Broadcasting The Gospel In Africa

It's time for another post about my brother's missionary work in Malawi, Africa. Here's a quick refresher about my brother and the work in Malawi. Since arriving there in 2002 the Lord has allowed many works to be planted, all showing abundant growth. There are 6 churches, with the 7th being built soon, a Bible Institute which can be attended free of charge (all of the pastors at these 7 churches are graduates from the institute), a tract ministry that has seen over 80,000 tracts into the hands of others, a discipleship course and commentaries in English and Chichewa that my brother has written and distributes free to anyone who is interested, and the website which provides preaching to download. The Lord is always doing something amazing in HIS work there, and this is a testimony about the newest one of all....

My brother, Mike, had been praying for a while about starting a radio ministry. While they were on furlough in the U.S. last year they attended a mission's conference in Idaho. The church there asked Mike to list what needs the church had. One of the things he listed was starting a radio ministry. The Lord used that church to give a tremendous blessing to the work in Malawi.... enough money to pay for almost 5 months worth of programs. This was no small love offering either. 15 minutes of radio time costs $177 a week. The Lord has definitely used the radio waves in a tremendous way... the response has been amazing.

In Dedza, a local grocery store turns up their radio just to hear the program. Each Sunday many people gather there to listen. One week, shortly after the radio program ended, four different people called the local pastor (one of the graduates from the Bible Institute) and asked him to come to their homes and tell them more about salvation.

Leadson Kafunya, pastor in Area 23, received a call from a man in Zomba. He said that he was recently released from prison, and while there he listened to the radio program regularly. He wanted to know how he could receive the discipleship course to learn more about the Bible. Leadson met with this man and was given a list with other prisoners' information that wanted to receive the discipleship material as well.

Just a few weeks ago a man from Salima called Paul Mhango, the pastor in Chinsapo, right after the radio program went off. He told Paul that he had been listening to the program for months. They talked for a while and then got cut off because the other man's phone ran out of time. This is significant because this shows just how serious this man was. In order to use your phone in Malawi you have to buy prepaid phone cards which are pretty expensive. Most people don't want to use any of their precious minutes to call the church. Most of the time people "flash" the church, which means they call and let it ring only once so their number shows up, and then hang up so it doesn't cost them anything. Then they sit and wait to be called back. This man was obviously serious because he used up all of his phone time. Paul did call him back and they talked for a little while longer. In the end, the man got saved. Praise God! It was Paul's first time to ever lead someone to Christ over the phone.

Another man from Salima called Archibald Munthali, the pastor in Area 25, shortly after a program ended. He had been listening for months as well. After listening to the program, God spoke to his heart and now he wants to further his education to be a preacher.

The church members themselves have met several people as they travel that say they have learned a lot from the program and enjoy listening to it each week.

One afternoon Mike went out to witness to a couple of men that were sitting outside of his apartment's gate. After talking with them for a few minutes, one of the men asked Mike if he was the preacher on Zodiak radio station. He told them that he was. Mike then asked the men if they had ever received Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. One of them spoke up and said that he got saved right after listening to the radio program one week. His friend said that he had also received Christ right after listening to the program a few weeks before.

The most recent happening was from a man who had been attending a Seventh Day Adventist church but who had noticed some problems with it. He decided to start looking for a new church to attend. While walking down the road one day, he saw a sign that said "Bible Baptist Church". This man had been listening to the program on the radio and recognized the church name. He turned and walked in the direction the sign indicated until he found the church building, at least a mile or two down the road. Unfortunately, he found the building empty, since it was not during service times. So the man asked at one of the neighboring houses if they knew how to find someone from the church. He was led to Dickson Lungu's home, the assistant pastor in Chinsapo. Dickson spoke to him for some time and eventually led him to the Lord.

These are just a few of the testimonies of how the Lord has used this radio ministry in Malawi. I'm sure there are many more. If you would, please pray that there will be many more similar stories that we can rejoice in. Due to lack of funds, last week was the final radio broadcast..... but we are waiting to see the Lord provide a way to change this.

Here's a picture to leave you with that is sure to put a smile on your face (at least, it puts one on mine). My niece and nephew were outside playing with a little 8 year old girl when my brother happened to walk outside and notice that they were leading this girl to the Lord! So he quickly came inside and snapped this picture. You can click to enlarge and get a much better view. It's always good to see people accepting Christ as their saviour, but there's just something extra special when the soul-winner is a child :)