Shaji Mathews is a Christian brother of Indian origin living in Chicago, USA, for the past 18 years. Last year, he resigned his job to serve God full-time. His recent trip to Africa was an exploration of the African mission field. Please pray for Shaji, Beena and their children, Lydia, Daniel and David as they are waiting on the Lord for further confirmation about the place to serve. - Vinoji Samuel

"Do you have `Black Mamba' in your village?" asked Dr. Alexander Kurian to Jack Bondera, a Malawian brother at Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, in December 2008. "Yes, we have. I even killed one in front of my house." This conversation about the deadly poisonous snakes of Africa led to more inquiries about Malawi, a country on the south west side of Tanzania. Jack's invitation to come and help his villagers in Malawi was a "Macedonian Call" for going to Malawi and the establishment of a new Christian Brethren Assembly there a year later. Jack was from a village called Kande Beach in Malawi, and he was in search of a job in Dar. It was here he met Vinoji Samuel and team (Hillary and Lawrence). Jack later on became one of the leaders of the team that was trained at Dar-es -salaam (the City of Peace) and his wife Irene and Praisy are taken care of by the Samuels. This report is to inform and create awareness among God's people on the missionary work in Malawi and the efforts that is going on the Eastern Africa.

As many of you know Albert Fairweather, an Australian missionary, was instrumental in starting the missionary efforts and the vision to establish New Testament patterned Churches were enthusiastically embraced by John Kurian and Dr. Alexander Kurian. This led to two missionaries of the Indian origin (Vinoji and Jacob Varghese) going to Africa and settling down in Nairobi and Dar-es-salam. This new missionary undertaking has resulted in establishment of many Assemblies in Kenya and Tanzania. When Vinoji visited US in the summer of 2009, he invited me to come and see the work and the need there in Africa as I had already committed to full-time ministry. That is how I ended up in Africa during the Christmas break.

My visit was scheduled in such a way that I could also be involved in the training for the local brethren from Tanzania and Malawi. Dr. Kurian, Vinoji and I were able to teach over a week on the subject of "Spiritual Growth" and the essentials and fundamentals of New Testament patterns.

Besides we also had two specific opportunities during the Christmas season to outreach to the Indian Community, arranged by the local brethren, which was attended by many including Hindus and Muslims. The clear gospel message of Christmas was presented at both the occasions. We were so encouraged to see how the Christmas season could be used to proclaim the gospel to the non- believers who otherwise may not attend our meetings.

Our trip to Kande Beach (Jack's village in Malawi) started on Friday, December 25 from Dar. Bro. Vinoji had visited the place earlier by bus and his experience on travelling by bus was challenging, to say the least. The lack of frequent buses, need to travel by bicycle at the crossing of the border from Tanzania to Malawi, the buses not keeping time (they only leave when it is full!), and language issues complicated it all. So we decided to take the Prado Land Cruiser this time after putting new tires so that we can survive the rugged terrain ahead. Knowing it was long trip of over 1300 km one way, over the hilly roads, we were prepared to halt in between and rest.

We also had taken small refreshments on the way so that we don't have to stop frequently. Our team included Vinoji, his wife Joyce, Alexander Kurian, Jack and Christopher (two Malawian brethren) and I.

Other brothers who came for the training had left by bus. We started at about 5:15 AM after prayer. I remember taking a picture of all of us knowing it was a historic moment.

Within few hours we were passing through Mikumi National Park. It was quite an experience to drive through the African Wild with so many animals. We were so excited to see elephants, giraffes, zebras, wild buffalos, antelopes and monkeys so close to the highway. We stopped occasionally to take pictures, as they sometimes cross the roads. It was truly a Christmas treat of the wildlife. Joyce sat in the front with Vinoji so that Alexander Kurian could stretch the leg on to the seat.

We joked as he stretched his feet on to my lap, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Thanks to Joyce who took lunch (biriani from the previous night dinner) with us, otherwise we would have been starving as there was no place that we could eat. It was a time of rejoicing singing some of the classical Malayalam songs and reminiscing and sharing each other's experiences in the spiritual journey. It started raining in the evening, and we were all getting tired and decided to stay in hotel in Mbeya, a major township near the Tanzanian border. The accommodation was comfortable and reasonably charged.

The next day (December 26) we started early after breakfast toward Mzuzu, the largest town north of Lilongwe (the capital city). Paul Pascoe and his wife Joanne, a missionary couple from Canada had already made arrangements for us to stay in a rest house there. The land going up the hill was so fertile and I have never seen so much banana trees in one place. It reminded me of the High Ranges of Idukki district in Kerala.

