Category: 2017

December 2017.

The gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23)

There certainly wont be any other gifts like that this Christmas! In fact, most of us have to admit that our gifts often leave something to be desired; many go to people who don’t really need them and most don’t last long before they are discarded, broken, worn out or eaten!

God’s gift is completely different ~

It is only offered to those who need it. It is when we acknowledged our failure to honour and worship God as He deserves, confessing our sin and looking to Jesus for cleansing that we receive eternal life. The Gospel is never given to the wrong person. Eternal Life is for everyone who believes. (John 3:16)

It lasts for ever. The Life Jesus brings is not just for Christmas, nor only for these years we spend on earth – it is eternal life. (1 John 5:11)

Our gifts can be different too!

zm exists to support Churches in Malawi, northern Mozambique and the UK, in the many ways outlined on this website, as they seek to make God’s free gift known to all who need it…and that’s everybody!

It is also zm’s privilege to support the national Christians as they attempt to show God’s love in a number of practical ways like health care and animal husbandry and emergency food distribution.

If you have received God’s indescribable free gift you might like to help the Churches to share it with others who so greatly need the offer of eternal Life. Please see the zm Gift Scheme section for ways you can spread God’s great love this Christmas time and throughout the year.

In fact, if you are struggling to think of what to give to someone who seems to have nearly every thing, please consider giving something to someone who is struggling because they have virtually nothing.

That is exactly what God did for you!! (Romans 5:6)

November 2017.

In recent months, two groups from different churches in the UK have been spending time in Malawi as guests of zambesi mission. The first came from Cliff Walk Evangelical Church in Canning Town in East London; the second was amalgamated from Great Blakenham Baptist Church and Cedars Church in Stowmarket, joined by a friend or two from other churches! UK Development Manager Dave Brown, together with his wife Janet (who is a member of the mission’s Executive committee) acted as guides, whilst zm’s team on the ground led by Simon Chikwana acted as hosts.

The purpose of these visits was to

• Observe the work of zm’s church partners – the Zambezi Evangelical Church (ZEC) and the River of Life Evangelical Church (RoLEC)

• Encourage those they meet

• Pray over the situations they encountered

• Consider further the significance of God’s big Mission to the World

This article draws together some of the visitors’ pictures and impressions of their visit to Malawi.

The team said.

“We wish to say thank you to David & Janet Brown, Simon Chikwana (zm Field Director) and everyone at Zambezi Evangelical Church and River of Life Evangelical Church – for making this a memorable and life changing experience. We cannot but be amazed at the work that is being carried out with such love and faithfulness by all the people we met. May the Lord continue to show His grace to them all as they continue in this amazing work”.

Trevor asks for us to “pray for Pastor Luckwell Mtima, General Secretary of Zambezi Evangelical Church, whose 5 year term of office ends in 2018”.

Beverley asks us to “pray for the rural churches who find it so hard to support their pastors. ZEC are planning to implement a plan whereby pastors are paid centrally by ZEC and also receive a pension. This would guarantee them some income. Please pray for those who meet in this church, some are walking over 8 km (5 miles) as this is their nearest church”.

Lorraine visited the maternity unit at Nthorowa Health Centre, run by ZEC. She wrote: “Mothers where presented with a knitted vest top and matching hat for their new born babies. They were all extremely grateful for the gifts given. This picture is of an older child at Nthorowa ODC modelling and showing off one of the larger sized vest tops. Unfortunately some of the vests are too big for a Malawian new born baby”.

Adriana and Janet were struck by the work of Children for Christ Ministry (CFCM). They wrote: “CFCM have amazing opportunities to share the gospel with thousands of children each week, who are keen and enthusiastic to learn about the Bible. Please pray for Elevate Mzinga, Joseph Jeke and Lackson Makawa as they also train Sunday school teachers and Children’s Workers to share the gospel without any resources or visual aids. Pray for their safety as they travel long distances and for God to empower them to continue this amazing work”.

Leandro joined one of ZEC’s Fellowship of Youth (FoY) meetings at Mitsidi ZEC. It was attended by over 150 young people. He said: “Please pray for FoY Coordinator Gift Mphongolo and his team. We give thanks for their commitment and dedication to the young people”.

