The Malawi team returned on August 1, 2011 a bit tired from the 26+ hours of travel, but healthy and happy to be home. Third world mission trips are always life changing, if you let it change your life. While working in Malawi, God did four very important things through the ministry: evangelism, discipleship/leadership training, orphan care, and finding another location to begin a new Lighthouse ministry.
Evangelism, or fulfilling the Great Commission as described in Matthew 28:19-20, involves not only going, but also telling. “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
The people of Malawi are ripe for the harvest, but before the harvest can be collected the seed has to first be sown. This was accomplished by David Livingstone as he walked the dirt paths over 150 years ago, and in that same fashion our team of 6 spent many hours walking the dusty paths from village to village, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and showing the Jesus Film each evening. Being used by God to deliver the simple message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we watched hundreds of people at a time respond. This is an amazing experience that is hard to put into words. As our leader Joe Veal says, “The Gospel works!” As nearly as we could calculate (and rounding down when needed), 23,874 souls prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior!
Many will wonder how this is possible. Is it just a culture that prays because someone asks them to? Are they seeking material benefit from us as we come to them? Livingstone and others did not see such a harvest as they preached the same Gospel in the same part of the world, enduring sickness and near death for decades with very little response. Yet, there is much evidence that these professions of faith we have seen are genuine. After they received salvation, those we shared with testified about how God set them free and gave them new life. They rejoiced because their sins had been forgiven. They immediately asked for churches and training. Each time a church is planted in Malawi (335 last year), it begins with at least 50 people and usually has 300 attendees very soon. God’s is moving! The challenging part is training the leaders, which I plan to discuss in a separate blog post.
A harvest field of this magnitude is possible...
- Because of who God is. When He glorifies and honors the name of Jesus Christ, men, women, and children are drawn to it. John 12:32 states, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
- Because “nothing is impossible with God” (Mark 10:27).
- Because of the Word of God which commissions us to go preach the Gospel (Mark 15:16).
- Because of the power of prayer. “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest’” (Matthew 9:37-38). Prayer is the driving force in the harvest!
David Livingstone and others helped prepare the soil in Malawi, and we are seeing the fruit of their work today as it is harvested. Truly, we all live in a harvest field. Maybe not one as bountiful as Malawi currently is, but certainly God is at work in the lives of our families, friends, and people in our communities. According to the Word of God, the key to the harvest is prayer for the laborers; therefore, join in the prayer and prepare to be used somewhere...anywhere!
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