SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST
MISSION OF MALAWI
PO BOX 60150 BT. 6 BLANTYRE MALAWI AFRICA
TEL. 265-620-472-(hm) / 265-9-946-261 or 265-9-320-881 (mobile)
Missionary / Evangelist: Peter A. Halliman
Email: panagioite04@gmail.com
4th / August / 2005
TO ALL THE SAINTS OF GOD:
I greet each of you in Jesus’ Name, He who was, is, and forever shall be Amen! The God of all grace and mercy has sustained me these last several weeks. I give him all the praise and honour and glory due to His Wonderful Name, alleluia! Since Bro. Gordon Weigold has come and gone the pace has picked up and almost become relentless. I have thought that any day now it would slow down, but it has not. I have never been busier in my life as a missionary then I am now. The responsibility seems to have doubled, the work load seems to have increased and there seems to be less hours in a day then there ever was.
I will try to bring you up to speed from the last report. After Bro. Gordon arrived, I had already organized for the pastors to come in for teaching. Most of the Malawi pastors can and do travel by public transport to get into town. However, most of the Mozambique Pastors I usually go to the border to pick them up in the truck. This was the case this time as well so I took a couple days to check everything mechanically on the truck and then pack it up for the journey. The usual gear, tools, spares fluids, oil etc… fifty liters of water, some food, coffee, and our documentation. Four a.m. we are up and going however we did not depart the mission station until about nine a.m. The reason being it gives the pastors from Mozambique enough time to get to the border and also I don’t just have to sit at the border waiting because I got there early. This makes an extremely long day and very tiring but it’s the best answer to an ever on going problem. Bro. Gordon got his things ready and we loaded up and off we went. Six hours later after bouncing on hard, dusty corrugated roads we finally made it to the border. There were seventeen pastors there waiting, we greeted and then loaded into the truck to make the journey home. It was about ten p.m. when we arrived, we were all tired and simply wanted to have a good scrub and some food to eat. The next day started early as well and we had a busy schedule getting things ready for the other pastors coming in from within Malawi. I had to take the truck and go to a local market some fifteen kilometers out of town. I spent several hours there in the morning getting the necessary food that would feed the pastors over the next two weeks.
On Tuesday we started the classes as most of the pastors had come in. I had organized for Bro. Joe Padilla to teach a lesson for an hour and then Bro. Gordon would take the class for the next hour and so on until a full day had been completed. Classes would start at seven am and finish at five pm. There was one hour for lunch and after classes I would join them and review their lessons with them to monitor their progress. In the evening after their dinner I would go back and preach a message on one of their lessons. Some evenings there would be special requests from some of the pastors regarding a question that would come up in class and so I would prepare a message on that subject and preach it.
The days were challenging for the teachers and a lot of energy, effort and man power was required to keep the school going. I had more pastors attending this year then at any other time since I have been here. There were seventy men here, pastors, deacons, secretaries, and treasures of many of the churches. So many times we simply take for granted that someone knows how to perform their duties in the church, when actually they do not. At times I would be required to participate in the classes simply because I have been here long enough to know the customs and practices of these people. To teach a lesson, is to teach a lesson however it always helps to understand the people you are teaching. Someone has said that God does not regard culture or custom, I agree to the blank truth of that statement, however God’s word does not teach that Americans are to neither become Africans in their behaviour nor vise versa. We are the people of our heritage and what we are to comply to, is God’s word.
The nights were always short and the days seemed even shorter with so much to do. On Sunday of that first week of the seminar, I loaded the truck with almost sixty pastors and went to visit one of the churches in an area called Lihaka, this is where Pastor Lazrol Phiri is pastor and we had his ordination the Saturday that Bro. Gordon departed. Bro. Gordon was ill so he had to stay home with some of the pastors who did not want to go out, (mostly the older men). Bro. Joe and I and the pastors departed here at four am and drove the five hours to the church. When we got there we didn’t waste much time as we had a full day ahead of us. Services went well and I must confess that I had the honour of hearing some of the best preaching that day by some of the pastors who got a chance to preach that day. They were required to preach on some of the lessons that had been taught during the week. I gave Bro. Joe my time to preach so by the time everyone got through preaching we were into the early afternoon. They had a meal prepared for us and we ate and then loaded up to start our journey home. The drive home was much like it was during the early morning hours; however we are now well into the better part of the day and it always seems longer when you are tired. It was in the night before we got home sometime around seven pm. The road was gutted, potholed, and corrugated so no matter which side of the road I drove on it only seemed to get worse. Bye and Bye we made it, we only discover how dusty and dirty everything really is when we begin to off load it and usually the following day is reserved for a wash, clean and maintenance time for both the vehicle as well as any and all cargo which has been taken for the occasion.
The following morning we were up early, had our breakfast and the school was started by the normal operating time of seven am. I was kept busy from the time I got up till the time I went to bed at night usually around ten pm. The days are long, hard and always seem to be a bit short no matter how much we get done.
