NSIMA WITH MUSTARD

by Mike Nicolai

Many members of the SCPC team and I were dispatched to a village located approximately 12 miles down dirt roads from where we were staying. Once we arrived, some of the team played with the many kids and taught them songs. The remainder, accompanied by FTS (Fishers Trainers and Senders) team members, went deeper into the village to meet locals and evangelize to them. For me, the word ‘evangelize’ does not promote positive memories. I then remembered Pastor Tod’s sermon where he encouraged people to evangelize by focusing on your actions and leading by example. Not so much by speaking words. I prayed for guidance and focus in demonstrating God’s love to the villagers I was soon to meet. 

Aubrey (from FTS) and I came to meet a woman who was sitting near a mud walled, thatch roofed home. With Aubrey’s help translating, we came to learn that this woman had just left the villages ‘Church of Abraham’ and had just started attending another Church in a nearby valley. I asked what it was that she was looking forward to from this new Church. “I want to learn more about Jesus and then spread the gospel to my friends and neighbors”. So I asked what it was she was going to do to help spread the gospel. “I’m going to spread the gospel to my friends and neighbors.” I replied “but what are you going to do?” She said “I don’t understand.”  So I asked what her favorite food was. “Nsima with mustard” (maize flour and water - a staple food in Malawi). Do you like to cook? “Yes.” Try this; cook your favorite food, but not for yourself. Take it to your neighbor and offer it to them. Explain what you have recently learned about Jesus at your new church. How you met me and how we talked about demonstrating God’s love to others. Then encourage your neighbor to cook their favorite dish for their neighbor.  And so on. Let us pray one day, for you to hear a knock on your door, from a different neighbor holding out their favorite dish. 

 

 Mike demonstrated by sharing his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the woman.

A BIG CHANGE

by Jon Moran

When SCPC partnered with Y-Malawi, the most basic way to get involved was to sponsor a child.  Our family decided to sponsor two children; they lived in a rural area with very limited access to schooling, and no ready access to safe drinking water.  They had limited opportunity for improving their lives, and their families struggled just to put food on the table.  I doubted a dollar a day per child would make a difference, but we did it in obedience to God.

I had the chance to visit Chikonzero and Phillippina recently; the changes to their lives are dramatic.  They have access to drinking water, are within walking distance of school, are exposed to the Word of God and Christians in the community, there are churches nearby; now many of the houses in their villages have sheet-metal roofs and concrete floors.  Despite drought, agriculture, trade, and commerce are growing in the Nkhoma region.  Phillippina wants to become a nurse, and Chikonzero wants to become a corporate driver.

The biggest change is my own appreciation of what God can do if I’m willing to obey Him, even just a little, in as little as a dollar a day per child.

 

Jon, Sheryl and Joshua Moran with Phillippina and her grandmother in 2012.

 

  Jon with Phillippina in 2014.

You can hear more stories from the team members and see a slideshow of the trip in Fellowship Hall at San Clemente Presbyterian Church on Sunday, September 21 at 10:00AM (snacks provided) and 2:00PM (light lunch provided). If you miss either of those presentations, team members will be available at noon to chat about their trip experiences.

Meeting My Malawian Daughter

Jan Galati writes, "Our first full day in Nkhoma, we visited with the wonderful people from World Vision and then headed out to visit our sponsored children. As we went through each of the villages, we were greeted by many of the local children with waves and thumbs up. They were as curious about us as we were of them. 

When it was my turn to visit Janet, the women of the village greeted us with song and serenaded us as we walked into the village. Janet is such a beautiful girl and I was so excited to bring her some special gifts. She and her family were so gracious and kind and gave me several papayas as a gift. My heart was full of blessings. The women invited Pat, Natalie and I to join them in their circle of singing and dancing. Oh what fun it was, a very special memory indeed. 

As we left, Janet and I walked to the van arm in arm. I look forward to communicating with her and praying for her! It would be wonderful to be able to see her again."

The Gift of Malawi Children

We arrived at the village in Chilenge, it looked like all the others we had visited since our trip began. The goal of this visit was a little different. Instead of meeting with our sponsored children or attending the Chiefs Bible studies, we were with members of  FTS (Fishers, Trainers and Senders ) to put into practice what we’d been learning the past few days: outreach and evangelism. Translated: we were going  to walk the village, meet with its members and share the 4 spiritual laws or however God directed us to express the Good News.

As always we were met by a large group of children. This is the way of life in the villages. They love visitors, especially azungu (white people).  At their urging we played catch with their soccer ball (made out of plastic bags tied with string). The FTS team soon realized they could be a distraction to our mission (as they’d follow us into the village) so Jan, Shea and Pat along with Chiku from FTS stayed back to engage with the children.

We started by playing a few circle games. Chiku then gathered them on the ground and with him translating, Jan told the story of David and Goliath with Shea and Pat acting out the story.  Afterwards we taught them "Jesus Loves Me" in English and sign language. I can’t begin to describe the emotions felt seeing their joy, eagerness and smiling faces as they learned the song. They loved to sing it back to us over and over….and were even more excited to have it videotaped (ahh, the marvels of smart phones) and played back to them.

