Oh hey! This update from Malawi is brought to you by Nate VanDyke.
I apologize in advance—I don’t quite know what the structure of these blog posts has been thus far. So I’m just going to roll on and tell you what was going through my mind as we were in and around the refugee camp outside Lilongwe today.
[Events that will be left out include: Yesterday’s return to Bunda College, where Steve shared his testimony; the joy of children’s faces at the sight of a red balloon; our car being approached on the street where Steve was asked “What kind of Azungu (Chichewa word for “White Person”) are you?; enjoying the sweet nectar of Passion Fanta after a long day].
Alright, commence train of thought:
After arriving at the refugee camp, we were taken to meet the pastor of Emmanuel Full Gospel church. After speaking with the pastor of the church for about 20 minutes, he led us on a 45 minute car ride through the Malawian villages to see some of the things the church was doing. When we arrived at our destination, we saw a half finished building being put up to serve the orphans in that village. And then we got back in the truck and started heading off.
And all I could think is “Why?”
Why would we drive for 45 minutes to see a place for 5 minutes? What’s the point of going all this way to see a half finished building? How was this worth the trip?
And then I thought about what that building was. What that building represented.
That building was an act of service from a group of people with few resources and no country to meet the needs of villages and people that are not their own.
And that blew me away.
From that first village, we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. And then we went to another village to see another building. All set up by these refugees to meet the needs of the people around them.
When we got back, we heard more from the pastor of the church. The vision of this church of refugees is far more than orphan programs. They are planting churches in villages, not towns or cities, so people without access to the Gospel through radio or television can hear the Good news.
Then Luke asked how many other places they had planted churches in. And the answer came in names of countries, not villages. These people are planting churches in three to four countries, and the mother church is in the middle of a refugee camp.
As Chris said, these people make life work in a place where most of us would struggle. But they also see and respond to the needs of those around them.
End train of thought. I apologize if this was a touch long or was hard to follow.
Prayer Requests:
_Travel mercies as we head to Zomba for the weekend. It’s a 4-5 hour trip and figuring out transport has been somewhat of an obstacle thus far.
_Good health for all of us.
_Eyes to see what God is trying to show us, as well as his continued provision and support.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Hello followers of the blog, this is Moriah updating you on our trip!
On Monday (the 25th) we went to a ministry called Children of the Nation. It is a ministry that helps both orphans and widows. The kids get one meal a day and we got to serve them for that meal. Although we saw a lot of smiles and joy in some of the faces we also saw a lot of sadness and hopelessness. As a team it was very hard to see that kind of brokenness, and although it’s the reality of life, it was hard. Although it was difficult to see, we also saw God working in that ministry. It is a ministry that has grown, and hopefully will continue to grow over the years so it can help more children.
We thank you for your constant prayers and support for this trip, here are a few more things that you could be praying for:
- Continual growth and development as a team
- That our van can get fixed! Transportation has been a bit of a problem so far and if we got our van fixed that would help out a lot! Some of our plans depend on this!
- For God’s continual provision for our team and SCOM
Thanks again, God bless!
--
Hello Brothers & Sisters! I, Rico Johnson, am providing you with another update:
We went to Lilongwe Technical College last night, 26 June 2012, and the service began around 7:30 PM, Malawi time. Our time there was simply amazing! The Spirit of the Lord filled the entire place! Each student warmly welcomed and greeted us with smiles. (Some of them were even giving out hugs!) They would sing praises to the Lord before each time of one-voice prayer. We prayed and praised the Lord three times before the service began! We enjoyed a men’s choir, a woman’s solo, and there was a praise team transitioning each event. Our team had a chance to sing a few songs, share testimonies, and preach. (I shared my testimony!) It was a huge blessing to see the student’s faces light up with Kool-aid smiles when we sang a song in Chichewa (their local language)!!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for SCOM leadership and organizational development
- Pray for the students of Malawi to experience more provision from the Lord
- Pray that our team might experience deepening relationships with one another.
Burdened for Christ,
Rico
On Monday (the 25th) we went to a ministry called Children of the Nation. It is a ministry that helps both orphans and widows. The kids get one meal a day and we got to serve them for that meal. Although we saw a lot of smiles and joy in some of the faces we also saw a lot of sadness and hopelessness. As a team it was very hard to see that kind of brokenness, and although it’s the reality of life, it was hard. Although it was difficult to see, we also saw God working in that ministry. It is a ministry that has grown, and hopefully will continue to grow over the years so it can help more children.
We thank you for your constant prayers and support for this trip, here are a few more things that you could be praying for:
- Continual growth and development as a team
- That our van can get fixed! Transportation has been a bit of a problem so far and if we got our van fixed that would help out a lot! Some of our plans depend on this!
- For God’s continual provision for our team and SCOM
Thanks again, God bless!
--
Hello Brothers & Sisters! I, Rico Johnson, am providing you with another update:
We went to Lilongwe Technical College last night, 26 June 2012, and the service began around 7:30 PM, Malawi time. Our time there was simply amazing! The Spirit of the Lord filled the entire place! Each student warmly welcomed and greeted us with smiles. (Some of them were even giving out hugs!) They would sing praises to the Lord before each time of one-voice prayer. We prayed and praised the Lord three times before the service began! We enjoyed a men’s choir, a woman’s solo, and there was a praise team transitioning each event. Our team had a chance to sing a few songs, share testimonies, and preach. (I shared my testimony!) It was a huge blessing to see the student’s faces light up with Kool-aid smiles when we sang a song in Chichewa (their local language)!!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for SCOM leadership and organizational development
- Pray for the students of Malawi to experience more provision from the Lord
- Pray that our team might experience deepening relationships with one another.
