Category: 2016

May 2016

Innocent Wachimwa is a lecturer at EBCoM who has been studying for the past three years at George Whitfield College in South Africa. He was supported through zambesi mission’s Lecturers’ Training Fund.  This fund was originally called the Bert Matthews’ Fund, having been established in memory of zm‘s former Chair of Trustees and the Management Council. The aim of the fund is to help EBCoM staff and graduates to pursue further theological studies at post-diploma and graduate level.  The purpose of this is to assist them to serve the Church in Malawi through their teaching at EBCoM.

Innocent wrote this report following his time in South Africa:

Praise God 
I would like to praise and thank God for taking me through my studies at George Whitefield in South African for the past three years. The journey was hectic but his presence was always with me. I thank God for enabling me to finish my studies successfully. There was sickness an the loss of beloved ones (my father and mother in law) but the Lord strengthened me to continue the journey.

Thanks
God always uses weak human beings to achieve his purpose. During my studies, God had generously used zambesi mission to support financially toward the costs of tuition fees. I would like to express my hearty gratitude to zambesi mission for being faithful to God and your generosity throughout the year period of my studies. Your financial support was timely; without it I would have found it difficult if not impossible to pursue my studies in Cape Town.

Training 
The training has helped me on many levels. It has shaped and developed my mind to think critically and Biblically. Therefore, I will use this knowledge to train others at the Evangelical Bible College in Malawi. Before this training, my contribution to College was limited to the Certificate programme but now I teach the Certificate and Diploma programmes which are offered at the College. My interest is in systemic theology so at EBCoM I now teach doctrines in the Certificate and Diploma programmes.

Pastoring
The training is also beneficial to Zambezi Evangelical Church which has many Churches without well trained ministers. I want to help the Church of Malawi, particularly the ZEC, in the area of leadership. I am leading a Zambezi Evangelical local Church in the rural area outside Blantyre where I teach and preach every Sunday. The Church my wife and I are serving is a small congregation with 10 families. What is interesting to note is the hunger for the Gospel truth among the members. The area is hit with a dry spell which means most of our members will not have a good maize crop harvest. Currently, the hunger situation is worse. How does one minister in that context? We do really ask for your prayers.

Growing 
Given the current phenomenal rate of growth of the prophetic movement in Malawi, I think the Church needs people with sound Biblical teaching to provide direction and counselling to men and women who are desperate for the Truth. The landscape of Christianity in Malawi needs Church leaders with a thorough knowledge of the Bible.

Let me again thank the zambesi mission for the support given towards theological training for many Malawians. The financial support is helping to advance the preaching of true Gospel in Malawi. The giving of money to the Lord’s work is a spiritual sowing that leads to a harvest (2 Cor. 9:7). As I said, Malawi needs many well trained leaders to provide spiritual guidance. My prayer is that God would continue to bless the ministry of zambesi mission .

If you would like to know more about the Lecturer’s Training Fund or the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi please contact us

April 2016

zambesi mission (zm) aims to nurture “partnerships in the gospel” between Christians and churches in the UK and their counterparts in Malawi and northern Mozambique. One of our objectives is to help the church there to be self-sustaining; to avoid situations where they become dependent on outside support. It is problematic when an outside organisation is really only propping up the local church. It prevents the the church from carrying out its God-ordained role of supporting itself and its pastor. It is also not sustainable: we often ask “what happens if zm dies in the night?” Who will support the initiative tomorrow?

Helping others to help themselves 
This has led zm to look for ways to help the local church to help itself. We have recently been implementing a number of pilot income-generating schemes with our church partner the Zambezi Evangelical Church (ZEC). The purpose of these schemes is to provide local churches with a modest project which will pay off the initial investment and then yield a profit which the church can then use.

Each church meets together to work out the best way to support itself. This is vital to ensure that the church “owns” the project. The church works out the cost and the likely benefits of their preferred scheme; then they discuss the project and seek the agreement of the ZEC church leaders. ZEC’s leadership have to ensure that the project is viable and proportionate, so that the various churches are treated with equal fairness. The church makes an agreement to run the project for the benefit of their own pastor, the needs of the local church as well as ZEC as a whole.

A Church helping itself
In one church, Nsanje ZEC, the church has been building a house that they will rent out to raise income to support their pastor and their church’s activities. At Mulanje ZEC, Pastor Synoden Mulamba has been instrumental in leading their income generating project: a pig-farming scheme.

