Friends on the Floor: The Seed of a Movement
I spent time last month with our key local pioneer leaders in Malawi. I went there knowing that our local leaders have planted about 300+ churches and Discovery Bible Studies (DBS). I went there knowing that the last two years of covid devastated their livelihood, and that persecution and pressure pummeled church gatherings and outreach in several regions. I went there expecting that the emergent church movements had perhaps been squeezed to scale back. However, during these two years of hardships, the work has instead multiplied to more than 500+ churches and Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) and are still rapidly growing. In their hardest times, our local leaders have stubbornly focused on making disciples and planting and multiplying churches among the neglected. We spent three days hearing each of their life stories and testimonies of the sick being healed, the oppressed set free, and Imams, witch doctors, and the destitute following Jesus.
But what touched me most is how it all started . . .
Years ago, Rebman, one of our Malawian pioneer leaders, had come to Cape Town seeking work and was living in a cramped shack in the poor Masiphumelele township. He shared how our towering (6 foot 6”) All Nations Founder Floyd McClung would visit him every two days and disciple him. “Papa Floyd would squeeze in and sit on the floor just like us. He understood our African hearts. And he would always wash his own cup before he leaves,” shared Oliver and Rhoda, our very first Malawian pioneer leaders. Rebman knew that he needed to take back to Malawi what Floyd had imparted to him. Our other Malawian leaders shared similar stories—that someone invested in them through life-on-life discipleship. They spoke of “Papa Mike and Mama Cita,” of “Michael” and “Cedric,” of “Jonathan” and “Tiaan” . . . and many more. Now our Malawian pioneer leaders are modeling the same—multiplying leaders who multiply leaders, and multiplying churches that are now multiplying churches to the 4th and 5th generation cycle.
In this visit, I learned from our Malawian leaders to be:
Hungry to learn and quick to implement
Unwavering in disciple-making even in hardship
Dependent on the Holy Spirit for mighty works and wisdom
I learned that the Malawian movement started with the globally-in-demand Floyd willing to set aside his international daily planner, and to instead sit shoulder-to-shoulder and share daily life with others who would disciple many more.
So, for each of us, who are we investing in? And who is investing in each of us, that we can partake in Kingdom movements? It’s On!
Dr. Mary Ho, DSL
All Nations International, Inc. | International Executive Leader
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