As time passed on, I knew that we could not keep the seventy men here in the school for much longer then two weeks. As I have stated before in reports, I usually make the budget for the mission work at the beginning of the month and then I know what it is that I can do an not do. I would be forced to send the men back to their villages which would also take an extraordinary bit of money out of our budget. The last three days of the school we closed it out with a Bible Conference, where the pastors were informed that as many as I could fit in would speak, and in doing so they were required to speak on a subject that had been taught during their two weeks in class. We started on Friday morning at nine am and went till twelve noon, took a lunch break and resumed back at two pm until five or six pm depending on how the cooks were managing on the food. Then we would resume back and go till nine or ten pm.
The next day went as the day before and then on Saturday night I got a call to go perform a funeral service for one of the pastor’s who had lost a child. I was up early on Sunday, got Bro. Joe and Bro. Gordon squared away, I went over the schedule of them sorting out the bus fares for the pastor’s as this is always a lot of drama. I got prepared and told Joe and Gordon that I would see them when I seen them. I departed and rode for three hard hours, arrived at the village and took a few minutes to rest, and then we started the funeral service. This always takes a great time to conduct and most of time we are out in the open. This time was no different and I was there most of the day, I preached at the house where the body is kept and then as we form single line to walk to the grave site where I preach again before burying the body.
I departed in the late afternoon hours and rode the ride home arriving sometime about six pm. I had to sort out some business with some of the pastors when I arrived back. I then had an opportunity to take a shower, eat a bit, discuss some about the day’s events and go to bed.
The pastors were sent back and now our attention turned to other desperate matters which had been put on the back burner. I had started a job in fabricating a mast for communication purposes. Allow me to explain a bit, since I have been living here the past nine years, I have had more trouble with the tele system then it is actually worth, be that as it may, it was the only phone I had at the time so when we had a fault I would have to go through great effort and toil in order to get it rectified. This last time when I was about to depart for the US, the telephone company had installed some new software and made a mess of a lot of people’s billing, I was charged over a thousand dollar bill. I refuted it and proved that I had been charged wrongly. They agreed that they would sort it out. I tried to get this done before I departed but was not able. This problem is still ongoing and before I get my landline hooked, I must pay the bill that they claim I owe. Well I do not owe this, I have proven it and I am not willing to pay out money to anyone who demands it without proving to me that I do in fact own that. Well all this is a moot point when other options are being considered which brings me to my next point. I was in the process of fabricating a mast which would stand one hundred feet high. The purpose for such a task is rather simple, where our house is located is behind a hill from the main part of town, and we have considered (if the funds are available) to invest into wireless communication. This will eliminate the need for the land line which has been nothing but trouble from day one, but further more it will liberate us from the task of having to go into town to the main office each and every time we want to email etc… This job was put on hold when Bro. Gordon arrived and it was not until the school was let out that I had time to start back on putting it together. I was able to work on this for a few days, but then that changed again as Bro. Gordon and Bro. Joe prepared to go to take care of services on that following Sunday. Bro. Gordon was to go in my place to Mozambique since I was bed-ridden with malaria. Bro. Joe would be holding services at a church in Malawi near the Mozambique border. That Sunday morning they departed I seen them off and went back to bed. I woke up around ten am and decided to try calling to find out their progress, I was alarmed to find out that Bro. Joe was telling me that Bro. Gordon had a wreck on the motorbike and thought he had broken his arm. I tried to get the details as to where they were but even Bro. Joe has not been here long enough to know the roads and whereabouts. I was able to speak with Edwin (one of the translators) whom I sent with them, he told me where they were and I told them to sit tight and I would try to get there in the truck. This turned out to be a real challenge for me as well as I was still fighting the malaria. I had to pack tools, binders, medicine, among other things. I was home alone so I did what I had to do and managed to depart after an hour of preparing. I called Bro. Joe back and told him I was on my way, he also told me that they had ridden part of the way back and that they were along the side of the road waiting. I drove out of town and was about twenty kilometers out when I drove right past them. I managed to see them with the safety vests on in the mirrors as I drove past, I got turned around and pulled over. After I got out and evaluated the situation I reversed to a bank and rode the bike to the back of the truck, then we loaded it and strapped it in. Bro. Gordon did not complain about his arm and at that point we did not know much. I got into town, with Joe following behind on his bike; I stopped at one of the private hospitals and had Gordon get ex-rayed. The result was that he had a cracked elbow and at first the doctor advised for surgery, but said it would heal by itself too. Bro. Gordon decided to go the natural way of healing so we got some medication for him after they put the plaster on then we went home. For the next few days I worked on the mast, as well as tried to take care of the business end of the mission work. After much discussion I told Bro. Joe and Bro. Gordon that I needed to make a trip into Mozambique and do some teaching. I told Bro. Gordon he was welcome to come alone but it would be a long hard trip. He decided to come along but we would not get to spend a lot of them simply because his time was coming to an end. It took us a whole day to prepare and load up the truck, since its not the rainy season yet we don’t have to pack as much equipment as we would normally do, however its still a chore. That day I decided to depart in the night about midnight, as this would put us at the border around seven am, which is the time they open. We had our dinner, everything was packed and I tried to rest for a couple hours but as always I don’t rest much when I am preparing for a trip the following day. Midnight came we had our departing prayer and off we drove into the blackness of the night. I made the drive ok, like clock work we arrived at the border at seven that morning, did the paper work and exited Malawi. When we came to the entry point of Mozambique and were ready to get checked in we found that the Immigration officer which keeps the entry stamp for the passports had locked it in a drawer and he himself had went to Malawi. We were told to wait, what else are we going to do, so we waited, and waited, and waited. I tried to take advantage of the moment and climbed into the back of the truck put a tarp down and laid down to get some rest. It was one pm when the officer had returned, everyone said he did that a lot the whole reason was to purchase drinking alcohol, this proved to be right at least this time for he was certainly under its influence. We got cleared and were finally on our way again, by the time we arrived at Pastor Garaffa’s place it was three-thirty pm. We had enough time to set up the tents and organize our camp base before dark. No sooner had we set up camp then some of the pastors had come in to hear the program so they could take it back to their people.
