We have travelled many miles, rising early each day to deliver calendars and tracts to many individuals, however I was greatly challenged by the commitment of this young man who set out this morning at 4am to cycle 4 hours to meet us to take literature to distribute in his village.
I count it an enormous privilege to be able to equip brothers like this for the spread of the Gospel.
The challenging question for you and me – how far would we go to reach a lost soul with the Gospel?
Nkhata Bay is a notoriously godless place – a haven for drug users and immorality.
We had the privilege of preaching the Gospel there this afternoon, and they Lord have help to Goodson and Stephen both, each preaching a solemn and searching message.
We were beset with several drunks and druggies, one of whom set himself
down at the base of our speaker stand, calling out as if a penitent for the duration of our meeting. I felt grieved – like I think the apostle Paul must have felt add the demon-possessed girl cried out at Philippi, as some of those who were listening to the message were amused and distracted by his antics.
Nevertheless, quite a few hundred people heard the message, and we distributed a few hundred calendars in the 30 minutes or so we were there.
Earlier we had preached at Dwangwa, where we also have out several hundreds of calendars and sold some Bibles.
Tonight we are sleeping in Mzuzu, from where we will proceed further north tomorrow, Lord willing. It’s been a long (5 am start) day, so were glad of a comfortable, if very basic guesthouse in a quiet location, even if there is no power.
And the temp is only 19C!
We have finally taken delivery of all our 2016 calendars and are ready to begin the marathon distribution trip.
We set off this morning with 50,000 calendars and around 30,000 tracts, headed for Nkhotakota via Mangochi and Salima.
Pay for safety on dangerous roads, and for the Lord’s blessing on this large quantity of literature. Almost 30,000 remain for use locally in the Zomba/Blantyre areas.
After the meeting at Nsanama this morning it was a pleasure to have lunch in the slightly cooler climes at Ku Chawe Inn together with Emi, Loredana and family, and their Romanian guests.
Sami enjoyed the quail off the Braai, although I’m not convinced that it wasn’t just mbalame ya ku thengo!
So grateful for Christian fellowship!
On a positive note, although Malawi is experiencing the worst power cuts in memory (we had about 8 hours of electricity in the last 24) the newspapers report a very senior source as saying the problem should last only 3 years!!
Malawi style 😉
Today we are in the Lower Shire valley to distribute calendars and other Gospel literature. The road has been greatly improved over the past couple of years, making this trip much less difficult than it used to be. Unfortunately the climate hasn’t got any more friendly.
We will appreciate your prayers for the necessary stamina and spiritual help as we make known the Gospel.
We thank the Lord for the past 3 days of Bible teaching at Nsanama.
For many of the 20-something attendees much of the teaching of the Epistle to the Galatians was
new and somewhat difficult to grasp, however we felt that the Lord gave real help during a number of sessions, and that some were definitely challenged by the Word of God. Sadly, the response of others seemed to evidence ulterior motives, but we have come to expect that in such gatherings and were certainly not surprised.
There was definite evidence of the damnable “Prosperity” heresy among some, especially on the first day, one of the attendees claiming to be an Apostle himself and clearly attempting to influence the thinking of the rest. This, too was not unexpected, if somewhat disappointing.
Please continue to remember this time of teaching in your prayers, that the Lord will be pleased to bless all who attended.
Sadly, although I was able to collect a further 18,000 calendars this afternoon, we are still waiting for over 70,000. We have some local distribution calls to make, but with a long road trip planned for early next week, time seems to be running out! Please pray that the printer will finally make good on all his previous promises and that we will receive the remaining calendars in good time.
For those following this trip prayerfully, we ask you to specially keep in mind the 3-day conference which is due to begin tomorrow, God willing.
A number of attendees have already gathered and will spend their first night in the simple purpose-built dormitory constructed just adjacent to the hall at Nsanama village. There was great excitement the other evening when the solar powered lights first went on, with shouts of, “magetsi ku Nsanama” – “electricity at Nsanama!”
It is our plan to examine the Letter to the Galatians in order to address the ever-present problem of the Gospel of Works. We will value your prayers for the Lord’s help and blessing.
I’ll try to post some photos tomorrow, DV.
We are still hopeful of receiving the remainder of the Gospel calendars before the week is out, so that we can commence the planned country-wide distribution.
Having been faithfully promised on Friday that I’d be able to collect a “large number” of calendars on Monday morning, I have just been told that there are none available for collection just now, but that “maybe” I can collect 5,000 (out of a total 100,000) this afternoon.
I next called the other printer who is producing some Gospel Tracts for me. On Thursday, he too promised that I’d be able to collect them in a couple of days, but this morning he tells me that he “unfortunately had a series of breakdowns with his machine” and the job is not done. “Maybe Wednesday morning!”
I’d also left spare parts with a mechanic on Thursday who is rebuilding the engine on my old Land Rover Discovery. He assured me that the job would be done in three days, so I called him this morning to see if the car was ready. There was a funeral and a wedding last week – so he hasn’t yet started!
Is it any wonder I’m already grey! Stephen (Marshall) is starting to understand why I just chuckled a few weeks ago when he asked for a day-by-day itinerary for our trip!
Please continue to pray.
Please pray for the many who heard the Gospel preached and received tracts at Thondwe and Dzaone this morning.
