Malawi

Malawi

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   We started our journey from Arusha, Tanzania, to Mzuzu, Malawi in the early morning hours on the 24th. (Read the Tanzania testimony). Our first flight kicked off with a picture perfect sight of the African sunrise over Kilimanjaro en-route to Nairobi, Kenya. We then had a stopover in Lusaka, Zambia and in the afternoon landed in Lilongwe, Malawi. We were met at the airport and departed at 15:30 on a public bus to Mzuzu.

     

             

The moment we stepped out of the airport we were overwhelmed by people begging for money, trying anything to get into our wallets. This was quite an overwhelming experience. Eventually we got on the bus and I put my headsets on to listen to worship. I had such a longing to just sit on my Fathers lap, not asking for anything, but just to be with Him. I had an amazing time with Him on the bus! During all this I saw in my spiritual eye a black lady that had a very demonic face but didn’t make anything of it at this stage. Later, after the sun had completely set, many people got off the bus and the bus was almost empty.

Henru took this opportunity to take a nap on an open set of seats. Around nine o’ clock at the next village, a whole bunch of people got on the bus again and before we could get back together, the seat next to me were taken by a young man that smelled like a hundred bottles of liquor. My spirit was immediately uneasy but the young man was very friendly and started talking to me. After some small talk he made his point. He said that his father died and his mother who was seated next to him could not continue to pay his studies and that I was the one who should sponsor him or find someone to sponsor his studies.

This really angered me especially as his attitude and arrogance grew. His mother was a very soft spoken and friendly lady but she resembled the demonic woman I saw in a vision earlier. One of the passengers apparently didn’t pay his ticket (or didn’t pay enough, it was hard to tell), but a verbal fight broke out all over the bus with everybody screaming his or her opinion. The bus stopped a few times threatening to throw the man off the bus but it sounded like the shouting passengers were actually defending him.

The situation rapidly deteriorated and challenged my whole being. The guy sitting next to me realized that I was not falling for his tricks, and instead tried to unnerve me by commenting about the crime at Mzuzu, especially at the bus station. I knew he was up to something as he constantly tried to get hold of my phone or my belongings. I put all my belongings away and tried to avoid conversation but a drunk man is not very ...uhm... bright, and he couldn’t tell what my entire body language screamed, so he continued with his friendly conversations while trying to rob me or something.

God was with us and we safely reached Mzuzu just before midnight where Oom Jan and Lourens already waited for us. The guy next to me made his final move as I climbed over him to rush to the alley to get off the bus. I shouted for Henru to forget his manners and get next to me whatever the cost. As I climbed over the guy, he grabbed my water bottle out of my hand and within a split-second opened it and took a big sip. This is when my kettle boiled over and the old Martin very nearly got resurrected! I wanted to physically explain to this guy what my thoughts were. I didn't care about reaching out, but only to arrange for an early judgment day for him. Luckily, Jesus in me saved me (and him!). As this young misguided man smiled at me while he drank my water, I realized what was happening. A bottle of water nearly ruined our entire outreach! I looked at the guy, told him what he had done as calmly as possible and we got off the bus. He tried his luck one more time by attempting to grab our bags but with one turn towards him and us now being four men at the car, he left into the darkness. Even as we left the parking lot (which was almost nonexistent) the guy at the exit closed the gate and demanded money for parking. This has been one of the hardest days so far, if not the hardest. Our hotel was a major blessing! We had a massive room, and a toilet to sit on! Our first decent flushing toilet in two weeks!

    

The following morning after breakfast, we joined Henk, Oom Jan, Oom Lourens and just over 30 pastors from across Malawi for a three-day school of supernatural conference. We were behind as the conference started the day before, but it was such a privilege to be part of this initiative. When I greeted the pastors, we recognized each other from my visit to Malawi the previous year.

                       

It was amazing to witness their growth in the Lord over the previous year. Our meeting immediately reopened the place they have in my heart and I was overflowing with excitement for the next few days with yesterday’s challenges long forgotten! Henk led all the sessions and it was amazing to see the response from the pastors. They made the teachings very interactive and throughout the day we could clearly witness their eyes as it started lightening up as the revelations of God fell in their hearts. God opened their hearts and changed their thought patterns without us manipulating them emotionally. Another lesson learned! We do not always have to stir up the atmosphere in order to get response. Just preach the Truth and Gods Word will do the work! The Truth will set us free indeed!

