Looking back

There is nothing wrong with looking back. In fact, it is encouraging. Didn't God instruct the Israelite's to remember the past in order to celebrate Gods faithfulness? When you live your life as a follower of Christ it is good to take a little time now and then to look back and say "Eben-Hazer".

April 2006 Arrival in Africa

Covenant College mission post, we lived our first 365 days in the tiny left house before we built our own.

No electricity so in order to have hot water, this is what we did.

April is a special month in our family. First of all we received two children in April; Joas was born 9 April 2000 and Rhoda 6 April 2002. What a blessings from God our amazing Creator. He has kept them all these years in His hands. Secondly we celebrate our arrival into the mission field in Africa this month. It has been 8 years now that we set foot on the African soil. I never ever thought of going to Africa, I was totally focused on going to Indonesia, yet Gods thoughts are much higher that ours. He makes no mistakes. He made us willing to go to a place I would have never picked myself. Great is His faithfulness.

Homescholing our kids .

The school building where Cees taught pastors from mon-friday and I did kids ministry on Saturdays.

Graduation October 2006

Joas and Rhode enjoyed eating lunch with CC staf (all from one pot).

The CC farm was just taking in the harvest when we arrived, a welcome distraction to our kids as we were still waiting for our school materials (arrived 6 months later so I improvised a lot, like, daily schooltrips to the farm...)

God blessed us with a son in 2008, Obed, born in a local hospital nearby, baptised by Rev. Miti our 'grandfather-friend'.

In 2009 we were again blessed with a son...that make a lap full for daddy Cees during his student-home-visits.

Family pic Dec 2009

Family pic 2014. Eben-Hazer! (To Joas' happiness he is now as tall as his parents...)

Guinea-pig for Dinner

 

I have never been to a palace in Asia, Europe or US, but here in Africa I am a regular palace visitor. In Zambia we had a very good relationship with chief Mumbi. He was a member of the church of one of our students (quite exceptional to have a Christian chief!). We have been in his palace quite a few times and he has been at our home regularly. Here in Malawi I work closely with the Mfumu (king / chief / leader) of Chimpangu community. In fact, in general most community work will only succeed with the approval / support of the local leader. Even though this man is not a professing Christian, he is very appreciative for everything we do and even encourages us to keep doing the good work and expand. Therefore he offered us a piece of land.

A few of Mfumu's lifestock, so lucky to live in a palace!

It happened during my conversation with him in his palace that suddenly a little animal ran from under my chair. Something started to squeak and whistle and all of a sudden the room was filled with…. Guinea-pigs. I had never seen those in Africa yet. Was Mfumu actually keeping pets? Not really, his wife explained they have Guinea-pig on the menu regularly! During one of my next visits (Cees and the kids were with me) she gave us two little ones, male and female, so that we can start breeding and have it for dinner… Our kids are very happy with their new pets!

Seriously, for dinner?! No way.

We have been looking at land, not very easy to measure with the maize being so tall… Mfumu is the only chief in a big area who still owns land for sale. Grace and I are very excited about building a proper ministry building, for evangelism, literacy, pre-school and other community development programs. Please pray for wisdom for us to do what is right to serve the people here in Malawi, bringing them to Christ.

Discussing and measuring the land.

Mfumu has been leader for over 40 years. He wants to retire but there is no-one willing to take his place. His positions is not desirable; mostly dealing with problems everyday. When we left the palace on Saturday, a very angry neighbor had pulled out all his maize because Mfumu’s cows had been eating from it. Another neighbor reported his chickens were killed by some dogs. When we reached our car a drunkard bothered us, so Grace reported that to Mfumu. He and his first wife had 15 children, 9 are still alive. He has more than 60 (great)-grand children…most of them are in our programs. Mfumu shared his concerns about the youth. They are not following the traditional rules of respect and behavior anymore because they are influenced by a lot of worldly (western) stuff. 

Mfumu's cow's after their mud bath down the stream.

