Stephen Makadanje and voluntary ministry

One of our ‘bush-brotherhood’ team was a Malawian, Stephen Makandanje.  He had walked 1,000 miles to Swaziland in search of work in 1915 and had worked all his adult life as a hospital orderly.  He built a church in Hlatikulu with his own hands, having asked to be on night duty at the hospital so that he could work on the church during the day.  It took a year to mould and bake the bricks, another year to build the church building and a third year to build up a thriving congregation.

I thought Stephen would make an excellent priest and asked him if he would like to be ordained.  He said. “No, that would spoil it all.”  I asked him. “Why?” He said “The work of God has to be done from your heart.  To be paid for it would spoil it.”  I replied, “If I asked the bishop to ordain you as a priest and promised to pay you nothing, would you accept?”  “Father, that is what I have always longed for.”

Stephen inspired me with the idea of voluntary ministry.  Years later when in Malawi, diocesan synod welcomed the idea and when we finally left in 1981, many of the clergy were voluntary priests.