Each day we had two sessions before lunch and one session after lunch. The presence of God was so tangible as we all worshiped God together throughout the day. Something in the spirit lifted and the heavens opened up. God gave us massive breakthroughs! This specific evening we went to a nearby school hall to show them a film about Samson. They showed the Jesus film the night before and I had the opportunity to share a short message during the film. The hall was in a remote area and therefore only a few people attended. In our eyes these small meetings can seem like a waste of time but is in fact integral in building personal relationships with the people.

The film’s sound was very bad, the quality of the 
movie was poor or very old, BUT once again I witnessed what we saw in Tanzania. Despite the quality of the film, the people enjoyed the opportunity and everyone had a good time! The joy was very obvious throughout the entire day. People couldn’t sit still and in between sessions when nothing formal was happening, they started singing and dancing! They are anointed and have very powerful voices!

Thursday morning in the first session we talked about spiritual warfare. The session ended in a powerful warfare prayer where the church stood up against the powers of witchcraft. The second session we again ministered to the people and one of the pastors who is in a wheelchair because of a stroke, could move his very thin legs for the first time in a very long time! And it was big full movements! One lady testified how the sessions transformed her and how God healed her of pain in her leg. An old man said he started to see how the continents especially Africa, Europe, and Asia started working together and that these teachings are exactly what is happening in the villages at this moment. God also healed him from back pain! This was the chief of a village. He spoke in Tonga, the local language of his village and the translator was the guy in the wheelchair. Everybody spoke the national language except for the chief. The translator couldn’t speak Tonga at all but with the help of the Holy Spirit, he translated the entire testimony perfectly! God gave him a supernatural ability to understand the language at that time! The feedback was overwhelming and we pray that the fire will continue to spread all over Malawi as the pastors go back to their churches to impart to their congregations. This was the end to a very successful conference and it definitely taught us a lot, not only about our brothers up in Africa, but also about our Father in heaven.

Bishop Chirwa advertised over the radio that we would be showing a film again in the evening and the people voted to watch Samson again! During the movie, they paused and Oom Jan gave a very prophetic message about forgiveness. What we didn’t know was that there was a couple in the church who was separated and the church leaders had been trying to reconcile them but with no success. Who knows what God did in their hearts!?

The following day we booked out at the hotel and went to a nearby coffee shop for a meeting. We were there before our contact arrived, and coincidentally overheard a lady speaking Afrikaans to her 2 year old daughter. We started a conversation with her and learned that she and her husband are missionaries in Livingstonia. We have been looking for an open door in Livingstonia and in addition they have been looking to meet Marc, the guy that we are supposed to meet, for a long time. So in one Godly moment, God arranged for us, the missionaries and Marc to meet at the same time in a small village in the north of Malawi. 

Our meeting with Marc went really well. Marc trains people to farm Gods way. He teaches the people to take what God gives us through nature and use it to generate profit through farming. Marc will train Bishop Thomson and his pastors to farm Gods way and use the 3 and a half hectare land they own to be more profitable. They are also busy building a church on these grounds.

The Bishop and his team have been victims of fraud and the building project is at more than R10 000 loss at this stage. They started building and the walls are about a meter high but the structure is of such poor quality that the walls can be pushed over and cement can be scratched out with one finger! The quality is so poor that the project might have to start over from scratch.

After our meeting we departed towards Lake Malawi at Nkhata Bay. We booked into our hotel and had a late lunch on the beach. We then took a boat around the bay area and went for a very relaxing swim. The water was crystal clear almost all the way. It looked like a tropical beach with turquoise coloured water. We saw many different kinds of fish in the water, some very colorful. Apparently Malawi Lake is home to crocodiles and hippos as well, but it didn’t look like this bothered the locals, so we jumped right in! On the beach the local children were playing, showing off their acrobatic skills by making somersaults over a stick held by two friends. This entertained many foreigners.

               

               

                                                                                             

                 

On our way back we passed by a beautiful lodge owned by a South African. Unfortunately they didn’t have space for us that evening but the place looked really amazing! Back at our hotel, we enjoyed dinner and then went to pray together on the beach. We prayed over our trip ahead and thanked the Lord for a very close to perfect day. There on the beach of Malawi Lake, underneath the African stars, God blessed us with His presence. All five of us, the Bishop were with us, stood there speechless on the beach just enjoying our Creator King.

