Dickens Mwakawonja Gondwe comes from the Hara area in Uliwa. He is one of the founders of Christian Love Church. He is so teachable and humble. He learned from the DCI Team when we started trainings at Uliwa and has been there since. He takes us to different Life Groups including the one which he has established in his own village.

This time he took us to the Children Life Group. He prays with the children as if he is a child and in this way they understand what he is teaching. His has a heart and a passion for the children. He has also trained other children’s teachers, Blanco Munthari and 2 more women.

We were so encouraged to see that children are being saved are taught and trained. They are being discipled while they are young so that when they grow up it will be difficult for false teachers to deceive them.

When a child is taught the truth while young it is difficult for that child to be deceived when they grow up. Discipling children is reaching and touching the next generation. They meet three times a week.

These children are discipled and as a result, their lives are changed. They learn more of the Word of God through one-on-one as well as on their own as they read and study the word of God. Those who were troublesome at home as well as at school are no longer troublesome. Jesus has saved them and changed their lives. They are now able to obey their parents. Before parents and teachers tried to change them but failed. That is why parents and teachers are very happy with the changes that have taken place in their children’s’ lives. Some of these children can even teach their parents. Seeing what God has done in their children’s lives, the parents are encouraging their children to go to the Life Group meetings.

Help us grow the work: Donate page

(sent Feb. 25, 2023)

The man in the picture is Zaccheus Nyirenda a village headman. He trusted Jesus for salvation during one of our Life Group follow-up meetings at Mulewera in the Euthini region.

After he trusted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, he was filled with joy and happiness for the peace of the Lord that filled his heart.

Zaccheus once attended a Holy Cross Pentecostal Church and was devout about the things of God. As time passed, he stopped going to church and got busy with village duties, customs, and the traditions of the community. For this reason, he has not attended church for over three years and his pastor stopped following up on him long ago.

Fortunately, a woman who was discipled by one of the people we trained started a Life Group in his area and Zaccheus started attending. Later he was given someone to disciple him and he received a Bible and a DB.

Now that he has trusted Jesus, he will be discipled by a member of the Life Group as they read the Bible and go through the Dynamic Basic booklet.

Thanks,

Caleb

EUTHINI FIFTH VISIT

This past week (February 2023) God gave us the privilege to conduct the fifth training with pastors from the Euthini area under the leadership of pastor Misted Manda of Pentecostal Christ Church International who also is the coach in this area. We started the trainings with the leaders from Euthini last year, but the work has advanced beyond the boundaries of Euthini. A lot of people have been saved in Euthini through the training these leaders have received from the DCI team.

So far there are over 37 active Life Groups and over 41 leaders have been trained. This is really an explosive growth experience we are witnessing in this region. The DCI team started to work in Euthini in 2012, but for some reason the work didn’t survive. We decided to stop going there, instead we used our time and resources to go to other places where the teaching is well received and implemented. But we never gave up on Euthini and we continued praying and kept searching for the man of peace in this region. We found pastor Manda who came from Ekwendeni (where DCI also trained and equipped leaders and pastors, ed.).

Euthini has a small number of born-again Christians. Most people who call themselves Christians do not really understand what that means. Most of these people belongs to Traditional Churches that do not preach the gospel. And we found that most these folks are double worshipers, they worship God, and they also worship the spirits of their ancestors. Many people still practice rituals such as drinking fresh blood of goats and chickens. Many others are into drinking much beer (both men and women).

We heard a story of a certain butcher who on the 24th of December last year (2022) killed a cow which spoke back to the men who were slaughtering it in the slaughterhouse. It is said that the cow said, “Why are you killing me? Please release me and let me go back and raise my kids”. They said the voice sounded like a lady. They thought it was the voice of a certain lady who went missing a few weeks earlier before this cow was taken to the slaughterhouse from the area where the butcher lives. As the result the butcher has lost his business. These are some of the true stories that when you hear them are hard to believe but witchcraft and magic are very real here in Malawi.

We also found that there are some people in this area (so called Men of God, self-proclaimed prophets) who are selling anointed water. They charge people Mk2500 (about $ 3.00) for a very small bottle of water and the price goes higher depending on the size of the bottle.

We were told that some of these men also sell stickers and make people believe that these stickers have divine powers to protect them from accidents and the attacks of evil spirits. Many people buy these items because people are hungry for the spiritual.

One of these prophets is so popular that he attracts people from far places like Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and even from Zambia. Learning about these things helps us to pray for Euthini in a better way and to also have a better way of presenting the gospel. That’s why we combine training sessions with follow-up visits right from the second visit. During these follow-ups we make sure we encourage the Life Group leaders and members from the Word of God. We are very encouraged to see God working in the lives of the people in Euthini, lives are being changed as traditional practices are abandoned by those that have come to faith through one-to-one discipleship. And seeing all these 37 Life Groups that started within a year’s time is a great encouragement to us and the body of Christ. This is a testimony that God is working in this area. During this trip we only visited three Life Groups and the testimonies we heard from the people we met encouraged us very much.

