A Generation Lost: Why Malawi’s Church Must Embrace Its Children Today
By Byron Garmo, President & CEO
Malawi is known for its warmth and beauty, but a surprising reality is leaving a generation behind. What happens when the church forgets its children? Journey with us to uncover a hidden crisis and a vital mission.
Our vehicle bounced along a bumpy road, slowly zig-zagging back and forth around holes cluttering our path to the leadership conference in southern Malawi. Occasionally a herd of cows or goats crossed in front of us, giving us time to soak in the vast countryside.
With a population of over 21 million, Malawi is slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania. It’s a country of great beauty and kindness, also known as the “Warm Heart of Africa.”
My visit to Malawi came at the end of the rainy season, when the hills, mountains, and fields are lush with green vegetation. But I was told this greenery will not last. Once the hot season comes, the lush vegetation will dry up and turn brown. And the cycle repeats every year.
In many ways this seasonality reflects the African church’s view of children. It reflects the view that childhood passes by quickly. It will soon be over, and then the child will contribute something to the church. Then the child can become something great. But this is not reality. The reality is that children are being forgotten. And a generation forgotten is a generation lost.
At the leader’s conference I explained to about 50 pastors why it’s not only important, but urgent for Malawi’s church to embrace and welcome children into its doors today. I was asked to speak on this topic because of the Malawian mindset that children bring nothing into the church. Based on 1 Samuel 16:6-13 and Matthew 28, I shared that God looks at the heart, not the stature of a man. It’s a human tendency, not just an African one, to look at what others can do for us. From man’s perspective, David was not even on the radar as a potential leader. He was young and worked with sheep. I asked the pastors, “If David came to your church, would he be welcomed in?”
Churches in Africa urgently need training so that children learn the Bible
I pled with the Malawian pastors to recognize two urgencies in today’s church. The first is that this generation of children will be lost if they are not reached and discipled. The second urgency is the lost potential of our own generation. As adults, what will our legacy of God’s faithfulness be if we are not welcoming children into the church? We will have no legacy. We cannot expect children to willingly listen to us or enjoy the glories of the gospel if we don’t welcome them into our church doors while they are young.
You may find it unbelievable that there are churches with no vision for reaching children for Jesus. But this will remain the reality until we do something about it.
We brought Bibles for pastors and leaders
Our team also had the privilege of providing Bibles for all pastors and leaders at the conference. Of the 50 or so pastors, only two possessed a Bible at all. I am grateful for the MTC donors who helped make these gifts possible—God’s love in action. Praise God that many of these pastors were already treasuring God’s word in part. Now they hold it in whole! As an oral culture, Malawians are gifted at learning through teaching. However, what does one really learn about the whole counsel of God’s word if only portions are memorized?
What’s next
The most significant takeaway of this trip was finally seeing firsthand, the absence of children from the heart of African churches. Children’s ministry is largely a new thing in Malawi. Because of this void, we have a lot of work to do. It’s our desire that every child reached is discipled by a well-trained church. This is what we aim for in our work, incrementally building on this foundation to ensure that children are a part of the church. Not apart from the church.
Though this trip was to Malawi, other African Christians have been alerting me for several years about the need to inspire pastors with a vision for reaching children and training up children’s workers.
By God’s grace and provision, you and I can continue being an important part of the solution.
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38