Using funds donated from zm the church has constructed a pig sty with three separate chambers for rearing pigs. Just a couple of weeks ago, one of their church elders carefully brought back three little piglets on the back of his bicycle from distant Phalombe – about 70km away!

A significant day! 
zm Projects Officer Rose Chirwa travelled with Church Development Partner Myles MacBean to Mulanje ZEC to witness the arrival of the new piglets. He wrote, ” I remain convinced of the longer term, God-given wisdom of zm’s founder Joseph Booth’s strategic approach of helping people to help themselves. I was encouraged by the spiritual and practical determination of this little church to find a way to stand on their own feet even while they are being battered by the economic storms of the failing harvest; and I felt privileged to be serving the Lord in an organisation like zm that may be small but that has a big heart for the spiritually lost combined with such a practical and strategic way of demonstrating Christ’s love “.

Our prayer is that the ZEC church at Mulanje will be able to successfully rear, tend and breed its pigs; so that they can make a profit. If they can do this, they will generate vital funds that will help them to look after their pastor and carry out the mission of the local church in their community.

Rephrasing the old adage – If you give a church a pig they feed for a day ; if you give a church a sty and help them to rear pigs, then they will look their pastor for life!

Mike Beresford (zm Director)

March 2016

Stephen Williams, one of ZM’s honorary representatives,
comments on a recent return visit to Malawi

What takes five hours and involves three bicycles covered in foliage; getting dressed up; a dancing procession and lots of lavish gifts? A night out in downtown Blantyre? . No. A celebrity “Get-Me-Out-Of-Here” show on Malawian network TV? . No.

The induction of a new Pastor in the Zambesi Evangelical Church? … Yes.

It seems we might not be giving our Church leaders the full treatment in the UK. Here, in Malawi, under a blazing sun a congregation of 300 church members and guests at Manjawira ZEC sang and danced for two hours before ‘abducting’ the abusa (pastor) and his wife and taking them to their home in an overloaded cavalcade of weaving vehicles (nothing to do with the cavernous potholes in a dirt track) where they were dressed up in newly donated clothes. It’s a matter of some importance to have a well-dressed pastor in Malawi and as most can’t afford to visit Savile Row they are given clothes or material for the occasion. The returning carnival led by the foliage-draped bicycles and an ever growing procession whooped and rejoiced all the way back to the outdoors Church meeting point where a pre-arranged shower party took things to the next level of exuberance. The congregation took it in turn to advance on the abusa and his wife and exuberantly provide them with lavish gifts. In most cases congregations find it difficult to provide financial support for their pastors so this is something of an advance on his stipend.

Then things regained a more formal aspect. Vows were exchanged, speeches were made and a sermon preached. After which normal service (quite literally) was restored and singing and dancing erupted with even greater energy. Five hours later, following a mass bring and share lunch, some reluctantly people exchanged farewells before heading off on the 10 kilometre walk home.

Yes, they do things differently in Malawi or, at least, things take longer – and are always accomplished with a smile. And, a lot is happening. Returning to Malawi after an interval of three years highlights both what has been achieved and what is new. On this occasion it was good to meet the latest cohort of students at the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi and to recognise their calling and commitment to serve the Church and support outreach programmes. Likewise, it was encouraging to meet those serving with Children for Christ Ministries who are actively and effectively engaged in training those involved in working with children in schools and youth groups.

I have attended a few prize giving ceremonies in my time but never, until this visit, have I been a guest of honour at a goat presentation! This particularly moving occasion was the more poignant because the life changing significance of the gift was clearly communicated through the effusive speeches and exuberant celebrations. Each family in this community, caught up in last year’s devastating floods in the South Shire region, can now anticipate up to twice the annual income through careful management of a breeding programme. Similar initiatives have generated sufficient surplus to pay school / university fees, thus extending the life chances of a rising generation and the greater potential to care for the extended family.

If like me you have wondered why congregations in Malawi and Mozambique place such emphasis on roofing their church premises with iron sheets then picture the scene at Siki River of Life Evangelical Church. Here we heard graphic accounts of what it is like to sit through a service under a thatched roof during the rainy season, constantly shifting along bench seats to escape the deluge. Cancellation or going home early is not an option! In contrast, image the same congregation, men, women and children collecting a donated consignment of iron sheets from the “local” supplier and carrying them, head high, for 10 km to the accompaniment of ululation and dancing. Now they meet uninterrupted year round in relative comfort welcoming friends and neighbours intrigued by what is going on.

