Malawi was a necessary and refreshing change of pace from month one and two. It’s a country that is overflowing with something that is in definite shortage in my life…joy. Joy isn’t something that comes naturally to me in the way that it comes to my sister and my father. Fortunately for me, God knows exactly what I need and when I need it. That’s why he gave me MONTH 3: Lilongwe, Malawi.
Our ministry for the month included church planting and what I call “hut to hut” evangelism. Our fearless contact, Harvey, is THE man in Malawi. He is an influential man of God and it was exciting to learn from him each day as we faced a new uncomfortable challenge.
Day One: Preach to pastors and their wives about marriage and submission.
[I mean I’m not a preacher, nor am I married, nor do I believe in the whole “wives submit to your husbands” verse, but yeah sure I’ll preach.]
I guess Harvey really liked what God had to say through me because he asked me to preach the same message 5 more times. I think the sermon ended up being more for me than the Malawians, but I will let you know when I get married 😉
So yeah, every day was completely foreign, literally. We preached the message of salvation from one hut to the next at least three times a day and then invited people into God’s family. Hundreds of people gave their lives to Christ. We witnessed healings and casted out demons. It was spectacular. After each preaching, the children would follow us the “azungus” (meaning white person) to the next hut as we continued to spread the Gospel. They’d hug, hold, and just love us for being there to share the Good News. The women and their children would sit before us in the dirt eager to accept Jesus into their hearts.
It wasn’t until the second week that I started to notice that only the women and children gathered to hear us talk. The older boys, young men, and husbands walked away if they saw us coming or they’d stand a reasonable distance away from us. It seemed like they wanted to listen to us, but they were ‘too cool’ to come any closer. It was super frustrating. Pastor Harvey wanted me to preach about godly marriages, yet I only ever talked to women. The husbands needed to hear about what the Bible says about loving wives. The young men and older boys needed to learn about what it meant to be godly men.
Although many women accepted Jesus into their hearts, I sensed that it would be difficult for them to guide their families in God’s ways if we couldn’t convince their husbands and sons to believe too. I asked Cameron what else we could do to get their attention. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I then cried out and said,
“GOD, I WANT THE BOYS. WE NEED THEM!”
The next day, we divided into our groups and headed in different directions of the village. Cameron and I ended up together. When it was my turn to preach, our translators began to gather some women together and then for whatever reason, we didn’t stay there. We instead walked to a group of about 7 men. I started to get nervous… Should Cam preach since he’s the guy? What will I say?
I prayed that God would give me His words for these men. More men gathered as I preached, about 15 total. These men stayed. They listened to what God wanted them to hear. They accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts. I encouraged them to follow his example and guide their families to Christ. There are no words to describe my excitement of seeing these men accept Jesus… the day after I cried out that I wanted to find them.
But God wasn’t done.
Once the team was reunited, we rallied the people in the village (about 100 men, women, and children) to have one last Bible lesson before we headed home. Cam preached. More people accepted Christ. Harvey then suggested that we divide the people into four groups: men, women, children, and young boys. Knowing my desire to talk to the boys, he asked Cameron and I to talk to the young boys (ages ranging from 8 to 17).
I’m freaking out!!
There were about 25 young men in front of us. God entrusted us to guide these guys, to encourage them, to love them, and teach them how to be godly men. Now, I might not be a man of God, but I’m a woman of God who desires a man of God, so I had some words for them. These guys listened to us, they respected us, and I know that they heard what God was saying to them through Cameron and I. I told them that I cried out to God asking for him to send me some boys that I could talk to and he answered my prayer. They were the answer to my prayer.
