August 2016.

zm Director , Mike Beresford writes about the forthcoming visit of Malawian Church leaders to the UK.

zm seeks to foster “partnerships in the gospel” between Christians and churches in the UK and their counterparts in Malawi and northern Mozambique. Our aim is for these relationships to be inter-dependent: centred on Jesus Christ, founded on prayer and worked through ordinary people. zm regards our African partners as equally valuable parts of the body of Christ and we recognise that our partnership in the Gospel is not just a one-way relationship. Our inter-dependent relationship means that here in the UK we need the church in Malawi and northern Mozambique, just as much as they need us. Some people might ask, “Why do we need the church in Malawi or northern Mozambique? What can they give us?” There are many ways in which the church in this wealthy (and often materialistic) country can learn from and receive spiritually from the church in Africa. Perhaps you might like to consider this for a few moments, and ask God to guide you in your thoughts .

As part of zm’s ministry to churches in the UK, we have arranged for three visitors from Malawi to come to the UK in September 2016. zm’s Malawian Field Director Simon Chikwana will be visiting together with two leaders of the Zambezi Evangelical Church (ZEC) – the Chair, Pastor Joe Tsokalida, and the General Secretary, Pastor Luckwell Mtima. The two ZEC leaders initially had their visas rejected, but after an intervention from the Scotland Malawi Partnership they have now been granted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The visitors will be joining zm’s Executive committee meeting in York on Tuesday 13 th September. On the following day they will be spending time with the mission staff. They will also be visiting churches from as far north as Banchory in Scotland to Bridport in Devon. The main aim of the visit is to strengthen the “partnership in the gospel” that churches in the UK have with their counterparts in Malawi.

Please remember them in your prayers ~

• for their preparations for the visit. Neither Pastor Joe Tsokalida nor Pastor Luckwell Mtima has visited the UK before.
• for safety as they travel to and around the UK.
• for strength and energy for all three visitors as they adapt to a different environment.
• that God would speak through our Malawian brothers in Christ as they visit churches in the UK and share God’s word.