The Lord's Day

As we have been in Malawi for three Sundays now, we have visited a different Child Care Centre every Sunday. The first one was Mbulumbudzi, the second was Namitambo and this past Lord’s Day it was Mulinga. All of these centers are sponsored by Timotheos Netherlands. We will tell you a little bit about that experience.

We had called the pastor that serves at the center on Saturday. That way he can organize a translator. Church normally starts at 9:30, but since it is rain season, it will probably take longer to get there, so maybe we will start at 10. As it is about an hour drive, we left at 8:30 trying to be on time. I had only been there 2 times before and could not really remember the turnoff. I put on Google maps on my phone, and am surprised that it shows the route. We get off the pavement at the turnoff that Google suggests, and find a 2’ wide trail that is supposed to be the road. Thankfully, it had not rained too much the night before, so although there was quite a bit of mud, we managed to get through just fine. After about 20 minutes of this road/trail, we get to a river and… no bridge. Hmm, we turn around and go back to the paved road. I call the pastor, and he tells me to wait on the side of the road. He will come and get me. So, an elder teaches the catechism, while the pastor and the translator get on a motorbike, and come to show us the way. By the time we arrived at the center, the first service (catechism teaching) is over, and the people are singing psalms, waiting for us. The church was extremely full, where you could barely walk through the church without stepping on hands or feet. The pastor preached on the call of Abram, to get thee out of thy country, and he also stressed the promises of God unto Abram, who was no better than his neighbours. Abram who was a descendant of Adam, who despite being made perfect, yet sinned against his Creator, and was not worthy to be looked at again. We enjoyed it very much.

The “road” to church according to google maps.

After the service we were invited to the pastor’s house, and his wife had prepared a meal for us, consisting of chicken and rice. We were humbled by the willingness to share. We find this to be all over Malawi. No matter how little they have, they share it with whoever is there.   

Lunch at the pastor’s house.

Afterwards, we managed to find our way home, without getting lost.

In Malawi they combine the preaching service, and the catechism teaching service in a back to back session. Typically, church starts at 10 and will last until 12 o clock. When you go home, there is still a lot of time left in the day, and we listen live to our morning service in Springford. It feels good to hear a little bit of “home” through the speakers, and we are thankful that so far, internet has been good enough, that we can listen to the service without many interruptions. It is also good for our children to do this, as all of us, but mostly them, need some time to get used to the Malawian English.

Greetings, The Oomen Family