Day 3, morning
Monday morning was more evangelizing/and inviting in the village area around Esther’s House, but this time I was ready…Rodney, me, Giles and Evelyn (and baby Zach)…armed with Evangecubes (a rubix-like cube with pictures portraying the “story of salvation”…you flip it around and tell the story as you go…on the back it has pictures that can be used for discipleship for Christians), Bibles, and laminated cards that I had made that had the verses for Romans Road guide to salvation, and also verses that went along with the Evangecube discipleship pictures. No more stammering around for me, thank you!
Our first stop of the day was to visit with Jameson, the local tailor. Rodney told him the Evangecube story, while I noted how sad and quiet this man was, on his front porch with his sewing machine. Turns out Jameson was already a Christian, but when we asked him if there was something we could pray over him for, we found out that business is bad, he was having trouble financially, and was very burdened to help the local orphans. I surprised myself by interrupting Rodney and asking if I could talk with Jameson. I flipped to the back of the Evangecube, and started sharing the things that God wants us to do as Christians. I paused when I got to prayer, and shared Philippians 4:6 with Jameson “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” As this verse is very meaningful to me, I sensed it would also be a very encouraging word for Jameson, and I think that it was.
Our next stop was two men that Rodney led to the Lord while I used the Evangecube to tell the story of Jesus to a group of children in the road…I started with 3 and ended with roughly 25! After I got through with them, they went over to Rodney, and because he didn’t realize I had already shared with them, those precious kiddos got a double dose!
After that, we moved on down and road and spoke with another Christian man. Again, when we asked him if he had a prayer need, he started explaining that he struggled with knowing right things from wrong things and making godly choices. Again, I jumped in and discipled him with words that just poured out from God…about how if he was a child of God, then the Holy Spirit was living inside of him…and that small voice that he heard and felt when it was decision-making time…that was God letting him know what was right and wrong. I encouraged him to always heed that voice, as the more we ignore it, the harder it is to hear.
Next we came across two women walking down the road. Rodney split from me at that point, and went to a nearby housing area. I shared the Evangecube with these women (when you ask if they want to hear the story, the answer is almost ALWAYS an emphatic YES…so different from America!) and discovered these two were also Christians. Well, since discipleship is my heart (have you picked up on that yet??) I flipped to the back and started my talk on Christian living. The first picture is a heart, and the corresponding verse Matthew 22:37-39…You shall love the lord your God with all your heart…etc…and…you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The older woman of the group immediately got agitated, and had a long discourse with the interpreter, while I looked on, astounded at what I might have said that riled her so. It turns out that both she and the younger woman with her had ungodly husbands…one a mean drunk and the other had taken a second wife. The woman’s question was basically this…HOW do I love him? (And probably irritation and dejection that she was expected to do so, AMEN?) Again, here I went, words spewing forth as I looked them both straight in the eye and told them nothing about this was easy…that it was HARD and God knew it was! But that the way those husbands acted was not the wives responsibility…those men would have to answer to God one day. But it WAS the wives responsibility to LOVE them, to love ON them, to SHOW them the love of God THROUGH them…to PRAY for them…and to let it go and be in God’s hands after that. I knew I had victory when a small, single tear escaped down the older woman’s face. The younger one didn’t even try to hide her emotion. I got choked up with them, and held onto them and prayed for them in the middle of that hot, dusty road…and I knew myself to be blessed beyond anything I could even comprehend…not only for my own personal good fortune, but simply for the opportunity to be there on that day, the courage to have said hello to them in the first place, and the words of God to come pouring out of my heart and mouth to help those ladies.
Our final contact of the morning was a widow woman with 5 children. Again, also a Christian, we prayed with her for provision and protection for her and her children…very legitimate concerns in Malawi.
While we didn’t have a mass of salvations or a huge contact list that morning, I didn’t care. I felt like we had done what we were meant to do…disciple and love on people and share God’s hope in tough times. We headed back to Esther’s House for lunch and to get ready for afternoon Discipleship time.
