“This is a good thing… that there are six of you sleeping on a dirt floor in a small room! Now you have something to blog about!” –Pastor Blessings
Place
Da Lat, Vietnam -> 8 hour bus-> Vung Tau, Vietnam for three days -> Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam -> plane (8 hours) -> Thailand airport-> plane (8 hours) -> Ethiopian airport -> plane to Malawi (3 hours)-> 30 minute bus ride -> Lilongwe, Malawi: District 25: sector 7: Pastor Blessings House
We are in Africa! Upon arriving safely in the Malawi airport, my first thought was, “Wow, not too much has changed since they filmed, The Lion King here!” Just Kidding, they added an airport!
But seriously, There is uninterrupted land for miles on end. It is absolutely a dream. We are staying in a neighborhood surrounded by kids who are always willing to play. The local market is roughly a ten minute walk away and the local shopping center/paved roads type place is about a half hour drive, give or take based on the stops we take to drop off/ pick up passengers.
The house we are staying in is currently being renovated and there are anywhere from 15-22 people sleeping there every night. While it is a tight squeeze and can sometimes be difficult, these close quarters provide an abundance of funny stories that I am sure we will look back and laugh at…someday.
Reader let me tell you about a man… this man makes me feel ashamed for even thinking about a complaint, he makes me feel like I am the older one and he is the 23 year old. This man runs circles around us and serves from sun up until far past sun down. I’ll be honest, I’ve had to read the Bible a few more times very closely, just to make sure I did not miss a part about Jesus returning to earth for a brief time as a Malawian man….
People
His name is Pastor Blessings. Of course it is! You see him, you are blessed. You catch a smile from him, you are blessed. You hear him preach the word of God, boyyyyy are you blessed! Needless to say, he truly lives up to his name.
Being a pastor is not easy. Being a pastor in Africa is… well, even more difficult. Being a pastor in Africa is kind of like asking your family to be hungry at least four nights a week. It’s like asking your children to dislike you for eternity because now, you’re not only poor but, everything you have, you are first giving away to other people. It’s like asking the realtor to just show you the worst house they can find because that is all you can afford. It’s like being on speed dial for multiple people 24/7 but sometimes the only way you can get to them is by walking, sometimes 12 miles if necessary. At least, these are just some of the ways it has been difficult for Pastor Blessings. Of course, he never shares the difficulty of a personal situation with us- no, instead he serves us endlessly and brings only the stories of the redemptive parts to us.
For example, Habitat for Humanity granted him a house to live in. but because he could not pay back the loans, a person from the organization came and took the windows and doors off his house. For many months his family lived with no protection from the outside, from robbers , from wild animals or from the changing weather climates. Blessings rejoices in telling us that a former World Race team raised money and donated to him so now he can have not only windows and doors on his house, but a few more rooms so he can host even more World Race teams! He showed us the area in the back of his house where he made the bricks to build his new home. Instead of dwelling on the difficulty of the months without windows and doors, he rejoices in telling us the story of his new home.
This man is incredible! I would encourage you, reader, to head to this blog to read even more about this man from a former World Racer who also had the privilege of serving alongside him: http://michellelockett.theworldrace.org/?filename=blessed-to-be-a-blessing
Process
My team has had the privilege of following Pastor Blessings to various ministries for the past two weeks. He is certainly a busy man!
We have done a wide assortment of ministries so far:
Hold babies at a baby orphanage:
-to hear some of these stories breaks my heart. Many women die during child birth, one woman was mauled to death by wild dogs and her baby daughter survived, one woman was beaten to death by her husband and many women abandon their babies simply because they have no resources whatsoever to provide for them because they themselves are malnourished. Heart breaking. And we have the opportunity to hold these little miracles. To whisper in their little ears that they are precious, beautiful, loved and created for purpose-
Bring the word to a widows group:
-A widow in Africa… Once a woman’s husband dies, she is removed from her house with her children and left to beg on the streets. Basically, life is over for them. They are not well educated and cannot pick up a job the next day- they are stranded and hopeless. So, a woman from America went to Malawi and began offering sewing classes to these women so they could become educated and run a sewing business to make money. This class has continued for maybe six-ish years now and over 100 women now have their own sewing business throughout many districts of Malawi! We had the opportunity to bring the word to these women and encourage them… Yeah right! We walked to this work room to loud singing and dancing. They welcomed us right in and we all melted to tears by the joy these women shared. They bless us by their spirits more than they will ever know. I had the privilidge of bringing the word last Monday and I made sure to tell them that I would be visiting each one of them in their mansions in Heaven, for GREAT is their reward! Each time we go we make sure to buy more and more of the items they make because this says, “we really support your work.”
Teach lessons at Good Hope School- I am sure this needs a blog of its own!
Bring the word in a beauty salon to the workers there
Feed orphans- there are over 400 orphans and children from around Malawi who are fed through this program each day. They receive one meal and again, we had the privilege of serving it to them on Thursday.
Play soccer with street kids and share the word with them-
-You know how I feel about this one! I wish you were there to see those kids faces light up when returned from the store with a brand new soccer ball for them! At the end of the game Pastor looks at me and says, “Jess, now bring us the word.” I was able to sit down after bringing the word and watch every hand rise as Pastor gave the invitation of salvation to these boys. Praise Jesus. These boys have a special place in my heart after meeting them only once. I was able to give these dirty, smelly boys great big hugs after they joined me in the heavenly family…BEST DAY EVER!
Travel to a church 2 ½ hours away that Pastor planted recently
-This one needs a LOT of prayer. The chief of the village recently converted to Christianity and gave her whole life to Jesus Christ. Praise God! But this is asking for a death sentence… talk about a sacrifice! You see, she was the leader because she was great at practicing witchcraft and would cast awful and dangerous spells. Now that she is a Christian, she has completely turned away from this old lifestyle but the people who followed her are furious. There are attempts to take her life daily. And if she renounces Christ at this point, and tries to go back to witchcraft… they will kill her for sure. Pray, Pray, Pray! I believe the whole village will turn to Christ and repent because of this woman’s boldness. Please, through prayer- join her in the spiritual battle for her life!
Visit various churches bringing encouragement and scripture
Prayer
As you can imagine, there is much to pray for! The harvest is ripe- meaning, people are clinging to every word of scripture we bring, they are ready and will to accept Christ and to totally give their lives to Him! This is amazing! Please pray for these things specifically:
-Pastor Blessings as he disciples Godly men to aide him in spreading the love of Christ around the country
-Finances: for his family to have food, for the widows to continue their work, for Good Hope School to continue to be funded and run smoothly, for the soccer boys to always have a ball to play with
-For the leader of the village daily fighting attacks for her life.
-For the boys and widows who accepted Christ to have people around them who will bring the truths and the word of God so they might grow in their relationship with Him
-Praise God for safety and safe travels
As always, thank you for your prayers and support
Blessings <3
