“Neno la Mungu linachoma kweli!”

Sometimes, when teaching in a foreign language in a culture with different ways of  communicating, it can be a great challenge to make the point, drive the lesson home, and impact your audience.  Sometimes, you have to gauge the listeners, and sometimes silent bewilderment can be deafening.  And in November of last year, while teaching church leaders in the Mbalika cluster, I paused my instruction and found everyone silent, speechless, bewildered.

This was not a typical ministry lesson. I was not evangelizing, maturing a new church, nor was I equipping local church leadership.  Instead, I was preparing our church leaders to partner with us and a donor church from the states to provide food relief.

It has been a tough year for the communities in which we work, as two consecutive harvests were poor (barely existent in some places), forcing many people to sell off livestock at low prices to buy grain at high prices (two times higher than a typical year).  Others left their farms to search for casual labor opportunities, or to travel to visit relatives who had better harvests.  And while this shortage of food is incomparable to the famine afflicting Somalia, it is a real hardship to everyone here, and an ordeal of faith for the many new Christians in our church movement.

I volunteered to spearhead the food relief, which involves meeting with leaders of each church cluster, and arranging the logistics of food relief to each of our churches--over 100 different villages!  But we did not have the budget to hire grain trucks to reach all these distant sites, nor did we have the resources to help each of the over 6000 people affiliated with our churches.  Instead, we targeted the three most vulnerable people per church, and provided one month’s worth of food for this person, to be delivered by bicycle from various church distribution points.  This required meeting with our leaders, which brought me to Mbalika this rainy November day.

Frankly, our leaders hoped for more than we could provide in assistance.  We couldn’t spare anybody the loss of selling a cow, nor the toil of traveling many days seeking casual labor.  Additionally, we imposed upon them the burden of distributing the sacks of  grain to their respective villages--in many cases, over four hours on a bicycle with a 100 pound load on the rear carrier.  And, worst of all, we broke with the cultural norm that demands equal sharing of any gift, and dictated that this food would go to the most needy--the widows, the orphans, and those unable to work.

But it is exactly in this intersection of culture and scripture that our work here is most critical.  These are the teaching moments for which we have been sent to the Sukuma people.  These are the issues that make the extra drive to the village, the extra meeting with leaders, the long bible study worthwhile.  We are not only after helping the suffering, as integral as that is.  We are seeking after Christ, who through his Holy Spirit and his eternal word has the power to transform every community to reflect God’s holy kingdom.

So we sat together, myself and five leaders, scouring passages about our obligation to help widows and orphans, but also our obligation to work to provide for our family, all as part of our worship to God. And as we jumped from James to 2 Corinthians to Romans to 2 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy, and 2 Kings, we saw many familiar passages in a new light.  But I wasn’t sure if it was making the deeper impact, challenging these church leaders to see help for the vulnerable as one of their callings, not just the responsibility of wealthier churches in other parts of the world. So I stopped talking, and waited until someone else spoke up.

And after a long moment of silence, Thomas, one of our most respected leaders spoke up:

“Neno la Mungu linachoma kweli!” 

"The Word of God truly pierces!"

These leaders, convicted by the word of God, joyfully partnered in this ministry--helping procure the food, loading it into my Landcruiser, arranging a worship service at the central distribution point, identifying those most in need, bicycling the food to the various villages, praying over those receiving the food, and reteaching the scriptures we studied to their respective congregations. 

Though our assistance was limited, and my ability to communicate was weak, God’s word is powerful.  That day, fish and loaves took the form of chinese bicycles and dried corn.  And as God’s word pierces deeper and deeper, more and more widows and orphans will experience the blessing of Christian compassion--because more Christians, like Thomas, will know the joy of worshipping Christ in every aspect of their lives.

Your new name shall be...

Names.  We think long and hard about what to name our children.  Usually we go for what we think sounds good or one that has a meaning we think is nice.  Some people just pick out something completely different.

I notice in Malawi many names are in their native language of Chichewa and some are very common.  For example there is Chimwemwe.  Mtendere Village has at least 10 kids named Chimwemwe (or at least it seems like that many) and the doctor at Blessings Hospital is Chimwemwe.  This name means joy.  I like that.

One name I that noticed becoming common around Mtendere was Masiye.  This was the name of one of the newest girls.  She’s about 5 years old and lives in a house with another Masiye who’s about 13.  The house next door had another girl named Masiye who was about 14.  I asked their house mother what did Masiye mean since it was so popular here.  I’m thinking maybe it means beautiful or happy.  I listened and she told me it meant orphan…

Did you hear that?  ORPHAN!  These 3 precious girls were named orphan (or one who is left behind).  Both parents were dead and either died in childbirth leaving them without a name or no one knew their name when the parents died.  This is usually the name the village would have given them.  A child named Masiye Banda in Malawi would be the equivalent of someone in America being named Orphan Smith (or Jane Doe).

I was very sad to hear this.  It is sad to think they will go through life with a name like orphan.  I hope they know that they are never alone and that they can be adopted into God’s family.  We did several lessons on this very subject while in nightly devotionals and VBS.  These precious children may have this name now but thankfully all believers will all have a new name as Revelation 2:17 states: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.”

Independence Day in Malawi

Happy Independence Day on July 6!  Well, that's the day Malawi celebrates its independence from the same country as the USA.  So how did we celebrate?  With a youth rally at Mtendere Village. Folks walked for miles, rode bicycles, and hitchhiked to get here.  Our theme was Tenga Nzeru (Get Wisdom). Our team all taught classes and enjoyed being with folks from all over.

