Malawi Trip Part 1
Bro. Michael arrived in Malawi on April 12. The funds were picked up from the bank and negotiations made for the goods needed for distributions which will begin on Monday, April 17. Malawi was the first country God called Michael to and it has been his first love in Africa. It has been very special to return there once again. The work has grown from 14 congregations to over 80. The vast majority of the people still do not speak English so he relies heavily on Bro. Master who has been his translator for many years. Bro. Master is now 42 years old. He and Bro. James, the pastor of Msikita congregation are the ones that work closely with us on all distributions both in Malawi and right across the border in Mozambique where there are a number of additional Church of God congregations. Years ago we built a large chapel in Msikita and it is showing signs of age and needs repairs.
This weekend while the businessmen were organizing the maize orders, Bro. Michael conducted a ministers meeting in Msikita village which was limited to about 30 of the ministers and some representatives of the women. Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to around 4 p.m. he held sessions on topics including: encouragement, marriage, personal testimony, Christian living, holiness, qualifications of the ministry, and preparing for a message. There were group activities to help everyone get better acquainted and after some sessions the ministers were broken into small groups to further discuss the teachings for added clarity. These ministers will go back to their areas and hold meetings with the other ministers that were not able to attend this time.
On Saturday in the afternoon, two local brethren joined Michael in teaching the others Foundations for Farming which is a conservation planting method which prevents erosion and produces much greater yield with reduced effort. It is a wonderful method but is challenging to get people to turn loose their old methods to embrace fully. This time they went outside and physically strung out planting stations to implement the teaching practically.
Sunday morning, Bro. Michael preached at the local congregation in Msikita. He was so moved by the beautiful singing from the different groups of singers. These are people without formal voice training, but the most beautiful singing in the world he has ever heard. You can enjoy some of the hauntingly beautiful harmonies in the video playlist. We thank you for your prayers as the trip moves into the second half of the time in Malawi with active distributions.