I was extra excited when I watched a big group of teenage boys listening and interacting to the Bible lesson last week. Wow! What an opportunity to teach them about a life in the footsteps of Christ. I formed a subgroup afterwards and read a passage with them, giving each of them a turn and asked questions. First their answers were a bit ‘gigglish’ but they got more and more serious. These teenagers are really an in-between group of the community. They are not kids anymore, but they aren’t adults yet either. Who takes them serious? Jesus does!!!

I am very excited about a new development: African Bible College students have to spend one afternoon per week on outreach / ministry as part of their training. Since we come eyes, hands, mouths and legs short with so many kids coming to our programs I suggested to involve a group of ABC students in our ministry. Today I am taking 19 students (8 in my car, the rest will follow by mini-bus) to our program. With some training integrated they can start helping out. Imagine, teaching all kids at the same time in small groups (10 groups of 40 kids)!! Now that someone gives us 40 loaves of bread every week….the number of kids is going up again. Let’s hope we find enough trees in the community to facilitate all. Please, pray for this development.

Some of Mfumu's great-grandchildren.

Chinsapo Children and women ministry

We were asked to give a little presentation at IBF church coming Sunday about the ministry we do in Chinsapo. I decided to post it here so that you have an overview of the ministry as well. For more stories just view my other blogs as well.

The bridge is still fine for pedestrians and bikes, not anymore for cars and donkey cart's

Where: Chimpangu community in Chinsapo; Area 46 Lilongwe

(Mchinchi road, passed Children of the nations, left on dirt road for about 4km, across the broken bridge.)

How it came about: Grace and Bernard Muhone bought land in Chimpangu and build their home. They saw many needs; spiritual, emotional and physical. In God’s providence Miriam and Grace became IBF church friends and shared a burden and compassion for the community. Miriam has many years of experience in children evangelism. With the approval of the village headman we started a children’s and women ministry.

What we do for the children and why:

Every Thursday we teach two groups of 200 kids.

First we gather with children between 3 and 10 under the public tree (bwalo). We teach them Bible stories, memorize verses and Bible songs, do Bible quizzes and color Bible story pictures. Once a month we hand out bread. On special occasions we hand out donated clothes (eg. Christmas) or any other useful materials we receive.

 We also run a group for 11-16 year old kids in our home made shelter and do the same activities yet at a higher level. We give opportunity to perform prepared drama or choir , linked to the Bible lessons. We encourage them to read by giving them the story each week. We play games sometimes.

When ever we see special needs, we try to help. Eg. Tiya a 14 year old disabled girl, was raped, had a baby but couldn’t feed the baby properly. We assist with milk and porridge. We also give medical assistance in emergencies. We sponsor some kids who were never able to go to school, due to poverty.

We do this because many kids don’t have parents who teach them the value’s of Gods Word and care for their kids as they should. We pray God will use these programs to touch the lives of these young people so that they may know God and glorify Him forever.

drama team

What we do for the women and why:

Most women in Chimpangu community cannot read and write. We organize and teach literacy classes. Meanwhile we teach them Biblical value’s for life, encouraging them to make the right choices (eg. Brewing and drinking beer verses cultivating vegetable, taking care of their children). The ability to read will help these women to read and study Gods Word for themselves but also understand more of the world around them.

Future plan’s: The village headman appreciates what we do in his community. He has offered us a piece of land for building a proper facility. We are now pursuing the possibility of land and building. If it is Gods will we would like to expand the ministry with a Christian community pre-school, a speedschool for older kids who don’t go to school to catch up with their peers and literacy programs for women. Making good use of the facility.

Running back to the car after the program.

How you can be involved:

-prayer

-donations (clothes, towels, blankets, soap, crayons, medicines, money)

 (when the pre-school is reality: puzzles, books, toys etc)

-come along and help teaching (Chichewa required)

A city set on a hill...

On a hill far away from the dust and business of the city, pastor Emmanuel started building a church. Five years ago he felt called to leave his job and commit himself full time to evangelize an area he had discovered to be completely ignored by both government services and churches alike. I got to know him through the teaching at Logos, and this weekend I finally fulfilled my promise to visit.

In the picture you see the arrangements being made for the worship service. He checks whether his elder is on the way, while the two ladies in the background look out over the villages to see attendants climb the hill.

