Since Alan is currently in Malawi, we are providing excerpts from his weekly report as soon as available in lieu of his normal articles we publish on Saturdays …
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I am finishing up my first week in Malawi. It was a long but uneventful flight, but I could only sleep about 4 hours over the two nights. Needless to say, I was exhausted when I got off the plane. ...
Family relationships in Malawi as in most of the African continent are based far more on tradition than Scripture. The women do all the work in the home as well as in the field while most men do very little. The children are left to raise themselves with very little teaching and guidance. What little they receive will come from the mother as the fathers are not involved. This has led to a high level of adultery, divorce, polygamy, and unruly children.
Because the family is the foundation of the spiritual life of God’s people, I have begun to focus on these
relationships to help the brethren make significant changes. I use a combination of exhortation, humor, reproving and even rebuking to keep their interest and force them to see themselves clearly.
The theme of the lesson is simple. The relationship between Jesus and his church is the basis of the relationship between a husband and wife (Eph. 5:22-26). As Jesus sacrificed himself for the church, the husband is to make sacrifices for his wife and as the church is to respect and serve Jesus, the wife is to respect and serve her husband. ...
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For more,
1) click on Malawi_2015_Report_1 (pdf) to display the full report
2) select the "more… > Malawi" menu item to see the report, associated pictures, and previous reports.
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I am finishing up my first week in Malawi. It was a long but uneventful flight, but I could only sleep about 4 hours over the two nights. Needless to say, I was exhausted when I got off the plane. ...
Family relationships in Malawi as in most of the African continent are based far more on tradition than Scripture. The women do all the work in the home as well as in the field while most men do very little. The children are left to raise themselves with very little teaching and guidance. What little they receive will come from the mother as the fathers are not involved. This has led to a high level of adultery, divorce, polygamy, and unruly children.
Because the family is the foundation of the spiritual life of God’s people, I have begun to focus on these
relationships to help the brethren make significant changes. I use a combination of exhortation, humor, reproving and even rebuking to keep their interest and force them to see themselves clearly.
The theme of the lesson is simple. The relationship between Jesus and his church is the basis of the relationship between a husband and wife (Eph. 5:22-26). As Jesus sacrificed himself for the church, the husband is to make sacrifices for his wife and as the church is to respect and serve Jesus, the wife is to respect and serve her husband. ...
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For more,
1) click on Malawi_2015_Report_1 (pdf) to display the full report
2) select the "more… > Malawi" menu item to see the report, associated pictures, and previous reports.