kilometres away, taking 2 days to get there.
Their mothers would prepare peanut butter for them, to be consumed during the trip.

Some of his classmates at Kongwe were Mr Chiundira from Ntchisi, Mr J H L Honde from Mzumazi village in Lilongwe and Mr Mc J Kamwana from Mponela in Dowa. JHL Honde moved on to become the first principal of the Teacher Training College in Area 25, Lilongwe and Kamwana later became the first Malawian Inspector General of Police.

While at Kongwe, Yeremiah befriended a boy from Salima (in a lower class) called Abyud Mndala. On many an occasion, he would bring Mndala to Chikhutu during holidays, to spend time with his family. Apparently, Mndala was from an Islamic background, but the love and warmth he got from Yeremiah touched his heart so much so that he later became a minister of word and sacrament in the Nkhoma Synod, following the footsteps of his mentor.

The Funeral

The body of the deceased was taken to College of Medicine mortuary, getting there just before 06:00 hours in the morning of 9th May. A brief vigil was held during the day at my home.

The General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod, Rev Chifungo and the retired Rev Dr Mgawi, a very close associate and brother to Rev Chienda travelled all the way from Nkhoma to be with us and to be part of the funeral procession as we travelled to Lilongwe later in the day. It had been decided that the deceased would be laid to rest at Nkhoma Misison, but it was felt necessary that the body be taken to Lumbadzi, where he had been living, before proceeding to Nkhoma.

The Blantyre Synod was so gracious as to organise a special send off function in Blantyre, to pay their last respects to the departed man of God. Therefore, after a prayer at home, we left for the mortuary about 14:30 hrs to pick the body and take it to the Multipurpose Hall at St. Michael and All Angels Congregation, which hosted the send off ceremony. I was surprised to see so many people who came, obviously at very short notice, to witness the function.

Eulogies were given by the two General Secretaries, Rev Chifungo and Rev Kadawati, followed by a sermon by Rev Nzunga, who affirmed that like Paul, Rev Chienda had "fought a good fight and had finished the course." In attendance was the Blantyre Joint Choir, whose musical contribution was much appreciated by the family.

The procession left for Lilongwe about 16:30 hrs, arriving at Lumbadzi around 21:00 hrs. The following day, another function was held at the deceased's home, starting at 15:00 hrs. Several people spoke including a family representative. Thereafter, Rev Kachipanda delivered a sermon on the three types of calling we all get from God - calling into the world at birth, calling to serve him and calling to leave the world through death. He pointed out that many people avert the second calling but that nobody can run away from the third calling, after which one's destiny would be decided by their response to the second calling.

We left for Nkhoma soon after the preaching, and spent the night there. The body was placed in the multipurpose hall, and the guests spent the night at the Josephat Mwale Theological College hostels.

Te following day, the function started around 11:30 hrs with viewing, and thereafter the body was taken into the Church. Many people stayed outside, as the Church could not accommodate them.

It was a very well conducted function with Rev Kamwendo as director of ceremonies and Rev Nkhoma leading the music. Among the many dignatories that came was the Rev Dr Billie Gama, presidential advisor on religious affairs, who represented the State President.

A number of people gave their touching eulogies, including the Presbytery Moderator, representative of the General Assembly, the Evangelical Association of Malawi and the Bible Society; Traditional Authority Mazengera, the Member of Parliament, Rev Dr Gama, the General Secretary of Nkhoma Synod and the Vice Moderator of the Synod. Jeremiah Chienda (my son) also briefly narrated his recollections of his grand fathers life. The main theme threading through all the eulogies was that Rev Chienda had left a legacy of humility, simplicity and extraordinary commitment to his work for the Lord.

The preaching was taken by the Synod Moderator, Rev Kachipapa Banda. He said people who work for God, like the deceased had done all his life, are supposed to be of good reputation, filled with Holy Spirit and full of wisdom like Steven in the book of Acts was. The burial service was led by Rev Dr Kawale, and people left the cemetery around 17:00 hrs, after celebrating a life truly well lived.

The entire ceremony was recorded by Zodiak Radio Station, and was broadcast to the nation in the evening of the same day.

His Final Two and a Half Weeks

On Monday, 18th April, the Professor suggested that the patient should begin to undergo physio therapy, in preparation for a possible discharge some time during the week. A professional physio therapist, a lady, was called in to conduct the physio therapy sessions. She came on Monday afternoon and made the patient go through a series of exercises. I the course of the physio therapy, she asked the Reverend to mention the places where he had pastored but got to response. Inexplicably, the blood pressure shot up and he began to sweat profusely. The nurses were called in to normalise the situation, but the patient continued to in be a state of total discomfort.

At about 19:00 hours, the same day, while a number of people were visiting, he suddenly sprang up (obviously in agonising pain) and forced himself to speak. He said, "Thank you all for coming. This is our last ever meeting. Thank you, may God bless you." My mum said to him, "What are are yo talking about?". His reply was, "Is there anything else left?". Those were his last words. By that the time the blood pressure had reached 220/130 and the emergency doctor was called in. She (the doctor) quickly prescribed a high blood pressure lowering drug to be placed in his mouth (they normally place such a drug under the tongue) to try and regulate the pressure.

Since he had lost the ability to speak or eat, a feeding tube was inserted through his nostril, and it remained until the last day of his life. Seeing that he was in obvious pain and discomfort, Professor Wirima ordered an injectible analgesic/sedative to be administered, and the patient slept a lot over the next three days.

In the middle of the second week, be began to show signs of improvement. His eyes became alert, and would blink each time an object was brought close to them. As we began the third week, he suffered another setback. He vomited, but the vomit did not come out. It went into the windpipe instead. This caused great breathing difficulty. As a result, he was placed on oxygen. By this time he had slipped into a deep coma. He stayed on oxygen for the remainder of his days in hospital, save for two days when it was decided to remove the oxygen mask to see if he could manage on his own system.