Please keep Euthini in your prayers for God to continue the great work He has begun in Euthini and that more people will come to salvation through the one-to-one discipleship and the Life Groups. Pray also that the Traditional Church will be reached so those churches also begin to preach the true gospel of salvation. And this can happen when the pastors of these Traditional Churches are saved. We already have seen two of these pastors saved and they are among the first generation of believing leaders in these churches.

Thank you

John

Dear friends,

As you can read from these reports the work in Malawi is seeing much amazing fruit. God is blessing the work in souls saved and we rejoice. But we need help. Right now we are short about 20% for the every month expenses. Would you help? Perhaps a one-time gift or a monthly commitment?

Thanks for your prayers and financial help,

Hans and Elly Timmermans for the DCI Team

Carmel Mtika Banda is a committed pastor. As George Chipeta explains in the article below, he is using his training to further the Kingdom of God in the Central Region. From the map you can see how great the distance is. The trip takes many hours. On his way home Carmel, travelling on the back of a truck, was involved in an accident. Two of his fellow travellers were killed, Carmel survived with bruises and much pain. Please pray for him.

-Hans and Elly Timmermans for the DCI Team

Sent on Feb. 11, 2023

I had a great time this past week with pastor Carmel Mtika Banda from Madise in Dowa District that’s the Central Region of Malawi. He came all the way from the Central Region to be trained further on DCI Principles as well as get some materials. This is the second time for him to use his own resources to come and learn more about DCI principles. He heared from another pastor that these training are very helpful to grow the work of God.

He reported that the work is going well. He has established 7 church branches using DCI principles and each church has a number of Life Groups where people are either being discipled or discipling others. The one-on-one discipling takes place outside the participation in the Life Group. I have been training him as a leader on one-to-one when he comes here as well as on the phone calls. He has also trained a number of leaders who are leading the churches and those church leaders are also training the Life Group leaders in turn. I like pastor Carmel because of his a humble heart. He is teachable as well as hard working. He is one of the pastors that we talk with for a long time on our phone calls. He feels free to ask for advice.

These are the churches he has planted so far:

• Wakerenela church branch. The Leader is Damiyano and has 4 Life Groups.
• Dwangwa branch. The leader is Precious Chiziko and has 3 Life Groups.
• Mponera has 5 Life Groups. The Leader is Lisa Kamanga
• Nsanganga. The leader is Juphrikisi Kapundu and has 4 Life Groups
• Nambamba branch. The leader is Selina Bizwick and has 5 Life Groups
• Kamwendo has 2 Life Groups and tey they have no bibles.
• Madise, where Carmel is based has 7 Life Groups

These are Life groups in other places:

• Chambande boundary Zambia & Mozambique. The leader is Dickson and has 2 Life Groups.
• Chinkhoma. Pastor Gibson Seza Banda is the leader and has 2 Life Groups.
• Lojwa. The leader is Fumu Chizunba and has 8 Life Groups.

Carmel has also started teaching some orphans the Word of God, seeing that it is the only hope for them to hear God’s Word and to start a Life Group with them.

– George

Dear friends of DCI Malawi

(Sent out in February 2023)

Greetings in Jesus’ Name! We are very thankful for the amazing reports we continue to receive from our Team in Malawi. They have returned from their Christmas break refreshed and ready for this new year of seeing what God has in store for them and their fellow Malawians.

You may have been wondering how your donations are used in Malawi… Thank you for your help in these very important items which are needed to facilitate the discipleship and leadership training that John, George and Caleb do in Malawi.

The exchange rate fluctuates a lot. In January 2022 the exchange rate was MKW 620 for CAN$ 1.00. In December it was MKW 750 for CAN $ 1.00.

The allowances for the three DCI Team members, John Singinie, George Chipeta and Caleb Chirambo take up 42% of the expenditures. This gives them an income comparable to a teacher in Malawi.

A lot of ministry takes place over the phone and “airtime” takes up 15% of the budget. Staying in touch by phone and counselling Life Group leaders this way helps the Team to stay connected. Transportation (truck and motorbike costs), lodging, meals, and providing food during the training for the participants, etc. are all part of our regular expenses.

We are so thankful for everyone who helps make this work possible through prayer and financial giving. God is using the DCI Team for His glory by saving many Malawians from a life without hope and making them part of God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ.

As workers together with Christ we can look forward to meeting these Malawian brothers and sisters when we personally see Jesus face to face. Then we will all together praise Him for His love and the salvation He worked for us. Then our new life in Christ, which we already have now, will be completed as He also gives us a new, sinless body. How exciting!

In the mean time things are getting more expensive, here and in Malawi. In Malawi, we ask the Team to operate on this budget of approximately $50,000, whereas in reality, the budget should be approximately 30% higher. So we want to ask you to think about how you can help this work. Perhaps you have never given on a monthly basis and are in a position to do so now, or perhaps you are able to increase the amount you already give each month. God is doing amazing things in Malawi and your dollars are laying up treasures for eternity.

Here is how you can help:

e-tranfer: dcioffice@shaw.ca

See our donate page here.

Thanks again for your interest in this work.

Shalom,

Hans and Elly Timmermans (for the DCI Team in Malawi).