Central African Medical Mission News – Fall 2012

Maria Reese was commissioned as Clinic Administrator on July 15th at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Red Wing, Minnesota. We are so very blessed to have Maria join the field in Malawi. She has served the Lord as a teacher at Fox Valley Lutheran High School (Appleton, WI), St David’s School (Santiago, Dominican Republic), and Dr. Martin Luther Grundschule (Zwickau, Germany) and St. John’s Lutheran School (Newark, Delaware). While we are hopeful Maria can begin work in Sept, prayers are needed. Prior CAMM staff was granted an allowance to work at LMC while their work permit paperwork was being processed; the Malawi Immigration now requires the paperwork to be completed before entering the country. No expected timeframe has been issued so prayers for a speedy processing are requested.

During the past two years we have informed you of the extremely high costs for medications and the fuel shortages in Malawi. In April, President Bingu wa Mutharika died of a heart attack. Joyce Banda was sworn in as President. “The message she sends is that principled leadership for the benefit of the people is the right thing to do. She cares about the people, while a lot of African leaders are more caring about themselves” says Jeanine E. Jackson (US ambassador to Malawi). International donors are once again evaluating their assistance to Malawi and supporting her reforms. “She’s very genuine and truly committed,” said Daniel Yohannes, chief executive of a US foreign aid agency. “I didn’t expect these changes to happen within 90 days of taking office.” Many challenges lie ahead but fuel and medicine are now available. Banda’s economic plans hurt the average Malawian right now as prices have again soared, but there is a revival of hope that things are going to get better for their families. The Washington Post 7-29-12 page A12 Article by Sudarsan Raghavan of Blantyre Malawi (Check out the full page article in The Washington Post or request a copy from your CAMM contact woman.)

Please pray for the leaders of the Malawi and Zambia governments ..and for the LCCA to flourish by using CAMM’s clinics as tools for gospel outreach. Linda Liesener (CAMM committee chairwoman)