5 o’ clock the next morning we were seated on the beach overlooking a very calm lake. On the horizon, there was a cloud base that started to show colour as the sun prepared to rise for the day. There on the beach we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrises this planet has to offer, while enjoying cappuccinos with condensed milk! This experience is as close to heaven as one can have in the physical! It didn’t take too long for the sun to turn from a spectacular beauty into a bright raging fire but we had enough time to take photos and enjoy its spectacular beauty.

               
              

                    We went with Bishop Thomson to his father’s land in Sanga. He is the chief of easily over a thousand hectares piece of land next to Malawi Lake. He donated a piece of beach property to Oom Jan and gave full rights to the ground for development. We took a stroll over our new property and the chief made the donation official. Nearby locals prepared the catch of the day with thousands of small fish lain in the sun to dry out. Under the self-made thatch lapa, a few fishermen were seated waiting for the right time to go out onto the lake again. A perfect African scene! God blessed us tremendously with this property!

   

                

                                  

   

The chief also showed us his house and then took us to a river about 15minutes hike away. By then the sun was bright and very hot! There is a very large piece of land used for farming. Food is sometimes scarce and the reason for this is mainly because of poor farming techniques. The chief identified this entire area where he wants Marc to come and train them how to farm Gods way. The objective is not only to provide enough food for the people, but also to generate an income for them. The chief really has a heart for his community. He is also a fisherman and repairs fishing nets for a living. An amazing and humble leader! As we walked through the land, we had a whole crowd of children following us everywhere we went, some of them seeing white people for the very first time! Everyone was really friendly and came to greet us very kindly. It was a blessing to witness their lifestyle and the joy they have despite the very little to no western riches they possess.

We then back to the big mango tree church. With our previous visit, we had services here and showed the Jesus film. The church is a small wood and grass structure underneath a few mango trees that seem like they reach into the heavens. They are enormous! The village said that it was impossible for us to be visit and not have a service. So within a very short time, during a week morning and no telephones or faxes, they arranged for us to have a church service! We again enjoyed the African worship followed by each of us sharing a short word of encouragement to the people. We invited people forward for prayer and many came to receive healing. One baby had a fever but as we started to pray the baby's temperature dropped immediately. Someone else made Jesus the Lord of her life and God touched many more during the service! This is the grace and love of our God. We didn't plan the service and our minds were busy thinking about the land they gave and all the possibilities to use it. The sun drained all the energy from us and our minds were nowhere near church! But our God had an appointment with His children and despite our limitations He used us to do what He wanted to do. This just showed me again that it is not about us. It's all about Him and who He is!

                                    

The village's pastor then invited us to have lunch at her home. She is a widowed mother but continue to work very hard to pastor the community. African hospitality is always an honor to experience. Before every meal someone will come round with a bucket and a jar of water, holding the bucket for everyone to wash their hands. This happens before and after every meal! They also don't hold back and will make absolutely sure that there is more than enough food to eat. There's a lot that we can learn from them!

         

   

At the hotel's restaurant, a very smart looking man in a very neat suit walked in. He also carried a feathery thing with him. We first spoke in Afrikaans and then asked Bishop Chirwa in English about this man. We thought he must be a sangoma or something! Chirwa didn't know either and we made nothing of it. We only knew that he was a very important man! Chirwa and his sons were to leave back to Mzuzu to prepare for the following days church service. We also had to be there but decided to spend the night at the Lake and leave for the church in Mzuzu early the next morning.

When we were packed and got to the parking area, that fancy man also waited while they washed his Mercedes. We decided to make conversation with him and were completely blown away by what he told us! He introduced himself as the future president of Malawi! He lived in a very up market area in Johannesburg for a long time and was in full time ministry at a local church. The Lord sent him to Malawi and he is now running for president in Malawi's next election. We gathered in a circle and prayed for him and his country. While we prayed, he prayed in his Spiritual tongue the whole time. Just imagine if the next president of Malawi is born again and Spirit filled!!!??? Wouldn’t that be amazing!

We packed the car and left for the lodge that we saw the previous day on the boat. Chirwa warned us to avoid sleeping there as there are Rasta's who will party and make a noise till late. They will also put drugs in your drinks and smoke a lot of marijuana! All this was said because of their amazing hospitality. It's really something to see how these people looked after us and how they would always protect us against any possible harm. It was truly a blessing! However, we have freewill and decided to sleep there anyway. We had Peace in our hearts and no fear whatsoever, just an overwhelming desire to swim in the Lake again!

