Visit Every City

August 26th, 2023

“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13-14).

If only we all understood this passage and took it to heart. If only we had such faith to believe our Creator at His word. Could you imagine the rain in due season that would fall on the fields in Malawi if all of its inhabitants turned to God and sought the truth? What about the massive healing that might occur if true faith and repentance was found within its borders? Could you imagine the peace that would flow from country to country, from neighbor to neighbor if everyone looked out for the interests of others and not only for their own? The weekly Sabbath, the one day every week that is holy to God, is supposed to be a glimpse into the future time that will truly be that way.

I missed the bus ride with Dan and Nick to pick up more than 40 (maybe closer to 50?) people for services from a few places in town. I was preparing my notes for the sermon and enjoying a moment of quiet when I realized that people should be arriving soon if they hadn’t started to arrive already. I’d been waiting to see the inside of the UCG Blantyre Coaster since the moment we first arrived. Thankfully, if there would be room for me, I’d get my chance after services.

I stepped outside of the house and headed for the church hall. Only a few people were there, just a few familiar faces there to greet me so far. Mr. Dickson Chiwaya and Mr. Peter Kawinga were there early chatting with one another. Mr. Chiwaya was one of the first people I remember meeting at the hall when it was still under construction in 2017 on our first trip to Blantyre. If I remember correctly, he was supervising the construction. Mr. Kawinga and I have stayed in touch off and on for several years. He is a farmer who is hard-working and always interested in learning new techniques that he might be able to put into practice. Slowly a few more people arrived, and then larger crowds as the coaster and a minibus or two dropped more of the brethren off.

By the time services had begun, there were about 120 of us in the hall. The building can hold at least double that number by my brief estimations, but that was a record for Sabbath services in Blantyre. As usual I’m sure a few people came since there would be guests. And of course most of the brethren from Mayaka had come all the way to spend the Sabbath with their brethren. The distance and the cost of transportation prevent them from coming regularly, but at least a few of them to make the trip about once a month to hear a live sermon, to fellowship with brethren, and to represent everyone else. Many times Mr. Namatapanya will be one of the representatives. He’ll hear the messages and take back with him what he has learned to teach his brethren in Bible studies.

One positive aspect of the Malawian culture that has made its way into the Church of God is the fact that almost everyone greets everyone else with a handshake. I’ve seen this happen over and over again. If a few people arrive early and sit in their seats, others will come around and personally greet them. “Muli bwanji?” “Ndili bwino. Nanga inu?” “Ndili bwino. Zikomo.” “Zikomo.” (“How are you?” “I’m fine. What about you?” “I’m fine. Thank you.” “Thank you.”) As the crowd grows individuals will go around and greet as many people as possible. It’s the same in large groups or in small ones, although with 120 people, including small children playing with their friends, it can be a daunting task.

With all of the greetings well underway, and with most people seated and the sound crew finished setting up the microphones, services started. The goal is always to start at exactly 10:30am but with many people arriving on public transportation, and the unpredictable nature of traffic in Blantyre on a Saturday, we managed to start just before 11am. The struggle to begin services on time is very relatable coming from NYC where a 15 minute drive might take an hour, and a nice simple subway ride across town is probably going to be disrupted by weekend schedule changes or something happening further down the line.

Dennis Chinangwa led songs at services. He has an unmistakable and unforgettable baritone voice that carries across the room easily. He is a minibus driver who typically gives some brethren rides to and from services each week. His wife Flora is a deaconess who serves in all sorts of ways including leading the children’s choir. We had two pieces of special music after Nick’s sermonette. The first was a song about the Sabbath performed by the children’s choir, and the second song, performed by the Blantyre adult choir, was about hope in the resurrections. Daniel Ringo translated for the sermonette and the sermon. Gracious gave announcements, making a special point to thank the Good Works team and LifeNets for their help for many years in supporting the congregation.

