Local Malawian Church Donates to Norwegian Lenten, Christmas Campaign

The rhythmical drumming, singing, and freestyle dancing sent the worshippers into a frenzy. Their radiant faces symbolized the Lord’s presence in their midst on a Sunday morning of September 19, 2021.

The unfinished church building and the seemingly undeveloped neighborhood were a symbol of poverty. However, something incredible happened.

The long procession of almost a hundred jovial believers all dressed in their best ‘Sunday clothes’ waved their scarves and wrappers praising the Lord for the visiting guests as they generously deposited ‘gold and silver into the collection basket.

They urged the visiting Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) international staff to take their contribution home to Oslo in aid of the extremely poor people in the world.

Accepting the donation on behalf of the visiting team, Anette Torjusen, said she was speechless due to amazement.

“I’m so grateful on behalf of Norwegian Church Aid. We realized that we equally feel concerned when addressing inequalities. I have never experienced anything like this in regard to donations. We can promise that the money will be well spent on projects benefitting people in need,” Torjusen said.

The team appreciated the warm welcome and said they will remember the occasion for a long time.

"This gives us great hope for the future, meeting the challenges together,” said Torjusen

Every year, NCA conducts mass fundraising campaigns in Norway during Lent in the lead-up to Easter and during the Christmas season. The collections are meant to help the organization fight injustices that exist in the world such as fighting extreme poverty. More than one billion people in the world live in extreme poverty.

Pastor for Mchinji Assemblies of God Church, Jostino Mwamvaka, said it is his church’s tradition to bless visitors hence conducting a special love offering to their cause.

He said, “Giving has to be a culture of believers. When someone visits you, you must bless them with gifts. According to the Kingdom culture, there are no restrictions on giving whether rich or poor everyone must give. My church rejoices whenever they give to others. Not that they have plenty, but because they have the spirit to serve others.”

The Mchinji Assemblies of God encourages its church members to engage in small-scale businesses by providing them with basket funding.

NCA supports AG Care, a development arm of the Assemblies of God Church in Malawi that aims to economically empower vulnerable and excluded communities through sustainable development. AG Care implements part of the TRANSFORM programme that aims at capacitating local households economically.