“You in your small corner, and I in mine”

The last 2 weeks of our home visit were, like the first 2 weeks, a blend of time spent with family, with old friends, days off to do things on our own, and visiting churches to report on the work we have been carrying out. Myles continued to preach from Isaiah 6:1-8, and to remind people that to “Go” in the Lord’s work is a sate of mind, not a state of geography –being ready and willing to witness to Christ wherever we are, and not necessarily travelling 4000 miles. It was great to meet so many people answering that call just where they were.

A parable for the church in Africa

The church in Malawi is like this. There was once a mother who gave birth to her child, and abandoned the child in the street. The mother went away, and so this child begins to grow by himself and grows as a beggar in the streets: ‘Grandma, help me. Sir, help me.’ He sits under a bridge all day, every day. So think about this child when he grows up. What kind of thing can this child teach?

Child’s play

Wherever we go we have been so amazed at how resilient children are in their play here in Malawi. With so little material possessions their imaginations run riot and their ingenuity shows no bounds.

It’s official: Malawi is the poorest country in the world

World’s poorest countries ranked by GDP per person (PPP). Source: World Bank via Nyasa Times

Maybe sometimes dry economic statistics can help bring home the reality of a situation as much as any well shot photograph!

Build your house on the rock …

Malawi is one of the most densly populated countries in Africa, seems to have few if any planning laws, has little resources for infrastructure development, and in desperation many are forced to build in places that make them very vulerable. On top of that, rural homes are built from burned-clay bricks formed out of the soil around the house, and sometimes cement isn’t even available for use in the mortar.

It is no surprise therefore that, soon after the delayed rains started, we now hear and see the tragic results of a few weeks of heavy rain falling on such a needy land.

Let the children come unto me

This week Ruth had the exciting opportunity of starting to work alongside Joseph and Elevate of “Children For Christ Ministries” (CFCM).  Their focus is training people across Malawi to lead Bible Clubs and Sunday Schools but this week their emphasis was on re-starting the clubs they run themselves in the Blantyre area. Ruth immediately got a sense of the breadth of their work, the challenges they face, and the privilege that is theirs of being able to run and support weekly Bible Clubs.

Blantyre Christmas

Ruth in her new ‘chitenje’

Thank you for so many messages via email, Facebook, WhatsApp and phone. It ensured we knew that, far away as we are, you were thinking of us on this special day. Rest assured that – while missing you all – we had a great time once we had positively embraced the fact that this was going to be a different Christmas without our family, and we should enjoy it for what it was!

Around town

As Blantyre greens up in the rains we have got into the habit of doing an hour of walking each day to try and fight off the effects of our otherwise sedentary lifestyle here in Blantyre. One of the consequences – exacerbated by the fact that we rather stand out from the crowd! – is some interesting conversations.

Left for dead

We had a great time with the zm supported students as they left for their Christmas holiday at home, but as ever it was their personal testimonies that really stayed with us.

One student spontaneously got up during our meeting; let’s call him ‘George’. Pulling up his trouser leg he showed us scar tissue and eaten muscle from his ankle right up his calf. He told us all how some years ago he had a wound that just would not heal. For over a year this wound got worse and worse, and he got weaker and weaker as infection set in. Eventually he got to the stage where he could not move, could not speak, and felt his breathing getting shallower and shallower.

A faithful few

Thanks to everyone for supporting us in prayer at this week’s end-of-term event with the zm-sponsored students at the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi. With trusty interpretation by our Field Director Simon Chikwana, Myles had the privilege of speaking on Christ’s call that all disciples be His light in the world, warning of the way the world tries to snuff out that light, and encouraged the students to commune deeply and daily with the Holy Spirit throughout the holiday to ensure they have the strength to keep burning bright for their Lord.

Biblical integrity

I (Myles) had my first experience training in Malawi when J-Life and Kerusso Trust invited me to facilitate the session on Integrity at their Learn-2-Serve workshop this week in Michiru ZEC, Blantyre.

The least of these this Christmas

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matt 25:40)

This video article by The Economist caught my eye this week for obvious reasons. In the run up to Christmas – which so many of us in the West use as an excuse to over-consume – this video is a shocking reminder of the reality of life for so many of our brothers and sisters arround the globe and the complexity of issues involved.

Two Ways to Shop

A week or so into our stay, it does seem that there are two ways to live in Malawi* – at least as evidenced by the way people shop.

Shopping Way 1

No escape from commercial Christmas

Someone turn the heating down!

