In the year 2011, we had a seminar in Malawi and the following is a brief account of what happened during that time.
During the last week of October 2011, beginning on Tuesday, October 25th, the brethren and sisters in Malawi joyfully started welcoming visitors to Blantyre, to the Malawi Union Seminar that lasted for six days. We felt especially blessed to be together with brethren from various countries. Foreign visitors came from Tanzania who were led by Brother Bright Fue, the Tanzanian Union President; Mozambique, by Brother Esaú Lopeź, a missionary who oversees God’s work in that country, originally from Guatemala. From South Africa we had our dear Brother Paul Katide, who accompanied Brother Idel Suarez Jr., PhD, the President of the General Conference from the United States of America. The main speaker at the seminar was Brother Idel Suarez. We greatly praise the Lord for such a wonderful opportunity to be in His presence and learn at His feet.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27
On the above date, we started the seminar, led by Brother Bright Fue, who was joined the next day by Brother Suarez after his arrival. In his opening address, Brother Fue welcomed everyone to the seminar and gave greetings from the various countries that he had visited.
Following his introductory remarks, Brother Fue then encouraged everybody to prepare for the soon coming of Jesus. He emphasized that we need to lay hold of the four major principles of our faith. These are: the Sabbath, marriage, heath reform, and tithes and offerings. He further talked about the conditions that we must fulfill in order to receive the gift of the Latter Rain. If we are to be among those who will receive the Latter Rain, we need to live prayerful lives, be temperate, be a loving people, and be true Sabbath keepers. In his expansion of these aspects, the emphasis was on temperance. Citing Psalms 139:14–15, he said, since we were fearfully and wonderfully made, we need to know how to use and care for the “machine” which is our body. He explained that since we were created from the dust, we need also to eat the dust; but how do we do this? It is through eating the plants that take nutrients from the soil. We must keep all the three aspects of our life—the spirit, soul, and body—blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Further, he also read from the book of Temperance, p. 11 and Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 17, which tell us that there are laws in the body which, when violated, result in sickness and disease. We also learned that violation of natural laws is the same as violation of the moral law. After such a wonderful lesson he allowed the other brethren from Tanzania to continue to educate us on health issues.
Brother Eli Mugonja spoke on the subject of “Life before and after Sin”. Is presentation informed us that in order for us to maintain our health we need to know how God created man in the beginning. From nature, there are also herbs that cure diseases, citing Genesis 3:18. After some brief medical missionary experience narration, he called for a personal decision on the part of everyone present to say: “Today I will change my lifestyle in health.”
Brother Nyakeji started by reading from the Scriptures from 2 Kings 6:5 (about the axe that was lifted from the water using a stick), and Isaiah 60:1 (about arising and shining). After a short explanation, he started speaking to us about the danger of soft drinks. He carried out an experiment on a Fanta drink, and the famous Coca Cola; the drinks were divided into three parts, the composition of which contain the substances that are health destroying. He said the reality is that both drinks are harmful to our health, Fanta’s effects [unlike many people believe] take as long to cure just as is the case with Coke. From this it was clear that natural products should always be our option.
Brother Erick Ndimangwa spoke about diseases and their possible causes and gave some examples of natural remedies. He said that one easy way to know which herb can help when a certain part of the body is affected, is to see which leaves resemble the shape of the body part in question. It is likely that that is the remedy for that disease. With this we ended our Thursday meetings.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28
Friday morning, October 28, saw Brother Suarez arriving at the church where the seminar was being conducted. He started by conveying the many greetings from his family and the General Conference. This was followed by a short period of distribution of literature to a number of brethren and sisters. The books distributed were: the Spirit of Prophecy—“The History of Redemption”—(a compilation of a number of Sister White’s books); “Has the Truth Changed?” and “The Bible Study Handbook”.
Following this exercise was a lecture which he called, “Becoming a Pastor.” In his address he said Malawi needed pastors; he had come from the General Conference to say Malawi needs more pastors and that the work of God was suffering because of lack of pastors. He said some elders have to become pastors. Quoting Ephesians 4:11–12, he said we need all the offices mentioned in the verse, for the perfecting of the saints, so that sinners can become saints. Also, a minister must minister to the needs of others in all areas.
Brother Paul Katide then brought to us a message about the parable of the hidden treasure. He helped the class identify the elements in the parable and their meaning: The garden, the seeker of the treasure, and the treasure itself. He urged us to hold fast to the truth that we have. In his conclusion he told the story of the great ship, Titanic which no one thought would sink, but it did. The world’s richest and most honorable people were on board, and lost their lives. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet lose his own soul?
After a short break, we entered the church again, and Brother Suarez started teaching about “The Hygiene Wheel”. According to Sister White, hygiene should be the first study. He further said that Hygiene was the daughter of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. He had a staff with two snakes and that is the symbol of medicine today. He presented that the wheel starts with the washing of our hands (Exodus 30:21; 11:32); not like the Pharisees who used a little water, but we must wash them clean with enough water and soap. He taught us how to thoroughly wash our hands in ten steps. He said we also need to take a shower every day and wear the right type of cloth, 100% cotton, 100% wool, 100 % linen or 100% silk. These types of clothes help avoid sweating. He talked about water purification and also the proper preparation of food. He finally talked about making our beds as Jesus did when He rose from the grave, and about clean toilets (Deuteronomy 23:12). “May the peace of the Lord be with you all,” he said, and we then rested for a short time. A brief meeting was held to test the health of brethren and sisters. We then closed the day’s meetings for Sabbath preparations.
OPENING OF THE SABBATH
During the opening of the Sabbath Brother Bright Fue re-emphasized his Thursday message about the four pillars of our faith, and the conditions that we must fulfill in order to receive the Latter Rain.
