He has heeded God’s call to go unto the uttermost parts of the earth to spread the message of salvation and help those in need.
Winston Griffith is the local coordinator for Uplift International Barbados and has for the past eight years flown to Malawi to do missionary work.
He attends the Evening Light Pentecostal church in Arch Hall, St Thomas, said that for him as a Christian the impetus comes from knowing that we have been called to be missionaries and we do it unto the Lord.
“Jesus commissioned us to go unto the uttermost parts of the earth and we are doing what Christ expects us to do.”
Griffith and a team of Barbadians go on short-term missions every September to not only evangelize but take medical care to the ill. He said he is involved in the medical aspect of the mission by doing the photography and videography.
“I’m not a medical person but it is just that you see the kind of sicknesses and the people reaching out for help and this is where we empathize with them more.
“It is rewarding to know how we could affect one child’s life and the love for doing it comes from when you see the children smile and the people healed,” Griffith said.
He recalled his experience of hosting a medical clinic where once there was a little girl whose head was so badly infected that her friends did not want to play with her and after receiving medical help had friends again.
“To help her and see the smile on her face, it was rewarding to know that we can affect a child’s life who for months felt so ostracized.”
He said hearing the testimony of the average Malawian that the missions have touched gives him the urge to return every year.
“I have heard someone ask where have you been all the time, and I know that the people there appreciate it.”
The occasional inconveniences in Barbados when the water or electricity goes off are now considered to be minute by Griffith.
He said that on his first visit when he saw the conditions there, he had to appreciate Barbados. Malawi reminds him of Barbados, he said, especially the rural parts. It reminds him of growing up in the 1960s with some of the discomforts he used to face.
“In Malawi they have to travel far to get water even though they have Lake Malawi they do not tap into it as much as they should and even though they have to travel far, the water is not of a good quality because they do not have properly dug wells.
“If the pipe goes off for a day I have learnt to appreciate that, and then how we complain about the food if it is not cooked well – but in Malawi some people do not get food regularly,” he said.
Griffith recalled that about three years ago while on a mission, he took a Malawian worker to a restaurant in town and he wanted ice cream and it was the first time in his thirty-plus years that he ever had ice cream.
“That really broke my heart, even a simple ice cream could not be afforded.”
He said that the missions can be physically challenging as the trips take place in September which is very dry and to reach some remote village they had to go over some dry riverbeds and really rough terrain – and in Malawi, when they say just around the corner or just over the hill, that means three or four miles.
Despite the challenges during the missions and those in getting there at a cost of roughly $8 000 for the mostly self-funded trips, Griffith is determined to work on with the group.
He came aboard in 2004 after a member of his church entreated him to join.
“I felt 2004 was the time to go. She was encouraging me [all along] but I did not feel that nick in my spirit until 2004 when I felt that was the right time.”
He said that Uplift International is a Christian organization which will celebrate its 15th anniversary in Barbados next month. It is made up of churches from several denominations.
He said that on missions they preach evangelism and stage street meetings and crusades in addition to the medical clinics.
The clinics have an evangelist element because before addressing medical issues, they present Christ to between 300 and 400 people per clinic.