Linda joined others from the group who attended a Chiyanjano Cha Amayi (Women’s Fellowship ) meeting at Limbe ZEC. She said: “During the service women aged over 60 where asked to go outside (they had no idea why). The ladies were tested and received donated reading glasses. The reaction of one lady who received her glasses was a joy to see for those who were present. Pray for Millie Jumbe the Chairlady of Chiyanjano and Alice Fatchi (the Secretary) as they lead the women’s fellowship. Pray for all the plans to focus on Mission and Evangelism”.

Tom joined the youthful Echoes of Grace as they reached out with the good news about Jesus through worship and song at Kumandaground on the edge of Blantyre. “We had an amazing afternoon spent with Echoes of Grace at a village outreach. The children and adults were very excited to see us. What a privilege to hear Leandro Merigio preach and see 12 people come forward to dedicate their life to Jesus.

• Pray for the continued work of Echoes of Grace. Pray for the outreach and that people will come to know Jesus through their ministry.

• Pray that Echoes of Grace will be able to raise enough money in Malawi to cover the cost of hiring a mini bus each time they go out to evangelise in the remote villages outside Blantyre.

• Pray that a prayer house/church will start in Kumandaground”

Dave really appreciated being able to join in a Preach the Word seminar. This is a culturally appropriate preacher training course for Malawi’s oral culture. It has been a collaborative venture between zm’s Church Development Partner Myles MacBean and Malawian workers from the German mission To All Nations. Dave said “A two hour drive to participate in ‘Preach the Word’ seminars under Myles MacBean will revolutionise my own approach to preparing a sermon. It also gave me great insight into the challenges Malawian church leaders face in demonstrating good practice in preaching.”

Jen was struck the strong and loving bonds of fellowship that developed during their visit, writing: “You start as a group of people, you leave as family – having shared thoughts, doubts, dreams and challenges, prayed with and for each other, and shared an amazing experience”.

Dave and Janet Brown’s commented at the end of their visit “It is a privilege to have accompanied these two teams to Malawi and help them experience a little of life and the work of the church there. It is humbling to hear how God is already challenging them about their part in His Big Mission.”

Our thanks go to everyone involved in Malawi with hosting our visitors – to Simon Chikwana, Rose Chirwa, Mercy Carlos in the zm office in Blantyre. To Dorothy Kaipa our housekeeper; and to Grayson Domoya, Jack Sathula, Owen Yolamu and Kondwane Chidothi who protect the mission’s guesthouses and office. We also extend our gratitude to all our church partners in Malawi who helped to make this visit such a success.

October 2017.

Early in September representatives from zambesi mission (zm) joined the Zambezi Evangelical Church (ZEC) for their 125th celebrations of the foundation of Zambesi Industrial Mission. The following text is based largely on the article written by zm’sChurch Development Partners Myles and Ruth MacBean for their blog website, stepping out with God

It was a typically Malawian celebration: a riot of joyous colour and song combined with heartfelt praise, thanksgiving and worship. The celebration had really started during the week preceding the event, as Mike Beresford, the Mission Director of zm, joined with ZEC pastors and members to cycle on single gear ‘pastors bicycles’ from Nsiyaludzu in Ntcheu district to ZEC’s Mitsidi headquarters near Blantyre. Mike was joined for part of the way by Colin Stonelake, the zm Treasurer.The last leg of this marathon ride was a procession for the few miles from Limbe to Mitsidi that turned into a very Malawian cavalcade of police cars, cyclists, runners and trucks full of bands and singers. It certainly got the first day of the celebration off to a joyous (and noisy) start!

Although zm had a relatively minor role in the celebrations, Myles and Ruth MacBean were involved in the ZEC Celebration Choir supporting Pastor Victor Zuze. The choir performed two Chichewa language songs on the Saturday and one English language song on the Sunday. Ruth doubled as pianist and choir master and Myles as stumbling tenor! Victor wanted a choir singing in the ZEC style of generations past and that certainly seems to have been successful given the enthusiastic reaction of most of the elderly pastors. The Celebration Choir nicely complimented the more traditional African styles of the church choirs and the upbeat gospel sound of the youngsters in the very polished Celebration Praise Band.