SABBATH, OCTOBER 29
After a nice Sabbath School which was well attended by over 300 people, Brother Idel Suarez presented the Divine Service. Calling children to come close to him, he told them the story of colors and their meanings, followed by a sermon which he entitled “The Africa for Jesus”. His sermon was centered on Simon who helped Jesus bear the cross (Mark 15:21). He was an African from the present day Libya which then was known as Cyrene. Simon was then in Jerusalem. He narrated the story of a dream that a certain pastor had. This pastor saw Christians carrying crosses of different sizes. Some were longer and heavy while others were shorter and lighter. But others, seeing how heavy their crosses were, came up with a new idea of taking a saw and started cutting short their crosses so that they became lighter. But unbeknownst to them, as their journey went on, there was a deep and wide chasm ahead of them, with no bridge to take one to the other side. It required that each one must use his own cross as the bridge. Now, for those who had cut their crosses shorter, it was the end of the road. Only those whose crosses were intact managed to reach the other side—eternity. We need be unified in Jesus; we all have to bear our crosses to the end when we will receive our reward.
In the afternoon Br. Paul Katide presented on the topic “Alas, my Brother”. In this lesson the story was told about the old prophet who cheated a young prophet such that he disobeyed the voice of the Lord (1 Kings 12:24). We need men and women who cannot be bought or sold (Education, p. 57). The man in the story was a man of God, but why did he die foolish?
(a) Doubted God’s word; (b) Accepted new light that contradicted the old light; (c) Forgot that there is more to fear from within than without; (d) Did not live by the word of God
Brother Katide ended by warning everybody, that none need die like the young prophet, but to endure to the end and each of us will be saved.
Connected to this afternoon lesson was a missionary experience by Brother Esau Lopez. He began by citing 1 Peter 2:9, emphasizing that we are the children of light and we have therefore been called by God to a great work. He stated that there is only one church on this earth to restore the keeping of the commandments. He narrated the wonderful work of soul winning in Mozambique, how he began the work, the learning of the language spoken there, and the harvest of souls there. This session concluded the hours of the Sabbath.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
Sunday lectures were opened by Brother Bright Fue, then Brother Suarez spoke. It was another precious time to continue learning on health issues. The whole seminar, apart from the union elections was centered on health. This time, Brother Suarez spoke on the subject of “The ABC Reasons for Vegetarianism”. He provided us with reasons as to why we must be vegetarians.
A = anatomy (man’s anatomy indicates he is a herbivore, as evidenced from the teeth and the alimentary canal)
B= biochemistry (the chemical composition of meat foods and how the body reacts to them)
C= cruelty to animals (Proverbs 12:10). We need to be kind to animals.
D= disease prevention (Genesis 1:29, original diet for man)
After a ten minute break, Brother Paul Katide spoke on the topic “I will not Come Down”. The main text was from James 4: 8. The story was based on Nehemiah 12:5, the question that arises is, if you are tired during the time of peace how shall we stand in the time of the winds? Jeremiah 6:1–2
This ended the day’s lessons as the rest of the time was spent on elections.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1
On this day, we heard from Brother Suarez on the subject of “The Nutrition Traffic Light”. In this lesson, the basic illustration is that there are three colors used in traffic. The first is red and means STOP. The second is yellow which means EXERCISE CAUTION, and the green color means GO! On the road, confusing these lights can translate to death. So there are foods which we must stop eating. These are stimulants. Then we have processed foods which need to be taken with caution. Then there are wholesome foods which must be taken liberally.
Brother Paul Katide followed with a message: “Reuben—A Strong Weakness”. Reuben forfeited his right because of his sin, as he was unstable as water.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
On Tuesday, November 2, we heard Brother Suarez giving his last lecture on health. It was entitled: “The Food Combination Cross”. He taught us about the right combination of foods. Neutral foods, which can be taken with anything. Fruits, except lemons and avocado, must not be taken with vegetables (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 183). He prayed to God to help us bear the food combination cross. (Matthew 16:24)
Meanwhile, the late afternoon sessions, as noted already, were used for the reorganization of the union. It was a time when the union delegates were meeting with brethren Idel, Fue, and Katide for the various activities that were to be carried out by them. After the whole process of elections was done, the results were as follows:
President: Br. Jacob Martinez
Vice President: Br. Harold Mateme
Secretary: Br. Evance Mtikama
Treasure: Br. Mabvuto Phula
Evangelist & Literature leader: Br. Ronald Kamanga
Youth Leader: Br. Shadreck Chamanza
Publishing leader: Br. Amos Ombalipenga
Good Samaritan leaders: Sis. Edith Thawi and Sis. Bertha Chunga
Health Leader: Br. Daniel Madzalo
Education leader: Br. Zakeyo Mkunika
After having taken the oath before God and the church that they will faithfully work in their respective capacities, the whole church was ready to witness yet another joyous event of ordination of two ministers, which would also be the end of the whole seminar. Brother Suarez spoke from the book of Mark 3:13–14. He said we must follow the example of Jesus who calls people into the ministry and the church simply recognizes the call. He said that ministers need to walk with Jesus. The brethren ordained were Brother Harold Mateme and Brother Evance Mtikama.
Finally, a rather sad moment came. We had to part ways. It was the end of everything that had been prepared for the seminar. The writers of this report pray that the God of peace may bless everyone that participated in this seminar. May His abundant blessings continue to pour upon those who attended the seminar so that the truth they heard may continue to make sense through the Spirit of God. This is our wish and prayer. AMEN.
Joel Jungubawa Msiska, John Nkhoma, Erick Katuya