September 14,
2006:
After a safe
arrival in Malawi on August 16 it didn't take
long at all to become very busy! Beginning
September 4th I started one of by biggest
projects ever since beginning to work here at
Namikango, teaching an intense month-long course
on preaching. I have never spent all day
teaching in the classroom five days a week for
consecutive weeks like this and have a new
appreciation for full time teachers. Since I
didn't have time to prepare while we were
traveling in the States this summer, I make
preparations for the next day's lecture the
evening before. What has made the work double
challenging is that I have decided to do it
all in the Chichewa language without the aid
of a translator. Fortunately, my Chichewa
speaking ability has reached the point where the
students can understand all the lessons. The
benefit for me is that I am perfecting my
language skills this month which should enhance
my teaching in the future.
It has been a
blessing teaching this group of mainly young
men, who are open to God's Word and eager to
learn. Most of them have been here taking other
classes since April and have lapped up a lot of
knowledge over the past five and a half months.
They don't show any signs of tiring and fully
participate in class. It gives me great hope
for the future of the church in Malawi to see
such committed young men making the necessary
sacrifices to get the training which will
enhance their ministry skills in the future.
All show a readiness to conform their lives and
ministry to the Lord. They also show a
commitment to promoting unity and peace among
Christians.
In my class I have
emphasized the life of a preacher or any church
leader with a stress on the importance of
conforming one's life to the will of the Lord
and not just teaching others. Spiritual
leadership flows out of the life of the servant
of the Lord. Following the example of
Christ demands holiness, humility, and love and
is much more than head knowledge. In the final
two weeks we will turn our attention to the art
of preparing and delivering sermons with the
hope that the Malawian preachers will develop
skills that enable them to handle the Word
responsibly and create life-changing sermons in
forms that connect in the Malawian context.
Not all our
students are young. Jimmy
K. Manjauma is 84 and elder in the church.
Converted by missionary Doyle Gilliam in 1966,
he had not seen Doyle in 40 years until a couple
of weeks when Doyle happened to be visiting
Namikango and brother Manjauma happened to
notice him in the back yard. Although their
meeting was brief as Doyle was preparing to make
a 200 mile trip on to Lilongwe, it was
fascinating to see the excitement on brother
Manjauma's face as he recalled his acquaintance
with Doyle so many years ago. Although he is
ripe in years Jimmy Manjauma knows that one
never gets too old to learn. He applies himself
to his studies and dreams of getting the
doctor's degree in theology one day.
I decided to
take a look at what the students do in their
off time so paid a visit to their dormitory,
where I found nearly all of them studying
for their test tomorrow. One of these is
Chitani Bakili, who is without doubt the
best student. So far he makes only 100s and
had the highest scores in his last class at
Namikango as well. So it didn't surprise me
that although he had made himself
comfortable he was
busy with open book.
Like everyone
else he has his story how the Lord led him
to salvation. As a young man he lived a
wild and reckless life, but thanks to the
influence of a godly wife and caring father
he came to Christ. The Lord also used a
Blantyre area preacher to bring Chitani into
the fold.
