Day's Diary

March 16 , 2007 ~ Conversion Stories

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Two weeks ago, in my first year New Testament class, the topic of conversion from other religions came up and one of the students wanted to share his story of conversion from Islam. Everyone was interested. I was too, but I knew that we needed to move forward with the class, so I suggested that we find another time to share our testimonies. They liked the idea. On Wednesday, they said they had decided that Thursday afternoon would be a good time for testimonies. This was an opportunity for us to get to know one another better, so I said yes. We agreed that they would come to my house for a more informal setting. I knew that meant snacks, since it was “tea time.” So Thursday morning, before I went to teach Theology 2, I baked banana bread to go with the sodas I had purchased Wednesday afternoon. After lunch, I moved all the available chairs into the living room and set up to receive 18 students.

The students brought chairs from the chapel to augment the ones I have and everyone had a seat. This is Malawi, so the gathering had a formality to it that would never exist in the States but is proper here. We were in a large circle, so everyone could see one another, but each stood to tell his story. When he stood, he bowed in my direction, he gave his name (for my benefit – I’m learning to pronounce these wonderfully difficult names, like Mankhwala and Mkumbadzala), told the church and the Presbytery from which he came and then began his story. I say “his” because there is only one lady in the class and she had asked to be excused, so it was the guys and Kay.

The testimonies were long, since there were so many details that my new friends thought I needed to know, but also because Malawians, I’m learning, love the details. There is no short version of any story. There is a grace in listening and appreciating the time it takes to tell a story. We did not get through all the stories. In fact, we only heard 7 stories. (They think we need to do this again so the rest have the opportunity.) The testimonies had many of the same elements of the testimonies of those from the States – rebellious youth, wild living, God speaking through pastors and friends, or young folks growing in the church and growing in desire to serve God – but there were many elements that were different. Some things that are part of life here are very different from the States and those things were major parts of their testimonies. Dreams and visions are part of life here. So many told of having a dream or seeing Jesus in a vision speak to them. That is the testimony of the man who converted from Islam, Adamson Mkuli. He grew up in an Islamic home and was trained to be a leader in the mosque. He had risen to a position of authority in his community and was seen as a leader. He said that one night as he slept, he had a dream that a man came to him and beat him. When he asked why he was beating him, the man said that was how he was treating the man, who identified himself as Jesus. Then Jesus asked why he was chasing a lie. Jesus told him he needed to find the truth. Then Adamson woke up. He said that he was so startled by the dream that he wanted to find a Christian and learn more about Jesus. He went to the nearest village that he knew that had a church and asked for the “leader of the Christian mosque.” They led him to the pastor of the local CCAP church, who greeted him skeptically and asked all sorts of questions of him about his dream. Adamson said the dream was so vivid that he couldn’t ignore it and he pressed the pastor for answers of how he might know Jesus. The pastor answered his questions, gave him some material to read and sent him away, telling him that if he still wanted to know after two weeks, he should come back. Adamson said he went to the nearest Muslim village to stay, but that he didn’t want to worship in the mosque any more. He didn’t want to offend Jesus any more. He went back to the pastor in two weeks and told him he wanted to be baptized and become a believer. The pastor talked with him until he was certain that Adamson understood what he was asking and then he called the session to examine Adamson. They agreed that he understood and approved his baptism. He was baptized the next day. Then he had a problem. He had no where to go. He could not go home. He knew that he would be disowned and that his family might even try to have him killed. They would believe he were better dead than a Christian. The pastor and the congregation helped him to find a place to live and helped him to find work. He began a whole new life. That was 15 years ago and now he is studying to become a pastor. He has a burden to preach to and to reach Muslims with the truth of Jesus. (This is the Reader’s Digest version of his story.) Another told of an illness without explanation and encounters with African medicine and then being healed during the night as he dreamed; one told of hearing scripture being sung and not knowing where the voices were coming from, but wanting more of the music; another told of being involved in the church but at the same time being involved in African rituals and being delivered by God from the grasp of Satan in witch craft. It was much like listening to stories from the Book of Acts. Things that we in the States think belong to scripture only are part of life and testimony here in Africa. Not all is like that, but there is an element of it.

We listened for two and a half hours and we needed to stop. The food was gone (36 pieces of banana bread, two boxes of coconut cookies, a bowl of ground nuts and two cases of soda) and the hour was late. But this is Malawi, so no one left until there had been proper thanks with a formal speech by one of the students, and then prayer. It was an enlightening afternoon and gave me food for thought. Malawi Presbyterian expressions of faith may be quite different from American Presbyterian expressions of faith, but the faith is the same. Jesus Christ unites us.