Well hopefully since it’s getting closer to Christmas you are all taking some time to rest, spend time with your families, and of course read some more blogs! ; ) Here they come…
Looking back at the last month, the way I like to describe how God was working in my heart is by using the phrase: a month of blossoming. Sounds kind of cheesy as I write it, but I feel like God really opened up my heart, taught me to love, grew, matured, and brought me closer to Him while in Malawi.
When our teams were changed in Romania, all of us went around and said what we wanted to learn during our time together and how we wanted to see God change us. I said that I wanted to learn to walk confidently in Christ, to trust Him and not worry about anything else. And with that, to be more decisive in my actions and in my heart. And to simply just love people more freely. I had been struggling with this and it was getting really frustrating to me as I saw these things in my life more and more.
My team was the perfect fit for this time in the race. (Sami, Rachel, Kendra, Daniel and Jake) We all really bonded in Romania and then in Malawi we just encouraged each other and pushed one another towards Christ and change in our lives. I don’t even think it was something visible to be seen, but it was something God was working in each one of us. I didn’t see any changes taking place at the time really, but it’s when I look back that I can see how God in the process of changing my heart and life, and the lives of my friends. God allowed us to love each other so much as a family so we could then in turn love others better.
Lodging:
Ministry in Malawi
Our ministry in Malawi was mostly evangelism, door to door ministry/encouragement, teaching, and sharing our testimonies with people. The first Sunday we were there we all went in teams of 2 to different churches and gave testimonies and preached. I knew Africa was going to be like that, but I didn’t expect it to happen so fast! (Just a day after we arrived) This really encouraged the boldness in me to rise up right away and not wait until halfway through the month, so for that I’m so grateful.
That first church service was so funny. Jake and I were paired together and our pastor told us that I would share my testimony and Jake would preach the sermon; he told us this as we were on our way to church! Haha…not much time to collect your thoughts. While at church the pastor had me get up and learn the dances that the women were doing, they all got some pretty good laughs from this sight…and the pastor got some great video…15 minutes to be exact : ) I was also “dressed� in front of the congregation because my wrap that I had bought the day before kept falling down! So a sweet woman came up and retied it for me, right in front of the church. Oh fun times in church!
I realize now that this is when I started allowing God to start changing me and I decided to find my confidence in Him and not care how others may perceive me. So I let Him lead me in my testimony…I don’t really remember what I said I just started, for what seemed like the first time, to let the Spirit lead me in the things that I spoke. I don’t have the right words on my own, but He knows exactly what people need to hear.
Hard Heart….Turned Soft
The next week before we went to stay in the bush, we went to share with a church and worship with them. I had a really poor attitude and told Sami I did not have anything to say that day and I wasn’t going to speak. We arrived at this small church in a hut and there were so many children and mothers anxious to meet us and hear the word.
God clearly said that I needed to speak and He told me I should talk about having the faith of a child. Sami then said “Leah I think YOU need to talk first� and she urged me to go up, but I refused to go up there. So she said “okay I will go first, but you let me know if you want to speak after.� I was still really not wanting to go up there, even after seeing these sweet faces and hearing their songs of praise. My heart was so hard, and I had allowed that to happen just in that day. This can happen in such a short time if we are not on our guard. And in a time that God wanted to use me, I had put up a wall that was hard to break down. Well, Sami got up to speak and she started talking to the children about the SAME passage that God told me to talk about. Definitely not a coincidence! I knew then that I was going to speak to them and share the word God had given me for these believers. Sami concluded her message and much to her surprise, I told her I needed to say something. God gave me the words to encourage the believers and my softened heart encouraged my team that afternoon. It also opened my eyes to how hungry people are for Bibles and to know more of the Lord. They seek it and they hold on to it. It’s like precious jewels to them…I love that. 
This started the blossoming process and that night I shared a very long version of my testimony with my team. Finally after 5 months I opened up to the people I was spending every day and hour with.
Good times in the Malawaian Bush:
My team spent 4 amazing days away from Lilongwe in the middle of nowhere, African Bush, to plant a new church. We arrived at night with the pastor we were working with, driving on bumpy dirt roads and underneath the most amazing stars you can even imagine. We had no clue what to expect, just went with open hearts that were excited for this new adventure. We picked up a few people along the way as we got closer to the village, one was our translator named Witness. This was fitting as most of the people we would be speaking to over the next few days hadn’t ever heard about Jesus before. We arrived at a school and were told this is where we would set up our camp. Shortly after setting our tents up we looked around and saw people coming from all over and a very large crowd gathered in front of us to welcome us. It was probably 9pm…but they still came. We couldn’t even see how many people were there because it was so dark that night, so we turned our head lamps on and there were probably 50-60 people there. So fun! We gave a short introduction and then turned in for the night.
We would go to sleep at around 730 or 8 because that’s when it got dark and then we would wake up at about 430 when people would start singing and children would be gathered around your tent to watch you sleep. This really was a regular occurrence….when you went to sleep and when you woke, there they were!
The next few days were filled with evangelism to the little surrounding villages in the mornings and preaching/teaching in the afternoons. I found it’s kind of a tricky thing to know where to start talking about Jesus if people had never heard of Him. So I would basically start from the beginning and really emphasize God’s love for them by sending Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever had to start from scratch so it was a pretty exciting time to really let God tell His story through us. Sometimes people would forget some vital details and the other few teammates we were with would jump in with the details. : )
Until going there and meeting people that had no knowledge of Jesus, I didn’t realize just how precious this gift of salvation is that we have and just how many people have not heard it! Why would I ever keep my mouth shut about it and keep it to myself after seeing people come to an understanding that there is hope for their future? To withhold this truth from people is a crime against the price our Savior paid for our lives. He wants everyone to hear this good news…of all the head knowledge this really struck my heart. So after lunch as a team we would rest for a bit and then go do an afternoon session where we would teach and give testimonies and the pastor would preach. We would also sing a lot and dancing was definitely included!
The goal of us being there was to help plant this new church to unreached people in the area. And also to make connections with the people and give the new church the names of people so they could go back and follow up with them.
We saw 21 people get baptized from the new church and another church on our last day there. It was a surreal experience, walking miles to “the river� which was really standing water for farming. But the believers were so excited nonetheless. We all worshiped the Lord together after, it was a perfect afternoon.
We ended our time in the village with one last evening session of preaching and a Word from my teammate Sami to the people. We prayed for God to heal people and prayed for the villages and the new church, and then we left. My teammate Rachel had been feeling really sick and was getting worse by the hour, so we had to leave before we saw the first church service take place the next day. But it wasn’t about us anyway. I just want God to move in that village and bring people to Himself. We left at peace with what God had done that week in our hearts for the lost, and for the people in Tomas village. 