While Saturday had more of a festival atmosphere, there was still powerful preaching from the Chairman of the Synod, Pastor Joe Tsokalida. He based his message on Psalm 124, reminding the assembled congregations that “if the Lord had not been on our side“, the hazards and difficulties would surely “have swept us away” (Psalm 124: 1-5). In meetings and one-to-one situations Pastor Tsokalida can be deceptively quiet but once he is preaching he is a different man! He held enthralled the thousands that sat in a dusty natural amphitheatre.

Sunday marked the culmination of the celebration and was a more formal affair than Saturday, but still full of colour and joy. The guest of honour was the Hon. Kondwani Nankhumwa, MP , Minister of Local Government and Rural Development who represented His Excellency the State President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika. It involved a service of thanksgiving to God for his work in Malawi and elsewhere through ZEC. Choirs sang wonderfully, the congregation sang with gusto, and the word of God was proclaimed forcefully as is the trademark of ZEC.

The high spot for most ZEC members seemed to be the return for the event of former zm mission workers Abraham and Ruth Folayan from Nigeria. They served for many years in Malawi; just to mention Abraham and Ruth’s name to ZEC folk is to hear tales that radiate love and respect for the couple. Abraham’s much anticipated message was a great encouragement to the gathered masses as he focussed on the importance of the gospel in our lives as individuals, and in the message proclaimed by us collectively as a church; he reminded us that we have the treasure of the gospel in jars of clay. It came originally to Malawi in European jars of clay, but now must be handed on by Malawian jars of clay to their fellow jars of clay. He also challenged today’s church, stressing to them that this treasure of the gospel should be communicated through both their words and their actions.

The service was marked by prayers in different languages: Chichewa, Chitumbuka, Portuguese and isiZulu; to reflect the presence at the event of ZEC members from all corners of Malawi, and from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

As the MP Hon. Nankhumwa drew the celebration towards a close, he caught the mood of us all so very well when he chose to read from 1 Samuel 7:12. For surely it was an “Ebenezer” moment for both ZEC and us as together we looked back to say “Thus far has the Lord helped us”, and then we look forward in faith.

Praise be to the Lord. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth”.
Psalm 124: 6 & 8.

September 2017. A tribute compiled by Mike Beresford, zm director.

Our dear colleague, friend and brother Bill Wilson, who went to be with the Lord in July, was born and brought up in Glasgow. Although he went along to Sunday School as a boy, it was not until his brother shared the gospel with him that he was saved at the age of 15. Over the years he became increasingly active in the local church and in evangelism; one day he met Myra who was handing out gospel tracts in the street. Myra, a nurse and a keen Christian, was very involved in the Nurses’ Christian Fellowship. They were married when Bill was 23 years old

June 2017. 

Rose Chirwa, the zm Projects Officer in Malawi, writes about some of the ministries with which she has been involved during recent months.

Food for the hungry

Last year, after the devastating floods of 2015, some parts of Malawi experienced drought; the Zambesi Evangelical Church was not spared and most of its members in the southern part of the country were affected by the drought. Many people had harvested little or nothing.

With funding from our beloved brothers and sisters from zm in the United Kingdom, we managed to buy 1300 bags of maize and 1278 bags which were delivered to various drop- off points scheduled by ZEC Synod office.

In January 2017 we planned to start the maize distribution exercise to various ZEC drop off points but before that I met with Myles, zm’s Church Development partner, and the ZEC leaders to discuss how we could best deliver the relief maize to the most affected ZEC Churches especially those in the southern region.

The delivery started on 18th January with some challenges, of course, especially in the afternoon when it was raining but we managed to deliver all the bags of maize and the first drop off points were Mitsidi and Limbe for all the churches in Mitsidi and Blantyre quarterly.

We had planned to finish delivery of all the relief maize before the end of January and by 26th January we managed to deliver to all the scheduled drop off points. The pictures show some of the various drop off points. Our last delivery point was along the Mangochi to Nsanama road.

