It was a very full weekend of ministry. Friday, I drove to Zomba in the afternoon. Early Saturday morning, Chiudza Banda and I drove to Thucila to visit a church in the trading center. Abusa (Pastor) Banda is the Divisional Director of the Southeast Division of the Malawi Assemblies of God, and pastors the Zomba Assembly of God Church.
Abusa Jeamy M’bwana pastors Dunamis Temple Assembly of God in Thucila, and has been asking for me to visit there for many months. Thucila will be the site of one of the new extension centers that we are building in Malawi. Pastor M’bwana was expecting us on Saturday morning – more so then we thought! It was market day in Thucila, which means that everyone was either selling or buying. But not the members of Dunamis Temple. They were all gathered at the church waiting for our arrival. The small church was packed, and the excitement was overwhelming. The District Superintendent was there, the Deputy Divisional Director was there, the Divisional Director was there, and the missionary was there. It truly was a humbling experience for me, since it seemed that we held some special celebrity status to the members.
The District Superintendent opened the service with special introductions. He was so excited to introduce all the “dignitaries”. The Divisional Director spoke first, giving an encouraging word for the congregation. Then the church had a special presentation from the ladies group called the OMC’s. The pastor then gave a summary of the church’s outreaches, dreams, and vision for the next several years. After this, I was introduced. I too left them with a word of encouragement, and told them that we should be able to start construction within a short time. We left a very happy group of people that morning! They were shouting, dancing, praising God in every way imaginable.
We drove back to Zomba in order to conduct a leadership seminar at the church. I love investing in church leaders. The rewards are great. After the seminar, Abusa Banda and I visited two more churches in the area, then visited another of the local pastors. It was a great day!
Sunday morning I preached at Pastor Banda’s church to a group of at least 500 – 600 people. The service was wonderful, and the presence of the Lord was very real. Hundreds came to the altar at the end of the service and that never gets old to me!