So remember that blog I wrote about the crazy Bible hunt…and how I said that my next blog would be about how God totally rocked Nkhata Bay and answered prayers (including providing Bibles) in ways we could never have imainged…yea, well this is THAT blog. Brace yourself, this story is CRAZY!!
Before our month in Nkhata Bay even began, God gave me a heart for the vendors. It goes straight back to my life verse: Proverbs 31:8-9. These vendors are extremely talented making anything from intricate wood carvings to masterful paintings. The sky is truly the limit. But unfortunately, the pay is not. Many can barely make the rent as supply costs are high and tourists are few. The “busy season” is a mere three months out of the year and many of the men are trapped in this occupation as it is one of the few jobs that requires little schooling. Just like the United States, higher education comes at a price; however, luckily for them, secondary school actually teaches a trade. Almost everyone knows how to carve and draw even if they don’t make it to graduation, which is more than the United States can say since the only thing you are qualified to do after High School is flip burgers or clean bathrooms. Even still, each day is a fight to make as many sales as you can, and for the people of Nkhata Bay the stakes are even higher. The vendors in the worst of states barely have any merchandise to show you. They’ve made it to the point where they have to have a customer (and a portion of their money) in order to even make a product. And it is here, in one of those huts that my story begins.
I find myself in the hut of a man named Alex. He is wearing a red hand-me-down T-shirt and trying his hardest to sell me one of his ten paintings. I, of course, know that I will not be purchasing any paintings; but as I look around his almost vacant hut, I am filled with the desire to pray for his business. So after he finishes displaying all his work and I kindly tell him no thank you, I begin to stutter the words, “Would you mind if I pra…have you ever heard of Jesus?”
He looked at me kind of bewildered and replied back, “No.”
I was thrown aback, so I quickly retorted, “Well what about God?”
But again he shook his head and answered, “No.” But just as quickly, he kept his eyes on me and began to nod, almost as if to say, go ahead, tell me.
This was the first person I had ever met, I’m talking in MY ENTIRE LIFE, who hadn’t heard of God or Jesus. So I did what any normal person would do, I started flipping out. I looked at Lynn who was right beside me in terror and asked her, “Where do we start?” And she replied, “Creation.”
So that’s what we did…or I should really say what Lynn (one of my teammates) did. I froze. But Lynn paraphrased the Bible starting from the fall of man and going all the way to the resurrection of Jesus (ok so maybe she cut some things out, but she got all the main points). And after she was done, another man, who had at some point in the middle of Lynn’s history lesson appeared in the hut, had some questions. Now this part is REALLY important. I’m kind of throwing some new information into the story, but stick with me. So rewind back to before I got into the hut with Alex. About an hour before this moment, my team and I were praying for God to tell us where he wanted us to go for ministry this day. I didn’t hear or see anything about where we should go but I did hear three names: Jacob, James, and Money Bags.
Ok so now fast forward back into the hut, where Lynn, Alex, mystery man, and I are now standing. As I was saying before, mystery man begins to ask us a slue of insightful questions and in the middle we stop to ask him his name. He responds, James.
Well as you can imagine, my first instinct is to scream…in my head that is. I am literally doing cartwheels and this weird fast clap thing that I do when I get excited. We met him! I mean, we actually met him. I really can’t believe it…now what?
So Lynn continues to talk to James, while I talk to Alex. And as I do the world starts spinning. Again not literally, but it’s just that all these amazing, supernatural things start happening. For instance, a mere fifteen minutes later, Alex accepts Christ into his heart! I’m not even sure what I said; all I know is I asked if he wanted a relationship with Jesus and he said yes! Next thing I know, I am praying over him, he is repeating back and when its all said and done, he asks if I have an extra Bible. Now again this is an important detail in the story. It is this moment when the seed is planted for me to hunt for Bibles. Here I was, thinking that God sent me to this place, so one man, Alex, could accept Christ, and several others could receive a Bible. Sounds like a pretty successful month, right? Turns out…God had much more in store.
Well we are just about caught up to the part of the story you know. As I described in my previous blog, our Bible search yields no results. We go out looking for Bibles for two days in a row but find none. But our search is not for naught. During our second searching day, I meet another vendor along the way, Justin, who ALSO ACCEPTS JESUS INTO HIS HEART. Now I realize I’ve just jipped you a little by leaving out the details of that story…but as you can tell, this is going to be a long blog already. But let’s at least stop and revel in the fact that God brought us to two people who had never heard the name of Jesus in a country that is primarily, 80% to be exact, Christian; talk about divine appointments!
