Are we there yet?
Last Sunday we left the house at a very reasonable 8.30 am in order to arrive at the bush church we were to attend that day by 10 am – or at least the one we thought we were to attend!! But once 10am came and went it was obvious that we were not going where we thought we were!! On asking our local leader how much further and hearing the answer “pafupi” ( not far) we groaned inwardly. We have been in Malawi long enough now to know that “pafupi” can mean at least another hour, if not more! So we ploughed on – almost literally at times, taking detours to miss broken bridges and certainly enjoying the Malawi scenery!
On long drives like these we swing from “isn’t this beautiful” to “are we there yet!” and our physical energy plummets as we realise we still have to arrive, then have a 3 hour service and then drive all the way back again!!
As we were continuing on the “pafupi” part of the journey I found myself thinking about a passage of scripture I had read recently, from Matthew 14. Jesus had just received the news of the death of John the Baptist and in His sorrow He got into a boat to find a quiet place where He could be alone with His thoughts. But – the crowds heard where He was going and by the time Jesus drew up and stepped out of the boat, there they all were, clamouring for His attention, oblivious to how Jesus was feeling. V 11 is amazing – Jesus stepped out of the boat, had compassion on the crowd and He proceeded to heal their sick.
What a wonderful picture/lesson for us when we are weary and perhaps start to feel a little sorry for ourselves! I tell this story because on this particular day when we saw the people, we too not only had compassion on the people and just wanted them to know the blessing of God in their lives, but we had our spirits lifted at the rapturous welcome they gave us – even though we were an hour late!!
As we were driving, into seemingly endless grass, there appeared, almost out of nowhere a great crowd of people singing, dancing, waving as they saw us appear. The car was soon surrounded and we were led to the church with much singing and hand shaking all round!
Yes, it was a long day, yes we were very tired when we got home, but were we blessed? Absolutely! – it was a delight and a privilege to spend time with these people, praising God and sharing His Word with them.
Please remember the 15 Pastors/leaders who will be in the centre here in Blantyre for a weeks training from the 23rd June. Some of them find it very difficult to take in this concentrated teaching, please pray that they will be alert and receptive, not only to the material being taught, but to what God may want to do in their lives during this week.