Zosangalatza Malawi - Day 7

Monday, August 30

Monday morning we loaded up on the bus and headed to Kachenga village, about an hour away from the mission house. Our goal was to share Jesus with the Muslim-heavy population there and commission the start of a new Baptist church, led by a pastor from that village and established by the new believers that God would draw through our evangelism.

I must admit that many on the team were nervous. Several had never yet shared the story of salvation through hut-to-hut evangelism and were busy looking over the Romans Road and flipping through the Evangecube. Others, like myself, were more unsettled at the thought of having to go up against the Muslim faith that permeated that area.

We were divided up into groups. Doug Sarver and his translator Pastor Kuzalo, me and my translator Duncan (Kuzalo’s son), and Stacy and her translator Ernest all went together. Doug said he wanted to take Stacy and I and give us an example or two of “how to share” to ease our comfort levels before allowing us to have turns. While it was a little nerve-wracking to think about sharing Jesus in front of the Missions Director for FBCS, I was very excited to get to hear his example and honored to be taken under his wing for “on-the-job” training!

At our first house, Doug shared the gospel with the wife of one of the village headmen. She agreed with everything that Doug shared about Christ and the gospel, and at the same time was adamant that she was of the Muslim faith. It didn’t take me long to discover that she obviously didn’t really understand what it meant to be Muslim any more than many understand what it means to be Christian. I would discover that this would be the case in many situations.

After we left her house, we stopped under a tree. Doug began sharing again with a small group. Ernest was already getting bored with simply following Doug and Kuzalo around, and was anxious to do some sharing of his own. He asked Stacy if she would share with people that he stopped in the road passing us by. Stacy turned to me with big eyes. I didn’t hesitate, and readily agreed. Soon I was several paces away from Doug, sharing with a crowd in the road. I gave a wry smile when I realized that Doug had a few people around him, while I had a large crowd around me. Surely God knew that I wasn’t nearly as good at this as Doug! But I gave it over to God, and through me He spoke the truth to the people. It was my first time to share the gospel since March, and while none of that crowd professed to wanting Jesus in their life at that time, I felt like I had done my part in telling them the Good News.

We met back up with Doug and Kuzalo further up the road, but parted ways soon again when I saw a couple of younger women and waved to them. Doug encouraged me to go talk to them so I did…and led them both to Christ. By the time I finished with them, I had a huge crowd around me, and so I began again. Many prayed with me at the end, and at our best guess, 9 of them indicated that they were giving their lives to Jesus for the very first time. We caught back up with Doug in time to take a picture of him praying with a man he had led to the Lord during our separation. And then, all too soon, it was time to head back to the village common grounds.

Many people from the village gathered that afternoon. There was much singing and dancing during the time of waiting, and then all grew quiet for the time of testimony, preaching and church commissioning. A large group came forward signifying they had given their lives to God and were committed to forming the base of the new Baptist church that would meet in their village. Ken Edwards, who joined our team from Albuquerque, New Mexico and works with the company Faith Comes by Hearing, presented the new young pastor with a Proclaimer, an audio device that will play the Bible in the local language of Chichewa. The new believers were then separated and led to different areas of the yard, where we spoke with them, encouraging them in their new faith and discipling them on what God expects of their lives as a Christ follower.

It was a long but spiritually productive day. I took a picture of the group that I discipled, and told them that I would pray for them as they began their Christian walk and meeting together on a weekly basis. I pray that God will take hold of their lives and cause them to be a bright and shining light in their village, and I look forward to meeting them again in Heaven one day!