Today we spent the entire day at the church hall in meetings with Filius and his wife Chosiwe, the Hilgen’s and our accountant Joseph who works both for the church and LifeNets. 

Joseph presented a very interesting and clear presentation of LifeNets activity that showed the profitability of the Business Centre, the other humanitarian outreach in scholarships and the like.  Well done! 

We also talked with the Jere’s about the development of the churches in the eastern province of Zambia.  Filius has done an exceptional job in propagating the Word of God through radio that has been dormant for more than a year, but people are still talking about the Beyond Today radio program.  That program is going back on the air very shortly on a more widely heard radio station with a reach of 800,000 people and a radio station that streams its content.  He has known the station manager for several decades.  Filius also does a farming program three times a week and his voice is known.  With Filius doing the Beyond Today commentary brings extra curiosity because of who he is.   His farming programs are a lot about Conservation Farming which he refers to as “CF.”

Filius brought some mp3s of BT programs and they are really well done. There is a musical entry, a two-minute intro by him.  Then 20 minutes of our UCG BT program, then a summary at the end with a conclusion with contact information.  Several churches have been raised up as a result of the radio program.  He as actually been invited into a village with the permission of the village chief to speak to a group of people interested in the work of Beyond Today.  It is a group composed of people from various religions and non-religious backgrounds who have found what the Beyond Today program says is intriguing.

Filius talked a lot about having the members of the church be encouraged in better farming practices.  Brennan and Michala want to start such a program in Lilongwe on a plot of ground on city’s edge.  It would be a project for young people primarily, but one that could produce satisfying results in food security. 

Also, Filius spoke of special needs for the church.  They only have 13 chairs for the entire church and would like to have 50-100 more.  Also, he spoke of a need for oxen for plowing. We discussed the leadership of the congregations and people who could be trusted to be his helpers. 

A big part of our discussion was about having a combined Lilongwe/Chipata Feast of Tabernacles in the Chipata area.  There is a very nice lodge called Sunnyside between Chipata and the border.  I personally think that this would be a very good idea to get the two groups together from Zambia and Malawi.  

It was a profitable discussion all through the day and I learned a lot about Filius and Chosiwe.

The Bongo that broke down was being repaired all through the day by Chifundo Njewa.  He gave the vehicle a tune-up and tightened up the clutch.  Also, an oil change.  When we drove away with at the end of the day what a relief!  Like a new vehicle!! Sort of.

The Hilgens, Jeres and us had dinner back at our hotel and finished the day on a high, positive and optimistic note!