Malawi 2011 update 4

Thursday, July 21

One of the first lessons of missions work is to be flexible. Situations can change on short notice. These changes usually develop in the villages, but today there was change of a different sort.

We posted yesterday that there were demonstrations for and against the current President of Malawi. Those were fairly peaceful, particularly here in Lilongwe. Many police had been deployed to assure a peaceable demonstration. We had spent the day in Chiliza, our last day of ministry there.

Today was to be our first day to work in a new village, Chakakala, only a short distance from Chiliza. However, one of our interpreters arrived to tell us that a less peaceable element were poised for activity that day. After a brief discussion, our missionary contact Mat Lawrence decided we should not travel outside. Please be assured that this was precautionary; we neither saw nor heard any evidence of violence. We prayed several times through the day that the Spirit of Peace would settle over the country, guarding actions and words to allow all in Malawi to spend the day in safety. God has granted our request, at least here in Lilongwe.

We passed the morning with our interpreters, working on sound equipment, playing music on it outside in the yard, singing songs (Chichewa and English) and even dancing--with proper solemnity, of course. After the long evening the night before, we had a wonderful time of relaxation. We were able to do more craft preparation for the children's program, and we were able to rest in the afternoon.

Please pray for us and for this wonderful country of beautiful people. Pray for wisdom for the leaders here and for peace among the people. Pray that God will open the door for us to minister Friday in Chakakala and this weekend in Komoyo. Our spirits are high, and our hopes could not be higher--our hope is in the Lord.

For Team Malawi,
Abambo Ray Smith