Four12 news image for 'Jesus Loves the Little Children' about a trip to Malawi

Jesus Loves the Little Children

In 2016, Lance and Sue McIntosh told us (our Joshua Generation Church congregation) about the Four12 outreach they had led into Malawi. Hearing about their time there put a real desire in my heart to go to Malawi myself. In July 2017, God opened the door for me to go – my mom (a Christian herself) covered the costs of the outreach (as I am a student) and I left a day after my mid year exams.

I was super excited! We were on our way to Malawi to sow into the lives of our Four12 partnering churches. We all met up in Lilongwe and from there we left in our groups to travel to different churches. My group was sent to a village in Dedza, where Bishop Andrew leads a group of churches (Emmanual Revival Church).  Once we arrived there, I was surrounded by children and my heart really went out to them. They had such happy smiles on their faces, yet they had holes in their clothes and their faces were covered in dust.

This small church was…filled with children who seemed so desperate for Jesus and hung onto every word we spoke.

After ministering into Emmanual Revival Church’s biggest church plant (they are a multi-site church), we then travelled to the second church in a place called Chimbeya. This small church was located in an even more remote area and filled with children who seemed so desperate for Jesus and hung onto every word we spoke.

During our time with this church, I had an opportunity to share the Gospel. I felt the intense weight of the reality that this could possibly be the only time they hear the word of God. I prayed, asking God to give me the right words to say and for Him to lead me by His Holy Spirit. When it was time for my short preach on the love of Jesus, I stood up in front of everyone without any nervousness or fear; all I could feel was God’s love for these people. I started by asking them, “How do you know that God loves you?” I then explained how they can be sure that God loves them – because He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for them so that their sins could be forgiven. I told them many things, like how this life on earth is very short compared to an eternity with God in heaven. As I spoke to them, I knew that the Holy Spirit was leading me – words I hadn’t planned to say were flowing out of me. It was incredible.

By us focusing on the children and not overlooking them during ministry times, we showed the villagers this truth of Jesus’ love for children.

The response to this time of sharing from myself and others in our group was amazing! There were six people who had walked away from Jesus who turned back to him, two adults who responded to Jesus and 32 children who gave their lives to the Lord. It was a beautiful day! I had noticed that in this town the witch doctors targeted the little children, yet the village churches overlooked them, focusing only on the adults. We know how important it is for children to come to know and love God from a young age (Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me’) and how much easier it is for children to grow up into the foundations of Christ versus having to re-build wrong foundations when (if) they come to know Him at a later stage. By us focusing on the children and not overlooking them during ministry times, we showed the villagers this truth of Jesus’ love for children. It gave us a great sense of excitement to be a part of seeing these young lives secured for the King.

Our team left that village feeling so excited, encouraged and blown away by what God had done. This was only one of the many stories of what happened while we were in Malawi. Looking back, every story revealed the same thing: God’s great love for His people.

Elizabeth (Ellie) is a part of Joshua Generation Church in Cape Town. Ellie is a dental student and a keen runner who loves spending time with friends and is passionate about her Saviour and King.

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