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Clothes for the Babies

In June last year we visited Queen Elizabeth Hospital to give a donation of Baby clothes to Kangaroo Ward. The Ward deals with premature babies and most of them come from rural areas with no proper clothes to cover their babies. We also gave a donation to the paediatric ward, post natal ward and antenatal ward. Thank you to the ladies who spend their time knitting baby clothes and blankets. May God should continue to bless them.

Whenever I visit ZEC rural health centres and Orphan Day Care centres I carry with me some clothes to donate for the babies. All this exercise happened in cold season and this was last year when I went to buy rice for all the ODCs.

   

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Training for the Leaders

I also had the privilege of attending the graduation ceremony at the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi last July. It was a thrill to see the students sponsored by zm friends preparing to go out into ministry.

Below are some of the students at EBCOM who graduated on 1st July 2016, thank God for the supporters.

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Books for Pastors

In July 2016 we had two book set conferences for which I was responsible for buying and delivering books and other stationary. I helped in compiling the sets of 9 to 14 books including the Bible which the participants received at the end of each conference. At one point I also helped in facilitating the group discussions .The two book set conferences were held in Ntcheu, at the Assemblies of God Church and in Mangochi at the ZEC Church.

A week after the Ntcheu conference we went to Mangochi where I was responsible for all the logistics, photocopying, arranging books for participants.

Pastor Emmanuel Akau for Cavarly Ministries who has served for many years in Mangochi preached the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. Many Muslims have come to the Lord after hearing to his teachings. He is from Northern Nigeria where Muslims are in the majority. Pastor Akau has a back ground history on how Islam spread and knows the strategies used by Muslims to win many people to Islam.

Among the conference participants we had many Pastors who were converted from Islam to Christianity.

During lunch time I came across torn Bibles for some of the Pastors who came to the conference with some pages missing. One had threads all over to keep it intact, so the books set given to them after the conference were precious gifts. Now they could now use a full Bible with all the pages intact.

Glory to God Almighty.

Rose

May 2017.

Mercy Carlos, the zm administrator in Malawi, reports on the blessings of the ZEC Chiyanjano (Women’s Fellowship) Easter Conference.

From 12th to 19th April 130 ladies from ZEC Chiyanjano (Women’s Fellowship) groups in the northern, central and southern regions of Malawi travelled to Tembisa in South Africa for an Easter conference. The women used two buses; one carrying those from the south departed from Blantyre and the other from Lilongwe. The journey took more than 36 hours one way – plenty of time for lots of testimonies both to and from South Africa!

On the arrival day we just had a restful evening in preparation for the Good Friday prayers. The theme of the conference, which was attended by people of both Malawian and South African origin, was taken from the book of Isaiah 60 verse 1: “Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the lord rises upon you”. Several speakers emphasized the importance of arising together with Christ in faith. According to Mrs Madalo Mtima and Mrs Jumbe, arising with Christ means showing our good deeds in Christ Jesus. Other speakers were Reverend Mrs Chodzi, Reverend Gift Mphongolo, Reverend Gerald Malinda and Mrs Khoza the vice chairlady of Chiyanjano in Malawi.

There was a lot of music, several choirs and some plays from both Malawi and South Africa participants. Songs of worship and praise were led by a praise team composed of ladies of both nationalities. This made the conference more blessed. Many people received Christ as their Lord and Saviour through the messages and teachings of the preachers.

On Sunday, the ZEC Synod leaders ordained Pastor Chiyembekeza as resident pastor for Tembisa and Pretoria ZEC. It was a wonderful ceremony and the people were relieved and happy that they now have their own pastor. We pray that he will continue to serve the Lord in preaching and teaching, particularly to the youth because many have moved to South Africa from Malawi and they live a life without Christ.

The conference finished on Easter Sunday with members resting on Monday ready for the long journey home. To God be the glory for this wonderful trip. We saw ourselves in the safe hands of our Lord Jesus. The Chiyanjano chairlady thanked all the ladies who made the trip and she also extended the  appreciation of the national committee which includes Mrs Khoza, Mrs Chodzi,  Mrs Fatchi, the Secretary, her vice Mrs Chauya, and the Treasure Mrs Kandikole.  These ladies worked tirelessly to make the conference a success and unforgettable.

To God be the Glory!