news from malawi
BALAKA
I received the books you sent including the health book Where Women Have No Doctor”. As you told me in your letter I gave this to the health officer of our community for use. She finds it very helpful and it gives her more knowledge so that the women in our community will be healthier than before. I wish to record my deep thanks for the spiritual encouragement you give me through the books, lectures and letters you send to me. Troubles come to everyone; people experience moments of fear, worry and apprehension as the pattern of their life is disturbed by the unexpected or by events over which they have little or no control. When this happens what do we do? You encouraged me that the immediate and natural reaction should be to turn to God and ask for His help. The scripture abounds with examples of the caring, all-embracing love of God for His people. We have this assurance that he cares for us, that He will never fail nor forsake us and that He will always be with us and above all we have the gift of his peace. When problems arise that threaten the very foundation of our lives, let us turn in the first instance to the living God and ask Him to help us bear our burdens. Jesus said “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). He will not let us down but will assist us through our difficulties until we emerge once more into the light which Jesus sheds on our way. “Hear my voice, O God, in my prayers, preserve my life from fear of the enemy” Ps 64:1.
Bro. Edson Makwecha
BOLERO
We are saddened to report the death of Bro Brian Mzikila Gondwe of this ecclesia from the effects of TB. Brian was for many years a deeply committed servant of the Lord and certainly made a name for himself in the area of writing spiritual poems, hymns and letters from Zomba Central Prison. Brian will be sadly missed in the congregation of the servants of the Lord. He was 33 years old.
I pray hard for Tumbuka Bible Basics to exist, as most here speak Tumbuka language and we only have a few Tumbuka Bibles. Please send me the study paper on circumcision froma medical and scriptural point of view. We need Chichewa and English Hymn books and Chichewa Bibles.
Tomorrow waits
Today will have an ending,
Tomorrow starts anew.
Another chance to start again.
When all our plans fell through,
Though sun may set on every scheme,
And fall we often may,
Tomorrow’s sun will rise again,
To show this is your day.
Though days will have an ending,
God will His son be sending
Tomorrow waits for you.
Bro. Lukanga Nyomiro
Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks for the book entitled Where There Is No Doctor, it arrived safely without any problem. I was happy to read from the Gospel News about a dictionary/Thesaurus which I hope can assist me through my Bible lessons which I have not finished.
Bro. Stuart Gondwe
Bro. Stuart Gondwe
Warmest greetings in the truth we share in the Name of almighty Jesus Christ. With thanks for your letters of the end of November and the current news of the Middle East. Indeed the days are escalating to the end and we should be looking, always because the coming King will judge us with just judgement upon whatever we did. Please keep on writing to me. We are three Brothers here, Luke, Furasani K. and myself. I am taller than Luke and Luke is taller than Furasani K. I am preparing for marriage; I have burnt bricks but resources of cement have become a stumbling-block because I want to build a house containing three bedrooms, bathroom, toilet and kitchen.
Bro. Godwin Banda
DOMASI
Thank you very much for the ten English Bible Basics which I gave out to friends and they are very happy to have them. Some others need books in Chichewa.
Bro. R. Kawonga
JALI
Thank you for the Chichewa Bible Basics and the Middle East update and I am looking forward to having more and more updates concerning the Middle East as we are waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am happy to let you know that I am now working under DAPP Malawi as a TCE Field Officer and I am working within my community. My task is to mobilise, educate and inform people to be aware of the threat of HIV Aids epidemic so it is a door-to-door, inter person mobilisation. Another piece of good news is that I have newly-born twin boys and they and mother are well. More about the keeping of rabbits, they are now breeding well.
Bro. Lucky F. Mbalale
Bro. Lucky F. Mbalale
KASUNGU
Loving greetings in the glorious hope of Israel. Thank you very much for the dictionary sent to us and for your regular remembrance. May God be with you, prosper you and guide you by your way of encouragement in our walk together towards our Heavenly Father’s glorious kingdom soon to be established on this grief-stricken earth. With regard to tapes, they are very good indeed but the problem is that batteries re very
expensive and my tape recorder is not functioning very well nowadays. We don’t have electricity to use but I suggest that if one buys a car battery and has a good tape recorder he can still use them. Of course people have got solar electricity in the villages but for us we still use an oil lamp. At present we are receiving such heavy rain that most of the houses are falling down, but crops in the field are very good despite much rain. As you have rightly said, the farmer can never be sure until the harvest is safely gathered in. We have been blessed with two baptisms; Bre. Reuben Peter Banda and Maxwell Mbewe. Bro. Reuben is in his 60s and Bro. Maxwell is 20 years old. Although my house is very small to be used as a meeting place we are still using it because we are in the rainy season and we cannot pray in the open air. We meet for students’ Bible Course every Saturday from 2pm. and for Bible Class every Wednesday. Our ecclesia wants quality not quantity so we appreciate every book and notes for our instruction.
Bro.Harmony & Sis. Susan Ntchalachala
LILONGWE
I want to request the free Dictionary/Thesaurus, also ‘One Bible Many Churches’ and ‘Do Christians need Priests?’. I belong to Mtenthela Christadelphian Ecclesia and send greetings to all Brothers and Sisters. I am very depressed and suffering at this time but I decided to make this effort to greet you all and say I love you all in Jesus Christ.
Bro. Henderson M. Sosola
LIWONDE
I was very happy to receive this gift of seven books; indeed I am sure they will help me to know the power of God more. Please brother continue to help us because I and my family want to learn more concerning our God and Jesus Christ. Brother, last year you sent me a book heading line - Mfundo Zoonadi Zenizeni Buku Lopatulika. On page 110 – ‘Is the Gift of the Spirit is still working or not?’ When I read this page I undertstand. There is a debate between Bro. John Allfree and Pastor John Lilikas and I would like to know the result of this debate; can you please send it to me? I ask you to provide me with reading glasses please; my size is 2.50.
