Come along with me…

I’m weaving through villages and fields, traipsing down
narrow foot paths and trudging through muck. 
I’m jumping over mud puddles and broken bricks.  I’m skirting around fallen walls, bent
roofing sheets and twisted trusses.  I’m
stepping over soggy blankets and dirty clothes.   

Malawi 2015 revisited.  What happened?  A deluge of rain.
Rivers overflowed,
  Maize fields flattened,
    Bridges demolished,
      Roads cratered.

Different year,
Different people,
Different location,
Same result:  Devastation.

Rains are a double-edged sword.  Just enough and wells fill, fields drink, crops grow and the land produces. Too much and houses collapse leaving them useless; pit latrines overflow rendering them a danger.

It all happened in Malawi. 

Again.

People are reminiscing that this same thing happened just
four years ago.

The Malawi 2018/2019 wet season had a great start.  A great balance of rain and sunshine.  Crops were looking good.  Tobacco. Maize. Groundnuts.  Farmers were ecstatic!  

It’s going to be a
bountiful harvest! We can sell our cash crops…our granaries will be full…we will
harvest plenty to eat good…our bellies satisfied…no hunger this year!

Then came the 6^th of March 2019.  Ash Wednesday arrived.  So did another rain.   Well, not just another rain, but a downpour.  The heavens opened.  Water fell by the bucket.  Cats and Dogs.  Didn’t let up for 3 solid days.  This time the land and the areas most affected are quite flat so the water didn’t have a natural run off. When rains fall that rapidly and that powerfully, mud houses just don’t stand a chance against such force and pressure of water.

The torrent was enough to bring down the roof.

It did.

Many houses were destroyed.  Families are displaced.  Women and children are sleeping in church buildings.  Husbands and fathers are staying in any manageable place that they can find in what is left of their houses.  A makeshift shelter.  A tiny covered corner of a room.  Some are sleeping under the stars.  All who are affected are trying to pick up the proverbial pieces.  And lurking right around the corner?

Disease. It’s what happens when outhouses collapse and the holes brim over. It’s a stream you don’t want to be near. But there is a stream you do.  A river actually.  A river of living water. 

“Though the earth give way…though its waters roar and foam…there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.”¹

The one who wrote those words also wrote these:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”² 

To the people who are sitting in the rubble, asking
themselves questions and trying to make sense of it all, the pastors in the
Lutheran Church have been able to bring this kind of message:  God indeed is our refuge and strength, an
ever-present help in trouble. 

Though many people have many questions, there’s another question
that rises above all the others. It stands tall and strong like a beacon in the
storm:  

Who or what can separate us from the love of Christ?³ We know what is written in Romans 8:35. A bunch more questions that answer that first one. (If you’re not sure, check it out). But what about the questions on the minds of the homeless people in Malawi who are wondering how they are going to start over and rebuild?

What can separate them from God’s love?
Rains?
Floods?
Unusable toilets?
Obliterated fields?
Collapsed houses?
Lost property?

Can these things remove God from their world of broken walls and caved-in roofs?

NO.⁴

Paul, what do you mean, NO?  Tell us more!

“NO, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  None of these things shall separate us from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”⁵

Ah, yes.  Good
words, Paul.  The people need to hear
those words.  So do I…when things in my
own life collapse!  You, too?

For three days we surveyed the destruction and assessed
the damage.  So much rain…so much
ruin.  With such incalculable devastation
I could only imagine incredible loss. 

What I didn’t imagine – or even think about – was the
incredible gain. 

Incredible
gain? 

As the people shared their stories, I noticed that they
had gained something: a new appreciation for the goodness of the Lord.  A renewed indebtedness to the grace of
God.  Gratitude for something bigger than
earthly comfort. 

Heavenly blessings!

When we arrived, they not only spoke of the rains that
came down from heaven but of the promises of God that do, too! 

They shared with us how God spared them, protected them
and saved them.  We paused here for a
prayer.  Sat there for a devotion.  Spent time with the families in meditation
and thankfulness. We were invited to so many places we didn’t have time for
everyone.

We brought our phone cameras but took more than pictures
and videos.

We took heart! (The people encouraged us!)

We took assurance! (The presence of problems doesn’t mean the absence of God!)

We took with us a renewed sense of joy!  (Our Lutheran members know the grace and love of God in Christ Jesus despite the trials that come)

After seeing one collapsed house after another, what falls like rain upon my heart are the words of Moses:

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations…from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”⁶

Like Paul said, “…we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands…”⁷

His is a house that will never fall.  The roof won’t leak and the walls won’t collapse.  The foundation is strong and the rooms are safe.