He said: there was nothing here. Only a few kilometers from town, but no Gospel witness. It even became a place to hide if anyone is after you; the government has no presence here. The school is beyond the river; in the rain season most kids stay home. Many adults are illiterate. His smile never leaves his face - even when he is talking about the little the church members can contribute to his support and about the slow progress of building construction.

Because the walls are not even finished yet, they meet under an improvised grass roof. This only protects from sun, not from the rain water that freely enters the building each time. During the service, some goats and donkeys walk in, obviously accustomed to appreciate the shady area. The young herdsmen join in during the preaching, only until an alarmed call outside alerts them that the goats are running off.

What touched me afresh was the joy in worshipping the Lord. Often the songs teach short Bible lessons that really touch the people and helps them keep their hearts focussed on the Lord. I preached from Hebr. 4:16 - times of need was the part where they had the least difficulty understanding. But taking them to the throne of grace was such a rewarding service. A throne where presidents and beggars line up together and only call on grace in the name of Jesus.

After the service, we formed groups per village, praying for their neighbours. The man to the right came from a far place. He beseeched the Lord that salvation would come to his home area.

The hill is a beautiful location. Today, the church is still slightly hidden, because the walls will grow greener with all this rain. But imagine what the church will look like when they manage to roof it with the shiny iron sheets.

They called the church on this far away hill Calvary Baptist Church!

Growing up

My parents were missionaries in Papua (Irian Jaya) from 1974-1987, my dad was church planter, pastor, Bible school principal and lecturer. he discipled and baptized many first generation Christians.

I was never aware of  'under dressed' people, this is where I grew up. In the morning women would come to our house and sell veggetables from their gardens or ask for medicines in case of sickness. me and my sister helped my mom ofcourse!

First years my mom homescholed us, later we got a volunteer teacher from Holland. Saturdays we would go down to the river (Landi) and swim.

The mission post where my parents raised their kids...the church and our house on the right of the grass runway.

We depended totally on the MAF services for all sorts of supplies and resources. I boarded those MAF planes just the way my kids now board our Landcruiser.

I had great friends, the kids of the carpenters my dad used to build the mission buildings. We had sleepovers, pick nick's, hiked through the rainforest and sit together in Sunday school

My mom taught Sunday school

I am so thankful for growing up at the mission field. Little did my parents know they were raising future missionaries themselves. Three of us serve in foreign mission and my other three siblings serve the Lord in The Netherlands. Not to boast in my parents or myself but to boast in the Lord.

Now we are raising our own kids at the mission field. Here Joas and Rhoda back in 2006 when we first came to Zambia. They spend many many hours at the College farm, harvesting the maize.

Roasting hotdogs over a charcoal fire birthday party and many more adventures...

Obed and Moses learn how to dry a goatskin and make a nice rug from it.

With our kids growing up in Africa we realize we might be raising future missionaries as well. God knows, we would be honored. To be disciples of Jesus Christ is all that matters, where ever it will be.

It takes courage!