Monday morning was more evangelizing/and inviting in the village area around Esther’s House, but this time I was ready…Rodney, me, Giles and Evelyn (and baby Zach)…armed with Evangecubes (a rubix-like cube with pictures portraying the “story of salvation”…you flip it around and tell the story as you go…on the back it has pictures that can be used for discipleship for Christians), Bibles, and laminated cards that I had made that had the verses for Romans Road guide to salvation, and also verses that went along with the Evangecube discipleship pictures. No more stammering around for me, thank you!
Our first stop of the day was to visit with Jameson, the local tailor. Rodney told him the Evangecube story, while I noted how sad and quiet this man was, on his front porch with his sewing machine. Turns out Jameson was already a Christian, but when we asked him if there was something we could pray over him for, we found out that business is bad, he was having trouble financially, and was very burdened to help the local orphans. I surprised myself by interrupting Rodney and asking if I could talk with Jameson. I flipped to the back of the Evangecube, and started sharing the things that God wants us to do as Christians. I paused when I got to prayer, and shared Philippians 4:6 with Jameson “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” As this verse is very meaningful to me, I sensed it would also be a very encouraging word for Jameson, and I think that it was.
Our next stop was two men that Rodney led to the Lord while I used the Evangecube to tell the story of Jesus to a group of children in the road…I started with 3 and ended with roughly 25! After I got through with them, they went over to Rodney, and because he didn’t realize I had already shared with them, those precious kiddos got a double dose!
After that, we moved on down and road and spoke with another Christian man. Again, when we asked him if he had a prayer need, he started explaining that he struggled with knowing right things from wrong things and making godly choices. Again, I jumped in and discipled him with words that just poured out from God…about how if he was a child of God, then the Holy Spirit was living inside of him…and that small voice that he heard and felt when it was decision-making time…that was God letting him know what was right and wrong. I encouraged him to always heed that voice, as the more we ignore it, the harder it is to hear.
Next we came across two women walking down the road. Rodney split from me at that point, and went to a nearby housing area. I shared the Evangecube with these women (when you ask if they want to hear the story, the answer is almost ALWAYS an emphatic YES…so different from America!) and discovered these two were also Christians. Well, since discipleship is my heart (have you picked up on that yet??) I flipped to the back and started my talk on Christian living. The first picture is a heart, and the corresponding verse Matthew 22:37-39…You shall love the lord your God with all your heart…etc…and…you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The older woman of the group immediately got agitated, and had a long discourse with the interpreter, while I looked on, astounded at what I might have said that riled her so. It turns out that both she and the younger woman with her had ungodly husbands…one a mean drunk and the other had taken a second wife. The woman’s question was basically this…HOW do I love him? (And probably irritation and dejection that she was expected to do so, AMEN?) Again, here I went, words spewing forth as I looked them both straight in the eye and told them nothing about this was easy…that it was HARD and God knew it was! But that the way those husbands acted was not the wives responsibility…those men would have to answer to God one day. But it WAS the wives responsibility to LOVE them, to love ON them, to SHOW them the love of God THROUGH them…to PRAY for them…and to let it go and be in God’s hands after that. I knew I had victory when a small, single tear escaped down the older woman’s face. The younger one didn’t even try to hide her emotion. I got choked up with them, and held onto them and prayed for them in the middle of that hot, dusty road…and I knew myself to be blessed beyond anything I could even comprehend…not only for my own personal good fortune, but simply for the opportunity to be there on that day, the courage to have said hello to them in the first place, and the words of God to come pouring out of my heart and mouth to help those ladies.
Our final contact of the morning was a widow woman with 5 children. Again, also a Christian, we prayed with her for provision and protection for her and her children…very legitimate concerns in Malawi.
While we didn’t have a mass of salvations or a huge contact list that morning, I didn’t care. I felt like we had done what we were meant to do…disciple and love on people and share God’s hope in tough times. We headed back to Esther’s House for lunch and to get ready for afternoon Discipleship time.
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