Children are a reflection of their parents. Four young Lutheran children in Lilongwe recently reflected our church’s value of teaching our children the Word of God.
The Bible Society of Malawi is an interdenominational organization that exists to translate and distribute Bibles in Malawi. Recently, they ran a children’s Bible Quiz for any Christian church in the capital city of Lilongwe. The contest included passage recitation and dramatic performances of Bible stories. Over 300 churches participated at the first round of quizzes. One of those churches was Mtendere (Peace) Lutheran Church, a member of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Malawi Synod. Each congregation sent one pair of students in the 3-8-year-old range, and another pair in the 9-12-year-old range.
Mtendere is a small church with about 150 in attendance each Sunday. Our children were going up against children from the larger Reformed, Catholic, Baptist, and Pentecostal churches in Lilongwe. To everyone’s surprise, our children made it through the first round of the context, where the 300 congregations were pared down to only 71. Our children passed through the second round as well, where another 50 congregations were eliminated.
In the final round, our children were competing against 21 other big congregations. The church hosting this event was a big Pentecostal church with thousands of members and served by several pastors. No one had expected this little unknown Lutheran church to make it to this stage. Our children were cheered on by all their friends in the Mtendere Youth Choir, who were dressed in matching uniforms.
As it turns out, the contest fell apart. It seems some of the contestants were coached on the answers ahead of time. But our children performed their stories well and recited their passages perfectly. They showed how much Lutherans value the Word, because in the Scripture we find eternal life in Christ. We give thanks to God for these children, their parents, their Sunday School teacher and pastor for reflecting our values to many others in Lilongwe.
Watch a video of the children telling Bible stories
Missionary Paul Nitz, Malawi
Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news and receive updates. Go to this link to learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa
Praise the Lord! Great teachers & great students!
Indeed it is a testimony to the power of God’s Spirit working through the means of grace