On Discipleship Sunday, 2/20, Kellen Hiroto from Malawi and partner ministry, Bright Vision, shared how discipleship is happening in Malawi through his family's ministry and how our support of Bright Vision is resulting in discipleship. Here is his testimony:
This morning I’d like to teach you two phrases in Chichewa (language of the Chewa tribe in Malawi), and frame my sharing around these two thoughts:
First is Kupanga Ophunzira- “Discipleship” or “Making disciples”
It warms my heart that as you walk into the church, we are met with reminders of what we as Christians are all about making disciples. What’s so encouraging is that’s not just signage! I had the privilege of joining the pastors and staff in their meetings this past Tuesday, and a consistent theme that ran through those meetings (in talking about preaching, biblical counseling, planning for service) was how all of these decisions center on faithfully making disciples of Jesus Christ. I came out of the morning refreshed and excited, catching glimpses into how Evergreen as a local church body is seeking to do that here in the San Gabriel Valley.
As missionaries in Malawi, our hearts are for discipleship, really in three different contexts: Christian Education, serving in our local church, and Bright Vision Orphan Care. In the context of my work as a lecturer and coach at African Bible College, the classroom is a means to disciple students, teaching courses like Romans, John and Apologetics or even Curriculum Development and Leadership. What I want to do is help students center their lives on the Bible, develop a Christian worldview and be equipped to lead in both secular work and Christian ministry. Coaching the soccer team is discipleship, creating a culture in our program that glorifies God and builds men of integrity and humility.
I serve on the Elder team of our local church in Malawi, and our desire is to see a healthy body of believers growing in Christ-likeness together. That takes many forms, walking through premarital counseling for a young couple, figuring out how we facilitate fellowship at a church picnic, how we help people understand God’s sovereignty during COVID, confronting the sin of self-will and pride as we counsel a young leader, or offering encouragement to an older woman who has just lost her husband. All of these are opportunities to see people follow Jesus, day-by-day submitting themselves to His Word and seeking to follow Him with every part of their lives.
The Hiroto Family
The second phrase is Zikomo Kwambiri- “Thank you very much.”
Thank you for being a part of the work that has been happening at Bright Vision over these many years (all the way back to 2008) sponsoring our feeding program and Christmas Celebration, building our kitchen and toilets, helping us purchase land to grow food. Malawi is one of the poorest nations in the world, and the village of Chamadenga struggles under desperate poverty. We’re working to meet many of these physical needs by providing early-childhood nutrition in nursery school, sponsoring kids in secondary school, building homes for children living with grandparents, providing jobs so parents can support their families (just this past weekend we had 747 kids come to our feeding program. But all of this is a means to see people come to hear the Gospel, to know and love Christ, and follow Him. One of the exciting developments over the last few years has been having our students being trained as Christian leaders for the Malawian context and joining us in ministry at Bright Vision. They’re being trained for work in this context and in many ways are so much more effective than we are. They may come for the day to visit homes or live at Bright Vision for six weeks as an intern. So ZIKOMO KWAMBIRI for being important partners to Bright Vision and a continued encouragement to our work.
To close I’d like to offer an encouragement and three questions. When Jesus gives The Great Commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 “Go and make disciples of all nations”, that call was not just for pastors and missionaries, it is for all those who would call themselves followers of Christ. So let me ask:
- How are you being discipled right now, growing in your maturity and being equipped to serve?
- How are you involved in discipling others towards Christ-likeness here at Evergreen?
- How could you be involved in the discipleship of the nations through global missions — whether going, sending, supporting, praying?
I hope that you are encouraged that Evergreen is involved in that around the world and that likeminded brothers and sisters are pursuing this with you, in Malawi.