Sunday Church and Prison

(Friday, 8pm)
I finished round 1 of Walk Thru the Bible (WTB) today at our fourth church. It went quite well and there was tons of laughter and learning.

Tomorrow, we go to a church where we have not been. I will be preaching, and as usual they will feed us lunch when we are done. Following this, I will be going to the Ntcheu prison. It is a local prison with men very hungry to hear God's word preached from visitors. My message tomorrow is from the life of David (including David's sins and his remarkable forgiveness from God).

Please pray for me. It has been a long stretch of teaching and tomorrow is a big day.

On Monday, Rich and Marla will be giving a puppet seminar. It will all be held in English with some of the key childrens' workers in attendance.

Monday will be my day to catch my breath and also pour over my notes for part 2 of WTB.

I hope many of you enjoy my video address to the congregation on Sunday! It is a pretty cool 1 minute clip from Malawi!

Cold Weather - Warm Hearts

(Friday, 8pm, Malawi)
Wow, it has gotten cold here, really cold. I always think of Africa as HOT. But we are officially entering the dry and cold season. Today was overcast, windy, and cold. I'm guessing low 50's, maybe high 40's. You should have seen the Malawians. They were bundled up! And a few of them wore hats making them look like Eskimos. For Malawians, they just are not used to this kind of cold weather. But I will admit that it was even a bit cool for us.

We went today to a church that was way off the main road. We traveled there by winding dirt roads. Bumpy dirt roads. Rich said he would "rather have a root canal than ride again on that bumpy road." Marla assured him that it was not that bad and reminded him of 100 degree heat when they lived in Côte d'Ivoire years ago.

The church today was packed. My interpreter was Pastor Kalolo and this was his home village. Kalolo is a very energetic one, and he always brings a lot of animation to the translating. We made a great team together.

We are gaining proficiency with each new program. I think this group today learned the material better than any group in the past. We gave them time to break into small groups for practice and they got the hand motions down! It was quite a kick to watch.

This was also our largest group. There were over 110 people there today, and more than half were women! Pastors, Sunday school teachers, church workers of all kinds. And as usual, a very diverse group of denominations. That's one of the hallmarks of Action Ministries - they work across denominational lines. It is such a great thing to see.

We also had our best meal today. Pastor Kalolo invited us into his home. We ate with two of the pastors from neighboring churches. We had rice (a special treat) along with goat meat, cabbage, potatoes, peas, and eggs cooked a Malawian way. And then there was a special tomato sauce that we had never tasted before. We drizzled it over everything. Wow, the whole meal was awesome.

It was cold today, but the group had a warmth. As usual, their worship rocked! On one song, they took the inflated globe and passed it around during worship. We could not tell what the song was saying, but at one point they also passed around a plastic chair on their heads! These folks are not inhibited. I think that's why I like their worship so much. And all of them have rhythmic clapping that is simply infectious.

This group really learned all the hand motions well. And they are quite eager for us to return next Friday to enter the Promised Land and pick up with the book of Joshua.

We left the village by pushing Chet's truck to get it started. It is having some electrical problems. But it was another chance to trust God and be in it together!

We arrived home to three eager children, and a wonderful meal of homemade pizza. Rich is reading the Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe to the children. He has all kinds of special voices for each character. Peter, Silas, and Elsie just love this. In fact, in an upcoming blog entry, we will tell you more about these kids. We have grown very fond of them.

Rich is Feeling Better

Thank you for praying for Rich. He is doing much better, sleeping through the night. His stomach problems are also much less.




He is at full strength with his normal quick whit to match!





Rich and Marla also taught yesterday for another childrens' workers program. They did great and everyone commented on how much it helped.

New Pix

Tons of new pix below. Check out several previous posts that now have pix.

From Husbys - Wednesday

Our Tuesday morning began with a breathtaking view of the sunrise from the Burns’ kitchen window. Looking out across their spacious and very kid friendly backyard, across a valley to the mountains in the distance, we were reminded of our great Creator whose loving eyes are on everyone in all nations. What a privilege to be sharing God’s truths and His love with pastors, church leaders and children here in Malawi!

After Chet served us a delicious breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and apple juice, we loaded into his pickup to head for the village of Mlengeni at about 8:30. Pastor Brian’s translator for the day, Pastor Kalolo, sat with Rich and I in the back seat. David, the Burns’ adopted deaf and mute son, rode in the back with huge cooking pans and other supplies for the women of the village to prepare and serve a lunch to all the seminar trainees and us as well.