Meanwhile, here on earth, whether in Malawi or the USA or
somewhere in-between, we groan and are burdened.  All creation, too.  Apparently, that includes the rains.  And the mud from which many houses are built.

But we look forward to a time when all those in Christ
Jesus we will be safe and secure in…

God’s Eternal Dwelling Place.

Your Malawi Mission Partner,
Missionary John Holtz

1. Psalm 46:2-4.
2. Psalm 46:1.
3. Romans 8:35.
4. Romans 8:37a
5. Romans 8:37-39
6. Psalm 90:1,2
7. 2 Corinthians 5:1

Dear Mission Partners,

Maybe you know and maybe you don’t, but our beloved WELS is showing faith in action by getting involved with both prayer support and financial aid. 

The Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Malawi Synod, the WELS Board for World Missions, and WELS Christian Aid and Relief have been working hard at evaluating the immediate needs of those in our Lutheran congregations who are greatly affected by the floods, especially in the southern region of Malawi.  (It was the southern region that was affected in 2015, too).  Through funds made available through CAR, the LCCA members affected by the floods will receive some much-needed practical items.  Things like buckets for clean water, blankets for warmth, and plastic sheeting for temporary roofing can meet immediate needs.  A  church building that has collapsed can be rebuilt.

Your Africa Missions team would like to encourage anyone whose heart is moved to give a gift to help people in need (due to flooding or other disaster) to please donate to WELS Christian Aid & Relief.  Please follow the link below:
https://community.wels.net/page.aspx?pid=394

Thank you, Dad.¹

I don’t always say some of these things so I thought I’d
share them now. 

Dad, I don’t know if you know it or not but you are the one
who influenced me the most to go into the ministry.  You’re the one who impacted my life more than
you probably know and far more than I could ever repay.

Far more.

That’s a subject you know well.  You know all about an impossible debt because
you have one yourself.  And you showed me
mine.  You taught me that I could never repay God for what He’s done for me.  The
price of the ransom?  The cost of eternal
life?  The payment for sin?

• Too much to calculate. 
• Too big to pay back.
• Too impossible even to try.

We would be too foolish
even to try!

Dad, of all the things you’ve taught me over the years, the
most significant and meaningful has always been that awesome bedrock Bible
truth of Justification.  God declares us
not guilty of our sins for Jesus sake. 
He calculated the cost (his own blood!) and paid it anyway.  I learned that from you and I realized that
it’s not a message to hold to ourselves but it’s one to share.

Especially, these days here in Malawi.  It’s so important to share the pure Gospel because the – what do they call it – the “Prosperity Gospel” that is now being preached so rampantly in this country is not pure at all.  When I was a kid growing up in your home, I just don’t remember that the “Health and Wealth Gospel” was so prevalent in the days when you were a full-time pastor in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa.

Itching ears.²

Oh, by the way, Dad, though I was a “preacher’s kid,” I
never considered that an uncomfortable thing. I liked seeing you up in front of
the congregations and listening to your sermons.  And even you expected each of us kids to do
work in the fields of maize, you also gave me freedom to try my hand at running
a business.  Remember, Dad, I used to
sell fresh fruits and vegetables!   Pineapples, Avocados and Sweet Potatoes. 

When I think back to those days of running a grocery
business, I can’t help but think that God was preparing me for the ministry
today.  I think I learned to be
hospitable during those years of dealing with all those customers. 

And now?  Now I’m
serving over one thousand people in my 4-congregation parish.³ Over
a thousand!  But what am I telling
you?  You know very well what it is like
shepherding a flock because you’ve done it for 26 years⁴
yourself. 

You know very well that life as a pastor in Malawi is seldom
easy.  Salaries are low and the cost of
living is high.  We struggle enough just
to take care of our own families not even to mention taking care of the work of
our beloved Synod.  But now that I think
about it, I suppose that no matter in what country a person is living and
serving God, challenges will always be there. 
Not just because of economic reasons but because of the influence of the
world, the temptations by the devil and the struggle with our own sinful
nature.

Speaking of challenges, I have to thank you, Dad. Thank you
for teaching me to persevere in all
situations. So many of our life situations have called us to persevere!  I learned at the LBI and Seminary that to
persevere means to “remain under,” to “continue in” or to “keep on.”  

What I learned academically in the classroom I learned
practically from you in daily living. 

Important things I want to pass on to my own children.  YOUR grandchildren. I know I can only do so in the strength of God Himself.  After all, how else could I possibly serve four congregations, be the LCCA Synod President,⁵ teach Bible Studies at a University,⁶ be a husband to my wife and a father to my children?

