Moni, mulebwange! Greetings from Blantyre, Malawi. Words can’t
adequately describe how God has moved this past week through Youth Education
Strategies! I am always humbled and amazed that God has called me to be a part
of what He is doing in the world. Our team has been doing double duty this
week. We have been sharing the Gospel in schools along with scheduling more
schools to speak with for next week when my brother, Sean, and my father,
David, arrive here. It is my joy to share with you what God has been doing.
Before I specifically mention any numbers, I want to say a
few things. The most important number is one – One God, one Gospel, one way to
salvation, one purpose to life (bringing glory to God), one orphan finding the
love of his Heavenly Father, one teenager dying of AIDS receiving eternal life
through Jesus Christ, one police officer wanting to shut down our ministry
opening her heart to the Gospel, one person who turns from their sin and
receives salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone as Lord. We can’t
determine what is really happening in individual hearts, so we never report “salvations,”
but rather report “commitments,” or “professions of faith.” With this in
consideration, we do our absolute best before the Lord to accurately account
for all ministry done, then round DOWN everything we report.
Since arriving here last week, I have had the privilege to share
the Gospel in 13 schools with more than 12,000 people, and over 8,500 of them made the
commitment to turn from their sin and trust in Jesus as Lord and savior! Words truly
can’t describe what God is doing here in Malawi, and I can’t properly describe
how blessed I feel to be a part of it. I would love to quickly share with you two
specific things that happened this week.
After arriving to speak at a high school that shared grounds
with a middle school, I asked the pastor I was with if we would be speaking at
the middle school later. He told me that when he tried to book the middle
school the headmaster said, “Our students are too busy to fit in anything extra.”
We invited him to hear our talk with the high school. After we finished, he
brought us into his office and told us to, “Please come back and share with the
middle school students as well.” When I asked him which day would be good for
us to come, he said, “Any day is fine. We can rearrange anything so the
students can hear this message.” I guess they aren’t too busy after all! Now, we
are scheduled to speak with the 3,000 students at his school next week. God is
so good. I love it when He turns things right around right in front of our
eyes!
Yesterday, we were at the last school we would be speaking
with for the week; we were originally scheduled to be here earlier, but the
school asked us to come late instead. While sharing the Gospel with this high
school, I began to notice some of the kids who were playing on the street
nearby had begun to sit down and listen along with the students. It was at this
moment I had the thought, “If we would have come to speak at this school any
other time, these kids wouldn’t be here to hear the Good News.” When it came
time for the invitation, almost all of these twenty kids raised their hand to
say that they were committing to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives. These
twenty kids on the street might seem insignificant compared to the 12,000 others
I spoke with this week, but God loves each and every one of them every bit as
much as He loves you or I. And He arranged our schedule for the entire week in
order that we would share with them. This moment reminded me that God is in
control of every little detail of our lives, and that we should find comfort in
putting our trust in Him.
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| See the kids to my right? |
Later today, my father and brother are beginning their trip
to Malawi, and it looks like we are set up for another great week of ministry
next week. We would greatly appreciate prayer for our team and the people we
will be sharing Jesus with in schools here in Malawi. Thank you!
~Steven Stockwell
