Greetings to all of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
I hope and trust this letter finds you encouraged in the Lord and busy about encouraging others as well.
We are doing well here in Malawi by the grace of God and we are thankful for the blessing of knowing that you are holding the ropes as we minister here in the place of our calling.
In addition to the regular local church ministries here, we recently finished the first of two major evangelism efforts planned for 2024.
In the last big push we were able to distribute more than 300,000 pieces of gospel literature. We preached to many many souls and had several hundred respond to invitations.
We thank the Lord for any and all souls who professed Christ as their savior at the evangelistic meetings.
While there were certainly hundreds who came forward, and who prayed the sinner's prayer, WE DO NOT CONSIDER THIS ALONE OUR SIGN OF SUCCESS.
Of course we realize how precious the salvation of souls is, and join the angels who rejoice in heaven over those souls who have come to repentance.However, in a practical sense, in terms of MINISTRY, this is the beginning point for us, not a grand finale. The clear directive of scripture is for us to then nurture these new believers and establish their hearts in grace and in the knowledge of Christ.
I hope this comes across right, DISCIPLESHIP is our chief interest here in Malawi. The reasons for this are numerous but I will elaborate briefly on one. The people of Malawi DO NOT THINK LIKE AVERAGE WESTERNERS. There is no disconnect between their daily lives and the earth beneath their feet. As such, they plant the food they eat with their own hands and watch it grow with their own eyes. They have a firm grasp on who the giver and sustainer of life is. They do not need a special class on proving that God exists and that he is the creator, and thereby the ultimate authority of their existence. They are instructed by NATURE and the creation to believe in God.
When the gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, they tend to respond well. This acceptance of the free salvation that is in Christ, does not however make them fit for the Christian life of faith. Many have decades of life practices, and ways of thinking that are contrary to scripture. It takes years of patience and perseverance to help the new creature that is now in Christ to grow into the life God has for them.
The reason that our focus is on the discipleship part, is because we are NOT like the angels who are in heaven. They can see all the hearts of repentance at the very moment that someone gets saved. We cannot. Those who made genuine decisions of faith, look just the same as those who did not really fully understand the death burial and resurrection message. Both may come forward, both may make professions in Christ, but the hearts are known only in heaven.
For us, our focus is on those who CONTINUE ON. As of right now, we have over 200 persons who are in ongoing discipleship groups littered throughout the country. We heavily invest ourselves into those who CARRY FORWARD in the new life of faith. We invest even more in those who, after classes end, continue on serving the Lord by faith.
We are watching a sort of “grassroots” movement unfold before us of groups of people who have been irreversibly affected by the gospel. AS OF NOW, THERE ARE ELEVEN churches which have been started throughout the country as a result of the ministry here, and there are more which will eventually become a church should things continue in the right direction.
We are thankful for the Malawian ministers who God has raised up throughout the country. It is a blessing to see them faithfully feeding the flock in their prospective areas. Pastor Alex, Pastor Daniel, Pastor Justin, Pastor Banda, Pastor Chancy, Pastor Chipeta, Pastor Paul, Pastor Moses, Pastor Jimmy, Pastor Bwanali need your prayers. They face many challenges in pastoring Independent Baptist Churches in this context. I covet your prayers for them. (English names used here to hopefully encourage prayers for them)
We are in the process of pushing hard to finish classes from the last big evangelism effort before August. In August we are expecting 26 folks from the USA to come once again with the Campaigns for Christ ministry and help us distribute and preach once again.
Please pray extra for the preaching and the follow up. Due to the multitude of responsibilities, we have been running behind a bit in some of the logistical planning as we have been focusing on the students in the south. Our little team here needs prayer!
We are planning to come back to the USA for a furlough soon as well and we look forward to seeing many of you again. We have some projects which we are specifically trying to raise funds for which we will be glad to share with you all when we get back.
Lord willing we will be basing out of Lubbock Texas where my dad is pastoring. We will be attending our first mission conference after getting back to the USA in October this year. We already have several appointments on the calendar but we would love to hear from any of you who may want us to come through.
I have a major request which I would ask you to pray for concerning this upcoming furlough. Please understand that distance from the field does not cause our responsibilities in Malawi to decrease. I already have several trips planned to come back to Malawi during our furlough time. There is so much momentum happening here that I can hardly stand the thought of leaving. With that said, I would like you to pray that God would greatly strengthen the men that I will hand over many of the responsibilities to. Pray that God would strengthen them and help them by his power and wisdom so that nothing in the work should be hindered by my absence. Thus far, we have come home on two furloughs in the past. I know for a fact that God used those times to build their faith and strengthen the men. Pray that it would happen again.
On the home front we are doing great. At the time of this letter, our three oldest kids are visiting the USA to attend Bible Camp in Post Falls, Idaho. One of their camp friends ended up opening a platform for those who would want to pitch in to help them come back for camp. I was overwhelmed to see the care you all showed towards our children. The cost of their airfare was contributed within three or four days. Amazing. Jennie and I are speechless. Thank you all for your kindness.
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