I discussed with them that we only had that night, the next day, and then we would have to depart the following day as it would be Friday when we returned and Bro. Gordon was to depart on that Saturday. We discussed the plan as to who would go where and how, and we came to this decision. Since I had another driver who could drive the truck, I made the decision that we would all go together and when we came to a certain point I would let the driver take Bro. Gordon to one of the churches which branched off in a different direction and I would go with two other men on bicycles to preach at another church. We were supposed to meet back at the third church. We came to the junction after about twenty miles of driving and then these two men and myself took off on the bicycles. The first church I came too was a new group who has been asking to be baptized and organized into a N.T. Baptist church. I don’t have a habit of just doing this the first time I meet the people for various reasons. I usually spend some time with the folks teaching a lot of Baptist fundamentals and then after some time I will ask them again if they are prepared to commit to the teachings that they have heard teach. If they say yes, then I proceed with baptism and church organization. It was not long until the people gathered and then we assembled for services, they were not a large crowd compared to some other places I go but we are not into the numbers rather the truth. I preached and following the services we took off on our bikes to the next preaching point. The folks were already gathered and waiting for us to arrive, we went straight into services and after services the people wanted to fix us some lunch but we had to refuse as we had some other preaching points to make before the day was over. Just as we were about ready to get going, Bro. Gordon and the rest of the group turned up with the truck so we loaded our bicycles and took off to the next point. The drive was about forty minutes and when we arrived I dropped Bro. Gordon and some of the others. Edwin and I went onward to another group further on. When we arrived there we started services, these folks were new as well and they have been asking us to come preach to them each time I go into that area. After services I drove back to meet Bro. Gordon and it was there that we were to have a meal after all day of preaching I was ready to eat as well. We took our meal in the dark as it was that time of the day. After we had our meal we headed back to base camp at Bro. Garaffa’s place. Once we arrived we rested a bit and then we had services there for the final service of the day. Yes indeed it had been a long day, but a good day. “I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the LORD” I had preached five times that day and Bro. Gordon preached twice. Several of the churches we did not have time to visit so we sent our apologies and a report to them. It was late in the evening when we called it a night. The next morning we were up early and packed for our journey home, we departed by five am and ended up at the border by seven am, we got cleared and then onto the Malawi border where we were cleared and on our way home. The journey went as usual, enduring the long hard dusty roads which were corrugated and circuited with pot holes. Shortly after we passed through the border, I discovered that the air brakes stopped working, I had air pressure on the gauge so I knew the air system was ok. I stopped along the way and we checked the system finding out that the belt to the air compressor was broken. Since it was not likely we would find a NAPA auto parts shop anywhere close I just used the gears and experience in moving along at a comfortable speed. We did come to a certain market and believe it or not but we found a belt almost the same size. I bought it and carried on, when we came to where we would have to start ascending the mountain back into Blantyre we pulled off to change the belt. This turned into quite a job and for awhile we did not think it was going to work, but it did. The LORD was gracious and enabled us to fix it. We got back on the road after we put in our spare fuel, and the rest of the journey was simply the driving. We arrived at the gate around three pm that day. We could have been home a lot sooner but due to the break-down we lost a bit of time. The trip had been hard, tiring and somewhat costly but then again it had been very rewarding to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. The interest and hunger of the people made it all worth it. I had promised the churches and people of Mozambique that I would be back and spend more time with them. They are patient but will keep you to your word so if you cannot keep to what you promise then don’t make the promise. I have yet to make the trip back to that part of Mozambique simply because I have been flat out with helping Joe and all his business, besides there have been several places open up in other places of Mozambique which required my attention.
The next report will be about these other places where I have visited and what the LORD has done.
I ask that each of you pray for the work here. May the LORD keep each of you in the center of his will and bless your labours for him.
In His Name,
Peter A. Halliman
Missionary / Evangelist
Edit this page (if you have permission) | Google Docs -- Web word processing, presentations and spreadsheets.