As we “stand under” all the challenges in our Lutheran Synod
we are also seeing and experiencing God’s blessings here in Malawi.  The LCCA is growing, the number of pastors is
increasing and despite the mushrooming of false religions, the LCCA is still
holding to the teachings of the apostles and prophets as found in Scripture.⁷ 

Jesus Christ is the chief Cornerstone of the building!   Always was, still is and always will be!

I have so much for which to thank you, Dad.  You provided for our family and made it a
loving home. But above all you showed me Jesus. Not just with your sermons but
with your life. 

And I see that your life is a new one in Christ. 
A life lived under the cross.
A life lived to His glory.
A life led heavenward.

So, if you look over your shoulder, Dad.  That’s me.

Following in your footsteps.

– Enock

1. Pastor Paul Mkowasenga is the father to Enock Mkowasenga.  Pastor Paul Mkowasenga is retired. 
2. 2 Timothy 4:3.
3. The names of the four congregation parish union are Nanseta, Savala, Mwitere and Nameta.
4. 1986-1991 Evangelist; 1994-2015 Pastor.
5.  Pastor Enock Mkowasenga was elected as LCCA President at the Synod Convention in September of 2018.
6. Malawi University of Science and Technology
7. Ephesians 2:20.

PS.  Missionary John
Holtz interviewed Pastor Enock Mkowasenga so as to feature him in this February
2019 Malawi Mission Partner Communique. In the interview, Pastor Enock
Mkowasenga spoke very highly of his father, retired LCCA Pastor Paul
Mkowasenga.  So Missionary Holtz shaped a
“son-to-father letter” out of the
information given to him.  Even though
Pastor Enock Mkowasenga did not write the letter, all the information in it is
a factual portrayal of everything he shared with Missionary Holtz.  Pastor Mkowasenga gave his approval to this
article and pictures.    

Who doesn’t love to be home? Well, especially when you have a wonderful family such as my parents and older sister. I was born in Malawi, Africa, though I spent the first 10 years of my life in the small town of Chipata in Zambia. My father, Pastor John Holtz, worked as a missionary pastor there until he received a call to move to Malawi in 2008. I spent the rest of my school years there all the way until I graduated secondary school at age 18. Since then, I have been attending Wisconsin Lutheran College as a nursing student, currently in my third year. I have been extremely blessed to have been able to go back home to Malawi during the longer breaks to see my family and old friends.  

As part of the nursing program, third year students go on an immersion trip to none other than Lusaka , Zambia (the capital) where they stay on the seminary grounds. I did not live in Lusaka, but my family traveled there often for work and missionary gatherings. So there I was, surrounded by my classmates in a place so foreign to them yet so familiar to me. It felt odd, simply put. At the same time, it was a huge blessing to be able to share my life in such a unique way with the people who have accepted me into their lives in the United States.

The purpose of our trip was to experience the medical field in a Third World Country. We visited the government-run hospital known as Chelstone, a private children’s clinic known as Beit Cure, an organization for disabled children known as Special Hope Network, and also some grade schools for teaching (see end of article for pictures). We also traveled to a rural clinic in the town of Mwembezhi where missionaries originally started their work. Personally, I thought that all of these organizations were impressive. With limited resources and endless patients, these facilities are doing a great job at providing cheap to no cost care while still providing respectable patient outcomes. So you may be wondering if it is my desire to work there. That answer is difficult, because in Zambia, only local residents are hired, which I think is reflective of the purpose of the WELS mission. The advanced health care systems in the States have a much different focus, some of it good, and some of it I do not particularly like. On top of it being hard to “adult,” it is even harder to know where to even start when you are pulled in different directions, as many missionary kids often experience. But here’s the good news: God is in control. There may come a time when our parents move, and we feel like we have lost our home. Though we desire to go back, what is there for us to do? We need to remember that God leads us and knows what is best for us. When we worry about our future and transition into adulthood, it clouds our vision to the joy that is in Christ Jesus. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all you ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

So what does it feel like to be back home as an adult missionary kid? Contrarily, going back to Malawi makes me feel like a kid again. Many of my childhood memories were experienced there and Zambia, my friends are there, my pets, my house, but most of all what makes it home is my family. I know its cliché, but how can I deny it? Whenever I am home, I feel myself again, though it is bittersweet.  I go back, knowing I’ll have to leave again in a few weeks. I always cherish my time there, though I remember that life on this earth is temporary. Any struggles here on earth are nothing in comparison to the glory that will be experienced in heaven. Something that I find both comforting and amazing is that those same people, that my dad and all the other missionaries impacted, are going to be with me in heaven someday. I thank God for my life in Africa, and I thank God for my life here too, but most of all, I thank God for saving me a place in his Kingdom…

Heaven is my Home.

Written by Heather Holtz, current student at Wisconsin Lutheran College and daughter of Africa Missionary John Holtz and wife Mindy