This week we have done all sorts of things with Mzuzu Pentecostal Church: VBS, visited church members’ homes to encourage them, midweek prayer & worship, door-to-door evangelism, helped move supplies for construction, fasted with the youth, taught the congregation a song and dance, etc. Throughout these activities, there are two things that I’ve noticed on a consistent basis: the people of Malawi (or at least Mzuzu) are incredibly hospitable and the youth may be the most active group in the church.
Hospitality started with our hosts – they cook three meals a day for us, welcome us into their home for these meals, and insist that we eat first, before their family. Then, when we went on home visits to church members, they welcomed us into their homes, even if the 15 of us overflowed the house. And several served us tea while we were there. I came away from most of those visits feeling more encouraged than I possibly could have left the person we meant to uplift. When we did door-to-door evangelism, my group was welcomed at every home where someone was present (and the other group hadn’t already visited). Even the nurse who had gotten home less than ten minutes prior to our arrival welcomed us into her home. Can you imagine if we tried to go door-to-door in the US? Even in the south, I don’t think we would get the response that we got here. The people were so honored to have visitors.
For most of the activities that I mentioned above, the youth was the group with whom we were working. The home visits and door-to-door evangelism are conducted entirely by the youth. And, there is not a youth minister. The youth are self-led. How cool is that? When is the last time you saw a youth group in the US visit church members’ houses just to bring an encouraging word? And forget about door-to-door evangelism.
It is fair to observe that the culture here is much more open and trusting (and trustworthy) than in the US, which creates an atmosphere more conducive for these ministries, but just because it’s the way it is doesn’t mean it’s the way it should be.