We've been blessed with tutoring the house mothers, nightly devotionals with the kids, and great work going on in the completion of our surgical center.

We appreciate all the prayers! 

Karibu Mwanza

Kevin is getting in his Land Cruiser on the streets of Mwanza

“Karibu Mwanza!”
Those were the words from our Landmark missionary Kevin Linderman as he greeted us at the Mwanza International airport (about the size of our garage behind the church) last Wednesday with his three boys in tow.  It had been a long journey of 4 airplanes and more than 30 hours to reach them with our two small children, but we were so glad to be back in their presence and for the sweet days of fellowship we would enjoy. 

The Lindermans have just celebrated their 5th year full-time on the field in Tanzania and as missionaries of the Landmark Church.  It takes years to become fluent in a language and to be able to teach and preach in a way that people connect with the gospel.  And the Lindermans had to learn two languages (Swahili & KiSukuma)!  Clusters of churches throughout the Sukuma tribe have been started in partnership with their teammates.  Some of the churches are vibrant and growing while others are struggling (just like here in America).  Kevin devotes his time between new church planting and church maturation.  Lots of time has to be poured into developing godly leaders to continue the momentum of recent years.  We need to pray for God to raise up leaders who will lead their faith community in being the light in the midst of darkness.  Witchcraft and curses remain the predominant lenses through which many Sukuma see the world.  (If you haven’t read the article of the Sukuma witchdoctor who became a Christian several months ago, I suggest scrolling back through a few entries on this blog)

Our missionary staff around the world all make sacrifices.  I wish all of you at home could have been a part of one of our conversations with several missionaries as they talked about life where there is no 9-1-1 service, police protection, and the realities of mob justice.  Pray for our workers to be surrounded by God’s protection and peace in their lives.

The Lindermans are so grateful for all the love and support they receive from Landmark.  The care packages, cards, emails, and prayers let them know that there is a base at home keeping the troops on the front lines well supplied.  The coming weeks will bring a new baby into the Landmark family.  Be sure to lift up Charity as she completes the final months of her pregnancy.  Most of all, give thanks to God for bringing such wonderful people into our church family as partners in the gospel.

Well, it’s on to two more airplanes to Lilongwe, Malawi.  Air Malawi is only running three hours late.  We must be on Malawi time already!

Witchdoctor Comes to Christ!

The Lindermans in Tanzania have shared the following story. [Note: In December 2009, Landmark took up a collection for a device called the "Proclaimer", a solar-powered audio Bible in the Sukuma language. More than 25 devices were sent]

A couple weeks ago, a local church leader in Tanzania, John, travelled to a distant village to visit his sick sister.  When he arrived, he found that she had been taken for treatment--not to a hospital, but rather to a witch doctor’s compound in a more distant village.

John decided to follow after her the next day, and found his sister amongst the sick receiving treatment.  When he introduced himself to the folk healer, named Sulemani, they began to have a spiritual conversation.  The old man wanted to hear more, so John pulled out his Proclaimer audio bible, with which he always travels.  They spent the rest of the day engrossed in spiritual conversation.

 John soon visited me and shared the good news of this diviner,  whose heart was opened to the word of God.  The following week, we made the long journey to this village to meet with this man again.  He shared with us his story, of his Muslim background, of how he received knowledge to treat the sick through dreams, of the skill he has gained over the years and the wealth he had accumulated.

But his heart began to turn a little over a year ago, when he was attacked one evening while driving his motorcycle to another village.  Two robbers, armed with machetes, tried to stop him. When he tried to pass anyways, one struck him in the chest and throat, causing a massive wound—but Sulemani was able to stay on his motorcycle and get to the next village, and receive the help he needed.

He could not understand how he survived the attack—and knew that it was not his own power that protected him.  It was a far greater power than he had ever experienced, and he knew it must be almighty God.  (Coincidentally*, this attack occurred in December 2009—the same time Landmark was contributing money to purchase these audio bibles).

He began to remove his shrines to the spirits, and took off the charms typically worn by diviners for spiritual power.  Over time, as he treated the sick that come to him, he stopped using divination methods such as throwing shells and inspecting entrails of chickens.  He was on a journey toward a greater power.

Amazingly, Sulemani told us that he wanted to give his entire life to the Lord.  He even wanted his entire family (3 wives, plus numerous children and grandchildren) to turn their lives over to the Lord.  When I asked him why he wanted to do this, this dreamer-diviner gave us one more surprise:

“The night after John was here, I had a dream: I was sitting with others being preached to.”

We accepted his request to teach that evening, and after playing the Proclaimer for about half an hour, we taught about true worship of the Almighty God.  We enjoyed a meal together, then Sulemani offered to help pay John’s bus fare to return to this village, stay for a week, and continue this teaching, so that a church might be planted on his compound.
 

 Sulemani continues to treat people with herbal medicines, and tells people that the power of the medicine is not from him, nor from spirits, but only from God.  His faith may be growing, but his understanding is weak. We left with him a bible, a small booklet of with some lessons on worship, and two promises: John would return to continue teaching, and we would pray for he and his household.

Please join us in praying for Sulemani, his household, and for all others here in Sukumaland that are on the journey discovering the greater power of our Almighty God.

Arab World Prayer Day

This Friday, March 4 has been designated as Arab World Prayer day.  A call to prayer has been sent around the world to pray for the middle east and North Africa during this time of uncertainty.  You can download a free prayer guide here.

From Lystra

What a special Mission Sunday event we had!  Thank you for your generous support.  We studied Acts 14 and had a special live feed from there.  If you'd like to see additional video of modern Lystra, check out what we filmed there:  click here.

Modern day Lystra from Acts 14.