Writer: Alfred (RtH Malawi Staff)
Reading this verse reminds me of how the church is beyond just buildings. It is a people. And we must remember how important it is for us Christ-followers to not only gather together "at church" but also to gather together "as a church".
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250+ attendees (13 Bible Study Groups total) gathered together in Dedza, Malawi |
And on October 14th, 2023, the RtH Malawi Team heeded God's Word and organized a Joint Bible Study Revival Outreach at Mtakataka T/A Kachindamoto, Dedza District, Malawi. The goal was to revitalize pre-existing Bible Study Groups in the district, build up unity and fellowship amongst the groups & members, and build up self-trust in the leaders to have faith in themselves that they are capable of leadership through Christ. We also aimed to bring many new souls to Jesus through this outreach and designed it to be a wake-up call to the local Study Group Leaders & members to carry out the Great Commission. Over 250 people of all ages attended our outreach which consisted of mass prayer, praise & worship, Word sharing, praying for people, and Bible distribution. Throughout the day, various social & cultural barriers were broken down which led to people giving their lives to Jesus for the first time, as well as already saved Christians being convicted & rededicating their lives to Christ.
Cultural Breakthroughs
Similar to other countries, Malawi has a multitude of churches. However, most of the churches preach for their own favor since the pastors often like to gather crowds to themselves, rather than to God. This results in people being more attached & dedicated to their local churches instead of to God. Throughout Dedza, and in other districts in Malawi, there's also an idolization of certain cultural beliefs that go directly against the will and the Word of God. This unfortunate reality underscores the need for, and the value of, these outreaches. The outreach we conducted last month was, and stands, as a call onto the local community to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and develop a personal relationship with Him.Social Breakthroughs
When people here become familiar with their Bible Study Leaders, it makes it more difficult for them to open up and tell their leaders what they are going through in life. Most if not all have grown up within the same community — some are even closely related. And according to Malawian culture, there are certain issues you simply don't tell everyone — issues that are confidential, such as marital problems, certain diseases & sicknesses, and even some nightmares. Our outreach provided a comfortable space for members and by seeing new faces — like those of us on the RtH Malawi team — a lot of people came forward asking for prayer & counseling.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, our team provided marriage counseling to some, while others received encouragement from our team to visit their local hospital so that they could receive necessary medical guidance from the physicians for certain health conditions (e.g. diabetes, tumors, etc.). Just like other African countries, Malawi has some religions that restrict their members from going to a hospital because in doing so is an admission that you are lacking in faith. So our team made a point to emphasize the necessity of medical care during our counseling, in addition to praying over them for healing & miracles.
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| From left to right: Daniel, Alfred, Brenda, Joshua, Michael, Donnex, and Martha |
Last month's outreach took an incredible group effort to pull off. Here's a glimpse at how the team worked together throughout the day to make this outreach a massive success: to begin, Sister Tadala, a local of Mtakataka, opened with a wonderful word of prayer, then Brother Gift, another local of Mtakataka, led with some welcoming remarks of encouragement. After that, Sister Brenda (RtH Malawi Ministry Partner) led the whole group in mass prayer. Next, I shared from God's Word while Joshua (RtH Malawi Staff) served as our photographer, led men's counseling, and even joined our team in praying for people. Later, Martha (RtH Malawi Ministry Partner) helped with counseling for many of the people while Daniel (RtH Malawi Ministry Partner) led the intercessions as the outreach went on and even joined the team praying for those who needed special prayers. Throughout the outreach, Donnex (RtH Malawi Staff) served as the Director of Ceremony while Michael, a local Zone Bible Study Leader in Mtakataka, led team coordination between the visiting team and the hosts.
The RtH Malawi Team wants you to also know how heartwarming it was for us to witness the shouts of praise from attendees as we distributed Bibles to Study Group Leaders. Due to the financial circumstances of those living in remote areas of Malawi, many find it difficult to buy Bibles of their own. So last month's outreach not only broke down social & cultural barriers, but also financial ones — growing the church beyond buildings in Jesus' name. The people we served are thankful to Pastor Carlos, as well as to Reaching The Hungry and its donors for making this outreach – and the delivery of Bibles – possible in their community. As John 1:1-2 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God."
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