As I (Myles) worked at my PC yesterday evening, once again completely focussed on my dissertation research, I caught myself subconsciously saying this before I suddenly remembered I was not sitting in my livingroom in a cold British winter but was sitting in my livingroom in a sticky tropical Malawi waiting for the rains to break.

Water for the thirsty

“… whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

As we got off the plane at Blantyre airport last Thursday and were met by our Malawi Director we were quickly reminded of the basic life challenges that so many face here in Malawi.

As we drove to the city we remarked at how dry the small fields were compared to our visit last Easter, and we found that even the relatively well-appointed mission house we were staying in had taps that ran dry.

Let go and let’s go!

It has been quite a couple of weeks as we have emptied our old house and completed its sale. Twenty-three years of stuff and fond memories to let go of, and two days of hard work as we got the new house ready to be rented out to friends.

It was a week or so ago, as I burned decades of sensitive old papers, that it struck me how much we were leaving behind as we move into this next chapter of our walk with God.

Still here waiting patiently

Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)

Back in 2012 – when God made clear he wanted to see a dramatic change in the direction of our lives – we prayed, we read scripture, and we talked to trusted long-standing Christian friends who had been on this path before us.

One wise lady warned us to take significant time before deciding what to do next. This would allow me (Myles) to “decompress” from my “always on” life in global media, to slow down, to learn to be more fully a man of prayer, to learn how to go at God’s pace rather than man’s, and above all to wait on the Lord.

zm welcome Myles and Ruth

In their recent newsletter here, zm publicaly introduce our new roles.

Commissioning service

Things have been so busy over the summer that our posts have dried up. But that will soon change as we head back to Malawi in the not too distant future. In the meantime, if you can join us tomorrow for our commissioning service at Mickfield Evangelical Church then we would be very happy to see you.

Once again it’s time to say ‘tapita Malawi’

Thursday 24th April 2014

All too quickly it is time for us to once again say farewell to Malawi.

As we drove up the escarpment from the Shire River to Blantyre this afternoon at the end of our second road trips, I must admit that I found myself disappointed that it would inevitably be some considerable time before we would be back in what now feels like a second home.

You can’t beat Jesus out of my heart

Thursday 17th April 2014

Our last meeting in Lilongwe on this busy day was with Pastor Rex Umali, who is the pastor of Area 23 ZEC. It was to be a perfect example of one of the most exciting things about these visits; their complete unpredictability. Your are just never sure what you will find and how God will use it to shape you. This time we were surprised and challenged to hear this faithful pastor’s wonderful testimony.

Grand Designs

Thursday 17th April 2014

Gulliver Prayer House

It reminded us a little of our time in Plano, Texas in the 90’s as we drove through the large flat plots of land on the outskirts of Lilongwe that were filling rapidly with expanding suburbia. And there, incongruously, in the corner of a giant building lot, sat the small “Gulliver Prayer House” of ZEC.

Who is on the throne?

Thursday 16th April 2014

Disney gets everywhere!

Tired after a long day of visits we nevertheless stopped off at Namitete ZEC on our way to our guest house at Mchinji in the very west of Malawi, near the Zambia border. However our weariness quickly evaporated in the face of the cheerful enthusiasm of Pastor Masoamphambe, his wife, his family, and his leadership team.

Via, Veritas, Vita

Wednesday 16th April 2014

Via, Veritas, Vita (“Way, Truth, Life”) is the motto of Glasgow University where Ruth and I studied in the 1980’s and summarizes Jesus’ amazing assertion in John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And today we saw three different examples of faithful Christians looking to proclaim this truth in modern Africa.

The longest day

Tuesday 15th April 2014

Henry (left) and his family

As we left the Anglican guest house at Chilema little did we know how long a day it was going to be of travel interspersed with interesting visits and conversations before we found our way in the dark to the Roman Catholic guest house in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Regardless of the state of the truck’s suspension, by then our personal “rear suspension” was painfully sensitive after sitting in the cramped rear bench of our 4×4 truck. Little surprise that the plain quiet comfort of the guest house run by nuns was very welcome indeed!

Fishers of men (and women)

Monday 14th April 2014

Having got to Nthorowa we were keen to see the fish pond project in the next village that is operated by Zambezi Evangelical Church in partnership with Zambesi Mission.

