MAM, Inc. (Malawi African Mission, Inc.)
Once again we bring you the happenings in the MAM. Inc. mission work in Malawi,
Mozambique, and Tanzania and ask for your prayers on this work of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ here by mouth and by the printed Word.
Linda Limbe, our go-between in Blantyre, is our day-to-day worker for both the Malawi and Mozambique pastors and churches. MAM, Inc. has a bank account in Blantyre, and the deposits we make are from mission-minded people who share with us for this effort.
The Mozambique Church of God Abrahamic Faith Board is made up of Fabiano Bango, chairman, Taliana Tchaka vice chairman, Piason Davide, secretary,Wadison Lomosi, vice secretary, Neva Sande, treasurer, and Roderick Bango and Juwawo Chimwecho, board members.
Money was given to Pastor Lomosi for land for a church but there is not yet board permission for him to build a church. Linda has given Bango K58,000 ($408) for his church; Sande K42,000 ($300) to finish his church; Daud’s under pastor’s church K69,000 ($486); and K8,000 ($57)to Nyambalo’s widow for a bicycle. Also the printing bill for the 10 tracts (2000 each) the Mozambique pastors asked for to give to their people was K180,000 ($1286 at 6 cents each. We can print them for half that at the College and we will from now on). We also gave Linda K28,000
($200) for translation. Total $2737 plus Lomosi’s land. I don’t have that figure handy.
Taliano Tchaka’s church building is finished. It is one of the larger ones.
We insist that all new churches be built using river sand and cement for the foundation and for the mortar. I have told them I will not pay for the metal roof unless they do this. It is hard for them to change their ways in this. Too many churches that used mud mortar have fallen when the rains came.
Linda has given K64,000 ($450) to Moyo’s under pastor’s church; K32,000 ($225) for Namaona’s under pastor’s church; K68,4444 ($492) to Maxwell, to finish his church; K8000 ($57) for Gracie Namaona’s bicycle; and K5,000 ($86) for Machemba’s church to give books and pens for the 52 orphans the church takes care of (fuel included). Total $1310. (I may have omitted money for some projects.)
The Malawi Board is Frazer Nauliya, chairman, Daud Chiwaya, Maxwell Henderson, Zebuloni Moyo, Rabson Namaona, Howard Mtwera, and new member Christina Magombo.
We might mention here that Frazer in Balaka has started 26 churches, and Bango, Tchaka, Mijeri, Namaona, and Moyo have started about 10 churches apiece. These men are earnest evangelists.
In the spring of 2006 we felt directed of God to help the two African Boards know what their responsibilities were, wrote them out, sent them to Linda, who translated them into Chichewa, and gave them to the Board members.
Recently we added another very important tract to the 50 already in Chichewa: What is the Gospel of God? Linda is translating this into Chichewa and Anne Mbeke, ABC student from Kenya, is translating it into Swahili.
Near the end of last July’s mission trip, Joe and Rebekah Martin visited 4 days with our contact, Jerome Chembe, in Dar el salaam, Tanzania. Herschel Lyda and I had been e-mailing him before this. Joe and Rebekah asked him about his beliefs and their conclusion was that he was sound in doctrine, that he had come to believe like we do. Herschel Lyda said, “I see no difference in what I believe and what Jerome believes.”
Jerome was born and raised a Catholic. When grown he attended a seminar put on by another church which started him thinking about what the Bible teachings really were. Then he entered a 4 year Bible College and graduated, and was pastor of a church with a salary. But as he studied all this time about what the Bible really taught he came to question what he had been taught. Trinity was first. He said, “How can 3 be 1, and 1 be 3. It doesn’t make sense.” In his personal studies he found that there was only one God, Jehovah, and Jesus was His Son. Next, from the 7th Day Adventists he found that man is mortal and sleeps in the dust of the ground until resurrection when Christ returns; man does not go to heaven or hell at death. Then, from Armstrong, he found the truth about the Kingdom of God being established on earth at Jesus coming. By his own personal searching he found these truths. (Anthony had a similar experience, and I, too, questioned everything taught me to see if I believed that—had to change on two.)
Jerome then wondered if there was anyone else on earth who believed like he did, and he began searching the web on his computer, until he found the Anderson Chapel web site, hosted by Herschel Lyda. Then he said, “These are the people I want to be associated with—The Church of God Abrahamic Faith. He wanted to be baptized. Anderson Chapel brought him to this country, and Herschel Lyda and I baptized Jerome on November 19, 2006. The next Sunday we introduced him to the Guthrie Grove and Bethel churches, where he gave his testimony and won the hearts of the people. The next Tuesday we went to Atlanta to the College to get credentials for him to take to his government to register our church with them. (We had to do this in Malawi and Mozambique, too.) David Krogh and Gary Burnham helped with this. Another reason for going to Atlanta was so that Jerome, Herschel, and I (John Fyfe drove) could meet Anne Mbeke, who is translating our 50 Bible teachings into Swahili. We met her and several other of the 7 students from Africa. Anne is valuable like Linda, helping to spread the Word in Swahili.
When I gave Jerome the new tract What is the Gospel? (the Kingdom of God and the things of Christ) he said, “This will be my first sermon when I get back home.”
Jim Mattison for MAM, Inc.