Mission Moments: Malawi
Food for the soul
By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ
What the enemy meant for harm God intended for good. As a violent mob, numbering in the hundreds, descended on Pastor Duncan Nyozani’s house Thursday, March 2, his ministry was delivering life-affirming food to more than 300 families in his churches.
Darkness cannot stop the Light.
Duncan fled from his looted house and stole away in a police station Thursday (see “Madness in Migowi”) and then went to Blantyre an hour away on Friday, but he was back for worship on Sunday, March 5. And he brought more food.
Call it the feeding of the 600.
But like the work of Jesus among the 5,000 (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6) and the 4,000 (Matthew 15, Mark 8), the numbers are only a representation of those who were truly fed. Duncan also sent 1 million Malawi kwacha or $1,000 USD to Pastor Felix Namame to feed those across the border in Milatu, Mozambique in the sister church Climbing For Christ helped build in 2013.
All of this maize from heaven was made possible by a $5,000 USD gift from Climbing For Christ.
“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. … And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” – Matthew 25:35-36, 40 (NLT)
Lunch was served after worship in Msema and Kambona, Pastor Duncan’s two Malawi churches.
Climbing For Christ has always strived to serve the spiritual and physical needs of the people God has put in our path. In Malawi, it began in 2009 when thieves stole a month’s worth of food for the orphans in Duncan’s care. He appealed to us, and we responded in prayer and sent $500 to help.
That was the beginning of our Project 1:27 (to serve the orphans and widows in their distress, based on James 1:27) and an ever-deepening relationship with those living, dying, suffering, and enduring in southern Malawi. When Kingdom worker Damson Samson, who is currently with us in neighboring Tanzania on Mission: Kilimanjaro 2023, returns to his native Malawi he will once again bless the hundreds of widows he has ministered to since 2016.
Climbing For Christ had a special delivery of food for those widows on its Mission: Malawi 2023 itinerary. The madness in Migowi and resulting postponement of Mission: Malawi 2023 will not stop that. Damson will use funds provided by C4C to deliver food to hungry widows. He will again be the hands and feet of a Jesus ministry.
Nsema for all my friends! Nsema, a ground maize mixed with water, is the staple of the Malawi diet.
Malawi is one of the poorest nations in the world, yet it is called “the warm heart of Africa” because of its people’s friendliness. There are exceptions, of course.
Like the man who led the unruly mob past police and onto Duncan’s property Thursday. Duncan and Damson know him. He lives in a different village, but Damson said he was a friend. “He has a good house. He has a good car. He doesn’t need tires.” Yet the hooligans he guided on a destructive path took tires off Duncan’s car and the car of a friend parked in front of his house.
Those cars were going to be used to deliver food to the hungry. “The beans, salt, and other small materials we put in those two cars were looted on Thursday,” Duncan lamented. The cars also were destroyed.
The man, whose name is Mr. Black and who Duncan referred to as the “ring leader,” has run away. “The police are still looking for him.”
What were he and that frenzied gaggle in search of? Were they looking for a man who allegedly struck a child with his bicycle and was being held captive by the child’s angry parents, as the suspicious story goes? Or did they rage out of control because of jealousy and ignorance against a man of God who tries to help those in his community?
“God is showing the real side of people that they have been hiding,” Damson opined, adding that this is a “judgment” test for these people. Will they repent and turn back to Him – or continue going their own way, the wrong way?
Moses told anyone with ears to hear that God taught His people “humankind cannot live by bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8:3). They need what comes from the Lord’s mouth. We are spiritual beings. Jesus and maize. It’s a winning combination in Malawi. Duncan knows this.
Love never fails. 
Helping hands
If you would like to help Pastor Duncan rebuild his material life, you can send a gift to Climbing For Christ c/o Malawi Ministry at P.O. Box 16290, Rochester, NY 14616-0290 USA. Or CLICK HERE to give online via PayPal. In Canada, make cheques payable to The Great Commission Foundation, and on the memo line add Climbing For Christ CANADA. Mail your support to: The Great Commission Foundation, P.O. Box 14006, Abbotsford, BC V2T 0B4. Or CLICK HERE to give online.
The final Word
“Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” – Psalm 50:15 (NLT)
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