As we were walking the trail from the Passion Center’s Multipurpose Room back to the Residency Center, Andrea Klingle made a statement that I think summarizes this trip. She said, “I think coming to Malawi and the Passion Center ought to be required of every person in our church.” Obviously she knows that that would never happen, but I think it will let you know just how spiritually significant a trip to this field actually is! As the old saying goes, “Wish you were here!”

As the leader of trip #1, I absolutely cannot say enough about the team God sovereignly put together for the specific assignment He laid out before us. It has been so cool to see that every single person has just the right SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, or passion, Abilities, Personality, and Experience) to play every role we have encountered. Really, it is such a sight to behold.

But “SHAPE” is one thing. Without the right SPIRIT, it still will not fit! And I think that has been the thing that has been the most impaction to me, and been the biggest blessing to me on this trip...the SPIRIT of literally every person on this team. I can’t talk about it without my eyes welling up with tears.

Let me share one example that I think epitomizes what I’m talking about. Friday was the Pastor’s Conference. As far as our vision this “great open door” in Malawi, we believe this is an important piece of the puzzle of seeing God do some things on a national level. For that to become a reality, we desperately needed God to allow this first conference to be impacting to the pastors and their wives who attended it. At the request of the leaders of the network of evangelical churches in this area, they wanted me to do biblical teaching on the subject of marriage—which as most of you know, just happens to be one of my passions. I can give you the specifics when we get home, but it was INCREDIBLE!

Yeah, I’m the guy who ran his mouth all day, and so, yeah a lot of accolades were thrown my way, but I’ve gotta tell you—without this TEAM, it very simply could not have happened! Obviously, God is the one who deserves all of the accolades, and certainly, all of the glory, but some of our people stepped up to make this conference happen, and without them, I could not have done my part.

Because we really wanted the pastors and their wives to comprehend the material, and to be able to have something to take the information back home with them, we felt it necessary to do several things. First, for all of the material to be translated into their language; secondly, formatted into a syllabus of notes; then, organized into a powerpoint presentation, also in their language, with the addition of scores of Bible verses in their language (with no Bible program available to import verses!). Well, I think you can understand just how time consuming each o these steps would be!

On Thursday, some of our folks stepped up to the plate to make it all happen, and they literally knocked it out of the park! It was unbelievable! Andrea Klingle and Becky Ward took the responsibility of typing four complete pages of various Bible verses out of the Chichewa Bible, with some individual words having as many as 18 letters, and they did it all without making a single typographical error! Dave Kirkey was the powerpoint “guru,” who began at 9:30 on Thursday morning and finally, pillowed his head at 1:30 on Friday morning! And all the way through, with a smile, and an impeccable attitude! Wow! Brendan Ringer offered his expertise with some of the graphics, and Jon Herman was a “utility player” all through the day, and God pulled it all together to be something magnificent for his glory.

That’s what the Lord’s work is all about. Not about individuals—we’re a body! And each person simply offers themselves a willing vessel, and allows God to work through them according to their SHAPE. And that’s not just something that is vital on a missions trip. That is how God has called us to function every single week in our own field. In our own church!

God bless every on of you! I’m going to get back to preparing for the message I will be preaching in a few hours from now. Please pray, and please know that we will also be praying for your services today.

I love you!
—Pastor Mark