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Here at Thondwe we are in the throes of preparing for Malawi Gospel Outreach (MGO) 2023. Ordering texts. Distributing invitations. Booking accommodation. Planning activities… The list goes on.

And in the midst of all the busyness, it’s natural to start wondering if it’s worth all the effort.

Short-term mission work gets a lot of criticism. And let’s be honest, some of that is well deserved. We’ve all heard stories about ‘those people’ who go visit missionaries to ‘help’ and ‘encourage’ them and end up leaving them more worn-out and discouraged than before. Or the enthusiastic but naïve volunteers who end up committing countless cultural taboos and damaging the reputation of the work.

So what about MGO? Is it helpful or harmful? Is it worth the effort?

Well, now that I’ve experienced it from the perspective of someone on the ground, I think I can safely and unequivocally say that it is definitely worth the effort.

The Encouragement from Short Term Missions

For one thing, it is a tremendous encouragement to the local workers.

It can get lonely down here! Of course, we have an amazing team, and we generally enjoy working together. But we miss the varied and frequent fellowship that believers experience in countries with multiple assemblies and regular Bible conferences. So, getting to spend two weeks with a group of believers, fellowshipping in the gospel, singing hymns, and talking about the Lord is a tremendous boost to us!

Not to mention the encouragement of people taking time to come and see what the Lord is doing here. It shows that the interest goes deeper than surface level, and it assures us that there are some who will be praying with a personal knowledge of what is going on.

Extra Manpower from Short Term Missions

The increase in manpower, as simple as that may sound, is also a help. With a team of believers, we are able to do different kinds of outreach than normal. Distributing several thousand texts at the market? This certainly can be done with two or three people, but it takes a lot more time and energy than when you have ten or twenty. Corralling six hundred kids for the day? Perhaps it can be done with only a few adults, but it’s certainly not advisable.

MGO makes a positive impression in the community. I was chatting with the teens in my Bible study group last night about this year’s outreach. The boys were asking about the guys who came and played football with them. Another asked about Bill, who came and helped preach the gospel. And everyone in my neighborhood remembers ‘Royce’ (Lois). Why? Because she took time to try out her Chichewa with the women and be silly with the children. It turns out you can communicate love and genuine care – two things that are often missing here – regardless of a language barrier.

I think I can speak for the visitors too – having once been one myself – and say that it’s also an encouragement for them. While reaching others with the gospel should be the thrust of our life, there is something unique about setting apart an entire week or two for that specific purpose.

It also gives them a better understanding of the work. It strengthens the connection between supporting assemblies and missionaries/workers and leads to more intelligent and informed prayer.

I could go on, but this is already way too long. I’ll end with this: Could it also be that it might be a tool the Lord uses to raise up others for the work here? That’s what happened with me, and we’re praying that might also happen with others.

Of course, no two MGOs are the same. Different people and different activities lead to varied dynamics. So, prayer is needed and appreciated that the Lord will work in and through us all to encourage and be encouraged and unitedly spread the good news about Jesus Christ.

Life and death are much more raw in Malawi than in the West. People here accept as normal parts of life things that we take great pains to sterilize and sanitize.

Few things better exemplify this than a funeral.

Everything stops for a funeral

Anyone who’s lived in this part of the world knows that everything stops for a funeral. As they often have no way to preserve the body, they need to attend to things promptly. There’s also an expectation that everyone in the village will attend. (That may be because of a strong sense of community. Or, because people don’t want to be accused of using witchcraft to contribute to the person’s death. It is sometimes difficult to tell). And so, the death of someone in the village today means that no one will be at work tomorrow. It’s a constant reminder that death is an interrupter, an unwanted but ever-present intrusion in life.

Nothing makes that more evident than the wailing you hear as you approach the home of the deceased person. I can’t make a blanket statement about how Westerners grieve. After all I’ve heard that my Italian ancestors knew how to do justice to the whole wailing thing. But most of the funerals I’ve been to have been quiet affairs. The family and friends of the deceased silently weep. Those in attendance offer their condolences in hushed voices and whispers. That’s not how things are done here. The wailing starts long before the funeral and it continues throughout, as the women of the family cry for the dead person who has left them.

Weeping

Usually, the family members sit in the house around the coffin. When they nail the coffin shut and bring it out for the community to view, the weeping becomes louder and more pronounced. They continue weeping at full volume as they load the coffin into the back of a truck. Then the family members squeeze in around it, and everyone makes their way to the graveyard.

Simple things, like hearing the hammer nailing the lid of the coffin shut. Watching different men from the community fill the grave and then hoe the dirt into a mound. These were jarring for me the first time I went to a funeral. They serve as startling reminders that there is an actual dead person present. And that dead person is literally being buried – physically removed and put away from the living.

At the last funeral I attended, I sat on the ground with the other women who were there. I was waiting to hear what kind of message the officiant would give. My back was sore from trying to imitate the ramrod-straight posture of my Malawian companions. (That’s something I don’t think I’ll ever master). I was tired from being in the sun all day. And I was desperately hoping that there would be some kernel of truth in his sermon.

