Encouragement and Usefulness

I have recently been encouraged by two things working together. For a long time I have struggled with the ministry we are involved in here; feeling very often that the Academy is no more than an elite school for expatriates, taught by expatriates, with little interest in the good of Malawi, or the church here. After all, when your students arrive at school in a Mercedes Benz, driven not by one of their parents, but by their driver, it is hard to believe that you are benefiting the people of Malawi. I have posted on this struggle before, noting that the other ministries here on campus seem to be much more oriented toward, well.... ministry, than the Academy does.

Yet in the last week, I have realized the role the Academy plays in the big picture. The first thing that the Lord used to help me in this was the staff bible study that everyone goes to on wednesday nights. We have had mixed feelings about the study given that most times, we walk away feeling sleepy, or glad to be done. Yet this time, Paul Chinchen decided to address some of the common struggles of the mission field. He talked about a number of things which were quite good. The one that stuck out to me, however was a story he told in connection with getting a vision for the overall mission of ABC.

There was a guy who taught here at the college for two years, and then went home. Paul happened to be in the States, when this guy's church gave him a night to present the work he had been doing for the last two years. So Paul was invited, and went. Well, after a 45 minute slide show, not a single picture had been shown of the campus, nor had a word been mentioned about the work of ABC. He had many pictures of children in villages and of all the wildlife he saw on safari, but not a single one of ABC. Paul was astonished. This guy missed a perfect opportunity to explain the work that ABC does, and how it fits in with the Church's great need here. He could have explained the need for skilled and educated workers, given the way AIDS has ravished the population old enough to work. He could have explained the lack of training pastors receive here, and the way in which ABC trains men to be godly leaders, establishing the church in strength. He could have explained the dangers of Neo-Orthodoxy and other unbiblical doctrine, not to mention Islam, spreading throughout Malawi. Yet, he didn't.

He believed as I have and many of us from the West have, that only work with orphans or in evangelism is real ministry. Yet, this is simply not true. The great thing about ABC is the multi-faceted ministry it engages in. Yes, its students and staff participate in orphan ministry and prison ministry, and lots of evangelism. Yet, these are only a part of the whole mission in which ABC is engaged. The College trains young men and women to be lay leaders, and even pastors in the church of Malawi, in order to establish the church. It trains people to be proficient and useful workers in Malawi establishing the economy of Malawi, rather than encouraging 'brain drain.' The Clinic gives cheap and prayerful health care to the lowest of the low along with everyone else. The Academy trains the upper crusts children in standard educational topics, but with a godly manner and a gospel centered staff, thereby (we hope and pray) imbuing the children with a taste of the glory of the gospel. The Academy, Lord willing, helps in raising up future missionaries, who have a heart for the gospel, and a sharp mind to be shrewd in working it out in the world. The ministry of ABC reaches every level of society in Malawi. This is what we pray for.

The second thing that really encouraged me was watching this cheezy movie about William Carey in our upper school chapel. He goes through years of discouragement and struggling to feel like he is actually being useful and ministering the gospel to the people of India. After something like 10 years, he finally pairs up with another missionary couple and man who had experience with printing and feels like he is doing ministry. There is a great scene (though still cheezy) where Carey, his wife, the other missionary couple and the printer are all sitting around brewing up the vision for their ministry. They realize that Carey can continue translating the Scriptures, and work with the printer on producing a bible, the other man can preach, and the other gal can set up a school for foreigners in order to finance the ministry as a whole. It was a great scene because it made me think of the Academy. Though I am not sure if the Academy actually gains any money from its school fees, or if is just making it by (I would guess the latter), it could easily serve as a financial source for other ministries, thanks to those very same Mercedes Benz driving families the supporters of gospel ministry to the most common of men.

All in all, I was really encouraged to see the place of the Academy amidst the ministry of ABC. I have always been convinced of the good work that ABC as a college does, but rarely content with the Academy. So, this has been a very timely and welcome bit of encouragement.

One other note. While you can get a Bible in every language of Malawi, you can't get theological works. I'm not talking about the latest and greatest of theological resources, but classic ones. While many pastors know English, most don't. That said, the English of many pastors is hardly good enough to grasp some of the nuances of the English used in these books (some English speakers have a hard time grasping the nuances!!) So, I have been more and more convinced that part of our long term ministry needs to be focused on bringing theological works to the people of Malawi IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE, and not in English, French, Portuguese (or Church Latin as many of the Reformers refused to do). It would be so awesome to get a Chichewa version of Calvin's Institutes, The Westminster Confession, etc. to the pastors of Malawi, not to mention to the rest of Africa in whatever native tongue is spoken there. That would be a strategic help for establishing the church in Africa; which is our call.

As Well, please pray for me. I will be preaching in the Sunday night chapel service on February 10th and 17th. I am excited to get back in the saddle, but a bit anxious as far as using accessible language, as well as just plain old doing well.

Well, that will be all for now. It has been great to be reminded of this as we plow through our last term here before hitting the "tarmac" to Nashville.