It's going to be hard to fit everything from the past 2 weeks (or however long it's been) into one blog, so I'll just include some highlights.
We stayed in Malawi for 10 days. We stayed in Ntaja, which is about 80 percent Muslim and some of us spent the weekend in a Muslim village. Working with Muslims is a passion of mine, so it was one of my favorite times so far. The first 4 days we did practical work. And when I say practical work, I mean that a Malawian guy hands me a machete and tells me to start digging holes in the ground and cutting bamboo. Yes, I had a machete. No (serious) injuries. We built a kitchen for a go-go (In Africa, go-go means old lady). Everyday, this woman cooked us food, despite the fact that she is very poor and cares for many children. She wanted to show her appreciation to us. She even went out of her way to buy sugar to put on the rice because she has heard that Americans put sugar on everything (wish I could deny it). A person with so little to give gave us so much.These people understand hospitality. My favorite part of the week was spending time with our translator Chepa. An incredible 60-year-old pastor from Malawi. We called our building project "Operation Chepa," because we are convinced he could have built the kitchen single-handedly. He displayed great humility.
The OM Malawi team we worked with was incredible. Each of them challenged us so much. They do not even have written Bibles--only audio Bibles--yet they know it better than me. They study it and memorize it and live it. We take for granted the precious gift we have in the word of God and the great power that it holds. The word of God is living and active. Let's not forget that.
In the afternoons, we did sports' and children's ministry. A lot of these children are victims of witchcraft. You can see it visibly by the charms hung around their necks. A lot of parents dedicate their children to witchdoctors for healing or other reasons. I held a baby who had a charm around her neck and was being carted around by a group of children. I have no idea where her mother was. It's moments like these that impact me. Nothing prepares you to see that.
Over the weekend, I stayed in the village of Chisopi. We tented on top of a mountain :)!!!!!! We spent the weekend doing house visits and sharing the gospel with Muslims (when possible). Some were very willing to listen, but others were not yet at that point. In Malawi, Islam is often mixed in with forms of witchcraft, and many who identify themselves as Muslim are not well-educated on their own religion. I really enjoyed this time, because it is a good picture of some of the challenges faced by missionaries. It can take years to build relationships with people before an opportunity arises to share the gospel. We should not expect to always see progress immediately. The missionary we stayed with said, "If you go into missions for 2 years, the 1st year should be spent building relationships and learning to understand the culture. THEN you can start sharing the gospel." It is not about us. When all we want is to see fruit, we end up trying to force something on people before they are ready. Some missionaries spend 20 years in a place before seeing anyone enter a relationship with Christ. Is there work less valuable? No. It is necessary. And commendable.
Relationship-building is particularly important when ministering to Muslims, and it was awesome to start the process and leave the rest in the hands of the church that remains in Malawi. We were able to encourage the church on Sunday. An outdoor church of about 10 people. Many former Muslims. I cannot imagine the struggles they experience in trying to live out their faith. Pray for them.
Now we are in Zambia. We have been doing house visits, sharing the gospel, doing church services and did some practical work. I got to slash grass (African grass...) and they gave me a machete again!!!! SO COOL. Let me tell you, Africans are just way stronger than us. Women carry babies on their backs and giant packages on their heads. I tried to balance a water bottle and couldn't even do it. They can balance like 5 liters of water!!! And the men can literally work all day in the sun chopping bamboo without breaking a sweat. And then they WALK HOME. Which takes like an hour and a half. No car. No problem. They must get a kick out of watching the Muzungus try to do manual labor. I am convinced God sent angels to help us.
Please pray for team unity and perseverance. Pray also for Muslims to come to faith during this time. July 9th-August 8th is their holy month (Ramadan), so it is very important to keep them in prayer during this time. Pray that we are able to finish strong.
Bye for now!!!!
