There is something peaceful that happens when you arise in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and spend time with God. I do the same thing at home, have a window I can look out of, watch the world wake up, see what God has to say.
It is a beautiful morning here in Malawi, 6:30 am, just 12:30 am for my brothers and sisters back home in the states. This morning after our quiet time and breakfast we will look at Ephesians 1:7-10,
Redemption, forgiveness, according to the riches of his grace and wisdom & insight [discernment].
Then today we head off to reach out to those that have fallen away from the church that God built in Nasedegu. Not unlike what we do at home when brothers or sisters stop coming.
We will go hut to hut, maybe even find some new people, most assuredly encounter a group of children, they always seem to find us and follow us. What a blessing, each time we share the gospel, they are there.
If the same thing happens today, there will be children that will hear the gospel presented to them many times as they follow us.
A dear brother in Christ said-“As men get saved, families get transformed”, and I wholeheartedly agree, but I would go further and add, that when families get transformed, the culture gets countered.
The gospel is the only thing that will fix the cultural wrongs in America, Malawi and the world. The gospel can transform lives and nations, for God’s glory. All we need to do is be obedient and share it.
That’s our purpose while we are here in Malawi, it’s our purpose when we get back home, and it’s your purpose wherever you are as you read this, if you are a child of God.
Going to head out, talk with you later.
It is now 8:00 pm here in Malawi, things are winding to a close for us. The visit to the church was amazing and in a part of Zomba that I have never been in before. It is situated atop a hill that allows you to look down upon all of Zomba town.
I love the pastor, I call him the cha-cha pastor, he has an amazing spirit about him and loves to worship the LORD. Though he lives down the mountain in Zomba, I was told he has been sleeping in the church as it is under construction because of thief’s.
Next, we headed back to Nasedegu to reach out to some that have stopped coming and to share the gospel with some that have never come and invite them to church this coming Sunday.
Always a humbling experience to share the gospel through a translator, and a blessing as well.
We all had an opportunity to share the gospel, to pray for specific needs and to seek out and discover what keeps people from attending church on a regular basis.
We talked about the metaphor that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians, in relation to the church. We are the body and Christ is the head of the church. We talked about the importance of each part of the body showing up and how it is hard to function when parts of the body are not present.
Most of the reasons we received were related to people coming over as they were headed to church or being too busy and tired to come. If they had people come over as they were headed to church, we told them to invite them to church with them.
Janine took time to speak to the women one on one and share the difficulties of being a mom and preparing the family for church and the struggle that women face in doing just that, yes even in America.
We had some confess Christ today; some we doubt the sincerity, some we are unsure of and some we think were genuine. But in the end that is not what matters, he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
We are to plant or to water, and today we did both, God will do the rest or someone else will come along and water.
There were a few points along the way that we thought we were going to loose Janine, for a while each time we turnaround she was gone and when we looked, we found her hugging someone she had studied with during her last visit.
I was amazed at how the men navigated through the pathways of the fields. Most times we couldn’t see anything as the plants were over our heads, Kasava root [that is the white thing in my hand in the pictures on FB], dried up corn and weeds hide our view of most everything.
But after a hundred yards or so we would pop into an opening and there would be a few huts, they would bring out rolled bamboo matts and chairs and we would sit and talk.
Towards the middle afternoon, we went back to Pastor Jonah’s house and had lunch. Rice, Chinese cabbage and eggs. I actually joked with Stanley, Samuel and Jonah, that I come to Malawi and get Chinese cabbage, guess I have to go to China to get Malawian cabbage!
The lunch was fabulous, in all honestly, I found that I had been looking forward to being back in the village and breaking bread with my brothers and sisters.
After a delicious lunch we bid farewell and headed back to the mission house, thinking things may settle down.
But when we got back, we found out that Lita had lost power and water around lunch time, and it had not come back on. Ovi tried to put in the credits he purchased for our part of the mission house, but it wouldn’t take.
Then he found that nothing he was trying worked to get his water or power back on. He finally had to call a tech, and in Malawi, you have to go get the tech if you want the issue fixed.
Praise God that Stanley got the tech and they sorted it all out, power on, water on, for now at least, TIA. [This is Africa]
Dinner followed after a discussion about sharing the gospel, different methods and questions to ask, and a discussion about the culture in Malawi that was the cause for the discussion in the first place.
Oh yeah, the power went off again for a while, but came back on, internet is acting up, but again, TIA.
It has been a wonderful day today, another opportunity to glorify God, to be obedient to the plans that He has for us.
I was blessed to watch to women of God serve right beside me on the mission field, to be able to have discussions with women in Malawi and let them know they are not alone in the struggles they face, women everywhere face those issues.
Grateful to watch both women share the gospel of Christ Crucified, pray for women, and love on them.
We are tired tonight, but that is a good thing. At one point during our walks, Karey had removed her backpack, and she had a sweaty X on her back where the straps of her pack where.
Another time as we were walking, I stumbled, Karey looked back and said something and then she stumbled.
We may be rumbling and stumbling, but we do so for our LORD, the author and perfector of our salvation, Christ Jesus.
Tomorrow is another blessed opportunity to honor Him.
Much love to you all, we appreciate the prayers.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Ed