Annie Chikhwaza was attacked by a mob of more than 200 people in Africa, hacked with machete knives and left to die in a pool of blood. But God was watching and He must have been thinking of the one million orphans in Malawi because he didn’t allow Annie to die that day. Instead, she miraculously recovered and just as her life had been supernaturally saved, God called her to save the lives of many others.
Like the great missionary doctor to Africa, David Livingstone, who’s Christian heritage can still be felt throughout the country, Annie is a missionary to Malawi. She is originally from Holland but moved to the country from South Africa. She married a Malawian pastor, Lewis Chikhwaza and made Malawi her home in 1993 with a vision to help Africa’s poorest country. For years she had poured her life in community upfliftment projects but that all came to an abrupt end when the enemy came that day to take her out.
Due to a terrible family feud and many false accusations against her, a whole village was incited to kill her. Everything was smashed and Annie was forced to retreat to South Africa to recover. But God was not finished with Annie’s life. He told her to go back to the place where her blood had been spilled and He would turn that place of death and despair into a place of life and hope.
She started by taking in one little orphaned girl, in the city of Blantyre, named after the Livingstone’s birthplace in Scotland. There she stood with baby Deborah, infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, without hope of survival and cried out to God. “You start with the one,” God whispered into her ear and from that day hundreds of kids were added.
Since that day in 1998, Annie has taken in hundreds of orphaned children and raised them as her own. Unfortunately, some of them have passed on to what she calls, ‘the Great Heavenly Nursery’; but Annie still has some 150 children in her care today, many who are now teenagers. Furthermore, she is not stopping there.
Right now she is building a hospital to care for hundreds more children who are in desperate need of medical care. Malawi has a very high mortality rate amongst children aged 1-5 and Annie is determined to do something about that. Already she has built a rehabilitation clinic and now a fully fledged hospital is being built.
Annie’s extraordinary ministry is known as Kondanani Children’s Village which is known worldwide for its exemplary outreach. It has been featured extensively in the media including on GOD TV which has made a major investment into the lives of Africa’s children over 20 years.
Annie herself has come to be known affectionately as ‘Mother of Malawi’, which is how she was described in a Dutch TV documentary. This is also the title of her internationally published biography, Mother of Malawi – She created an oasis of love in a nation of orphans.
Annie so nearly lost her life that day when the mob attacked her. Yet it wasn’t the first time this had happened to her, in fact, she had faced death many times in her life, all of which is recorded in ‘Mother of Malawi’. She has had to endure every awful thing that could happen to a woman and has survived to encourage others that there is nothing you cannot overcome in God.
Anna’s life exemplifies God’s love and compassion, and the need to have an inner strength and courage that never gives up. These are values she teaches each of her children at Kondanani. Each one is loved and cared for as her own, none of them see themselves as orphans. Each has been adopted into the Father’s House and He has provided for each of them in the most extraordinary of ways.
Kondanani is now something of a small town with multiple children’s homes; schools; playgrounds and a farm to help it be self-sustaining. However, the needs are great and the orphanage relies on the donations of Christians around the world. “You know the cost of having one or two children,” says Annie, “can you imagine the cost of having over 150?”
If you would like to give towards the children at Kondanani or the building of its children’s hospital, you can give online
For more information about Kondanani Children’s Village visit www.kondanani.org
