The Mission in Action
I have been tracking for months now the progress of Pastor Ndovi in northern Malawi. He lived for 25 years in the Lower Shire, where he was saved and learned about serving Christ. He was not just a church member, but also a preacher. Two years ago he retired and went back to his home village in northern Malawi about 10 hours drive from Zomba, where we live. Pastor Ndovi has not been idle since his retirement but has been active serving the Lord. He has started 5 churches this past year or so! This past weekend Stephanie and I went north to see the work for ourselves and prepare for a northern pastors’ school in May. We were not disappointed. I see an opportunity here to expand our mission work to include another area of the country. I believe we can jump in beside these new churches and teach them to effectively preach the Gospel and help them to make disciples. The effect will be new churches planted.
New church still meeting outside
Most of these churches have 10 to 20 adults attending. Many of the people are babies in Christ, but are excited to learn and serve God. Four of the churches meet under trees and Pastor Ndovi’s church rents a room at a local school. My message to these young churches was from Matt. 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” Malawians understand poverty, so it is easy for them to understand the key principle of coming to Jesus with nothing. We had a great time with these new believers.
Pastor Ndovi & his church people
In May we will run a Bible school to teach these new church leaders and will be training them in evangelism. The men there were excited when I told them I felt God was leading me to teach them how to run evangelistic Day Camps, and that we also plan to supply them with bikes so they could travel from village to village with this ministry. If given the chance, they said that they would do the job for Jesus.
These men are farmers; in a good year they make about $200 from their farms or jobs. They could never afford to purchase a bicycle on their income. I need your help to provide bikes for these poor men who have a heart for the work. Each bike will help us reach about 2,000 persons with the Gospel this year alone; one bike costs $100. This one time gift will allow our evangelists and pastors to travel hundreds of miles and preach to thousands of lost souls. From these newly saved, we will make disciples which results in new churches where there are none.
Thank you again for your prayers and regular support as we continue to serve our Lord here in Malawi.
Dr. Eric Chapman