Life and death without hope

There wasn’t. His words of “consolation” and “hope”? Go to church and work hard for the benefit of your church, so good things will come to you. That was it. No truth, no hope, no consolation.

As we walked back home, some of the older women were reflecting on the service.

“There was no reading from the Bible?”

“Did you catch if he read from the Bible?”

“No, I think he just went right to giving advice.”

“No reading; that’s not good.”

All I could think was that the problem was much more significant than simply neglecting to read a portion of Scripture. That man was leading people astray. Encouraging them to cling to something that will neither save their souls nor give them hope for their lives. And, sadly, this is what they preach so often. In a country where life is painful and death is a constant reality, many people are living without the hope of the gospel.

Please pray with us that the gospel of Jesus Christ will reach and penetrate the hearts and lives of the people of Malawi. Through literature, open-air preaching, and relationships. Pray that the Lord will use SALT to spread His love to a hurting people and offer them true and lasting hope. Hope for this life and hope in death.

I asked myself that question repeatedly when the Lord called me to be a missionary in Malawi. I had been reading a lot about unreached people groups and the 10/40 window. The thought of doing missions in such countries was exciting and, frankly, seemed a lot more logical than coming to a “reached” country. “Why Malawi, Lord?” I asked.

After two years in this country, I think I understand. Of course, there is also the slightly significant matter of obeying the Lord, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense. But apart from that, I now firmly believe that Malawi desperately needs the gospel.

A really good prayer

Let me illustrate using an incident that happened recently when we were visiting one of the displacement camps with basic food supplies and the gospel. One of the Malawians opened for us in prayer. It was a good prayer, really – asking for the Lord to open hearts to truly listen to the word of God and asking it all in Jesus’ name. From the way the others murmured agreement, you would have thought you were among believers.

But as soon as Goodson started sharing the gospel, it became evident that this was not the case. It’s a scenario that I’ve seen repeatedly in this country. Goodson began by asking how one can be right with God. And the answers I’ve heard so often started coming from the crowd – including the one who had led us so nicely in prayer: leave your sin, try to follow the ways of Jesus, repent, love your neighbor, do good works. Even after an explicitly and pointedly clear gospel message from Goodson, one of the men closed in prayer by saying how wonderful it was they could be saved by following God’s law.

The fact is, despite what the statistics from different mission organizations say, Malawi has not been reached with the gospel. Yes, everyone (apart from Muslims) goes to church on Sundays. Yes, everyone (again, apart from Muslims) believes that the Bible is God’s word. And yes, every school (apart from the Madrasas) has a Bible Knowledge class. But the gospel of grace has penetrated very few hearts. Millions of Malawians are desperately lost, completely blind to the truth of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Door wide open for missionaries

Praise God that the door is wide open! Malawians respect the word of God. This provides a good foundation for sharing the gospel – something we have lost in the West. The hardships that characterize the lives of the average Malawian also make them painfully aware that they need God. And there is complete freedom to share the gospel pretty much everywhere: public schools, marketplaces, the list goes on.

But the laborers are few indeed. And so, we ask you to pray with us “for the Lord of the harvest…to send out workers into His harvest field” (Luke 10:2). There is simply too much work for our small team to do. And while we are actively seeking to train Christian Malawians to share in the work of the gospel – and we ask for your prayers for this, as well – there is still a need for many more laborers. The need is overwhelming, and the doors will not be open forever.

Again, I urge, pray “earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38). “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” John 4:35-36

A little over a year ago, I wrote an article about the translation and revision of the Bibletime curriculum. As of this week, we are now ready for the third step: publication!

It seems like it has been a long time coming. However, our translator really has done a fabulous job powering through eight student booklets. And four text-heavy teacher guides! It truly is a blessing to have a translator who is just as committed to this project as we are. Gibson is a believer, and he understands the importance of clearly communicating truth.

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Recently Stephen posted about Nthawi ya Baibulo, the Chichewa version of Bible Time. We were greatly encouraged to receive the first fully designed lessons! Though there remains a significant amount of work, we are excited about the potential of the curriculum.

Since translation and publishing work is a big part of what we do at SALT, I thought it might be helpful to give an idea of the steps that we have to take to get to the point of publishing translated material.

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It’s likely that over the past few days you’ve heard mention of Tropical Storm Ana – the cyclone that swept through southern Africa earlier this week, leaving a tremendous amount of destruction in its wake.

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Perhaps you’ve been wondering, as you read about our work in schools, what, precisely, a visit entails.We start by contacting the head of the school to ask if we can come to speak with the students. Without exception we have been welcomed into every school that we have approached. The door is wide open!On the day of the visit, we (try to) show up a bit early, so we can introduce ourselves and explain what we hope to accomplish during our time there. This generally entails a good deal of the formalities that I suspect were learned from our dear British friends. Usually, they are expecting us. Almost always, they aren’t quite yet ready.

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