May 18, 2022 Tatelynn and the Pear Tree

Stories from the field are inspiring to our staff, who have their favorites posted in their workspace. This story is told by team member, Tatelynn, about her experience in Malawi.
 
After nearly an hour of bouncing around on dusty African roads squeezed into the back of a Land Cruiser meant to hold eight passengers but accommodating seventeen, I was very glad to arrive at the tiny village of Kuweruza. Here I would spend my evenings for the next ten days. As soon as I jumped out of the vehicle, I was introduced as the one who will be teaching the children to the church members who had been awaiting us.
 
Here is your translator, the pastor said to me, motioning for a woman to join me, and do you see that pear tree out in the corn field? I nodded tentatively, looking in the direction he was pointing but having trouble understanding him through his thick accent. He smiled at me, That is where you can teach the children. You will want to start right away so you can finish before the sun sets. With that, he left me.
 
As more and more children poured into the field and around the tree, I had to smile to myself, realizing that any preparations I had tried to make back at home were not at all applicable now. I had planned on roughly 75 children, a translator, a building with electricity, and having a few helpers to help me teach the childrenÑyou know, just the basics! Now here I was under a pear tree in the middle of a dusty corn field, outside of a village that had next to no electricity, with more than 200 children crammed as near to me as they could get, and it looked like my only helper would be this polite translator, who did not speak my language.
 
This sounds about like my God, I thoughtÑturning my simple effort into an epic adventure and reminding me of His promise that I can do all things through His strength. (Philippians 4:13)
 
Remembering that verse, I relaxed completely. Nothing is a surprise to my Jesus. He knew that there were children unreached, and He also knew exactly how to reach them. Well, here were the children, and here was a girl ready to stand up to the challenge!
 
It was soon apparent that, although my translator said ‘okay’ to everything I said, she spoke very little English. I want to tell them the story of Noah and his ark, I told her. Ah, yes! She replied politely. I waited a second for more of a response, but that brief moment only solidified the fact that she did not speak English and I, not one word of Chichewa. Taking her Bible, I opened to the first few pages, hoping that the books were in the same order as most English Bibles. Finding Chaputala 6 in the first book, which I assumed to be Genesis, I tried to tell her that this was the story written on my paper. Thankfully, she got my drift and then before I knew it, she had launched into the story, captivating the attention of the children with her enthusiasm.
 
We managed to get through the rest of the week in a similar way, By the end of our meetings in Kuweruza, I regularly had more than 250 children under that pear tree with me and anywhere from three to four hundred people were attending the evangelistic seminar each night.
 
God truly blessed the efforts of those who made themselves available to Him and on the last Sabbath of our time in Malawi it was amazing to watch as more than 1,200 people were baptized from the six different meeting sites! The language of love is universal, and the story of Jesus can be told without translation.
 
My experience in Malawi is definitely not one to be soon forgotten. The lesson driven closest to home for me was the reality that our God can use anyone who is willing to leave themselves open to His will. Will you open yourself to the incredible freedom that comes when you step out of your comfort and rely completely on God?

And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

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