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.