As we were going into the fourth week, I noticed that no urine was passing into the urinal bag. As a lay person, I did not make much out of this but began to suspect that some body systems were packing up. With hindsight, I think I was not entirely wrong in my supposition. The breathing continued to be problematic, and the face had deformed somewhat. It may well be that he suffered a second or even a third stroke. It was just one complication upon another.

On the night of 8th May, the breathing became particularly erratic. The emergency doctor came and recommended that the oxygen level should be increased. We had a difficult night that night. At around 00:30 hours, I noticed that the breath intakes were very wide apart, in some cases longer than a minute. The nurses tried to pump out the mucus, but, as it turned out, very little came out. He took his final breath at 03:30 on 9th May. Following the final breath, some brown fluid oozed out of his mouth. That was it. The man of God had completed his course.

The First Week in Hospital

On arrival at Mwaiwathu, Rev Chienda was dripped with quinine and with glucose, to ensure that he was covered for malaria and that he was receiving adequate nourishment. He remained unconscious throughout most of the day, until late in the night when Professor Wirima ordered that he be fed via a tube instered through his nostril. Almost miraculously, he came round in the middle of the night and began to speak.

The following morning he was able to recognise the people that visited him and would enter into simple conversations with them. On Saturday, 16th April, Professor Wirima order a head scan (ultra sonic) which was conducted at the same hosptial. The scan results were taken to Dr. Kampondeni's clinic in Limbe the following day for interpretation, and it turned out that he had bled in the brain, as a result of hyperternsion.

These results confirmed Professor Wirima's suscipicion of a stroke. However, he (the Professor, that is) was hopeful that the released blood would get absorbed into the body fluids by natural processes. After all, the bleeding had taken place in the brain's ventricles, leaving the actual brain tissue untouched.

On Saturday, 16 April, my mum tried to persuade the patient to take some food, and his response was, "These are visible objects which do not represent the reality. The reality is Jesus." After some time, he went on to say, "Everything that you do, whether it is offerings or whatever, must be grounded in God's word. It is God's word that is the sure foundation for everything."

The following day, 17 April, he could still speak with those that came to see him. When he saw family members during the evening visiting hour, he said to my youngest sister, Tertia, "Can you tell everybody the real purpose of this gathering." She tried to ignore him, but he kept demanding that someone should "in a nutshell state the purpose of the gathering." One of the ladies present was Mrs. Gareta, wife of the late Rev Gareta, who had been a very close family friend. She responded by stating Psalm 23, reciting the entire Psalm, as the purpose fo the gathering, and he noded his head, apparently in approval.

After the visiting hour, I stayed with him for the night. Noticing that everybody had left, he said to me, "Are you the one that disbanded the group?" I responded by telling him that the visiting hour had expired. After a brief, quite moment he spoke to me again, saying, "Do we have 'Ife Timakufunani' in Chichewa (in reference to Hymn No. 30 in the Chichewa Hymn Book)?" Then he went on to sing the first verse of the hymn in local tune. Afterwards, he became quite and stayed quiet all night.

The Reverend Gets Sick

9th May, 2011 was a sad day for the Chienda family and the Nkhoma Synod of the CCAP owing to the demise of the Rev Yeremiah Chienda, who had served three terms as General Secretary of the Synod. He had been taken ill during the months of February and March and was treated as an out patient at Mtengowanthenga and Dyan Luke hospitals, in Dowa and Lilongwe districts, resectively. Both facilities lay within 15 kilometres from Lumbadzi, where the deceased used to live.

Getting very little relief from the treatment obtained at these reputable hospitals, we, his children, took him to the premier health facility in Malawi, Mwaiwathu Hospital in Blantyre. His first appointment was on 2nd April, 2011. He was given medication that was meant to help him discard some fluids from his body, which had apparently built up as a result of pulmonary edema, a sign of a minor heart failure. It was the fluids that were causing so much discomfort, according to the Doctor.

During a check up visit on 11th April, the Doctor expressed his happiness at the fact that the Reverend had lost 4 kg in body weight, which translated to a loss of 4 litres of water. He was to continue on the same medication pending a further check up at the end of May.

Following the 11 April check up, Rev Chienda and Mrs Chienda decided to leave for Lilongwe on 13th April, to come back for the scheduled check up at the end of May. However, on the afternoon of 12th April, and from nowhere, he started vomiting. There was not much by way of the actual vomit but the vomiting activity was so intense it left him significantly weakened. Our initial suspicion was that he had malaria, so we took him to Chitawira Private Hospital. He tested negative for malaria, but was nevertheless given antimalarial drugs along with some antibiotic, as the white blood cell count was high.

The following day, he did not move around much, spending most of the day in his bedroom. My wife, Elubie, was travelling to Lilongwe on business the following morning. Initially the parents indicated that they would join her but on learning that she was leaving very early to meet an 8:30 am appointment, they changed their mind and opted to leave the following day by coach.

On Thursday morning, 14th April, I left home for the office around 7:00 am while the Revered was being led to the bathroom. Having forgotten some important documents at home, I decided to go back to pick them up. While I was on my way home, my elder sister, Mercy, called me to advise that she and my other sister, Gladys, were at my home and that dad was so weak he was unable to stand or walk. I rushed home and found him seated on the sofa in the sitting room but unable to respond to any stimulus. With the help of my mum and my elder son, Jeremiah, we picked up and placed him in Gladys' car to rush him to hospital. I will in the next entry describe what ensued at Mwaiwathu Hospital, where he was hospitalised for close to a month.