This is a summary of my time in Malawi and some of my thoughts 🙂
Month 11: Mzuzu, Malawi
Ministry: Evangelism and preaching with Pastor Brasswell Nkhonjera
Team 113: Rachel, Grace T., Grace C., AT, LB, Luke, Mason
This month we worked with Pastor Brasswell, who is the senior pastor at Mzuzu Baptist Church. We lived with the Pastor and his family, and his lovely wife and daughters cooked African meals for us each day. During the week we did door-to-door evangelism, taught in schools, and preached to several villages. We went to six villages over the course of the month, and we stayed at each village for a couple days. We had “family time” each evening, which is when the whole group would get together in the living room, pray, share an encouraging scripture, and sing songs.
What we did:
Sundays: Our first Sunday here we had church at one of the villages we evangelized to during the week. Grace T. preached the sermon and Grace Chase taught about salvation for Sunday school. After this, we went for a 2 mile hike up and down several hills to watch at least 10 people be baptized!!! It was incredible to witness, and so worth the hike. Our second Sunday here we attended Mzuzu Baptist Church at 8:00 am, which is Pastor Brasswell’s church. Luke preached the sermon and Mason taught the Bible lesson for Sunday school. They have an English service at 8:00 and the Tambuka service at 10:00. We sang “How Great Thou Art” which is one of my favorites. After church we rested for the remainder of the day. Our third Sunday will be spent at the church again, and we are going to the English service to listen to Pastor Brasswell preach. It will be the first time we’ve heard him preach a sermon!!
Mondays-Fridays: During the week we woke up around 7:30, had breakfast, and usually left the house around 10:30 (on average). We always left at different times because of car trouble, so some days we left on time around 8:30 and sometimes we didn’t head out until 12:30. Typically we would get back home from the village between 3:00-5:00. The evangelism team from Mzuzu stayed later into the evening and showed a movie about Jesus to the village people by means of a projector. We went to each village for 2-3 days, and the names of the villages are:
Eswazini, Kaulasisi, Jombo, Katula, Mzgola, Nkhokoma
No I cannot pronounce the village names (ha), but they each hold a special place in my heart. And I’ll never forget the faces I associate with each village.
So here’s what a day in the village looks like:
We would arrive at the village, be greeted by the pastor of the church there, head out in 3 groups for door-to-door evangelism, come back for lunch around 3:00 (give or take a few), and then have a program in the church in which one of us would usually preach a sermon. I preached two times…the first time was about everyone being unique and valuable to God and using your gifts to bring Him glory. The second time was about Peter walking on the water towards Jesus, and how taking his eyes off Jesus caused him to sink.
It was really cool to get to partner up with each of my teammates for evangelism. We mixed our teams up so we would get a chance to work with everyone, which I loved. We were also blessed with the evangelism team that we worked with. Our fear coming into this month was that the leaders would tell us how to evangelize a certain way, but it wasn’t that way at all. We had the opportunity to listen to the Holy Spirit at each house we visited. We never had anything planned out to say to the people during evangelism, but we would always listen to the direction of the Spirit and follow His lead. We shared our personal testimonies with people, and sometimes our stories helped lead the person to Christ. We prayed for people who were hurting emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
Something we can testify to is that it’s not the words we say at all, because either a person is ready to accept Christ or he isn’t. There isn’t anything you can say to change a person’s mind. It’s not up to you to have fancy words that pierce the heart or to have all the right answers…all you have to do is show up, and the Holy Spirit is already working. That assurance takes the pressure off of having to say the right words all the time!!
Saturdays: OFF DAY- Since we didn’t have wifi during the week, we used our free time to get wifi at Mzuzu Coffee Den so we could talk to family and write blogs. Saturdays were really chill days.
Awesomeness:
Sitting with the women in each village and watching them cook- becoming friends with the evangelism team…Cata, Frank, Kennedy, Joshua, and Longway- hiking up the beautiful mountains in the villages- meeting the people in each village and saying “taunga chimineh,” which means “thank you very much” (also, no clue how to spell that, but that’s how it sounds haha)- riding in the car with my team and the evangelism team, listening to music and reminiscing on the year- watching movies in the evenings with my team…we watched “We Are Marshall” one evening and it made me miss home so much- praying outside by myself in the mornings- preaching to the village churches- receiving oranges, nuts, and other snacks as gifts when we went to various houses- hearing Frank’s laugh, it’s awesome, oh and so is Pastor Brasswell’s- going to the Coffee Den to talk to my fam and see Winnie on Facetime- doing a 3 day fast with Luke to pray about going home and to reflect on the year- going to ShopRite for snacks, especially the Simba H.S. Balls Chutney potato chips I LOVE and crave- eating nsima for every meal- drinking a lot of orange and passion fruit Fanta- the cold weather, especially in comparison to the heat in Asia and Central America- seeing people healed before my very eyes- pretending to know the words to the songs in the village churches- snuggling into my sleeping bag in the evenings because it was so cold in the house- seeing 10 people be baptized in the village- watching the joy on people’s faces when they chose to accept Christ- having family time in the evenings
Sounds to remember:
Chickens squawking outside our window- our Malawian family talking in their language out in the hallway- people singing- kids playing- constant music in the house
Sights to remember:
Chickens everywhere- goats everywhere- TONS of potholes in the dirt roads- monkeys looking for food- women carrying babies on their backs- roundabouts instead of traffic lights- huts made out of mud and straw- smiling kids with no shoes and dirt caked on their legs- beautiful mountains in the distance- big smiles everywhere- women carrying heavy things on their heads like wood and buckets of water
Time in the Word this month:
Read 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, finished reading John, started reading Acts, continuing to memorize Romans 8…have verses 1-17 now!!!
A few of my go-to verses for sharing my story and the love of God…
Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Matthew 10:29-31 What is the price of two sparrows- one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Romans 11:6 And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is- free and undeserved.
Well, this is the end of my World Race journey.
11 MONTHS!!! WE DID IT!!!
On Monday morning my team and I begin our two-day journey to final debrief in Cape Maclear, Malawi. This is a time for the entire squad to get together and relax, discuss the year, and say our goodbyes to each other. It will be a very emotional week…we just spent 24/7 of the past 11 months together, so it will be really hard to say goodbye to these people I’ve grown to love. So although this coming week will be fun, it will also be hard. So remember us in your prayers as our hearts say goodbye to this season of life and prepare for the next!!
I can’t thank you enough for reading my blogs and keeping updated with my adventures!!! Thank you for your constant encouragement on Facebook and through blog comments. Although this is my last blog “on the field,” you can look forward to more blogs that I’ll be writing when I’m in the US. I plan to post an interview blog in a couple weeks, in which I will interview myself with questions that I may get asked when I’m home. If you have any questions or are curious about anything, please message me or comment with your questions!! I would love to answer them all!!!
Also, if you would like for me to speak to your church about my World Race journey, I would be honored to do so and share what the Lord taught me this year. Just let me know!! My email is [email protected], or message me on Facebook.
I will mention this in my upcoming “interview” blog, but I’m excited to announce that I’ve been hired as a Title I Teacher at Point Pleasant Intermediate School for the upcoming year!!! I will only have 2 full weeks of being at home before work begins, so please keep me in your prayers for this transition!! I feel in my heart that this is where God wants me for the upcoming year, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!!
Love and prayers!! -Rachel
