Visit Every City

August 22nd, 2023

One of the tasks I had hoped to accomplish on this trip was to hold a mini ministerial conference in Malawi. I had hopes of also including the pastor of Zimbabwe, Mabasa Chichaya, but the timing didn’t work out well. He is currently overseeing the work done on the new property there that will hopefully be completed for the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles. Thankfully there are some future opportunities that he and his wife will hopefully be able to take part in.

Instead of trying to stretch the conference into two days of lectures and meetings, I decided that we should all travel together to visit the brethren in Mayaka which we did on Monday. My hopes were that such a trip would give us some time with one another in a more relaxed but relevant situation. It also would give us all a chance to meet more brethren and also see the different challenges faced in different congregations. While all three elders and their wives have have traveled to most every region of the country, and they do stay in communication with one another, there isn’t as much ministerial travel between the central and southern regions as there once was. There’s also something unique about seeing each other face-to-face and traveling together that can’t quite be achieved over phone calls and video conferences.

Our conference started soon after 9am. We sometimes joke about starting events and meetings on Africa time or Malawi time, but this time it was the Malawians who were more on time than the Americans. While I didn’t want to cut our time short, I wasn’t too concerned with a rigid schedule since many of the discussions I had hoped to have with these men and their wives I had already. This was a chance to go over some educational material together and also a chance for all to ask questions and express their concerns. I’ve had the chance to be involved in board meetings in Malawi (actually that’s one of the first things I did soon after our arrival in 2017) but this was a chance to meet with just the elders and their wives.

An elder’s wife plays an essential role in his ministry. My wife helps me in more ways than I even realize. There are certain people who confide in her more easily than they do in me which means she has an opportunity to encourage them or counsel with them because they trust her and feel comfortable with her. My wife is also more perceptive than I am. We each approach the same situation differently and can help one another to better serve God’s people by working together in a more balanced way. It’s no different here in Malawi despite cultural differences that sometimes dictate how men and women interact, as well as the roles they fill in society, in their homes, and within a congregation.

During the conference we went through material related to identifying and mentoring future leaders — pastoral and otherwise — in the congregations. We also looked at the biblical precedent for and importance of visiting brethren on a regular basis. Not just limited to the widows and those who need to be anointed or have need of emergency counseling, but as many members as possible. Sometimes this can be done while accompanied by another individual such as a deacon or non-ordained member, but there’s also a strong need everywhere for pastors to take opportunities to visit with the members of their congregations one-on-one. I should note that pastors should try to avoid meeting with women by themselves to avoid even the appearance of anything inappropriate (this is where it’s great to have a wife who can accompany her husband).

Another topic covered included the biblical examples of organizational structures used to lead the people of God throughout history, and the organizational structure of UCG based on those examples. After the lecturing was over, we discussed any issues among the congregations as well as future youth camp plans, land registration updates, and potential opportunities to preach the gospel to all of Malawi. Even though expenses are constantly increasing here, so is the infrastructure and access to technology. More people have electricity more consistently and the cellphone networks are also more reliable than in the past which means more people are able to access information on the internet more easily and more efficiently. This might be a good time for sermons in Chichewa to be placed on the internet. Who knows how many additional people might be reached through that effort!

At the General Conference of Elders earlier this year, Gracious and Loney were honored for serving in the ministry for 10 years. Gracious was ordained as an elder in 2012 and has served his brethren in the capacity of a pastor since that time. Just as I have noted about my own spouse, Loney has been an indispensable part of Gracious’s ministry. Of course this was true even as he served as a deacon before that and as a regular member of the congregation before that. Their family (especially on Loney’s side) were among some of the earliest members of the Church of God in Malawi in the modern era. They have quite a few stories to tell about the ups and downs of the Church of God in this country.

At the GCE I was given two cards. Each card was intended for an elder who was being honored for 10 years of service as an elder. One card was for Mike Mukarati in Zimbabwe and the other for Gracious (two 10-year pins were included in his to also honor Loney). As soon as I received both cards I put them in a secure inner zipper in my backpack. In the months that followed, I kept reminding myself that they were there and also that I should probably take that backpack with me on my next trip to Africa. I had remembered to pull the card out for Mike as soon as we reached his house in Mutare. But I had forgotten to present Gracious and Loney with their card and pins during the conference as I had intended to do. I could have just handed the card to them as we sat talking later that afternoon, but I wanted the presentation to be at least somewhat formal. Thankfully we had planned to be together with the Chapamba’s, Haiton, and Ruth Elia (deaconess from Lilongwe) for dinner that evening.

The guesthouse where we ate had coffee ready to be brewed. Unfortunately for Nick I made some terribly strong coffee which I thoroughly enjoyed. As we sat and waited for the food to arrive, we reminisced about our families, how we met one another, some of our shared memories, and also about the work of the Church. It was a very pleasant evening even though our food was late. There was only one man cooking all of the food including fish, chicken, and beef which are all prepared differently and cook at differing speeds. Patricia and Ruth ended up going in the kitchen to help the cook finish the meals. To our surprise, Nick and I ended up with chicken and rice instead of the beef we had ordered. Gladly we ate the delicious chicken and thought no more about it. When we were nearly finished with the meal, the cook walked out of the back carrying two small bowls of beef and vegetables. We ended up sharing the beef with everyone. That might have been the best part of the meal!

When dinner was finally over we headed outside to enjoy the view, take a few photos, and say goodbye to those who would be leaving for Lilongwe in the morning. It is always a pleasure to be reunited with brethren and always sad when we have to part ways. But if we didn’t go, we wouldn’t be able to come back!

– Lewis VanAusdle

PS – I didn’t mention that Lena and I had stayed at the same guesthouse where these folks stayed while in Blantyre — the Chinyonga Guesthouse. Back then the driveway was just as difficult to get in and out of, but the owners have sure put a lot of effort (and a lot of money) into renovating the place. It looks fantastic now! I hardly recognized it.