Now let’s turn back to my dear friends Alex and James. I want you to know a little more about them because they are the main characters in my story. Alex and James are business partners. Alex is a smooth talker, the business side of the partnership. While James is the heart. God blessed him with both wisdom and compassion, a deadly combination if you ask me. He has a heart for the needy like I’ve never seen before, especially since when I first looked at him, I considered him one of the needy. James grew up in a Muslim household; but sadly enough, lost many of his family members to Malaria. He has seen a lot of painful things in his life, but I think it is because of that, that he cares so deeply for others. Now Alex is a little harder to crack. He is determined and sincere but he has learned to protect his heart. It wasn’t often I’d seem him let his guard down and just relax; but the moments I did, I literally saw the face of Jesus.
Now as I mentioned before, Alex had accepted Christ the first day we met. God had prepared his heart, so when we arrived, he was ready! He didn’t need any answers; he just believed. James, on the other hand, still had some questions. We’d sit and have Bible Studies together and it was always James who had a list of questions prepared. We didn’t mind, in fact out of the two, I understood James’ faith a little better. The exciting thing was that James was always interested!
As the days went on, I delighted in the moments we would get to steal with the vendors. It was almost two weeks in, and still no signs of Bibles. But every day more people were coming to Jesus. Then one Sunday, I told the vendors we would stop by for a Bible Study. But when we got there, it was a full on church service!
I am talking about opening prayer, praise music, readings from the Bible, some preaching from us, an offering for the needy, and even a closing prayer to seal the offering. They had it all worked out, and I feel like a proud mother saying that Alex led the show! The church service was held in nothing more than a rickety hut on the side of the road. The roof was thatched with several prominent holes and it was raining, but that didn’t stop us from praising. In fact, it just made us sing louder! Alex and James had invited everyone they knew, so the place was packed. And as locals walked past, Alex never hesitated to invite them in to join us. We were witnesses to the start of God’s church!
This was no longer about a handful of people coming to Jesus. Or finding a dozen Bibles (the shining reason why finding Bibles didn’t work out the way we thought/ wanted it to that first week). God intended to PLANT A CHURCH! And he couldn’t plant it just anywhere. He placed it on a highly trafficked street, in a half standing hut, with the most unlikely of people as its members; choosing THEM to be the representitives of Christ in Nkhata Bay! He appointed ordinary people like Alex and James (yes, James accepted Christ just a few days later!) to do extraordinary work! THAT is why we met them day ONE; so that one day, they could become leaders of that church!
One sad fact about the state of Malawi is that many of it’s Christian churches are full of hypocrites. Preachers are mostly in it for the money and as such, teaching sound doctrine and Truth takes a back seat to messages about tithing. In addition, church denomination is everything. People aren’t Jesus followers; they are Evangelicals, Assemblies of God, Methodists, Anglicans, or Roman Catholics. The building and the name are what make the church here, not it’s people or even God. But this was about creating a church the way God intended it. 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. Where nothing but God himself could be magnified as holy. For as followers, these vendors make up the body of Christ and therefore can stand as the church; especially since they are knitted with love and unity. Ephesians 2: 19-22
So I am happy to report that this story has the happiest of endings. Everything happened according to God’s plan and maybe more importantly to this lesson…within His timing. Not only did The Vendor Church of Nkhata Bay get it’s official start; but it is writing it’s own story with a whopping 42 members! Each member has now received their very own Bible, further evidence of the Lord’s sovereign pace, because our original plan was to only buy 15.
Presenting: The Vendor Church! Our friends James and Alex are standing next to Lynn. James is in black and Alex is in tan.
Again, remember that time I wrote a blog saying how frustrated I was that we couldn’t find Bibles. Well, once God’s plan was complete, and we got our final count of Bibles: 57 Chichewa Bibles for the vendors and Butterfly employees and 200 Bibles for the prisoners, it all fell into place. Not only did God provide a place to purchase them and a post office that would send them in a matter of one day; BUT, the Bible place just so happened to be located in the one shopping center we know how to get to in Lilongwe (keep in mind Lilongwe is the capital made up of 25 districts…this place is HUGE). Not to mention, the Bibles ended up being $100 cheaper than expected; so we purchased them even though not having the full amount raised.
We dedicated the Bibles; leaving our friends with at least one scripture verse
The Bible agency that sent the Bibles to Nhkata Bay! We finally found them; mission complete!
SO GOD MADE A WAY! In everything, he was faithful and his plan was SO MUCH BIGGER and BETTER than mine. I’m so glad that this month God asked me to just sit and wait!
Thank you so much for all of you who have donated towards the Bibles! This wouldn’t have been possible without you. God is so good and I thank you for listening to him when he put donating on your heart! If you haven’t donated and you’re interested, know that your contribution can still help. Please send me an email at [email protected] with the amount you are hoping to donate.