Simply sitting with them was a blessing. The majority could not speak English, yet they knew enough to say “my name is …” and repeat back our names. We also learned many of them had attended the Jesus Film 2 days earlier. What an example of God at work through the dedication and passion of FTS!

The power of community was overwhelming. We experienced this in every village we visited. Children laughing, women gathered around in conversation, Malawians breaking into song. They were gracious, joyous and loving in spite of their harsh living conditions. What a lesson (and gift) for us all!

The Trip Home

Going back in time a bit, but I missed these photos yesterday.

Here's the team at the Lilongwe airport Saturday getting ready for the looooong trip home.

Nestor, Dan and Jon on the plane.

As the team settles in to being home, I will get some stories from them and share them on this blog. It may be a few days between posts, but please keep checking in, so you can hear the stories from our team.

Home Safe and Sound

The team is home safe and sound, well, Dan still needs to drive home, but everyone else is back home. Thank you for your prayers.

Smiling Faces after a LONG flight

Pat just posted this, "Landed Dulles at 7:40 am, great to be back on US soil after 17 hour flight from Addis Ababa."

Back in the USA

According to a Facebook post by Nestor at 7:55 am (Eastern time), the team arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, DC. They have 6 hours there before the last flight to LAX, but so grateful they made it through the long haul from Addis Ababa. More to come when I get a text or other FB posts.

Saying Goodbye

Last group shot with Louise,  hard to say goodbye. 

Off to the airport,  see you soon!

The Y Malawi team

The team has now begun the 40+ hours of travel to get home. 

Please continue to pray for them.

Leaving Mvuu

Velvet Monkey waiting to pilfer morning breakfast rolls at Mvuu

Friday morning view outside our chalet at Mvuu. The beauty of nature!

Last breakfast in Mvuu, next stop the wood market on the way to Lilongwe. The team will spend the night at Madidi Lodge in Lilongwe and start the long trip home on Saturday.

Breakfast at Mvuu

Thanks, Nestor, for this picture of the team at breakfast this morning. Now we need a picture with you in it as well.

A Good Cook

Jan and the team's wonderful cook Elyse who helped while they were in Nkhoma.

More Animals from Safari

A post from Jan on Facebook this morning, "Just a few of the pictures from Mvuu safari camp where we are debriefing from our trip. So evident that God is our Creator and Provider. His wonders amaze me!"

On Safari at Mvuu

We arrived safely at Mvuu. Had a safari last night and a nature walk this morning. Two photos of sunset last night along with the sunrise and a vervet monkey on our early morning nature walk. A vervet monkey hopped on our table this morning and took our last biscuit.

Elephants on the evening safari.

Last Night in Nkhoma

Below are a couple photos of our last night in Nkhoma. We had 13 of the FTS team join us for dinner. Afterwards Nestor brought out the Guest House guitar and accompanied by Stonard, Aflet and Mike (Nicolai) on drums, he lead us in many songs. What joy we all felt celebrating this time of fellowship, love for our God..and each other. 

Louise loved the chocolates! 

Sunday

A couple pictures from Sunday. The inside of the church where the team attended Sunday worship and where Dan preached. You'll notice "shun spots" on the floor, this is sun coming from holes in the roof.

This is a man walking to worship across the beautiful field that was also their soccer field. The Chief's Ministry Bible Study was held to the right under the beautiful tree.

A Final Story

One final story for today. Jon said that the other day in Nkhoma the team was going out with the FTS leaders to do some door-to-door evangelism (sharing their testimonies). The plan was for the team to go in pairs with one FTS translator per team. But then Chiku realized that the children were going to be flocking behind and causing a disruption, so Shea, Jan and Pat agreed to stay behind with Chiku and do something with the children.

Jon, Dan and Mike each paired up with one FTS staff member (Chimwewe, Franzo and Aubre). Jon thought that the guys were going to end up doing the "real" ministry that day and the ladies were going to "just play with the kids." Well, the men did have amazing stories to share of their time in the field, but when they got back, they found that Shea, Jan and Pat had taught all the children to sing and sign "Jesus Loves Me." If you are on Facebook, you can go to Pat Marvin's page to see a short video. Jon said he was blown away to hear and see the children singing and signing this simple but powerful song.

Blessings and thank you for keeping our team in your prayers.

Sunday Service and Time with Chief's Ministry

Dan preaching on Sunday in a CCAP church in Chilenge with Amos translating.

Women at the Chief's bible study that afternoon singing and dancing. Jon shared that later in the evening our team and those attending the Chief's Bible Study were sitting outside looking out over the beautiful Nkhoma country-side as the sun set. They were sharing their testimonies back and forth -- Malawian and American. Our team talked later about how rarely we sit around here in the U.S. and shares stories of God's work.