Born a Muslim…Born Again a Christian
David’s 4th Photo-Blog From East Africa
Sayidi is one of scores of Muslims in southern Malawi who have become followers of the Lord Jesus in the past few years through Heaven’s Family’s Farming God’s Way Ministry.
Today, on our final day in Malawi, we visited a few more villages where Farming God’s Way (FGW) is changing lives, both physically and spiritually. The villages we visited are among 40 that are predominantly Muslim, and in which Charles Mithowa and his team have planted house churches that always start as “God’s Love Groups.” In Muslim villages in which everyone is a subsistence farmer, and that are suffering from food insecurity due to this year’s drought, the people are actually inviting Charles and his team to teach them how to increase their meager and failing harvests. Everyone who desires the training must join a God’s Love Group, and it is in those groups where they are introduced to FGW methods and the gospel. It is resulting in a spiritual harvest.
As he stood before us, 80-year-old Sayidi, in the above photo, told us not be alarmed that he was dressed in traditional Muslim clothing. He said that he is just blending in with the people in his village. He has been a believer now for five years, and the folks in his village have not only been impressed by his thriving small farm, but by the changes in his character. He told us that he used to be “a fighter!” Now he leads his own God’s Love Group that consists of 10 former Muslims whom he has led to the Lord. He said in his testimony before us, “The main thing is not to have food, but to have a relationship with Jesus.”
Sayidi has been farming God’s Way for five years. The first year, he harvested five 165-pound bags. The second year, as he improved his soil, his harvest increased to 8 bags. The third year it was 10. The fourth year, 12. And this year’s harvest yielded 15 bags…in a drought year!
Millard Limbe
We also heard the testimony of Millard Limbe, pictured in the photo above. He has been a follower of Jesus for only one year. I asked him what he was before he became a Christian. He responded, “A drunkard.” I asked him if he repented of anything else, and he said, “Everything else that goes along with being a drunkard.”
Millard is now the elected chief of his village, and he is enthusiastically promoting Farming God’s Way. As he shared his story with us, I noticed that his words (in his native language of Chichewa) seemed to carry a spiritual authority, and I asked him if he is feeling a burden to proclaim the gospel to other villages. He affirmed that burden. It will be interesting to watch his story unfold in the future!
Tomorrow we fly to Uganda for the final three days of our two-week visit of Heaven’s Family projects in East Africa. Below are some photos from today with captions. — David
One of the keys to increasing harvests through Farming God’s Way is “God’s Blanket”—mulch that protects the soil from erosion, retains moisture, and that nourishes the soil as it decomposes. This photo shows a very high standard of God’s Blanket attained by Millard Limbe. Jerry Jefferson is encouraging all the other FGW farmers who stand before him to always strive for similar excellence.
There is never any shortage of beautiful children to photograph in all the villages that we visit. Here, and in the next two photos, are three of them.
The Muslim villages that are found in southern Malawi are much too poor to be able to fund the construction of the MANY mosques in their region. So those mosques are, of course, funded by wealthy Muslims in other nations, and many, like this one that was built in 2023, have a bore hole beside them topped with a water pump.
Notice the sign beside this mosque bore hole says, “Water is Life.” Thank God that, although wealthy Muslims may be able to provide drinking water to quench physical thirst, they can’t provide “living water” that quenches spiritual thirst!
Heaven’s Family’s Safe Water Ministry has provided 52 water wells so far in Malawi, and most are close to villages where Farming God’s Way has been introduced and is being successfully practiced.
Here are the heroes whom Charles Mithowa refers to as his “generals.” They are the primary FGW trainers who volunteer their time and energy, and who love to share Jesus everywhere they go. Heaven’s Family’s Farming God’s Way Ministry only helps with their transportation expenses to and from their training locations. All of them are successful FGW farmers themselves.
This final evening in Malawi, we hosted a special dinner for all the generals to honor their service. They are certainly not accustom to the kind of meals they enjoyed, and this may have been the first time for many of them had the chance to eat at a restaurant. They all ordered chicken and chips (what we call French fries). And they all ate without utensils, as is their custom (after washing their hands of course).
