Friday, September 4, 2009

Letter from Sharon Goodman


August 16, 2009

Malawi, Africa

Mapanga

Dear Family in Christ,

A BIG HELLO from Malawi, I have been trying to write this letter for 3 weeks. I have quickly learned that a missionary’s job description is to be on call 24 hours a day to do everything and anything needed at that moment. I have problems getting projects done because of all the disruptions to deal with physical, emotional, and spiritual fires. All praise I give to the Lord and Savior who is so gracious to take our feeble efforts and then turn them into great and mighty things through His power and loving touch.

So much is happening. To start, the church here at Mapanga is bursting at the seams. There are new visitors every week. We use a 3 ton lorry to make the several trips to the villages to pick up the people. This added to our group already there makes for a FULL house. On Sunday mornings I continue my teaching at Bible Way Baptist Good Samaritan Church in the village of Njuli. I have asked the ladies of that church to become more involved in the children’s class so I can get more teacher trained and be able to split the class into smaller groups. I am gearing up to teach the ladies Sunday school. I will start with e or two times a month, so I can be free to assist my new children’s teachers, much disciplining is needed.

We have started a junior Bible college for the orphans here at Mapanga. We meet on Saturdays and will finish out first semester August 29th; we have 18 boys and 9 girls enrolled. It is a joy seeing the young adults grasp the promises of God.

Many other exciting things have been happening among the children at the orphanage. I was tested for genuineness and have apparently passed the test. Some of the children even call me “Mama G” Every chance I get I bring up scriptural matters. Through my efforts and others involved, we have the children admit that they are not saved and many of them now have made a true profession of faith.

On August 13-15, we hosted a Bible Conference with Pastor Mark Logan from the states. Because of the tremendous response of both men and women, the ladies could not fit in the auditorium so we had to set up several class rooms for the over flow. Originally I was scheduled to teach one session with the ladies, but ended up teaching four classes. All these people stayed here at the college compound for the three days of the conference, what a tremendous time we had.

Thank you fro all your prayers and support. A social thank you for the extra fund to buy a copier.

Love in Christ,

Sharon Goodman

Missionary to Malawi