We recently received a letter from Ben Hayes, Director of the Namikango Mission Bible School , near the city of Thwonde, Malawi. This is a letter to you, our contributors, volunteers, friends and prayer warriors. Thank you for helping Ben Hayes and many others touch the lives of the poor.
Dick Stephens
One of the unique characteristics about the people of Israel in the Old Testament is the provision God placed for the poor within their law and society. Such provision has not been common in cultures throughout history. We hear David write in Psalm 68:5, “A father to the fatherless, defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling.” This seems to be a passion that is at the very center of God’s heart- defending and caring for the helpless. And as we would expect, Jesus shows this concern time and time again in the way he went about his ministry. It was the outcasts, the poor, and those with low status in the community that most often caught his attention or attracted his time and effort: an adulterous woman, little children, and lepers, to mention a few. And in a rather frightening parable, Jesus strongly emphasizes the role his followers have in serving such people. (Matt. 25). This leads us to see that our relationship with God is intricately tied to our relationship with people; and perhaps specifically, the poor.
My family and I recently moved to the Namikango Mission in Malawi, to work as missionaries. Part of our vision is to continue to find ways to link our teaching and preaching of the gospel with service, in the way that Jesus served people. We want it to be evident what the good news of Jesus looks like when it is played out in the life of the church; namely, a community of people who live with the aim of serving and caring for each other, and for the “least of these,” in the words of Jesus. This is not a new idea that we are bringing, of course. Namikango has had at it’s center for the last 50 years this heart of service, and included in this vision has been the relationship with the Malawi Project. We were aware of this partnership before our arrival at Namikango, and were eager to see impact it was having on the community.
We have now been in Malawi for three months, and I am amazed, as time has gone on at what God has done through this joint work. I knew the incredible statistics regarding numbers of goods that the Malawi Project sends over to this country each year, and it’s quite staggering. But to see the faces of those receiving such goods, and to see the impact it has on their lives, really impresses on my mind the significance of this ministry. Though physical gifts themselves are impressive, when you combined with a small phrase like: “we are able to give this to you because of Jesus,” you can change a person’s world. This is the impact the Malawi Project is having on God’s kingdom here in Malawi. His mission to the lost and broken people of the world, both physically and spiritually is continuing to be carried out, and it’s done through a beautiful integration of the gospel, and a gift.
The amazing part about this is that we all know that it’s purely by the grace of God that any of us can do anything for Him. Yet he allows us to see, if only in part, the reward of these efforts. What an amazing blessing we all have in being able to partner with God in “bringing his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.” May he give all of us the ability to rightly convey the good news of Jesus to this world, not only through what we say, but through how we live.
Blessings,
Ben