Philombe

There was a  wonderful worship service at the church in Philombe this morning. I  loved the way   the scores of children fully participated in the service.  There were at least a dozen pastors visiting, some from as far away as Blantyre. The district superintendent was also  there.

George gave a beautiful message about having faith in God to save us and keep us.  He told the true story of a family crossing the Shire River in a tiny canoe. A hippo overturned the boat, and everyone on board drowned. He said that many people choose to trust in their own way, and that is like getting in a tiny canoe. It is unsafe and dangerous to go our own way and trust in what we can do to save us and keep us.  We cannot work and try to make our own way to God. We cannot choose to go our own way. He told them that God is offering us a big ferry boat. It is big enough and strong enough to get us safely to the other side.

At the end of the service, when the Pastor asked for the sick  to  come  and  be prayed for many children responded.   When  I  laid my hands on one child,  I realized she  had a high fever. Many of the children had the sad, weak eyes of malaria.   We prayed for many, many people and asked God to reward their faith.

George  was  the  guest speaker today at the Apostolic Church of Pentecost  in Philombe. We waited for the service to  begin  in this  storage room  in the pastor's house. These  are bags  of cotton.  The opposite side of the room was stacked high with  bags of maize.  On  our  way  to  Philombe, we passed  large  fields of sunflowers, a major crop in the region.

Bags of cotton  line the wall of this storage room in the pastor's house. On the opposite side of the room were 50kg bags of maize  were stacked high.

 The church was  filled  beyond capacity, and there were people standing outside looking in the windows. Eventually,  there were people sitting along a ledge behind the pastors.

 Pastor  Tanaposi  encouraged the people  of Philombe church to love one another. He said, "See  Pastor George and Sister Phyllis, how they love one another? Husbands, you must love your wife. You should have only one wife and not divorce her.   Wives you must love your husbands."

 

The women of the church prepared a meal for us. Bowls of rice, nsima, cabbage cooked with tomatoes and onions, and boiled eggs.