Burdened for Christ,
Rico
Monday, June 25, 2012
Visiting Colleges
Muli Bwanji? (How are you?) Grace and peace to you. This is Steven writing to update you, our faithful supporters, on our time here in Lilongwe.
On Thursday, we had a wonderful time visiting a Malawi technical school about 20 kilometers from our place of residence. The students graciously greeted us with warm smiles and Malawian handshakes as we arrived later than expected. Payton shared a message on the book of Jonah, urging us to reach out to the seemingly unreachable students on our respective campuses. Nate gave a powerful testimony about how he started taking his faith seriously when God gave his family an extremely sad and unexpected trial. The Malawian students and our team were mutually encouraged by one another’s faith in Jesus Christ as we worshipped together.
The next day, we visited Bunda College of Agriculture near Lilongwe. SCOM hosted a day of fun activities for the campus to enjoy, including a Gospel Show at night. We played all sorts of games and sports with the students (soccer, basketball, triple jump, high jump, musical chairs, sack race, to name a few…). Throughout the day, we got to have incredibly fruitful and encouraging conversations with a number of Bunda College students about their purpose in college and their faith in God. Many students go to school SO THAT they may bring what they learn back to their hometown to enable and strengthen the local community and economy. Quite different from the American culture of almost going to college “because that’s what you do.” Our team was greatly blessed by these conversations.
On Sunday, we started our day of rest by attending worship service with hundreds of believers on at Capital City Baptist Church right across the street. It was an awesome experience worshiping with God’s people in a different cultural context.
Today, we will visit a local orphanage not far from where we are staying. Chris warned us beforehand, “Just know that your heart is going to be broken.” Brothers and sisters, I ask you on behalf of our team that you would continue to pray for us in the following ways:
1. That God would break our hearts for what breaks His.
2. That our team would enjoy His abundant provision in terms of health, nourishment, and rest.
3. That our eyes and ears would be opened to see and hear God across circumstances.
4. That we would break down our own cultural and social barriers to boldly approach more Malawian students in the sharing of God’s love.
5. Finally, that when we continue to face spiritual challenges, by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we would succeed and grow as a community of believers as well as individual men and women of God.
We thank you again for your faithful support. God is strengthening us through your prayers.
In Christ alone,
Steven
On Thursday, we had a wonderful time visiting a Malawi technical school about 20 kilometers from our place of residence. The students graciously greeted us with warm smiles and Malawian handshakes as we arrived later than expected. Payton shared a message on the book of Jonah, urging us to reach out to the seemingly unreachable students on our respective campuses. Nate gave a powerful testimony about how he started taking his faith seriously when God gave his family an extremely sad and unexpected trial. The Malawian students and our team were mutually encouraged by one another’s faith in Jesus Christ as we worshipped together.
The next day, we visited Bunda College of Agriculture near Lilongwe. SCOM hosted a day of fun activities for the campus to enjoy, including a Gospel Show at night. We played all sorts of games and sports with the students (soccer, basketball, triple jump, high jump, musical chairs, sack race, to name a few…). Throughout the day, we got to have incredibly fruitful and encouraging conversations with a number of Bunda College students about their purpose in college and their faith in God. Many students go to school SO THAT they may bring what they learn back to their hometown to enable and strengthen the local community and economy. Quite different from the American culture of almost going to college “because that’s what you do.” Our team was greatly blessed by these conversations.
On Sunday, we started our day of rest by attending worship service with hundreds of believers on at Capital City Baptist Church right across the street. It was an awesome experience worshiping with God’s people in a different cultural context.
Today, we will visit a local orphanage not far from where we are staying. Chris warned us beforehand, “Just know that your heart is going to be broken.” Brothers and sisters, I ask you on behalf of our team that you would continue to pray for us in the following ways:
1. That God would break our hearts for what breaks His.
2. That our team would enjoy His abundant provision in terms of health, nourishment, and rest.
3. That our eyes and ears would be opened to see and hear God across circumstances.
4. That we would break down our own cultural and social barriers to boldly approach more Malawian students in the sharing of God’s love.
5. Finally, that when we continue to face spiritual challenges, by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we would succeed and grow as a community of believers as well as individual men and women of God.
We thank you again for your faithful support. God is strengthening us through your prayers.
In Christ alone,
Steven
Friday, June 22, 2012
Arrived in Malawi
After 40 hours of travel, we made it to Malawi. Everyone was exhausted when we arrived, most of us fell asleep by 4 in the afternoon. Yesterday we went to a worship gathering at the Kamuzu College of Nursing. We enjoyed the fellowship and Bible study together. Moriah and Colin shared some of their testimony. Both our team and the Malawi students were blessed by our time togther.
We are going to Namitete Technical College. Payton will be speaking and Nate will share some of his story. Please pray for them.
Tomorrow we will be spending the day at Bunda College. Pray for us to connect quickly with the students and bless them as we spend the day enjoying fellowship and ministering to the campus.
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