River of Life Journey to Africa
From Melbourne to Perth, from Perth to Johannesburg and on to Blantyre in Malawi Central Africa, our journey started. From there car transport for another two hours to Zomba the past British Governors mansion, here we had a meal, then travelled on towards the Mozambique border to a small place called Magowi. This was our destination. Anne and I were invited to be guest speakers at a Church Ablaze Conference. Very tired and exhausted after five hours travel by car we arrived just after dark.
To our surprise it is a place with the second highest mountain in Africa. The scenery is picturesque, the roads are dirt roads and in many places nearly impassable. Our vehicle a sedan was not build for these roads as we slipped often from side to side on muddy trails. This being our first journey to Africa we had no idea where we were going. We had never met Pastor Mark Zimbiry who picked us up at the airport, we recognised by a sign that simply said Schneider.
Before we left Melbourne we had asked Mark about the weather and he said it was cold at night.
Well, not realizing that it might be cold for the black people of Africa, for Anne and I we were very hot. Just at the end of the monsoon season it was muggy and warm. We stayed in a guest house very primitive. We had a room with a double bed and a mosquito net stretched over it.
The bathroom was also primitive with a pipe coming out of the wall with refreshing cold water which suited me but not Anne. At lease we had a western toilet praise God. Every day we had breakfast which was cucumber and tomatoes and two fried eggs and bread. other meals were rice, potatoes and vegetables. Anne and I enjoyed the simple life style except for the mosquitoes.
In this part of Africa transport is mainly by bicycle or walking on foot. The nearest hospital is 50 miles from Magowi. We passed sick people who were carried on the back of a flat steel tray build on the back of a bicycle, this was their ambulance. They had to travel 50 miles to reach the hospital. For us these conditions are UN-imaginable but in this place it is a common sight. Aids is rampant throughout central Africa. The extreme poverty makes room for this disease to spread. Wives are shackles to be used by men and often beaten into submission. Girls marry as young as thirteen and most live no longer then 40 and might reach 50. The population is mainly young people under the age of twenty years of age. Hundreds of children learn to fend for themselves because their parents have died from aids.
Anne and I were touched as we learned about the condition of these people. There is no infrastructure to help them out of their predicament. We know the only answer for these people is a relationship with Jesus Christ. We preached for five days the hope of Jesus. Many people were delivered and set free as they came forward to give their lives to Jesus Christ. After the conference I baptised many in a local river after a two mile walk there and back.
Pastor Mark asked, "What qualification do I need to become part of the River of Life organization so that we can receive more teaching". I had watched Mark carefully in the time we spend together. I have come to the conclusion that he is an exemplary pastor as he leads and respects his people. I told him that by his example God has already Qualified him.
His qualification is, "Called by God", he learned English by putting together two bibles, one in English the other in his language and comparing notes he learned English. Mark is a true example of a man dedicated to bring Christ to his people.
River of Life has taken to heart this part of Central Africa. Our hope is to build a place of refuge for orphans where they can learn skills and receive education. Pastor Mark has started 16 churches that will receive help from River of Life World Evangelization Inc.
I know that when our Lord shows River of Life something, like what we have experienced in Malawi, I know we need to do something. So River of Life invites all friends to become part to restoring God's kingdom on earth in Malawi Africa.
To our surprise it is a place with the second highest mountain in Africa. The scenery is picturesque, the roads are dirt roads and in many places nearly impassable. Our vehicle a sedan was not build for these roads as we slipped often from side to side on muddy trails. This being our first journey to Africa we had no idea where we were going. We had never met Pastor Mark Zimbiry who picked us up at the airport, we recognised by a sign that simply said Schneider.
Before we left Melbourne we had asked Mark about the weather and he said it was cold at night.
Well, not realizing that it might be cold for the black people of Africa, for Anne and I we were very hot. Just at the end of the monsoon season it was muggy and warm. We stayed in a guest house very primitive. We had a room with a double bed and a mosquito net stretched over it.
The bathroom was also primitive with a pipe coming out of the wall with refreshing cold water which suited me but not Anne. At lease we had a western toilet praise God. Every day we had breakfast which was cucumber and tomatoes and two fried eggs and bread. other meals were rice, potatoes and vegetables. Anne and I enjoyed the simple life style except for the mosquitoes.
In this part of Africa transport is mainly by bicycle or walking on foot. The nearest hospital is 50 miles from Magowi. We passed sick people who were carried on the back of a flat steel tray build on the back of a bicycle, this was their ambulance. They had to travel 50 miles to reach the hospital. For us these conditions are UN-imaginable but in this place it is a common sight. Aids is rampant throughout central Africa. The extreme poverty makes room for this disease to spread. Wives are shackles to be used by men and often beaten into submission. Girls marry as young as thirteen and most live no longer then 40 and might reach 50. The population is mainly young people under the age of twenty years of age. Hundreds of children learn to fend for themselves because their parents have died from aids.
Anne and I were touched as we learned about the condition of these people. There is no infrastructure to help them out of their predicament. We know the only answer for these people is a relationship with Jesus Christ. We preached for five days the hope of Jesus. Many people were delivered and set free as they came forward to give their lives to Jesus Christ. After the conference I baptised many in a local river after a two mile walk there and back.
Pastor Mark asked, "What qualification do I need to become part of the River of Life organization so that we can receive more teaching". I had watched Mark carefully in the time we spend together. I have come to the conclusion that he is an exemplary pastor as he leads and respects his people. I told him that by his example God has already Qualified him.
His qualification is, "Called by God", he learned English by putting together two bibles, one in English the other in his language and comparing notes he learned English. Mark is a true example of a man dedicated to bring Christ to his people.
River of Life has taken to heart this part of Central Africa. Our hope is to build a place of refuge for orphans where they can learn skills and receive education. Pastor Mark has started 16 churches that will receive help from River of Life World Evangelization Inc.
I know that when our Lord shows River of Life something, like what we have experienced in Malawi, I know we need to do something. So River of Life invites all friends to become part to restoring God's kingdom on earth in Malawi Africa.