FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

for a while from norrnallife and put into seclusion to receive instruction or mwambo in order to live according
to the accepted standards of the society. These ancestral customs are passed on from generation to generation
through the chinamwali rite.
Kuyambira kale Chikhristu chakhala chikufika kwa anthu amene akhazikika mumiyambo
yamakolo awo. Ndipo pakuona kuti chinamwali ndichofunika kumitundu ya anthu ambiri,
Akhristu adaona kuti ndikofunika kukonza zinamwali zachikhristu kuti zilowe m'malo mwa
zamakolo. Kuno ku Malawi aKhristu adaika chilangizo mmalo mwa chinamwali. Ndiye
kuti chilangizo ndi chiphunzitso cha chiKhristu chimene namwali amalandira pamene watha
msinkhu, pakukwatiwa, mimba yoyamba ndi kubadwa kwa mwana. Koma mwambo weniweni
womubvinira mtsikiana uchedwebe ndi dzina loti chinamwali. Alangizi (mlangizi,
mmodzi) ndiwo adalowa mmalo mwa anamkungwi.
Christianity has always come to a people who believe in the ancestral customs. Initiation is very important to
many societies. It is therefore important for Christianity to take initiation very seriously. Here in Malawi
chilangizo was introduced to take the place of chinamwali. Chilangizo is therefore a general term referring to
the Christian instruction or teaching that is given to a girl upon her first menstruation, on marriage, during the
first pregnancy, and the birth of the fust baby. Alangizi took the place of anamkungwi. However, the actual
ceremony retains the term chinamwali. The instructresses are called alangizi (mlangizi, singular).
Popeza anthu onse adalengedwa ndi Mulungu, muchifaniziro chake ndi mchikhalidwe chake
(Genesis 1:26), ndiye kuti mwambo wa Mulungu ndi umene upatsa munthu khalidwe
loyenera, osati makolo adafa kale. Uwu tiupeza rnBukhu lake Lopatulika.. Ndi chifukwa
chake Chikhristu chiyenera kuphunzitsa anthu ache chikonzero cha Mulungu pa kutha
msinkhu, ukwati, mimba, komanso kubereka ndi kulera mwana, kuti aliyense akhale monga
Mulungu afunira. Mau a Mulungu akhale otisonyeza zoyenera, kuti anthu azimvera ndi
kuchita zomwe Bible likubvomereza.
Since all people were created by God, in his own image and in his likeness (Genesis 1:26), it is God's mwambo
(instruction/teaching) that gives us true chikhalidwe (character). We fmd God's mwambo in his Holy Bible.
That is why it is important for the Chritian tradition to teach its people God's purpose for puberty, marriage,
pregnancy, child-birth, and upbringing. The Bible must therefore be the people's life map. They must obey
only what the Bible affirms from their cultures.
Ndi udindo wa mpingo uliwonse kuphunzitsa anthu ake mwambo wa Chikhristu kupyolera
muzinamwali, popeza ndi njira imene mitundu yambiri imaphunzirira miyambo.
It is the responsibility of every congregation to teach her members the Christian customs through chinamwali
for that is the method through which many societies learn well.
WOYENERA KULANGIZIDWA NDANI?
WHO SHOULD BE COUNSELLED?
Potsatira chinamwali chamakolo, ndikofuna kuti ulangizi wachiKhristu utsatirenso magawo
onse a paumoyo wa munthu. Ndiye amene ayenera kulangizidwa ndi mwana, msungwana,
komanso mayi. Ndiye ulangizi umene uli m'kabukhumu ndi wa msungwana asanathe
msinkhu, pamene watha msinkhu, pamene wapeza bwenzi lokwatirana naye, ukwati wake,
mimba yoyamba, kubadwa mwana woyamba, komanso wa amayi onse. Popeza imfa irinso
ndi mwambo wake, Mpingo uyenera kukonza malangizo ndi ziphunzitso zosiyana-siyana
zokhuzana ndi imfa.
Following the traditional way, the Christian initiation should follow the person's life from birth to death. So a
child, a girl, and a woman or mother should receive counsel. The instruction in this booklet therefore is for a
girl before her puberty, upon her puberty, in courtship, at her marriage, at her first pregnancy, after the birth of
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