Bunda Mountain

Our family spent yesterday with the children of Rainbow Development Center again.  We love going out and playing with the children and visiting with the missionaries who are serving there.  What a blessing they are to us.  The big kids decided to take a hike up Bunda mountain.  The orphanage is at the base of Bunda mountain.  So Jeremy, AJ, CJ, and AJ's friend Martina who was visiting with us all loaded up onto the back of a pickup truck and headed for the hike.  A lot of the Rainbow workers and bigger kids went up as well.  SM, baby J, and I stayed behind and visited/played with the children who stayed behind.  What a beautiful and wonderful time we all had! 

Easter Weekend at Gusu- Church service and Bibles

Easter morning at Gusu/Jidi provided the opportunity to participate in a Malawian church service complete with 6 different choirs, preaching, and hundreds of people all worshiping the name of the RISEN SAVIOR!

Some of the ABC students who helped during the weekend. 

One of the choirs who sang praises to our Lord!

Chichewa bibles were handed out.  The goal is to have one bible per household.  If you would like to donate bibles for the people of Gusu/Jidi please contact me.

MK's Kimmy, Carey, CJ, and AJ (with Jen in the backgound)

So proud of my baby girl literally helping to spread the Word!

Sophia!!!

Dr. Mark

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

(Romans 10:14-17)

Easter Weekend at Gusu- Discipleship training

One of the most important aspects of E3 Worldwide's Easter Weekend at Gusu's event was the training of the elders and leaders of the local church, focusing on the fundamentals of the Gospel and its application to life.  The Gospel is not just about witnessing and conversions.  It is also about discipleship and training of other believers as Christ's example shows in the Great Commission.  

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18-20)

The Gospel and Bible stories were shared with the children as well.  Games were also played which was a delight to all.  Discipleship of the children and teachings of the life and work of Christ follows Jesus' example set forth in Matthew 19:14.  

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.

(Matthew 19:14-15)

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

(Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

(2 Timothy 3:16-17)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

(Hebrews 10:24-25)

                                                  

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

(Matthew 9:36-38)

Desperate, Breathless, Dependent parenting

I follow John Piper's Desiring God blog.  Today's post really struck home for me.  I didn't write it, but I feel like this woman is me.  I thought I'd explain a little more about my dependency on the Lord through her words.  (btw...I'm not done with the Gusu weekend yet....more to come).

below is a blog entry written by Rachel Pieh Jones:

Some people tell me it is brave to raise my kids in Africa. They could get malaria or be bitten by a poisonous snake. They don’t have a Sunday School class. They can’t eat gluten-free foods. Their friends are Muslims. They live far away from cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

My initial reaction is to be tempted to say, “Well, I think it is brave to raise kids in America.” I know my heart, my soul-shriveling tendency to love the world. I know my kids, how quickly they could be sucked into the idolatry of a nation whose church is the shopping mall and whose God is the latest iPhone.

But this kneejerk reaction is wrong because it assumes brave is the right word to use to describe parenting, whether in Africa or in the United States.

Brave is the wrong word.

Life As Fasting

Living overseas is a form of fasting. Fasting from the comforts of a would-be heaven on earth where there are hot showers, dishwashers and clothes dryers, fully-stocked grocery stores and someone else to teach piano lessons. Living overseas is fasting that says, “this much, O God, this much, I want to know you.” And, “this much, O God, this much, I want you to be known” (Michael Oh).

I want to know God deeply and I want him to be known so much that I will risk scary diseases, fast from my beloved family and worldly comforts, and teach my children to engage with neighbors of differing faiths. But to live and fast like that, to raise my children like that, isn’t brave.

When I think about mothering my three children who love this steamy, desert nation, I don’t feel brave. I feel dependent. Helplessly, desperately, breathlessly, clingingly dependent.

Dependent

Any mother, anywhere in the world, could receive a phone call in the next five minutes about a car accident. A child could decide Jesus is an imaginary friend and reject truth. Another could fall into immoral living.

There is nothing brave about loving little people who will grow up and could choose to abandon the things of God. But for dependency on the promises and character of God, there is terror and anxiety.

Being dependent isn’t just for mothers living in Africa. The only way to parent is with faith that God is able to keep and hold our children. The only way to parent is to be dependent on his sovereign plan and tender care for them. Dependent on the strength of the everlasting arms to hold us, to hold our children, and to keep us in perfect peace with our minds stayed on Him.

No, brave is not the right word for parents.

Dependent is.

Easter Weekend at Gusu- Sports Evangelism

Another very important (and hugely popular) event that occurred at E3's Easter Weekend at Gusu/Jidi was a soccer tournament.  It was a 7-a-side tournament with 7 village teams and one ministry team from Lilongwe.  Between the games the Gospel was shared as the crowd waited for the next game.  

There were thousands of people on hand to watch the "football" tournament and hear the Word preached.  It is estimated that 4000 people were at the final game alone.  

The Gospel was also shared before the awards ceremony. Each player received a Chichewa Bible to take home.  Medals and trophies were handed out to the top three teams.  As the missionaries were heading back home on Sunday afternoon some of the players were seen sitting on their porch wearing their medals around their necks.  

Praise God that HE provided for over 4000 people to hear the Word proclaimed!