Finally, what’s new? Detailed conversations with the General Secretary and other leaders of the Zambesi Evangelical Church (ZEC) put the spotlight on Education. ZEC has a history of involvement in setting up schools which, following Malawi’s independence in 1964, came under more direct government control. Today, the Church still has a presence and influence in some of these schools and is setting up other independent schools offering education underpinned by a clear Christian ethos. Church leaders are seeking to develop a renewed vision for the development of Christian education recognising the significance of this in growth of the church and the development of the nation.

So, yes, they do things differently in Malawi and Mozambique and that’s the point. Zambesi Mission does not seek to introduce or impose its ways of doing things. It does not set up and manage projects or place conditions or constraints on the leadership of the church. Instead, it works in partnership to support what God is doing through the national and local church. Surely, the right approach and one which means we learn much from one another.

February 2016

A team consisting mainly of people from two UK partnered churches in Suffolk (Great Blakenham Baptist and Mickfield Evangelical Church) visited Malawi a couple of months ago. Rather than build classrooms or churches, their initial plan was to simply visit and encourage their friends Myles and Ruth MacBean, who are zm’s church development partners, and are also members of their two churches. Their aim was also to:

• Observe the work of the church and mission
• Encourage those they met
• Pray into the situations they experienced
• Consider further the significance of God’s Big Mission to the world

The following is a selection of extracts from their report describing some of the highlights from their visit:

Zambesi Evangelical Church 

The headquarters at Mitsidi, Blantyre was our first visit, and there is a buzz of activity. We were shown round the new Mitsidi Mission School , which had just four pupils when it opened in 2014 and currently has 250! Obtaining books and resources for this number is a challenge. But the desire is there to provide Christian Education and help educate the children of pastors.

Gen Secretary Ps Luckwell Mtima shared his appreciation of zm support, through sponsorship of churchplanters, EBCoM students as well as income generating projects, (goats, pigs, bees etc) to help support needy pastors and congregations. He faces two particular challenges:

1. Getting the right people in the right places; doing the jobs they are best suited for and upgrading their qualifications as needed. He recognises that not all EBCoM graduates will become pastors, but they can still have a significant ministry in their own churches, or in the businesses they run.
2. Caring for retired pastors, who are worn out by the time they retire, but often have nowhere to live.

A morning with Ps Mvula Mvula, from the River of Life Evangelical Church

He took us to see progress on the new church building at Chirimba, Blantyre. He commented that the new bigger church would draw people in and as you get their interest, you can share the gospel with them. Then through a narrow street, and the tightly packed Chirimba Market, to his home – bricks being baked all over this ‘new estate’ in Blantyre, as people build their new homes. His own house is well developed as a small farm, which provides for his immediate and extended family. It also shows the way for other pastors to support themselves using eco-friendly methods. He shared freely his thoughts about the RoLE Churches

Their vision is:

• Leaders who know the Lord
• Members who know their bible and have a personal ministry
• To establish a network of churches all the way from Karonga, a strong & faithful church, to Lilongwe.

Ps Mvula Mvula commented that the River of Life Evangelical Church prays for zm every week!

Children for Christ Ministries (CFCM) 

Every one of the team joined Elevate Mzinga or Joseph Jeke in their ministry to Bible Clubs. In each situation Bible stories are told, using simple visual aids, memory verses, songs and games. The children listen to every word and frequently come to the leaders for further prayer and counselling. One group joined Joseph Jeke on a visit to Bible clubs at Chitekale and Maliya Another visited the Bible Club at Mphemba Reformatory centre.

CFCM leaders run 7 Bible clubs, EBCoM students run 6 more, while other leaders trained by CFCM run another 23. 36 Bible clubs in all! In Khombwe district, Elevate lives at one end of a valley which has 10 schools along it. The vision is to see a Bible club run in each school, so far an initial club has been run in 8 of the 10 schools. It takes Elevate two hours to walk to the next school, at Maliya, so it is clear that people need to be trained as Bible Club leaders in each area. And that means training more trainers! In 2015 CFCM trained 6 new trainers and 500 Bible Club leaders and hope to train 1000 in 2016!

