Malawi Mail (From Oregon)

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It has been over a year since I left Lilongwe. The Lord taught me a lot while I was there, and even more when I returned.

About a month after my return to the states until about a month ago, I was in a very dry season of my life. Much wrestling with God and wanting to determine what it is He has been trying to teach me. In this dry time I have come to understand better what faith is all about. I know I don’t know everything about faith, I can’t even explain what I do know about faith. I think that is part of a real living faith. It isn’t something that can be explained or told how to live. All I know is that it is wonderful walking with the Lord. I feel closer to Him than I ever have. Praise God for His faithfulness!

I write this letter to you for many reasons. First, I said that I would write after returning to the States, I just didn’t plan on it taking this long. I started and finished this letter three or four times, but the Lord just didn’t let it get sent. I think that is partly due to the second reason I am writing this letter. I also write because I am seeking prayer support for the Lord has called me back to Malawi.

The Lord had to teach me how to depend on Him alone, and how to trust Him with my career. I wanted so long to be an engineer that I fought Him every time He wanted me to do something else. Now, I don’t just know, but can live out the fact that God is more important than my career. Praise God for His persistence!

Currently I am attending a Calvary Chapel. I am teaching Sunday school (4^th and 5^th grades) and am driving the shuttle bus. I am also part of a inter-denomination Bible study. The Bible study is comprised of people from three or four churches.

Graduation at African Bible College was great, although it was a little odd to be at a graduation as a professor only one year after attending my own undergraduate graduation. The graduation ceremony was in the Macon Gymnasium (the only gymnasium in Malawi). Thanks Macon, Georgia for a great gym! There were four speakers, two important people from the CCAP (Central Church of Africa Presbyterian) and a dignitary from the Malawian government. The main speaker was Don Linsz, who is the Director of Recruiting with SIM (Society of International Missionaries). He is a great speaker and we had the privilege of listening to him every day but Friday in our morning chapel service. On Friday, the ABC Academy came and sang and read some scripture. The principal of the academy is Dan Linsz, Don Linsz’s son.

When I arrived in Malawi, the clinic looked like ruins, when I left, it had electricity and equipment was being moved in. Last I heard, the clinic was seeing around 70 people per day, and Doctor Perry Jansen joined the staff.

Praise God for answered prayer!

Well, I originally planned to be wed 31 July 1999, but the Lord had other plans. After the second wedding date passed, Trisha and I did some praying and evaluating and determined that the Lord wasn’t in it. Hard as it was, we gave up on our wedding, it was indeed the Lord’s will. Praise God for His guidance!

While I was in Malawi I assisted some students in reaching Muslims. I wasn’t able to say much about it then, because the government is Muslim and I was afraid that the letter would not be allowed to leave the country. I’m still not sure if everyone received all the letters that I sent. I’m positive that all of my email did not go out. I’m not sure if I mentioned it before, but there was a missionary that was deported for talking about Muslims in an email. We were all careful as to what we said about the government and Muslims after we heard about that.

Fletcher Matandika became a good friend of mine, he is a student at ABC and has a heart for the lost. Fletcher was the guy who got things together for the first outreach I was involved in to Mchinji Mission Orphanage. I assisted him and two others on a trip to a village in the Southern Region of Malawi, where Muslims are the most populated, to assist a local church. The village church had purchased land to build another church, but the Muslims in the area had blocked them from building. Fletcher and friends reported that some of the people in that village were afraid to go to church because of the Muslims. Muslims in Malawi, and most of the rest of the world, are strongly opposed to Christianity. One of the things that they do in Malawi is to give out free meat on Sunday. They would have their service on Saturday, but to make sure people wouldn’t go to church they would hand out free meat when the churches met. They also offered free school for the less privileged, which teaches Muslim doctrine. Furthermore, they pay Muslim boys to get Christian girls pregnant so that they would have to get married and become Muslim. Many Muslim countries, including Libya, are giving a lot of money to the Muslims in Malawi in an attempt to make it a Muslim country. I saw a copy of a letter written from the President of Malawi to the President of Libya thanking him for the millions of dollars he had given for the furthering of the Muslim cause in Malawi. There is a strong Muslim force in Malawi, and most Christians don’t understand the seriousness of it. The Muslims want all of Africa to be Muslim and they even have it all planed out. Please pray for the people of Africa to be reached so that they may stay out of this darkness that is creeping upon them.

One thing I have I have always struggled with is the age old question, "What am I called to do?" I have learned that we are each called to do what God asks. I have learned that we are not called to be teachers or engineers or social workers, we are simply called to be obedient to the Creator of the universe. I don’t believe we should be so concerned about what we are to be, but what we are to do. We are to do His will, which is revealed to us in the Bible. Pray that America will read the Bible.

Well, I got an email a couple of weeks ago from Janet Brown. Her and her husband became my close friends. She said that the ABC Academy needed two teachers and felt as though she was supposed to tell me. I was excited and started praying. That was a Wednesday and on the following Sunday, after talking to my parents, I comitted to teaching 4^th grade for the upcoming second semester. I’ll be leaving the end of December and will remain at least until the middle of June.

There is much to do in the next few weeks. Please pray that I’ll trust that the Lord will provide. I’m sure this will be a time of trying. I desire to come out victorious in Christ. Praise God for His strength!

The ABC Academy was started because the only other Christian education children can receive in Lilongwe is deficient. It doesn’t challenge the children or meet their individual needs. What ABC is doing with this school is providing missionary and local children with quality Christian education. At the other Christian school the teachers are more concerned with earning money. At this one, teachers come on a volunteer basis with financial supporters. The teachers at ABC Academy want to bring up educated children who love the Lord.

I see the ABC Academy with a two-fold purpose. First, to provide a service to missionary families in Lilongwe, and second, to educate children using a Biblical worldview. The fact that it is in Malawi allows the teachers to go out into the nation of Malawi and proclaim the love of Jesus. Praise God that I can be one of the "swift messengers" mentioned in Isaiah 18:2.

It has been a long time since I sent a letter and I do apologize. Since it has been so long, I’m not sure if I’ll have the proper address for everyone. So what I’m asking is that if you get this and would like to keep updated on what the Lord is doing in my life, and African Bible Colleges please write to me at:

3015 NW Overlook Dr. Apt. 737

Hillsboro, OR 97124

Or you can email me at:

Smith_JB@crosswalkmail.com

For more information on African Bible Colleges contact me or write to:

African Bible Colleges

PO Box 103

Clinton, MS 39060