Mission Moments: Malawi
Song of the day is ‘thank you’
By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ
Widows dancing and singing their praises to God. (Photos by Damson Samson)
A relieved widow told Damson Samson, “I am tired of eating pumpkin leaves all day. Now I will get a chance to eat nsima.”
She was one of 700 widows from 16 villages in southern Malawi to receive 5-to-10 kilograms (11-to-22 pounds) of maize flour, used by Malawians to make their staple meal nsima. This delivery – our latest COVID-19 relief effort – occurred Tuesday, Jan. 19. Damson, our Malawi-based Kingdom worker, distributed 5,000 kilograms (11,000 pounds) of maize and flour to some of the poorest people in one of the poorest places on the planet.
“The expression of joy manifested (itself) through the music done and dancing, and facial expressions speaking of wonders happening in the hearts of our widows,” Damson said. “They thanked God that through Climbing For Christ they have been greatly favored to get this support.”
Here is a glance at some of those faces:
Damson has been serving widows in the villages surrounding where he lives (and where C4C started ministering in 2010) since God put a burden on his heart on CHRISTmas 2016. God has used us to provide bedding, clothing, food, even the building of nearly four dozen houses. Monthly support is sent to Damson to help his widows’ project. In January, a special gift of $2,000 USD was sent from a C4C member who was on the first team we sent to Malawi.
“The word of appreciation to Climbing For Christ was the song of the day as many thanked a lot while telling their situation and that nobody could see them and do as Climbing For Christ has done,” Damson relayed. “(The widows declared) ‘Only God will reward you and pay you back for what you have offered to us.’”
Widows from the villages of Makhanamba, Manasi, Nsaiwa, and Sakwedwa receive maize flour.
Climbing For Christ serves physical and spiritual needs, so Damson shared more than ingredients to nsima to feed hungry stomachs. He also fed hungry souls by sharing “the bread of life.”
He spoke about the return of Jesus and not being like those in the time of Noah who “ate, were merry, and drank until the time Noah entered the ark” and the world was flooded.
“We urged them to prepare their hearts for we know not whether it will be tomorrow,” Damson said. “As we are able to see signs of the end times, we need to put behind all the sins and accept Jesus to be the Lord and Savior.
“This message instructed a lot of lives to decide to follow Jesus as their Lord.”
Many hands were raised to accept Jesus for Who He is – our Savior and the Lord of our lives.
Hands up for Jesus: new believers among widows on the receiving end of gifts from above.
Damson also told the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman found in the Gospel of John, chapter 4. “My emphasis was on the gift of God,” he explained. “People are perishing because they don’t know the gift of God like this Samaritan woman. They put too much effort on what they were told by their parents to worship in the mountains (folk religion). Yet those who worship Him, they do so in spirit and truth.”
The Word
“Jesus replied, ‘If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.’” – John 4:10 (NLT)
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