A short cut cut short

Monday 14th April 2014

We were all up early for our drive from the Chilema guest house to the ZEC operated clinic at Nthorowa. Being the end of the rainy season everything is bushy and green but that did not stop Simon and Luckwell directing us down ‘roads’ that looked more like overgrown bridlepaths. I was driving and as we grew in confidence we decided to take a “shorti cut” that turned out to be a “shorti cut” too far.

The Sound of Music, Malawi style

Palm Sunday, 13th April 2014

Today we celebrated a very special Palm Sunday with a new group of Malawi brothers and sisters at Malosa Zambezi Evangelical Church. And there was no mistaking it was Palm Sunday either as we spent the 70 mile drive from Blantyre on the Zomba road either dodging long lines of palm branch waving locals on the way to church, or the palm branch selling entrepreneurs desperate to make a quick buck!

Soldiers of Christ

Saturday 12th April 2014

EBCoM students focussed on their game of bottle top drafts”

Ruth and I were privileged to be asked to return to the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi (EBCoM) on the student’s only real rest day (Saturday) to be able to meet with them socially over lunch.

It was a great time to see these committed men and women relax together over a game of “bottle-top drafts” or strumming a guitar. But it was even more inspiring to hear their personal testimonies of sacrifice and calling as we chatted through lunch.

Making partners for pastors

Saturday 12th April 2014

Mrs Mercy Mkwezalamba

We were delighted to returned to EBCoM on Saturday to meet with a remarkable lady, Mrs Mercy Mkwezalamba, who some time ago established a course for the wives of the male 3rd year students. In a culture where women so often fail to complete high school this is an innovative step.

A time of reaquaintance

Thursday 10th and Friday 11th April

As with our first visit, the start of this return visit to Malawi has been relatively slow as we have recuperated from the long flight, readjusted to Malawi life, and had some important coordination meetings with the leaders at Zambezi Evangelical Church and the leaders of the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi.

‘Moni’ Malawi – here we come again

Its been over 6 months but finally, tomorrow, aboard a Kenya Airways flight, we will be heading back to Malawi with Mike Beresford of Zambezi Mission to further investigate the opportunities for us to serve Christ in Malawi.

Well done good and faithful servants

7th September 2013

Kondwani and Evet Kwerani epitomise what it means to be good and faithful servants of Christ whatever our culture. They live in a small rough brick house in rural Choda, south east of Blantyre, with their three children Hope, Paul, and Kondwani jr.

Kondwani was born in the country and, even with a time studying in the relative comfort of Blantyre, he says he is more able to cope with being back in the simple rural life than his wife who was born in the city.

I say “simple life”, but in an area where the church members are essentially struggling to survive – and although they would never say so themselves – it would be more accurate to talk about a life of material “survival”.

Midleton Evangelical Church

Sunday 7th July

The primary reason for Ruth and I recently being in Ireland was to meet up with various pastors of newly founded churches in the Republic of Ireland, to understand their challenges, and to see whether we might be called to such an environment. I had met some of those guys in Indiana last summer when we were receiving training together in approaches to “church planting and multiplication” with One Mission Society. For a while I became an “honorary Irishman” and we enjoyed great “craic” together as we cooked and ate together, and discussed all matters scriptural and theological long into the night – as so often seems the habit of the Irish!

One of the folk I got to know in Indiana was Andrew Compton who is the pastor at Midleton Evangelical Church in County Cork just down the road from Youghal where we were camped. The church has been going for a good few years now and, having outgrown their original premises, they now meet in some function rooms in a hotel in the center of the town.

Stepping out with God

Saturday 6th July

It is 2pm Sat 6th July. Ruth and I are sitting in the sun on the ferry in Fishguard harbour after a drive from the east to the west of mainland Britain on our way to Youghal, County Cork in Ireland.

This is the second part of our great adventure this summer as over the next few months we visit and share with Christian missionaries in Romania, Ireland, Kenya and Malawi. (Our second visit to Belgium has been postponed to October). It’s all part of our quest to understand God’s call for this next phase in our lives.

The first part of our summer adventure was a return visit last week to Daniel and Danny Ispas in Carand, western Transylvania, Romania. Over the coming weeks we will post more about that physical and spiritual journey as time (and internet connection) permits.

Please support and encourage us by following our posts on Facebook and on our new WordPress blog. At both places you can leave your own contributions and comments to help us on our way.

The idea of the blog is to allow our friends to share in our thoughts and experiences as we spend time in so many different places. However, perhaps more importantly, it will give Ruth and I a mechanism with which to reflect on the experience and the lessons learned.

We hope you enjoy sharing in our great adventure this summer as we step out with God.