We’ve been blessed by David’s joy and heart to serve. David was a blessing at our first Children’s Ministry Seminar yesterday, helping to turn flip chart pages and to pass out supplies. He especially appreciates the generous helpings of sema or rice and various side dishes served for lunch at the seminars, and so helped me finish the man sized portions I couldn’t finish yesterday. He was amazed Sunday afternoon at the puppets we brought for our puppetry seminar next week and was pleased to try holding and operating one of them. The men constructed a PVC pipe puppet stage frame which we enjoyed testing out even though the curtain hasn’t been made for it yet. David has been enthusiastically clapping along to the harmonica music Rich plays for the Burns’ children and is quickly learning to play the harmonica Rich gave him. He can’t hear conversation but is able to hear enough of the music to enjoy it.

Soon after arriving in Mlengeni yesterday, and while the church was being swept out in preparation for the Walk through the Old Testament Seminar, Rich played his harmonica for a small group of children. When Rich stopped for a breather, I asked the children to sing for us. A woman inside a hut heard me trying to say, “You sing,” and came out to interpret. She was able to convince the children to bless us with beautiful African music. We were in awe of small children who knew how to be the lead singers as other children chimed in with their parts. How beautiful! How God must be blessed by their praises!

And how we continue to be blessed by the African worship! The seminar began, as all will, with lively African praises. Though we can’t sing the Chewa words, we love joining in with the clapping, motions and spirit of worship. By the time worship, prayer and introductions were over, the small group had grown into a good sized crowd. I was privileged to get to sit among the women on their side a few rows back this time instead of up front as I needed to at our seminar the day before. Rich stayed at the back on the men’s side, often accompanied by children from the village who ventured inside to join in the motions that go with the teaching.

Some of the adults were a little more hesitant at first to join in the motions, but gradually warmed up to the idea. The motion based teaching couldn’t have been a better system for Rich and I not knowing the language. I was spellbound by Pastor Kalolo’s animated way of interpreting Pastor Brian’s teaching.. For those of you who attended the seminar at CCF, this one began with the beach ball demonstration and the diagram of the Old Testament structure. That chart, as well as posters Pastor Brian painted on Sunday of the books of the Pentateuch, were clothes pinned to a line strung across the front. It was fun practicing the motions with them to learn main events of the Old Testament. Pastor Brian connected well with the people and his first seminar was a great success.

Mid morning we broke for water and a snack of rolls passed out row by row. We drank bottled water, but the others drank from plastic cups we brought in the back of the pickup. Soon after his roll, Rich began having some stomach trouble that, thankfully, got better as the day went on instead of worse.

When I went to call Rich for lunch, I found him playing his harmonica in the back of the pickup surrounded by about 50 children all clapping in time to the music. By this time, Rich had developed the system of playing one song and then enjoying a song by all of them. And so it went throughout the rest of the day whenever he found an opportunity.

Even though he backed out of the meal at the pastor’s home, due to the previously mentioned stomach trouble, he was able to share in the visiting there. So far, our village meals had been served in the church buildings. This time, it was great to be in a home, though it was much larger and nicer than the typical. We enjoyed visiting with the several pastors in attendance. And the food was excellent, the best Malawian food we’ve had besides what the Burns have prepared.

Following lunch, Pastor Brian took questions from the trainees as the first day’s worth of Walk Through training was completed earlier. Most of the questions concerned marriage. God gave Pastor wisdom and he was able to direct them to the Bible for answers. May God lead these people to follow God’s ways in their marriages. This is very difficult in their culture and a great need for prayer.

Around 4:00, we all piled into Chet’s pickup again, only this time 13 extras hopped up in the back for lifts to their homes. Many had walked for miles in the morning to attend. Other attendees had arrived on bikes. One pastor rides his bike about 1 1/2 hours. Singing from the back of the pickup blessed us riding on the inside. Pastor Kalolo also thought of English hymns for Rich to play on the inside of the truck. Those in the back would bang on the truck when we reached their stop so Chet would pull over.

Near home, Chet stopped to buy vegetables at the huge market that stretched out along both sides of the road. Rich and I hopped out too to cross the street into the Mozambique side of the market just so we can say now we’ve been in Mozambique.

Entering the Burns’ gate is like coming to an oasis. Maggie, the dog, and the other 3 of the Burns’ 9 children come running. (look for more about the Burns’ children in a later blog entry.) They played baseball with Abusa Boone coaching until dark, which comes at 6:00. We feasted on another scrumptious Burns meal of chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes and peas. Then after viewing the photos, we tumbled into bed about an hour earlier than normal, very tired from the full and rewarding day.

Walk Thru Bible - Day 1

We went to a new village area today called Mlengeni. It was a more overcast day and was slightly cooler. Although it was cold for the Malawians, it was quite comfortable for the Seattleites.

The Walk Thru program was a huge hit. It was such a kick to see the people doing all the hand motions with gusto and learning all the key ideas in Chichewa. In fact, I told the group today that they are the first group ever to learn the Walk Thru program in the Chichewa language! What special plans the Lord must have for them.

Today was part 1. We made it through all of the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible). I will come back to this same church next Tuesday for part 2.

