Malawi - June 2009

The week 8th to 13th June saw three conferences in Malawi this year.  The first, on the Monday and Tuesday was in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, where the speaker was Bishop Stephen Kiguru of Kenya, together with Pastor Brian Mari of Cornerstone Church, Lilongwe.  20 leaders attended and Stephen spoke about the Fivefold Ministry, with Ephesians 4v11-16 as the scripture base, and about The Pastor as a Counsellor.

On the Wednesday, Stephen and Brian travelled down to Zomba, the old winter capital city from colonial times, where the second conference was to be held, starting that morning.  They were hoping to be there by lunchtime but, unfortunately, the bus on which they were travelling was of the slow variety.  Having boarded the bus at 7am, they then waited until 10am, when it started off.  They were then 5 hours on the road – a total of 8 hours.

Meanwhile in Zomba, the opening meeting saw 52 pastors and church leaders in attendance.  The meeting was started with lively and sincere praise and worship, with the message following.  David spoke, with his main emphasis being on the Loving Heart of our Heavenly Father, using Luke 14v11-24 as the foundation scripture, showing that our Father is not one constantly trying to catch us out and punish us but one of love, desiring a close personal relationship with his children.

This was followed by a lunch break, during which it was hoped that Bishop Stephen and Brian would arrive for the afternoon session.  Eventually, the Bishop arrived at the conference at about 3:30pm, very tired, but he responded to the call to speak and he introduced the working and vision of Living Hope Ministries, as this was the first time that Living Hope had been to Zomba.

The following day was started again with praise and worship, followed by Bishop Stephen speaking on the Fivefold Ministries.  Stephen encouraged the listeners to understand and accept that these ministries were essential for a fully functioning church and for the church to be effective in the declaration of the good news to those who did not know Christ.  The afternoon session continued with David giving a message on Forgiveness, with the book of Philemon as the basis.  At the close of the conference, much appreciation was given to all those who had contributed to the two days and for the teaching and support that Living Hope had brought.  Then Bishop Stephen, Brian and David left for the two and half hour drive, plus a stop for a meal in Phalombe, as it would be well after dark on arrival in Chiringa and our cook would be long gone.

Chiringa is a trading centre in a remote and very poor area of Malawi, 5km from the Mozambique border.  AIDS infection is said to be 45% and witchcraft is rife, even in the churches.  So, on Friday 12th June, the third conference started there, with 58 pastors and church leaders in attendance, nine of which came from Phalombe, and five from Mozambique.  The day started with a short time of praise and worship, followed by teaching from Bishop Stephen on the Fivefold Ministry.  Having 2 sessions that day, he was able to expand even more on the importance of these ministries.

The following day again started with praise and worship.  Bishop Stephen having the full day, taught on the need and manner of Counselling within the Church, this being a necessary ability of a church pastor as he cares for the people in the church.  This was a completely new concept to many of those present, and was a great challenge, as many of the pastors in this area are of poor education and very little in the way of formal theological training.  As Bishop Stephen drew his message to a close, he challenged the pastors to be “doers of the word and not just hearers” and that, should God grant that he be able to come next year, he would be looking for changes and a maturing in the lives of these men and women, and the churches, as this was the second of his visits.  We had the privilege of Bishop Stephen coming to Chiringa last year for the first ever conference there.  In conclusion, David thanked Bishop Stephen for his teaching and to God for giving him the strength to do so, especially after such a long and full week.

On the Sunday we went to one of the local churches in Chiringa, where Bishop Stephen spoke and five ladies gave their lives to Christ as a result of his teaching.  Then David and his wife Lynda took the Bishop and Brian to Blantyre for an overnight stay, before catching the express bus back to Lilongwe, from where the Bishop caught a plane back to Nairobi and a well-earned rest.

As a postscript, Brian Mari was taken ill in Chiringa and it was subsequently found that he had been fighting pneumonia during the conference week.  Upon his return to Lilongwe, he was admitted to hospital for two weeks.  He is now out and well on the road to recovery.  Praise God!  Also, one of the pastors from the Phalombe group was speaking with David the week after the conference, saying that the group had been greatly challenged and they were looking to God to grow and change in line with the call and teaching that had been given.

So praise God for a great week in the building of the Church and the Kingdom!

David Mills and Stephen Kiguru