The Cure for the Christmas Blahs....

I have expressed to some of you that this year has been a bit challenging for me in being away from family and home at Christmas time. I determined at the onset of the season that rather than focus on what I don’t have, I was going to focus on what I do.  As I opened my hands and my heart, God gave me some very humbling opportunities to reach beyond myself and to get involved in some projects of His design.  I must say, that this has made for a very heart-warming Christmas, indeed.

After visiting Malawi earlier this year, a pastor's wife from San Antonio, Texas, questioned the feasibility of doing something for needy pastors this Christmas.  She asked me if I could possibly locate and send to her ornaments that could be sold to church members with all proceeds going to assist Malawi pastors.  Through many challenges that can only be fully appreciated by someone who has tried to make this happen in the African context, I sent her 500 ornaments of three types, which reaped a profit of $5000.  With that money we were able to provide 95 pastors and their families with MK 7000.00 ($50) each.  When you consider that many of the pastors in this movement make less than MK 1000 ($7) per month, this was amazing.  I think it would be fair to estimate that approximately 190 adults and a minimum of 400 children benefited from this generosity. What a blessing!

 

Pastors were told to meet at the divisional director’s office at 9:00 AM. That meant that we could expect them any time within the following two hours. That doesn’t indicate disregard for scheduling; it more accurately indicates challenges in transportation. Many had to travel by mini-bus for hours to arrive at the designated locations. The distance may or may not have been so great; it just takes that long for many to make the necessary connections with public transport. One pastor told us that he only got the call at 6:00 AM that morning with no explanation of why he was to be there. He quickly readied himself, repaired his bicycle, and rode 20 kilometers to be there at 9:00 AM. You can imagine his overwhelming delight when he was told the purpose of his coming. Malawians try not to be expressive of emotion. It was comical to me to watch him as the realization of what was happening began to dawn on him. He tried very hard to suppress a smile, but he was totally unsuccessful. He burst into an open grin as he expressed his gratitude for such a generous gift.

I actually had a divine moment as I observed one of the pastors after receiving his offering. He sat rather thoughtfully as he looked at the envelope containing his money. The divisional director asked him if he understood what we were saying. His response was, “Yes, I am just calculating that this will be enough to pay the school fees for my seven children.” Gaylord asked if he had been praying about that, to which he replied that he had. At that moment, I began to see the greater miracle behind this project for so many. In the economy of God, it is not extreme to touch the heart of a pastor’s wife in San Antonio, Texas, to organize a project to assist his servants in Malawi, Africa; thereby, answering many prayers heard only by Father God and His children. So many times we try in our finite knowledge to calculate how God will respond and meet our needs without taking into consideration that His resources and networking are infinite. That is a divine reality. There is no way when any of these pastors prayed for their many needs that they could imagine that God would respond to their prayers by speaking to a lady and church congregation across the world through the selling of Christmas ornaments, but He did. 

  

An American mentality often focuses on the thought that extra money at Christmastime allows us to purchase gifts and prepare feasts. Though I am sure there will be more food on the table for Christmas dinner, many of the pastors served, indicated that now they could purchase seed or fertilizer for next year’s crop. School fees for their children or dependents are due in January. One young man is getting married next year, and this will help with labola, or the bride price, that must be paid in his culture. The rains have destroyed the thatch roofs of some of the pastors’ homes; now they can be repaired. These are just some of the uses that the pastors shared with us. How timely, indeed, was this project.  Over and over we heard the phrases, “This is a very good thing,” or “This is a miracle,” or “Thank you so very much.”

In blessing 95 Malawi pastors' families, two American missionaries were blessed more than words can adequately express.  May the true joy of the Christmas season rest upon you and yours this holiday.