Bro. Michael Geoffrey Chisanga
MIGOWI
Please send more good magazines, Gospel News and an English and Chichewa Bible. Try to assist me in so many things so that I can grow spiritually. But, Brother, when I have finished my work, even my studies I like to make nursery beds, whereby I grow some vegetables. So I wondered if it is possible for you to send me some vegetable seeds like rape, mustard, onion, cabbage and any type of vegetable which you like to grow in England.
Bro. Maxwell Tebulo
I thank Bro. Keith Lowe for the Bible study he sent us here – I answered all the twelve questions and I have confidence he will tell us the result of our Bible study. I enclose a photo from Brothers who are worshipping here at Nachopwa Christadelphian Church. Nachopwa is the name of the village headman.
Bro. B. Kathumba
Chinani Ecclesia
MWANZA
As to the spiritual growth of our ecclesia, we wish to inform you that there are usually 65 Christians – 50 children; 10 baptised adults, at present; 5 non-baptised adults, totalling 65. We acknowledge receiving six English Bibles and four French Bibles, but, unfortunately, the box containing these books had already been torn – so we would like to know whether there should have been anything else in it. Brother, seeing that many of our brethren do not understand English, we beg you to send us Bibles in French and Swahili, plus some Christadelphian hymn books. Concerning the construction of our hall, we have already finished the building and have covered it with the plastic given us by the Zomba Mission . For lack of straw this plastic is already ruined because of the heat. We are sending you a photo of it as evidence.
Bre. John Abwe and Jafari Amisi
Bro John Abwe’s Family
Mwanza Ecclelsial Building
MZUZU I have written this letter to request a dictionary, written in English and a Bible. I have done this because most of the time I find it very difficult to read and understand some difficult or deep words written in English in some of the Christadelphian books. Here, in our country, Malawi, we do learn English but there is a very big problem in learning. Many of us learn English in schools and the more you go further with education the more you are going to learn English, so it depends on what type of family you come from as regards wealth. So many poor families decide to send their children to primary schools because they are free and when their children pass standard 8 and are going to start form 1 they cannot manage to pay the school fees for them; this is a very big problem to poor families. Now I ask for a dictionary so that I can be assisted in defining some words and identifying them. Many of your books are printed in English which is not our native language, so, as a Christadelphian member since I was baptised in 2005, I learn everything with difficulty just because I love and like knowing the real truth. Secondly, my Bible request, as some books of the gospels need some Bible references and verses with other supporting verses too which mean the same, I don’t have a real reliable Bible because many Bibles we have are cut short, like New Testament only and some Old Testament books are from Genesis to Ruth only and these cannot help at all. I want these two things so that I can be helped because they will stand as shields for everything I read, that can be sent from you. I remain your real Brother in Christ.
Bro. Dutch Mphayah
I would like to share with you the request of the young rich man in the gospel message: “What must I do to enter eternal life?” It seems to me that the man’s enquiry here was a genuine one, for he humbled himself as he seems to me that the man’s enquiry here was a genuine one, for he humbled himself as he approached Jesus unlike others who came to Jesus in order to put him to the test. Next we hear that Jesus loved him. We may assume that he loved him for being very frank. Hence the revelation to him of the one thing he lacked, “Go and sell all that you have and its revenue to be given to the poor.” Just these words showed truly the rich young man’s position – for his face was cast down. We may further assume the young man’s motive behind asking about eternal life. Maybe he wanted that eternal life for the purposes of enjoying his wealth and wealth was the young man’s weak spot. Let us admit here, we all have ‘one thing lacking’! It may be the same as that of our colleague in this story or a different one. And so as we come to realise that we are sinners, let us put ourselves in the positions of Peter’s hearers in Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19. Acts 10:43. Again Paul’s testimony in Acts 22:19. The message in all these verses is one of repentance and believing. If we really do this, the request of our colleague here will be ours and for good reason – of being in the Kingdom of God which is our most desired goal. Your brother in anticipation of Jesus.
Bro. Sylvester Tembo
NSANJE
Greetings in the all saving name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am very delighted to inform you that I have received with joy two cartons of different books and booklets and the book about miracles with your informative letter. Could you please send some Bible Reader’s Calendars for distribution to my students here. As you are aware, I have already done Introducing Bible Basics and the Bible Basics correspondence course, and if there is an extra course please send it for me, in order to improve my knowledge as a Bible Basics teacher. It is very nice to hear that you would like to send a free Dictionary/Thesaurus for us who send material to be printed in Gospel News and I will be very happy to receive this in order to understand the English language. We Gospel News readers thank God that our request for this, particularly as another tool, has been understood. Lastly, but not least, here the work of God is getting bigger and bigger. We are still establishing new ecclesias and baptising. The scripture says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19). May the Lord bless our united efforts to encourage people to get back to the Bible. Your Brother in the patient waiting for the Master.
Bro. Venancion Malata Phiri
NTCHEU
I am just recovering from malaria and stomach pains and was glad to receive your letter. I wanted to inform you that I have been released from Zomba Central Prison and am now at a home in Ntcheu district working with orphan and vulnerable children, the aged and those who are too ill to work.
Bro. Lytton E. Mkwaila
TENGANI
I like listening to Gospel Scriptures from the radio cassette as I asked in my first letter. I will be very happy if you can send me radio cassettes.
Bro. Elick Biyala