The sun was setting but mommy wasn’t home yet, still looking for a little ‘ganyu’ (work) to be able to buy ‘ndiyo’ (something to go with Nsima (maisporrige) like vegetables or meat (mice, caterpillars, termites, mushrooms). Boy (I don’t use his real name) was just starting a little fire in his dark hut when someone came in and blindfolded him. First Boy thought it was a friend joking, but it wasn’t. A deep voice said ‘come’ and pulled Boy outside. It seemed darker then dark for Boy. He was pushed forward, the man holding his hands had no mercy when Boy tripped with his bare feet over the treestumps. It seemed like ages when their journey finally came to an end. The ground felt soggy and the sound of dancing and drumming people made Boy’s heartbeat even go faster. Where was he? What was going on? Fear almost choked him as he discovered he had entered the secret grounds of the Nyau, the society of the spirits. ‘No, no, no, not me’ hammered a voice in him but there was no way out. His blindfold was taken off and he looked straight in the eyes of….his grandfather, the headman of his community. Suddenly he was surrounded and welcomed by masked men. Boy received his secret code, learned many secret words, rules and behaviour including ‘sexual education’. Boy was forced to initiation into the Nyau society. Now he got some assignments to prove his manhood (like stealing hot charcoal) and learned to listen to the advice of the spirits. At the final day he was shaved in presence of all the members to show childhood was finished now. Boy was now a man! Eventhough he was instructed to never say a word to non-members about it, to stop going to school (while with our help he had just started going to school) and not go to the Bible programs anymore, something, or I should say Someone was making him still go. Boy knows the price he might pay for disobedience to the Nyau authority; threats of all kinds. Being robbed (of what, he owns basically nothing that a school uniform), having to pay fines and most likely to be witched (witchcraft is a big problem here!). Yet, Boy still comes and was one of the wise men in our nativity play during our wonderful Christmas celebration. He is not the only boy who was kidnapped and forces to this initiation. Please pray for these kids, growing up with so much fear for spirits and who almost don’t have a choice then just ‘go with the flow’ of worshipping them. It takes a LOT OF COURAGE to disobey them and stand up for the Name of Jesus. But this example shows us that it is possible. How? God!

These 394 kids can never say they didn't know about Jesus the Savior coming to this world to save sinners!

What a privilege to enjoy Creation in Africa! This was new years eve...the quietest of all, we camped in this part of Malawi, being the only ones there since everyone else chooses the busy bustling places to celebrate.

On our way to Zomba platuau. Malawi is beautiful, especially in the rainy = green season, we love it!

Discouraged by Nyau, Encouraged by God

Today Grace and I found out that many youth in ‘our’ community and even some  boy’s of our Bible teaching program have been initiated and joined the Nyau (some probably forced). We cry. We are discouraged. We pray and read Gods Word.  Eph. 6 speaks of the struggle  against the rulers, authorities, powers and spiritual forces of this dark world. It commands us to be strong and stand firm, putting on the Armour of God. Also to pray on all occasions with all kinds of requests. Dear friends, please pray with us for the people of the community we reach out to. We feel so discouraged right now, but John 10:10 says: “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, I (Jesus) have come that they may have life”. We will continue teaching the Bible message: “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses. Get a new heart and a new spirit. I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. REPENT and LIVE!” Ez.18:30-32

The Nyau is a secret association of male dancers among the Chewa tribe. Membership is restricted to initiates. Their identity while dancing is concealed with masks of wood or cloth. Other parts of the body are painted with ashes or mud. When our boy’s Obed and Moses saw them they asked me: “Why do they want to look so scary? Are they people? Why do they want to scare others?” The devil recruits his servants by fear, the Lord calls His servants by love. Whenever you encounter  Nyau you have to show respect by bowing down or running away in fear. Gladly, Grace and I are excused by the headman!

Revelation of Nyau secrets is severy punished. The Nyau are considered wild animals (masks) re-incarnating the spirits of ancestors. Nyau dancers look frightening, they make animal like sounds. They might appear during the day to terrify women and children and to steal chickens. During this season we often get distracted by the Nyau, sometimes kids stay at home, hiding, being scared. Some of our youth’s are hiding because they are afraid to get caught and forced to become Nyau.

The Nyau like to dwell in graveyards where their secret gathering place usually is. Some boys want to be initiated into the Nyau, to know what real men know. Today, even Christian boy’s go the the Nyau to ‘buy their way” (apply and pay the fee to the chief) to ensure their safety. The Nyau gives men stronger sense of identity. While the Chewa have their strong morals reflected in behavior, the Nyau show the opposite behavior of what is valued in the community. They curse, fight, chase and assault women and children, they shout obscene language, steal chickens from the community and commit other offences. Because they are spirits, no juridical action can be taken because by definition spirits are outside the law. The Nyau is the embodiment of tradition & resistance and not open to change. That is why mission work among communities who preserve their traditional culture by means of Nyau sometimes feels like plowing on rocks.  

But we know Who won the victory already! “With God we shall gain the victory and He will trample down our enemies.” Psalm 60:12 “Thanks be to God, He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Cor 15:57-58