Preaching & Teaching

This week I began teaching The Bible and Missions at AGST (Assemblies of God School of Theology), and this morning I am the speaker in the chapel service.  I will be preaching on the text 2 Samuel 6:1-11.  It is the story of King David bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem.  You may remember that Uzzah put his hand out to steady the Ark when the cart it was on began to shake.  It was there that God struck Uzzah dead. 

There may be a lot of reasons for this disaster, but surely one has to be the fact that the Ark had been in Uzzah's home most all of his life.  The Ark was holy, and God had given very specific instructions as to care and handling of the Ark.  Somehow, Uzzah must have forgotten that he was not allowed to touch the Ark with his hands.  When we are around something everyday of our life, it has a tendency to become commonplace to us.  We must be very careful to not let the things of God become commonplace in our lives.  I wish you could be here for chapel this morning!

Tomorrow morning Fredna and I will be traveling about two and one half hours to the north in order to preach a revival at Mkaika trading center.  Our friends Taza & Mayamiko Biza are pastoring there, and have asked us to come show the Jesus Film and preach.  The wife, Mayamiko, is actually the pastor of the church.  We will be taking three students from the Bible school with us on this trip.  These students will be part of a practicum for the class that I am teaching.  We will show half the film on Friday evening, then preach.  Saturday morning and afternoon there will be teaching sessions.  Then on Saturday night we will show the remainder of the film and preach.  Sunday morning will be a great celebration of the efforts put forth for this revival.  Please pray with us that many will be saved, and delivered from a life of sin.  The story and pictures to follow!

Did I ever say that we LOVE weekends in Malawi?!!

Crusade Weekend

This past week I preached a crusade in the city of Blantyre.  Kanjedza Assembly of God church, pastored by Abusa George Samuel, is one of the oldest A/G churches in Malawi.  Pastor Samuel and Kanjedza A/G have planted 36 churches across the border in Mozambique.  Each year he brings those pastors, along with any of the church people that can make the trip, to Blantyre for an annual conference.  The Mozambicans make their way to the Malawi border and are then picked up by some of the church members and brought to Blantyre. 

For a week these people are fed both spiritually and physically.  They sleep in the church each night.  It is really a highlight for these believers! The ladies of the church worked very hard to prepare a good meal for the guests each day.  One cow and about 25 to 30 chickens made up the protein portion of the meals. 

The conference/crusade began on Wednesday night with Rev. Edward Chitsonga preaching.  Thursday through Saturday each day began with teaching sessions in the morning and afternoon, then the night service.  Rev. Chitsonga and I shared the preaching responsibilities with each of us preaching about 7 times in three days, and it was GREAT! 

The Mozambicans came with two different choirs.  Each did a fantastic job!  The musical instruments were all homemade and produced a wonderful sound.  I tried to buy the one-string stand-up bass, but the owner told me that he could not sell it.  He would gladly make me one, but I would have to travel to Mozambique in order to retrieve it.

Guess what, I have been invited to go to Mozambique next year to hold several crusades at the villages where the pastors live.  I can't wait!  The pastors were very excited that I would be willing to make a trip to the rural area of Mozambique to preach for them. 

The second choir's instruments were homemade and produced an amazing sound as well.  I guess it just goes to show that you don't really have to have a Fender to make good music after all!

This is a six-string guitar.  The fret board is a bent wire that sticks up about 1/8 of an inch off the board.  The calluses on this guy's fingers were incredible.  But, again, the music was wonderful!

Between each service the people would try their best to rest.  They were not particular where that was either! When you are tired, one place is as good as any. 

These are some of the babies (with their mothers) that were in attendance this past week.

I am so glad that I was invited to be part of this crusade.  It was a wonderful experience being able to minister to and to encourage these pastors, their wives, and all the others that attended.  I really am looking forward to the possibility of making a ministry trip into Mozambique next year!