Pastor takes unique approach to evangelism in Malawi

Malawi (MNN) ― Grace Ministries International's Sam Vinton says Pastor Kennedy Simtowe (sim-TOE-ee) is in Malawi heading up "Harvest Time Mission," which is involved in expanding GMI ministries into the neighboring countries.

This came in the years following dedicated work in Zambia. According to GMI, in 1997 Simtowe was working with another GMI team, Dan and Tina Moyer in Zambia. Together, they started Zambia Grace Bible Institute as the training center for the GMI churches.

Then in 2005 came another vision and another call to train leaders and plant churches in the country of Malawi. Simtowe, together with his wife Sofia and their four children, left their work in Zambia and moved to Malawi.

Vinton says Simtowe holds seminars for the area church leaders and then takes them out to witness in the villages, resulting in a kind of revival. "He's also moving into going with a team and doing open air meetings in villages. At the end of July, in the southern part of the country where he did this for two weeks, he had over 2,000 people who attended and close to 600 who made professions of faith in Christ in the various villages."

All the new converts of each village are brought together, and grace church leaders from the area were appointed to teach each new group. Vinton explains, "The thing that he has done is to establish what he calls 'preaching points.' So when he gets a number of people to come to Christ, he will put them all into a Bible study, get an elder, and then his job then becomes following up on them by teaching them and preparing them and getting the group to grow."

GMI reports that the training center in Lilongwe is offering module programs for the leadership of the churches. Two Malawians are studying at the Zambia Grace Bible Institute in Kabwe, Zambia. Several churches have been planted in Lilongwe and several elsewhere plus 20 preaching points which will eventually become church plants. Praise God for the power of the Gospel and the Simtowes' evangelistic zeal.