After years of food shortages caused by drought, Malawi has enjoyed two consecutive good harvests. And the government is selling part of the excess bounty to Zimbabwe, a country still mired in crisis, marked by unemployment and continued political instability.
The relief at the end of Malawi's long crisis may be fueling an openness to the Gospel. Grace Ministries International's Sam Vinton says ministry is growing fast. Kennedy Simtowe, GMI's Malawi coordinator, has been conducting open air evangelistic meetings in a number of villages.
"The last campaign," remarks Vinton, saw over 2,000 people in attendance. What's more, "nearly 600 people responded by faith to Christ in these villages where we have contacts."
All the new converts of each village were brought together, and Grace Church leaders from the area were appointed to teach each new group. Vinton explains, "We incorporate these people into what we call 'preaching points' until there's a pastor, organized church board and so forth."
Since many church leaders cannot be full-time students at a Bible institute, Vinton says they're developing a different way of training them. "We have module classes that we bring in elders to take. In August, we had 20 men in who were trained for two weeks. Every two or three months, we do that. We have Bible teaching centers where we go in and teach elders to prepare them to lead those churches."
Please pray for their missionaries who are involved in the training of church leaders. Praise the Lord for the power of the Gospel and Simtowe's evangelistic zeal.
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