May4 Written by:Kayle
5/4/2008 4:55 AM
My pastor and his wife, Bones and Tash, just got back from Malawi where Bones taught at an all denominational conference. Tash was telling me just how different Malawian Christianity is from Zimbabwean Christianity. She said that she had packed some skirts and jeans as she wasn’t sure what to wear and OH BOY was she glad for her skirts! If you are a Christian woman, you are practically expected to wear skirts. Tash said that when she was there, she viewed that Christianity seemed to be all about works. As she attended the conference, Bones taught on grace and the people were shouting “Amen! Hallelujah!” in agreement, but as people broke into discussion groups, it was evident that they did not have a proper understanding of grace. One woman said that if she had an angry thought at a person and dropped dead before confessing it, then she would go to hell. Tash was shocked that this woman thought that, but was even more shocked when her entire discussion group nodded in agreement! Everything began to make sense to Tash as she began to understand why Malawian Christianity was so “works” based and all about your outward actions. The conference was really just the start of trying to break through this way of thinking. But as Tash described to me the beliefs of Christians in Malawi, I was strangely encouraged to know that theological education is CRUCIAL in Africa as Christianity needs to be grounded and corrected by the truth of God’s word.
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