I had asked Gracious what topic to choose for the sermon, knowing of course that he tries to keep up with the challenges that brethren face in Blantyre. There might have been many potential topics which would have been a benefit, but he asked me to speak about the Feast of Tabernacles. I think everyone in all of the congregations of God’s people all over the world looks forward to the Feast. There are, however, times when people choose work and school over keeping this commanded assembly. There are also those who choose not to save their second tithe for various reasons, and others who don’t really have much of an income to speak of to tithe much on. All of our excuses (save those who can’t physically travel due to illness or age) are simply excuses. God provides a way for His people to come together for His Feasts if we are faithful in following His instructions. I decided to talk about the difference between man made festivals and celebrations that might seem religious and might seem pleasing to God, but in reality are empty of truth and of hope for mankind. I also briefly went through the annual festivals of God explaining that if we fail to keep them then we fail to truly understand the plan’s God has for saving mankind from sin and death. I also explained that if we stop keeping theses feasts, we will soon forget even what we understand and claim to believe.

After services I had the chance to talk with a few of the Namatapanya men and even got a photo of those who had made it to services. I also chatted with Osborne Liyao (a deacon I had first met in Zambia in 2011) and a few other men, talking about the state of the country of Malawi and the changes I’d noticed in the past year. Just before the snacks were served, I sat with some of the young men and we talked about life plans, life challenges, foods from different places, travel, and all sorts of topics.

In Blantyre there are about 20 single young men of various ages, many of whom are in college or have graduated and are searching for jobs. In contrast I’ve been told there are about 8 single young women who are of a similar age. Today there were only 5 young women there. All of them were diligently serving in the kitchen with some of the older or married women. When they sat down to eat, I joined them. I wanted to find out a little more about their challenges, their hopes, their plans, as young women. They are slightly younger than many of the young men. They are all still in school, planning to graduate, find work, become independent, support their parents, and then start their own families. It was very insightful to hear their thoughts and observations about why there are so few of them consistently there. Many young women in Malawi marry at a very young age, even dropping out of school to do so. Some marry outside of the faith and typically follow the religion of their husbands. Some finish school, find jobs in other places, and make the decision not to follow after their parents and leave the Church. Many of these same struggles are faced by all of the young adults in all of the congregations all over the world.

At one point Dannil Hussein brought out his new guitar, plugged it into the sound system, and began accompanying a few people singing hymns. I asked the young ladies if they could sing. They said they could and then demonstrated by singing a very well harmonized song together. It’s obvious that they have practiced quite a few times and have sung together before. We decided to join the young men who were singing. We sang for a while and then some more ladies joined in. We had a whole crowd of people singing!

We finally stopped singing when it was time for the bus load of brethren to be driven near their homes or to bus stops where they could catch a minibus home. Before heading out, Mr. and Mrs. Hussein, who have 10 children of various ages including Dannil, wanted to pull Nick and me aside to express their gratitude for the guitar for their son. They have high hopes for their children. They understand what it means to be helped by their brethren and have themselves been faithful with what they have been given. They hope their children will do the same.

It was quite an experience squeezing myself into the front passenger seat of the coaster. Nick sat in the jump seat next to me. Cozily we watched the beauty of the mountainous sunset scenery of Blantyre as Dan diligently dropped off his brethren here and there. The last stop was for the Chiumbuzo family. Chifundo Chiumbuzo serves in various ways in the congregation. We’ve been told he has a whole bunch of siblings. We met two of his sisters in the congregation. They all of children who typically attend services with them, as well as some of their extended family. At the last stop we probably dropped off 30 members of the Chiumbuzo family. It’s great to see so many from such a large family coming together to worship God on His weekly Feast Day!

After everyone else had gone, we enjoyed our last evening in Blantyre with the Ringo household. Each night before bed they gather in their living room and pray together, asking God to continue to bless them and thanking Him for the blessings they have already received. After the prayer and another hour of chatting with Dan and Carol (and Dekha) I called my wife and then tried to get some sleep. We leave for home tomorrow afternoon. I had a lot of things on my mind including emails, phone calls, and text messages from home, some of the conversations I’d had with the members and elders in Malawi, and of course mentally packing my bags so it would be easier to actually accomplish in the morning.

– Lewis VanAusdle