So we booked into the lodge and enjoyed an afternoon's swimming and snorkeling. The lake is breathtaking and amazingly beautiful. A true masterpiece from our Creator! And sure enough, as the sun had set and we were seated on the deck at the restaurant, people came and started to carry in sound and enough equipment to run a major nightclub! They took up nearly half the entire deck! This is when I thought there might be trouble. I asked the manager if there would be noise before we booked in and she said no. But it was a Saturday night and there was nothing we could do. Because the people took up so much space, three other people joined us at our table for dinner.

         

We discovered that they were Americans. The one guy is a theology teacher at the Mzuzu University and his wife is part of the Malawi Department of Water Affairs.  She works with the government and university and knows Marc very well! Her brother was with her from the States to visit them. It was amazing how we just kept meeting key people. Divine appointment after divine appointment! We enjoyed dinner and the "less younger" part of the team went to bed. Henru wanted to stay because of the party and it was his type of crowd. Me and the visiting American sat for long and talked and listened to the sound of Malawian Reggae. Henru was with one of the Rasta's and they looked like they had a good time. They later went to a more quite spot to continue their conversation. When we went to the room later that evening he told me the story. The Rastafarian started talking about being high on drugs and Henru said no thanks, he has the Holy Spirit and He is more than enough. The Rasta had questions about this and then they left for a more quiet spot. Henru testified to him and the Rasta became born again!

      

If I looked back at the previous two days it was absolutely God guiding us all the way. We continued to meet the right people right from the start, in between the meetings and even in ministry. Jesus spoiled us with a much needed and relaxed "vacation" next to Malawi Lake. Everything just happened as the Spirit took the lead. We didn't have to do anything but enjoy His presence and whatever He had for us. The last two days was the normal Christian life; in the arms of the Almighty, very effective and enjoyable!

Early the Sunday morning we left for Mzuzu to minister at the church there. With all the worship and formalities, oom Lourens preached. We sang and then they called oom Jan forward to preach. It was a very long but very blessed service! After the service we saw Marc again with the pastors. He explained to them what he had to offer and they had to decide if they would rise to the challenge. They did and even arranged a meeting for their first training on how to farm God's way later that month.


           

                  
                 

                      

                                     

We left for the church that was halfway build (that poorly build one), to show Marc the land and the possibilities there. Chirwa invited us to his house to enjoy lunch with his family and Marc then took us to the university to show us the different projects they are working on. This was amazing and very innovative to see and learn from. The expensive technology of the western world is useless in deep Africa. The people live a totally different lifestyle from us westerners. We need equipment to serve them and help them and not to be an extra burden by trying to impose our ways on them.

It was mostly pumps that could easily be installed and maintained. Low cost but very effective! They also brought in some creativity to make the pumps into a children's playground. Even the toilet system could be put to work! They have a system where human manure can be used as compost in their gardens. It's a whole separate story that I am not going to describe here! But the summary is that it is brilliant!

             

                         

                                   
                                

               

                         

               

                           

                 

Marc then took us to his house in the mountains just outside of Mzuzu. It was like the Garden of Eden with spectacular views! He showed us how their methods work in practice as his house and garden is also a lab and display area for farming God's way. Then we took a walking trail down the mountain to see the water pump they use for his entire house. The water is pumped from the small river flowing from the mountains, through the valley all the way up to the top where they live. We played around with photos as we walked down the tropical hill. As I pointed the camera towards oom Jan I saw something supernatural! He was walking downhill towards the pump in the river. I thought I was dreaming and called Henru to come and have a look. He confirmed what I saw! As oom Jan walked a bright light was very visible on the camera shining from above all over him, but with the naked eye, I saw nothing. I took it to be the sun rays but as he moved, the light moved with him. It stayed right on top of him the whole time!

We had a very entertaining time in the mountains and drank from the pure water in the valley; delicious! Marc showed us around on the grounds and also showed us different farms with their techniques and the differences between them. The path back uphill exhausted us and we enjoyed a cold cooldrink with Marc and his family.

Monday we again departed to Lilongwe to visit our missionary friends Andrew and Ansie. Unfortunately Ansie was ill and was in South Africa so we spent the day with Andrew and his mother in law. They spoiled us as always and it was a blessing to just spend time with them and pray with them. This was a very relaxed end to three weeks of hard travels through Tanzania and Malawi. These countries changed my life forever and I am looking forward to be part of the future of these two great nations. Our God truly deserves all the glory for these missions! He guided and protected us and He also spoiled us tremendously! How can we not but fall more and more in love with our Jesus?!