John Mollen, a guide and one of the leaders of Climbing For Christ’s Mulanje Massif Chapter in Malawi, said “Climbing For Christ has brought a great revival to the porters and guides. A big number of these brothers hardly knew about God, and it was hard for them to stand and share who Christ is to others. But now many are completely changed.”
Their paths have been altered by our disciples-making-disciples (DMD) training. They have entered through the narrow gate that Jesus talked and taught about, and they are leading many others – from their families and their villages – along the narrow way that leads to life.
Sixteen guides and porters from our original Mulanje Massif Chapter class graduated from our third DMD study, “Discovering the Bible,” during Mission: Malawi 2023. The second class, consisting of 60 members, is in the second DMD study. A “third generation” of students was gathering in December 2023 for a 24-hour prayer meeting. This group was expected to number about 300!
In Tanzania, our original Kilimanjaro Chapter class of 28 is in our fourth DMD study, “Communicating the Bible.” They were scheduled to start participating in practical, hands-on evangelism training and outreach on the mountain during Mission: Kilimanjaro 2024 in January. There is also a second, larger class of Kilimanjaro guides and porters – numbering 35.
This on-the-mountain teaching and outreach is the next phase of our DMD training and will be introduced to the Mulanje Massif Chapter during Mission: Malawi 2024 in June.
The Timothy Initiative (TTI) provides many of the resources for our training. When TTI’s East Africa Operations manager, James Wainaina, learned about Climbing For Christ’s work, he did some investigating. He said “so good to hear more about your ministry. Visited your Web site and it is just amazing how God is working in the world, and I like the uniqueness of the ministry you are doing in Moshi (Tanzania) and around the world. God bless you, brother.”
We praise God for this sort of feedback and encouragement. We also thank God for the testimonies we have heard from many of the nearly 150 guides and porters learning to be true disciples of Jesus. They are moving from DMD study to DMM – disciple making movements.
Arbert Naliya, a porter from Fort Lister (one of the gateway villages to Mulanje Massif), talked about increasing his small group to 25 and reaching out to unbelievers in his village. God used him to lead six Muslims to Christ.
Faduweek Chipoya, another porter from Fort Lister, said: “I was a drunk but because of this group I am no longer drinking.” He has a small group that swelled to 52 members, and he uses lessons from each chapter training to teach the others during weekly Bible study.
Bignosi Namalindi of Likhubula village confessed, “I wasn’t a nice person.” Now, he said, people are asking him, “What has changed you?” He is leading two small groups with a total of 65 members.
Batumeyo Jackson, an older brother from Mnesa village, praised God and the power of prayer for all of the transformations that have been happening through the Mulanje Massif Chapter. “We were ignorant people,” he said. “We had done bad things in life. We have changed. Our families are better for it.”
MISSION: MALAWI 2024. This will be Climbing For Christ’s ninth expedition to Malawi since 2010. It is scheduled in June. We will be teaching members of the Mulanje Massif Chapter on the mountain. They will learn about “Communicating the Bible,” walking in the Spirit, and delivering the Good News to those who have not heard. The four-to-five-day course in evangelism will occur on Mulanje Massif and combine theory with practice if tourists are encountered during the trek. We have taught previously on Mulanje on two expeditions, which proved to be blessed experiences. Email info@ClimbingForChrist.org for a mission application. For C4C members only (CLICK HERE to join).