Progress Report Fom Salima (Malawi)

The work of the Lord here in Salima is moving, though at a snail’s pace. We thank the Lord, who never fails, for giving us strength to cast the never-dying seed of His word. It is because of His empowering that we can see numbers growing. Our efforts fail at times and we sometimes feel discouraged, but God has always given us comfort and hope so that we do not despair – our work is to sow. But as human beings we tend to look back, calculate the time spent, and the area worked and compare it with the harvest. Oh, what a total failure and we pack up our spades and call it a day. That is, indeed what we do. However, when we grow to maturity, that situation does not, and should not, make us feel weak, or useless, or failures, or that we are not doing it right. The apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:8, “I have learnt to think like a matured person, so that every situation becomes a learning tool, be it good or bad”. This should help us examine carefully why the work is not progressing as expected, including self-examination. What sort of behaviour do we portray to those around our home, our work place, during festivities or during sad times? How honest are we? Do we boast at being more knowledgeable in the word of God? To count the number of years one has been working and compare them with what one has accumulated can be good to serve as a warning to either speed-up or apply brakes. With time, we learn to be patient which can bring much joy. For myself, I recall how I started alone, where there was not even a mention of ‘Christadelphians’ as a church. I knelt before the Lord and He gave me one to encourage me. Later on, my wife learnt of the way and made her decision to join us. Now we are a congregation composed of those who understand the teaching and embrace it. All this has taken time, and not only time, but perseverance. An interesting thing is that these trying times are interspersed with encouraging events: those who at first stood against us on matters of doctrine come to join us or invite us to their homes to share with them the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. An encouraging example is the wonderful ceremony we had on Sunday, 15th January, when we had five baptised by Bro. Jonas Ngwanda at Sengabay ecclesia in the fresh waters of Lake Malawi, they are our new Brethren: MPHATSO MAYIMBA, ROBERT PETANI, JOSEPH MAKHAMADZI and CHAWALA KUCHIPALA and Sister E. CHAWALA (the last two being husband and wife). I enclose photographs for the Magazine for the encouragement of our family of Christadelphians world wide. Lastly, may I encourage all of our dear fellow-labourers in the field of the Lord to work hard and act with sense of maturity as we patiently await his appearing.

Photo: Baptisms of Robert Petani, Sis E.Chawala & Bro Mphatso Mayimba

Photo: More Salima baptisms; Joseph Makhamadzi and Chawala Kuchipala

Bro. George E. Mayimba Nkhoma