Dingwall Castle Street Church of Scotland

The Partnership

The Dingwall Castle Street Kirk Session is partnered with a church in Malawi. The congregation is Balaka CCAP in Blantyre Synod, whose minister is the Rev. Peter Kandulu. The CCAP stands for Church of Central Africa Presbyterian.

‘Blantyre Synod’ is one of three major Presbyterian churches in Malawi each of which are independent denominations, but which work together in theological training and national issues. Blantyre Synod is in the south of Malawi. Nkhoma Synod is in central Malawi. And Livingstonia Synod operates in the north of Malawi.

Peter Kandulu

Peter started his theological studies at Zomba Theological College in January 2002, when our minister Bruce started teaching there. He graduated in the autumn of 2005 with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. Peter has access to e-mail, and this will mean that communications with his congregation will be relatively easy.

Peter’s first church was in the lower Shire valley, in the hot, humid south of Malawi where he and his congregation had to cope with floods and food shortages. Earlier this year (2008) Peter was transferred to the Balaka congregation which is about 30 miles north of Zomba. He should be there for three years.

Peter is married to Betty and has children called Natasha, Chimwemwe, Peter, Madalo and Elife. At college he was a member of the Shalom Crusaders singing-group.

The Twinning Process

Each Kirk Session has now accepted the twinning proposals of the other, and so this exciting adventure is now started. Several congregations in the Kirk have individual twinning arrangements with churches in places as far apart as Africa and India, and each congregation has stated that the benefits and enthusiasm generated are a real blessing.

Expectations

We can exchange things to pray about. We can learn about each others’ worship. We can share in each others needs – perhaps there will be practical ways we can help. The twinning will give us a window on Jesus’ church elsewhere in the world, in a totally different culture, but sharing the same faith. Perhaps at some point some of us can visit Balaka congregation. We might also host Peter and some of his people in Dingwall. There is the possibility of linking schools and community groups here with their counterparts in Balaka, plus many other options! More details will emerge as the formal twinning-process develops. The congregation will be up-dated as information comes in.

All about Peter

Family

Peter Kandulu was born on 18^th August 1969, at Zomba General Hospital, and is the sixth born in a family of nine children. He was born in a Christian family. His father was a son of a church minister, the Reverend Adson Kandulu. His mother was a daughter of a Moslem sheikh, but she followed his father to Christian faith after she was married to him.

Early Days

Peter was brought up in different towns since his father was a policeman but Peter's home district is Chiradzulu which is just 25 Kilometres from Blantyre city. Peter attended various schools, including Kachingwe CCAP Primary School, Mpumbe CCAP Primary School, Chikwawa Secondary School, Blantyre Teachers Training College and Polytechnic College where he upgraded to Diploma in Technical Education. Peter worked as a Secondary school teacher for seven years before he heard a Holy calling to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament. His teaching career was at Nyungwe Catholic Girls Secondary School and Mountain View Government Secondary School.

Marriage

He was married in 1994 to Bettie Chitsime, and God has blessed Peter and Bettie with three children. There are two girls: Natasha Kandulu who is 13, and Chimwemwe Kandulu who is 10. Their son is called Peter Chisomo who is 3 years old. Peter and Bettie have also adopted two orphans Madalo and Elife who are 16 and 13 years respectively.

Church Service

At the age of 22 he was chosen as a Session clerk for a rural congregation where he was teaching at that time. In 2001 he was elected a Session clerk for a big Church of Bindula CCAP in Thyolo district and this led to Peter becoming aware of a Holy calling. I attended Zomba Theological College from 2002-2005 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity in 2005 and one of his teachers was Bruce. Currently Peter is doing a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies with The University of Malawi at the Polytechnic, in addition to parish duties.

The Ministry

Peter's work as a church minister has been very challenging. His first posting from college was Mpatsa CCAP in the Shire Valley South Presbytery. At the time, the big challenge was that Peter was posted to a place where there was no church building or even a manse. He had to rent a sub-standard house. The situation was very difficult. The area was so hot to the extent that sometimes the weather was 54 degrees Celsius. But God provided, and money was raised for the construction of Mpatsa CCAP Manse, and Peter was given a bicycle to use since transport was a major setback for his ministry at that point.

The Future

Peter's future plan is to work hard for the Glory of God and to preach and reach to so many people who don’t know Christ. He intends to study for a Bachelor of Law degree so that he can become a Synod legal advisor apart from the Ministry of Word and Sacrament which he already does. Peter's dream is to visit Scotland to see where his Mother church originated. Peter has many challenges just now. Two big ones are:

Transportation. There are four congregations under his charge some and 34 congregations in the presbytery of Livilidzi where Peter acts as Presbytery Clerk. Some of these congregations are 137 kilometres away from his main station and the only transport is to cycle!
Numbers: Peter has many parishioners to serve. Balaka has 2500 members, plus 800 from the other congregations he serves, and so this poses a big challenge.