From Bob Mathews.
Chariot 2 arrived in Malawi on June 1 after several stops in Namibia and Zambia. On Sunday June 5, a team of 7 from the United States met up with George at the Lilongwe airport in Malawi. The team from the US consisted of 5 campaigners from the Southern Hills congregation in Buda TX, just south of Austin, 1 from the Eagle Valley congregation in Indianapolis, and Mike Knappier from Northside, GCM's overseeing congregation in Benton AR. First time for all of us in Malawi, except George, and first time for GCM to have campaigners from the US in Malawi, so we were all excited to see what God had in store for us.
CAMPAIGNING IN SALIMA MALAWI AND SURROUNDING AREA
L-to-R: Mike Knappier, Bob Mathews, Cathy Williams, George Funk, Moster Kanyinji, and brethren from the Salima congregations.
The Southern Hills congregation has an active group of deaf Christians who worship there, so one purpose for the trip was to minister to the deaf in Malawi. We had been working with the director of the Malawi National Association for the Deaf (MANAD) since October, and had planned to visit the Mua School for the Deaf, located about an hour's drive south of the town of Salima. (Here's a map of our locations for the week.) With visits to the Mua School on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, we have grown to love the students and staff of the school, and hope to have established a long-term relationship with them.
MUA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF
Here's Cherie interpreting for the group.
There had already been 54 baptisms in Malawi when we arrived on Sunday, so we were excited and ready to go to work on Monday morning. When we met with the brothers in Salima though, we found out the Chariot wasn't quite set up & ready yet, so we drove down to the Mua School and met the students & staff there. We arrived at the Chariot location after noon on Monday, and worship was already in full swing. With 9 baptisms Monday, 2 on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, 9 on Thursday, 2 on Friday and 16 each on Saturday and Sunday, it was awesome just watching the Lord work.
The ladies had the opportunity to teach Bible class to the Malawian ladies on Saturday morning, while the men taught Bible class to the men.
SUNDAY WORSHIP IN MAGANAA
Sunday worship was an awesome gathering of 453 Christians and visitors from the Maganaa village. The village chiefs were all present, and expressed their thanks for us being there. Following Bob's Bible class lesson and Moster's sermon, 16 more were born again through baptism.
The church in Malawi is strong, having been in the country for 105 years, and many of the congregations have elders. We are confident the 60 new births we witnessed during our time in the Salima area will be nurtured by the church leaders and brothers & sisters, and that they will grow into mature Christians. What a great privilege to have been a part of this! We are very much looking forward to our return.
The Malawi Campaign team, L-to-R: Chuck Misenheimer, Elizabeth Misenheimer, Anicia Richardson, Cherie Hampton, Cathy Williams, Mike Knappier, Bob Mathews.
From Mike Knappier.
I really enjoyed this campaign. It was wonderful to see the Malawi brethren make such effective use of the Chariot. One of the things that has always impressed me about Gospel Chariot Missions is the idea of Africans winning Africa. I saw this clearly in Malawi. It was great to see the unity, evangelism, and excitement that the Chariot helped create among our Malawian brothers and sisters. The Americans from Texas, Indiana, and Arkansas were no doubt a blessing, but it was the Africans that made the campaign a great success. And they will do the follow up.
The thing that most impressed me was the Kapezi congregation. It was planted three years ago by the GCM team. Now they have built a building and are prospering. The same thing is happening throughout 11 African countries. Like George says, "GCM has the dream, Africa has the team!" Roll the Gospel Chariots...
