AP

I took a day off from mission work to visit 4 (out of 7 altogether) of my now adult ‘orphans’.  This is the family I covenanted to raise through schooling after their widowed mother died after serving with me as an evangelist on our preaching missions in Choma and Monze.

The day included visiting Ruth and Blessings in their Lusaka rental, dropping Blessings off at her university (LMMU), and then a very tiring 2½ hr drive south to Mazabuka to meet with Jesse and Beatrice. Without a co-driver I felt the pressure. 

Driving in Africa is an art form as well as a science, because you need not only to be tuned in to sense where things are without street signage, but physically alert to dodge potholes, children and goats. Then, to top it all off, you need to be able to read the form of the road service to detect the menace of unmarked speed humps. 

I’ll include just one photo of my family – to show where Jesse ekes out a living from a road-side café in Mazabuka.

I had time today to be thinking of highlights of the mission so far. It’s hard because it’s all been good.

Lowlights? That’s easier: a 7hr delay at Blantyre airport. The weather is oppressive and the airport doesn’t have much going for it in terms of amenities or comfort to ease the discomfit of half-a- day’s waiting for one screw to be delivered to the Malawian airlines plane before it could leave Dar es Salam.

HIGHLIGHT? Handing out Bibles in the Malawian desert. 

Colin tells me the effect of what we did that day in the Lower Shire Valley village of Mbwemba was possibly eternal. These dear folk have very little money to live on – they certainly don’t have enough spare to buy a book and most have NEVER owned their own Bible.

They can’t easily grow vegetables on the river flats. The annual floods make it unsuitable for maize, so it’s a struggle to survive. The desert-like scrub and the heat make it suitable only for some cattle and goats.

I asked the pastor how he manages to meet the needs of this prayer house (from his manse a few km away in Nchalo), and he admitted it was difficult to attend every Sunday. The road is barely OK for a motor bike, the Shire River floods this section regularly, and the track deteriorates even further. I asked whether there was a short cut through the scrubby bush from the manse to Mbwemba that he could walk, and his abrupt answer was: “I must not”. 

I’ve learnt that you can probe a bit beyond the abrupt reply, so I pressed a bit more: “What do you mean, ‘I must not’”, to which he replied: “There are some wild animals out there – escaped from the Majete Game Park – and they would eat me: lions, wild dogs and other scavengers. It’s the lion we fear because they track you for miles and then ……!).”

The closer we drive to Mozambique, the more we’re aware of the influence of Islam. The local pastor has had good conversations with Muslims, finding that they sometimes show interest in Jesus, which is why he needs a supply of Bibles on hand. One pastor told me of his interactions with Malawian Muslims. He said: a Muslim convert is very brave person. They have two great fears: fear of faith and fear of family. (1) The actual fear of placing faith in Jesus, and then (2) fear for when their community finds out.

Here’s Colin’s vision. He says there are a hundred prayer houses in remote village like this one … and the end of roads – the forgotten people of Blantyre Synod. He knows of dozens of places he could take me to where Christians savour the things of God fed only aurally –from memories of parental teaching and the occasional visit of the minister. They have no printed Bibles of their own.

Here’s my vision: 100 villages – we could do this by a massive generous effort from our people: 100 X 100 = 10,000 Chichewa Bibles @ $12 per book = $120,000. We could do that.

But I doubt that Colin and I could visit each place – we’d need some brave-hearts to come with us – even if your trip to Malawi was for this single purpose: a team to come and distribute Bibles to hungry and grateful friends in the bush, and offer training and encouragement in Bible study.

– John Wilson