Day 4
Sunday, Sept. 14
Ngodzi
What a great day we had on our first full day in Africa, and a Sunday at that! But not without a fearful night for several team members. Myrtis wrote in her journal: “Our first sleep in Africa; sleep came quickly but at 1:00 am was wakened by a gripping fear—fear of bugs, fear of intruders, speaking in public, fear of what is expected of me—a very real and choking fear. I knew this was not of God. I called in all spare angels not on duty! “In the name of Jesus cast out the demon of fear.” Connie and Kim shared that they too had been wakened by fear and they too prayed through
it. Kim: “One thing I’ve learned already is that I can’t count on me.”
We went to worship this morning at the church which the PEI Team helped build last year and would you believe the white people were late and they had started without us! What a way to walk into a church to the beat of the drums and to hear music as we approached from down the dusty road”. Watching them all dance and sing tells us that we all need to “loosen up”. It seems that we care too much about what other people think of us, how our kids need to be controlled in service, etc. In today’s worship, the children were in the centre of the service, and even the youngest were dancing and singing and free to just be kids. Little children were looking after even younger children, with a few preschoolers with infants on their
backs.
We were given a place of honour at the front of the church and our attempts at singing the Mulango Ali Pano song sounded a lot better with the African choir drowning us out. Hank and Connie were deeply moved to be back in the church they helped build and brought greetings on behalf of folks at home.
In the afternoon we took a stroll along the beach, past the fishing boats on the shore, and through the village. A couple of kids became ten, then twenty, then maybe fifty, all wanting to hold our hands, and have their picture taken by “azungu” (white man). The women were shy but smiled and waved from their homes; the men were more reserved. This must have been how the Pied Piper felt walking through town.
Tonight for supper we had Pastor McDuff join us to talk about his ministry and plans for the upcoming weeks. He was excited that the team had brought “The Jesus Film” in Chichewa language, both to show and to leave with him for future ministry use. We talked about our fund raising for mosquito nets and asked about that. He told us how malaria was a burden for everyone here, including his own family. Mosquito nets are expensive to buy for local people, and the government distribution is limited to some pregnant women and younger children, and not widely implemented. He sleeps with all of his family members under one single net that is old and has holes in it. He has invited us during our stay to his own home, and we will plan to bring 4 new nets to them.
He was a useful resource to learn a little about the family structure and culture here in rural Malawi. We were impressed by his English proficiency, and that led to his testimony about learning the language. He felt called to learn English, and felt that God had given him the gift of English virtually overnight, much in the same way as “speaking in tongues”. A teacher at his seminary then mentored him and paid his way through a diploma program.
Tomorrow we’ll have an orientation to the medical operations in preparation for regular clinics later this week.
Sunday, Sept. 14
Ngodzi
What a great day we had on our first full day in Africa, and a Sunday at that! But not without a fearful night for several team members. Myrtis wrote in her journal: “Our first sleep in Africa; sleep came quickly but at 1:00 am was wakened by a gripping fear—fear of bugs, fear of intruders, speaking in public, fear of what is expected of me—a very real and choking fear. I knew this was not of God. I called in all spare angels not on duty! “In the name of Jesus cast out the demon of fear.” Connie and Kim shared that they too had been wakened by fear and they too prayed through
it. Kim: “One thing I’ve learned already is that I can’t count on me.”
We went to worship this morning at the church which the PEI Team helped build last year and would you believe the white people were late and they had started without us! What a way to walk into a church to the beat of the drums and to hear music as we approached from down the dusty road”. Watching them all dance and sing tells us that we all need to “loosen up”. It seems that we care too much about what other people think of us, how our kids need to be controlled in service, etc. In today’s worship, the children were in the centre of the service, and even the youngest were dancing and singing and free to just be kids. Little children were looking after even younger children, with a few preschoolers with infants on their
backs.
We were given a place of honour at the front of the church and our attempts at singing the Mulango Ali Pano song sounded a lot better with the African choir drowning us out. Hank and Connie were deeply moved to be back in the church they helped build and brought greetings on behalf of folks at home.
In the afternoon we took a stroll along the beach, past the fishing boats on the shore, and through the village. A couple of kids became ten, then twenty, then maybe fifty, all wanting to hold our hands, and have their picture taken by “azungu” (white man). The women were shy but smiled and waved from their homes; the men were more reserved. This must have been how the Pied Piper felt walking through town.
Tonight for supper we had Pastor McDuff join us to talk about his ministry and plans for the upcoming weeks. He was excited that the team had brought “The Jesus Film” in Chichewa language, both to show and to leave with him for future ministry use. We talked about our fund raising for mosquito nets and asked about that. He told us how malaria was a burden for everyone here, including his own family. Mosquito nets are expensive to buy for local people, and the government distribution is limited to some pregnant women and younger children, and not widely implemented. He sleeps with all of his family members under one single net that is old and has holes in it. He has invited us during our stay to his own home, and we will plan to bring 4 new nets to them.
He was a useful resource to learn a little about the family structure and culture here in rural Malawi. We were impressed by his English proficiency, and that led to his testimony about learning the language. He felt called to learn English, and felt that God had given him the gift of English virtually overnight, much in the same way as “speaking in tongues”. A teacher at his seminary then mentored him and paid his way through a diploma program.
Tomorrow we’ll have an orientation to the medical operations in preparation for regular clinics later this week.
posted by Dr. Hendrik Visser at 11:19 AM
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