Malawi was our third stop in Africa. In true World Race fashion, we travelled to
the Mozambique/Malawi border from Vilanculos, Mozambique, in the back of a flat
bed truck. Talk about a good time! It was a very long, uncomfortable, bumpy, 35
or so hours, but we got to see Santa Clause, put Scottie in a box, and make a friend!
Harvester’s International Ministries, an organization focused on evangelizing
and church-planting throughout Malawi and surrounding countries. The squad was split up into three groups to
go to the different regions of Malawi. My team went to the Northern region, and our main contact was a man
named Pastor Anthony. Within the
Northern region, we travelled around to three different villages to work with
three different pastors, doing basically the same thing in each village.
Sunday service. In each of the services,
we were in charge of teaching Sunday school to the adults and children, as well
as preaching the Sunday morning message. One or two days were devoted to going out in surrounding communities and
evangelizing or sharing encouragement with the people of that community. We would have a new believer’s service the
following morning, and a pastor’s teaching time in the afternoon.
we went out to evangelize, but God worked in amazing ways during these
times. He definitely spoke through all
of us to the people we were sharing with. He gave us different words for all the
different people. On our first day of
evangelizing, Hannah and I went out together. At every house, we would both share with the people there. Every time we spoke, the words we had went
hand in hand. During these times,
different members of our team were able to share with people who had never
heard the name of Jesus before! What an
amazing experience! It was crazy to “introduce”
people to Jesus.
At one point or another, every single team member had to
either preach or teach on a Sunday morning. Some members of my team love doing it, and did it willingly. For me, it is very hard to do, and my turn
came the very last day we were doing ministry. I was scared to death, but God gave me the words and the confidence I
needed, even after almost losing my sarong in front of the whole church.
The biggest thing I learned while in Malawi was how
important prayer is. Prayer was a huge
focus for team S’more while we were in Malawi. I believe we saw our prayers at work. It is really hard to go out and evangelize to people and then leave, not
knowing who is going to continue discipling them after we leave. In a way it felt silly to go out and share
Jesus with people, then leave them to fend for themselves. But we covered all the areas we were in with
prayer, and I believe that those prayers started a supernatural work that
cannot be stopped. We stepped out in faith
and believed, and when we did that, it gave God room to move. We can trust that even though we are gone,
God is always with those people, and he will speak to them and bring people to
teach them.
Christmas. It was definitely a Christmas
that I will never forget. It was very
simple and quiet. No bright lights,
Christmas trees, or snow. No electricity
or running water for that matter. The
village we were in had a Christmas service in the morning, but besides that
nothing special was done to celebrate Christmas. It was just another day in Africa. For me, the best part of Christmas was being
able to give our translator money so that he could go home and see his wife and
young daughter. Our team could not bear
the thought of him being so close to home, yet not being able to be with his
family on Christmas.
saw while there. The pastor we were with
over Christmas had a plastic container in his house that he would serve us food
in everyday. On top of the container was
an Operation Christmas Child tag. I got
to see first-hand how far the boxes we pack at Christmas go. Being there for Christmas this year and
seeing how Christmas is celebrated, I know that that was most likely one of the
only gifts the pastor’s children had ever received. Wow.
Overall, I would say our time in Malawi was challenging, and
it forced us to step out of our comfort zones and walk in faith more than once. But it was an amazing month, and we got to
see amazing things happen. It was also a
time when our team got to know each other better, and really support and
encourage one another. It brought us
closer together, and it definitely brought us closer to God.
