In the circle

Once again, we had an awesome training week, now in the southern tip of Malawi.
This group was different again. This time there were also women. They helped the pastor’s wife with cooking and also attended the lessons in the afternoon. One of the pastors couldn’t come because he has a job as a contractor, so he sent his wife as his representative.
The news that azungu (white people) had come to teach quickly spread, of course, so pastors from other churches in the area also came to listen. So every day the group varied and it was a bit of a challenge to maintain a structure in the lessons. But the Lord knew what to do. Stay flexible!

We were allowed to use the nearby church building of another church. But it was so hot that we often preferred to sit in a circle under the tree with a breeze at the local pastor’s house in the afternoon. We used the church building for our cinema to show the Farming God’s Way videos. So, we regularly walked with our plastic chairs to the shade of a tree or to the church for a movie screening.

Nsanje is quite green and has many trees. This is because there have been several tree planting projects in the past. Unfortunately, we now see that various trees are again being killed for firewood. And whether new ones will be planted is probably a very Western question.
We are heading into the rainy season, so temperatures are rising to 35 degrees (95 F). It hasn’t rained for months, but the first shower fell this week, which of course evaporated immediately.

The people find it remarkable that God has sent azungu specially to them to teach them from His Word and help them find better ways to work the land. They are very grateful that we, as white people, are willing to sit in their little houses and eat their cooked food.
There was also a lot of giggling on the second day when we could name the names of all the participants. They lit up and felt seen.

On one of these days, we taught about the “3 circles” (see video). A simple way to share the good news of Jesus with someone using a simple drawing. No modern technology in an African village, just creativity with a stick and the ground. This caused a lot of laughter, because one person came up with five circles, another drew a beautiful dove, and yet another mixed everything up.

Amanda was explaining the ‘3 circles’ step by step to the eager students under the tree when the nearby school finished. Of course, as an azungu, you are a very special sight in a village far from the big city. For many, it is the first time they see a white person.
So a cloud of dust approached, and it wasn’t long before our circle was completely surrounded by a hundred young people. God had something special in mind. He sent a curious horde.
So the lesson under the tree suddenly turned into a spontaneous evangelism service.
The story of God came to life from the earth, and the whole group listened breathlessly. When asked who wanted to give their lives to Jesus, about 20 young people responded seriously, and together we prayed to God. How wonderful are God’s ways!

But God wasn’t done with the “3 circles” yet! On the second-to-last day, one of the students presented the “3 circles” to the group. And at the end, we taught them to ask the listener if they already knew if they were restored with God through Jesus and how they should deal with that. And there was Petro.

Petro is a church member and had attended the lessons all week. Petro cannot read, but had absorbed everything attentively. He indicated that he was still in the broken world and was ready to repent of his sins and give his life to the Lord. He indicated that through the 3 circles he had finally understood the good news of Jesus and understood what steps were expected of him to respond to God’s love. Hallelujah!
Together we prayed a prayer of surrender to God. And the next morning, the whole group walked together to the river, and Petro was baptized on the basis of his choice for the Lord, together with the pastor’s son, who wanted to leave his old life behind and continue with Jesus!

The celebration was complete with a certificate for all participants and Bibles for all believers in their churches. In short, it was an intense and successful week.
Only two more weeks and another training session ahead of us, and then we will set foot on Dutch soil again.