We were able to get nice bananas for less than one- fourth of the price in DAR. We finally reached the Tanzania – Malawi border. The tourists and missionaries are well received at the immigration. The US citizens are exempted from paying the visa fees, and I could see the immigration officer's face brightening up when he realized that I was from America. While at the border we saw our other Malawi brothers who came to the training and were going back by bus. They came there earlier than us, however, they were dropped there at the border and had to wait for 12 hours until, the next bus to the village. We gave them some money for traveling expenditure and kept on going. We reached Mzuzu by about 2:00 PM and got some money exchanged to "Kwacha" (the Malawian currency). While we were driving around we saw an Indian Restaurant, "A1-Indian Cuisine" the only one of its kind there and we had lunch there. The restaurant owner Mr. Jayadev was so pleased to see us, and from him we found that there are about 500 Indians in that town. We let Jack and Christopher go early to their village by bus from that point. After checking in at the rest house and freshening up, brother Paul Pascoe escorted us to his house nearby where we met his dear wife Joanne. They were so glad to meet us and graciously served us a nice dinner. It was mutually encouraging to all of us. They have been there for the last 13 years, and are running an orphanage along with the responsibility of the local church. They shared some of their struggles with the corruption, bureaucracy, local brethren, and the challenges of the ministry there. We all felt that they were a bit discouraged and lonely there. These servants of God deserve our prayer. The next day (Sunday, December 27) we went to the Christian Brethren Assembly there to worship the Lord with the saints. It was a small assembly and the Pascoes were the only non- black there, but they are actively involved in the work of the Lord. We left for Kande Beach after the meeting.

One thing that amazed me was the hunger for the people to learn the Bible. The people in general are kind and gentle, and very welcoming of the Christians. We were stopped occasionally by the traffic police and immigration authorities. After the conversation with them, we made it a point to give copies of the gospel of John and other tracts to the police. They all accepted those literatures gladly. We saw some of them beginning to read immediately after we left. Nowhere else have I seen people being so receptive to the Bible.

Kande Beach is about 100 Km from Mzuzu, and we reached there in the afternoon and we all had to stay in a single room with one bath room. In the evening we went to Jack's village. It took us a while to get there because there were no proper roads. We parked our vehicle outside their house and were greeted by about thirty children and twenty adults, many of them Jack's friends and neighbours. It is on the shore of the Malawi Lake and the main occupation for the people is fishing (world famous "Chambo" fish) and being guide to the tourists. This village has no electricity nearby, and therefore, the cell phones that some of the Malawi brethren had could not be charged and it caused a lot of confusion and delay. That evening, we sang some songs sitting outside their house and I shared the gospel based on the story of the prodigal son. They were all listening intently. When I finished (even though I could not see everyone's face clearly in the dark), I felt that I should ask them to raise their hands if they believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be their savior. To my amazement, six or seven children some of them teenagers, raised their hands. Praise the Lord!

Next day (Monday, December 28), we reached the village early. Jack's brother, Derek, who was also in the training had expressed his desire to be baptized. However, it was raining, and we were praying. Vinoji Samuel was speaking based on Acts 2 on the New Testament Practices, and said the rain will stop in half an hour when we are ready for baptism. To everyone's surprise and for God's glory, the rain stopped immediately after he finished speaking at 10:30 AM and we were able to walk to the lake without any issues of rain. It strengthened our faith in the living and prayer answering God. Dr. Alexander Kurian spoke at the lake shore about the believers' baptism and many witnessed the simple and faithful practice of this important ordinance. When the brethren asked me to do the baptism, I considered it a wonderful privilege for me to baptize someone especially from a different continent, ethnicity and culture's (reminiscent of Philip and the Ethiopian in the book of Acts). It went well by God's grace. After the baptism we all gathered (about 35) under a huge cashew- nut tree in front of Derek's house, and observed the Lord's supper (about 15, including us) and started Worship service according to the Biblical pattern. Dr. Alexander Kurian gave a clear and powerful message at the end; it was like reliving the first century experience of the believers. We had fellowship and lunch together with the local believers and encouraged the leaders to be consistent and faithful in their commitments, before singing the farewell song, "God be with you till we meet again!"

Let us thank God that Jack was willing to give about half an acre of his own property for the construction of an assembly Hall at Kande Beach, proving that it is from the Lord. As the construction cannot start now, we hope to have it completed by the end of the year as Lord provide the funds. On our way back, we had a lot to be thankful to the Almighty God for enabling us to participate in this historic event. This is the road we have not taken before, but it is the Lord who goes before us and guides us. We want to thank all who prayed and supported the ministry.

Here are some of the lessons I learnt during this trip:

Indian believers have a major role to play in the evangelism of the world

We have servants of God who are committed, gifted and used by the Lord to serve any people groups, especially the Africans

We do not have to limit our mission and ministry efforts to Indians only

The Lord has blessed us immensely to be the strategic players in the global evangelism because of our ability to use English language and use the best practices from all over the world, including, India, Middle East, North America and Africa.

We have the resources and the prayer partners that God has raised for fulfilling His purposes.

The East African countries are now receptive to the gospel. It may be too late if we wait as other faiths are at the doorstep trying to become strong and dominant.

God is still at work, He works through His people and He stands with those who obey Him

All things are possible if only we will trust him and attempt great things expecting great results

Please pray for:

The growth of the newly started Assembly in Kande Beach, Malawi, the construction of the assembly hall, and for brothers Jack, Christopher, Hamilton, Derek, Alamson and their families;

Work of the gospel may spread to other areas of Malawi and new Brethren Assemblies may be established in the coming years;

The full time workers of Indian origin Vinoji Samuel and Jacob Varghese (Happy), and the expansion of the mission work in Africa, especially Eastern Africa.

The Lord may raise and send the right people, especially young people, who have a vision and commitment for the Christian mission in Africa and elsewhere.