As always, the worship today was simply amazing. These Africans know how to do it! They even had me dancing with them again today. There is a soft spot in my heart for the exuberance in worship – and they do it so effortlessly.

Lunch today was wonderful. I liked it most because they allowed us to choose as much as we wanted. In previous days, they have “pre-loaded” our plates. And we are talking lumber-jack quantities! Today was perfect – and we were honored to eat in the pastor’s house.

Today they asked us to close the time with questions and answers. I thought it would be a few quick questions and we would be gone. No – these people stayed for more than an hour with question after question. Here were a few of the interesting questions they asked:
Can a man divorce his wife if she has gone mad?
Did Jacob sin when he married Leah and then Rachel?
What was the job of the Levites and Priests?

These people are hungry for the word of God. And for many of them, it is likely the first course they have ever taken that is an overview of the Scriptures. It was a great day!

Prayer for Rich

Rich has a great day with the children of the village today. He played the harmonica and they followed him around like the pied-piper! It was quite a scene. However, he had some intestinal struggles. On top of that, his sleep patterns are still not right. Rich has been hitting a wall around 6pm each night. Then he wakes up around 3am without being able to go to sleep. Pray for his strength and for his ability to get onto a normal sleep rhythm.

Internet is Spotty

Internet was out almost all day yesterday. That's why I put up multiple posts this morning (it is 6:30am here in Malawi on Tuesday).

We head off in another hour to my first session with the pastors for Walk Thru. I will try to post some pictures tonight... if we have "connectivity."

Your prayers are coveted.

NOTE - For those communicating with the Husbys, please use their Juno account. For some reason, they cannot access Comcast.

1st Day for Husby's Teaching

We drove today to the first church where the Husbys were training childrens’ workers. There were 50 people who came – an even split between men and women. Oh, and by the way, men always sit on the left side of the church with women on the right.

Once again, church led off with some absolutely awesome singing. Rich joked that Malawians will be the worship leaders in heaven. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

Rich and Marla did a great job of helping workers see how to develop a children’s Sunday school lesson. They even pretended at one point that the attendees were children and took them outside for games! The Malawians thought all this was great fun!

Rich and Marla teach this same thing again on Thursday. So they are busy making a few mid-course corrections to make their seminar even better. I know they would appreciate your prayers for understanding exactly what the Malawian workers need.

Jesus is the Sema of Life

You may all wonder what we are eating? I know Denise was worried for me about that. First off, Leanne Burns is a fantastic cook. We eat all breakfasts at her home, along with all dinners. Tonight we had sloppy joes with fresh cooked veggies and a scalloped potatoes dish. All very yummy. Snickerdoodle cookies were for dessert. So along with the gorgeous weather (75 degrees) and the good food, we are not really suffering for Jesus!

Each day for lunch however, we are eating Malawian food. Their main staple is sema (see-ma). It is corn maize that is ground and then cooked into a paste. It is white and looks a lot like very firm mashed potatoes. Malawians eat it twice a day! They combine sema with some meat and usually cooked vegetables (often times cabbage or shredded pumpkin leaves). Malawians use their hands to roll the sema into a ball and use it like a scoop to enjoy the other side dishes.

Okay, I’ll be honest. We all don’t think sema is amazing. We tolerate it. And what makes it rough is that they fill an entire plate with it! But I think they understand that zungus (that’s the word for white person) don’t appreciate it like they do.

We know Jesus as the Bread of Life. Malawians would definitely say that Jesus is their Sema of Life. He is the one that they rely upon for daily sema.

We saw DANCING in a Baptist Church!

Wow, this Baptist church was hoppin' baby! We arrived at the church by traveling on a dirt road about a half and hour from the Burns'. The church was located in a valley where you could imagine vast herds of zebra, gazelle, and lions roaming years ago. Today, it is lined with huts with thatched roofs. Ladies with water jugs on their heads walked on the roads, coming from the wells sprinkled throughout the valley.

My translator for the day was Abusa Peery. He is a seminary grad from the big city (Lilongwe). He has begun a pastor's training program in this rural area. Abusa Peery and I prepared the communion elements. This Baptist church has not taken communion in months because they are without a pastor. So today would be a special day. We poured a red liquid like cool-aid into small communion cups (obviously washed and recycled). But the red liquid was an palpable reminder that we share Christ in common. His blood covers over all peoples.

The service began with hymn singing. They used a paper backed Chichewa hymn book. But then the service hit a second gear. Choirs came forward to give their music numbers that had been practiced all week. It was usually music combined with dance! In fact, during one number Pastor Peery grabbed me by the arm and we did a dance to the song along with others!

I preached from 2Kings 22. The life of Josiah and his "rediscovery" of The Book. As part of our application, we gave them 5 new Bibles. We discovered that only a small portion of the people have a Bible. We will be giving five Bibles to each church where I preach.

I must go now. It is childrens' ministries day. And I will post pictures too.