(ZEC) Fellowship of Youth 

-with Gift Mphongolo Youth Coordinator at Kabula ZEC

150 young people from a number of Blantyre ZEC churches met together for fellowship and fun. Every church represented brought a contribution – singing, praying, games, drama, Bible memory verses (Do you know enough Bible verses, to quote one for each step from the back to the front of your church to claim a prize?).

The message came from Mrs Huwari:

•  In Luke 1:5-24 the priests of Abijah were set apart for their time of service in the temple. The challenge was “are you set apart for God to use you?”

ZM Team in Malawi 

It was great to be welcomed by the zm team of Simon Chikwana, Rose Chirwa, Mercy Carlos and Myles and Ruth MacBean. We joined them each morning for prayers, and at different times one or other of the team had opportunity for more in depth conversation.

“Get a Grip on Mission”

The group spent time each evening discussing Martin Goldsmith’s book, Get A Grip On Mission. This prompted ongoing wider discussion throughout the visit, about the way in which zm was or was not able to help and support particular people and projects. The question, ‘How come we didn’t know all this before?’ sums up the extent to which team members were exposed to the inter-dependent and sustainable “partnership in the gospel” that zm seeks to foster in Malawi.

Conclusion

Overall this was an extremely positive time, with discussion prompted by day to day experiences round a number of issues –

•  Culture and lifestyle,

•  How zm operates and works with its partners

•  Wider issues of mission

•  How mission is carried out/might be carried out in the two home churches.

•  How will this affect what I do when I return to England?

•  What can I do if/when I come back to Malawi?

January 2016

Whether it is outside under the shade of a leafy tree, or crammed inside a classroom, there is no doubting the enthusiasm for, and openness to, Bible teaching of the children of Malawi. Time and time again when the CFCM workers approach a head master for permission to start a new Bible Club in a school the doors are opened wide, and literally hundreds of children at a time hear a very clear Gospel message, learn Bible verses and join together to in loud praise to God! The children and staff come from varied backgrounds – some Christian, some Muslim, some unchurched, some immersed in African traditional religion – but all sinners, all needing a Saviour, all needing to hear that message of salvation.

Children for Christ Ministry has a passion for every one of those children. And the task is enormous. Reaching as many children as possible with the Gospel is the goal – but with an operational staff of just two – Elevate Mizinga and Joseph Jeke, assisted by ZM Church Development Partner, Ruth MacBean – how do they seek to do this?

On a local level, the team runs regular Bible Clubs in and around Blantyre, in schools, orphanages and a reformatory centre. They also give training, support and encouragement to other individuals running clubs, some in Blantyre and some further afield. However, the biggest impact they make is through the training of Sunday School teachers and Bible Club leaders.

Many churches have Sunday Schools in name only – children’s work is a very low priority, teachers are just expected to keep the children amused with singing, and they do not know how to teach a Bible story. Many teachers do not own a Bible – and indeed some are not even Christians. CFCM runs training seminars in many locations across Malawi taking these teachers through topics including the need to evangelize children, the abilities of children of different ages, how to teach a Bible story or a memory verse, living a consecrated life, setting up a Bible Club. Some of the teachers are hearing the Gospel clearly explained for the first time – and are converted through the training. Whether the seminar is attended by 12 teachers or 120 teachers, the number of children who will then start receiving appropriate Biblical teaching is very great – some Sunday School classes contain over 100 children.

Even then, so few workers can only run 12-15 seminars each year. CFCM is now seeking to train more trainers, so that this work can be multiplied and spread through more of the country of Malawi. Active children’s workers, who have themselves been through the 3 levels of CFCM training, are being equipped to start seminars in their own locations and churches. CFCM also train the students at the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi (EBCoM) in how to undertake children’s ministry, and how to train others, so that when they leave college and move throughout the country more and more children will be properly taught and brought to a faith in Christ while they are young. The CFCM team may not be able to keep track of how far their ministry will extend, but they trust the Lord of the Harvest to bring forth fruit.

How you can be involved:

• Pray for the work of CFCM. Join the CFCM prayer network to receive monthly email updates so your prayers can be informed and specific 
  (from [email protected])
• Request or download the quarterly CFCM newsletter from ZM
• Financially support the work through ZM by designating your gifts for CFCM
• Make a donation towards the CFCM subsidized Bible scheme which is focused on allowing Sunday School teachers to purchase affordable Bibles 
• Involve the children in your church in raising funds for specific things like footballs for clubs, or stationary to create visual aids for teachers to use. Most clubs/Sunday Schools cannot afford such things.