During the month of October 2017, Cornerstone Ministries conducted an evangelistic campaign series in Malawi, Africa. The small city of Zomba was selected by the Malawi Union and after landing in the city of Blantyre it was a one-hour drive on roads to reach the smaller city of Zomba.
Jason Gardner and myself conducted the work and found the going very profitable. The Malawi Union was very well organized for the programs and welcomed us at the Blantyre airport with songs and banners.
We first met with our 20 Bible-workers who were preparing the groundwork before we arrived. They had been working for three months in the five main areas of Zomba, which became the areas where we conducted the 5 sites for the programs. The local church members had also been very active and supportive to make the programs a success. The Adventist men had been busy doing community service and helping the needy by meeting their physical needs and then inviting them to come to the program to help meet their spiritual needs.
The venues were all outdoor sites and each program was translated into the local language called “Chichewa”. Each night we would make appeals and could see that the Holy Spirit was touching hearts, and that the groundwork that the Bible workers had done was bearing fruit.
Overall the programs went very smoothly with perfect weather everyday and beautiful clear warm evenings. The only problem we had was the power. Power in Zomba is very unreliable and seems to be off more than its on. To alleviate the power problem we hired generators and had them on standby to ensure the meetings continued without interruption. This was a blessing as we ended up using the generators most nights.
On our final Sabbath in the Zomba, 530 souls were baptized in a large local swimming pool that was hired, as this was the best option to baptize the large number of people. Six pastors conducted the baptisms. Amongst those that where baptized was a police officer and two Muslims.
After the morning baptisms all the candidates and church members gathered at a large open field that was hired for the event. Approximately 4,000 people were present for the church service and the day’s proceedings. Large tents were set up for shade as it was very hot and with so many people and the baptisms it was a very high Sabbath.
One very sobering part of the work was when a young Roman Catholic woman that was attending the programs suddenly died. She very was interested in the meetings, attending each night, when she complained of severe headaches and died two days later. One can only pray that she was touched by the gospel messages presented and was committed to Jesus before she passed from this world. It just reminds us how quickly life can end and how important it is to share the great hope of salvation with the world today.
Please continue to pray for our workers in Malawi and for the new converts that have committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
In His Service
Chris Kleinke
