Share the Fear

        Ah, the season of scares! It’s upon us. Whether you love Halloween or pretend it doesn’t exist, much of the world is preparing for something frightening at this time of year. If you look up the history of Halloween you’ll find that what began as an ancient religious festival to ward off evil spirits has become a secular celebration, where people actually dress up as and invite the very spirits the festival was originally supposed to get rid of! The earliest settlers of the American colonies largely rejected the holiday due to their strong Protestant beliefs, but since the early 20th century it has become a multibillion dollar festivity in the United States alone. Horror movies bring in almost one billion dollars each year, and those are on the rise. Even though I don’t like scary movies now, I’m pretty sure I saw every one ever made before the year 2000, so I get the draw. But, why do we love being scared so much that we’re willing to spend money on it?

I’m not a psychiatrist and I’m sure people have different reasons, but there is one explanation that I think applies to everyone. That is the fact that we were created to fear. Psalm 33:8 says, “Let all the earth fear the Lord.” Proverbs calls the fear of the Lord wisdom and knowledge. Luke tell us that God is to be feared because He can cast our soul into hell. That last point is exactly why I became a Christian and was baptized twenty-five years ago. You may think that’s not a valid reason to turn to Christ, but I would beg to differ. If we were created to fear God, it stands to reason that acknowledging His awesome power to destroy us is certainly a legitimate reason to give ourselves over to His will. In doing so we become His children and are no longer considered the enemies we were before our conversions. Interestingly, when I learned to fear God, I stopped wanting to be scared by Hollywood. 

Obviously, after years of being a Christian, I’ve come to understand other attributes of God that make me less fearful and more grateful. His love is what motivates me now. Much like a good relationship between a human parent and child, when we’re very young we should have a healthy fear of our parents’ authority. It keeps us safe and sets us on the right track. As we grow older and have children of our own, we learn to appreciate our parents on a different level, and our relationships become more about love and respect. We start to understand why they did what they did and how it helped to shape us into the people we are today. Unfortunately, many people didn’t have a healthy experience growing up, and we’re seeing the aftereffects of a nation where children were never brought up to fear anything. 

Maybe that unfulfilled God-given need to fear is what drives people to seek it out through entertainment. So, when I see the lengths that people will go to just for a scare, I try not to be too judgmental about how they’re going about it. I don’t want gory Halloween decorations on my lawn, and I don’t have any desire to watch the latest horror flick on the big screen, but it’s only because I have something more awesome to fear—God’s power. Instead of looking down on those who do want those things for the season, instead of a self-righteous proclamation that I’m a Christian and don’t celebrate Halloween, maybe it’s better if I recognize the boom of the Halloween industry as a healthy appetite for the very fear that God put into each of our hearts at creation. Maybe I could find an opportunity to share the Gospel by sharing the fear of the Lord. There’s truly nothing scarier than that!

Alive and Unchanging

       

        English has been spoken for over 1,400 years, and in that time it has changed so much that it can be difficult to read literature written just hundreds of years ago. If you read Dickens or Shakespeare you may feel like you’re reading a foreign language. In a way, you are! Many words now have completely different meanings than they did originally. How does that happen? Well, people use words and phrases in the vernacular that don’t follow the rules, and they eventually end up in the dictionary and grammar books. For example, chillax, whatevs, and awesomesauce are now recognized words, recorded in the dictionary. I know, I know. It doesn’t seem right, but to truly love a language is to also embrace its evolution. Besides, we’re not alone. There are currently over 7,000 spoken languages and it happens to them all, so chillax.

Unlike English, Latin is considered a dead language because nobody speaks it as a first language any more, and it’s not used for communication. As a result it has stopped changing, which makes it quite useful as an international standard for specialized studies like science, music, and law. The rules of Latin are forever seared into the pages of books, so purists don’t have to worry about the language adopting crazy new words like English does. They also won’t enjoy the charm of clever wordplay that is part of a thriving culture, but whatevs.

So, living languages change while dead languages do not. However, there is just one language that is both alive and completely unchanging. It’s the language of heaven, and it’s alive in that it speaks to people from two thousand years ago as much as it does to modern man. It’s also unchanging because it spans from eternity to eternity and encompasses every idea that has ever been or ever will be. There’s simply no need for change. It’s already the complete and perfect Word of God. We refer to Hebrew and Greek as the original languages of the Bible, but perhaps it’s more accurate to consider those the first translations by which God has given us a window into the communication of the spiritual realm. The language of heaven is something humans cannot yet fully understand, so God has given us the Bible and His Spirit to introduce us to the culture of heaven. It’s a kind of orientation packet from God to us. If we understand that He’s given us the Bible because He loves us, it might cause us to study it more, embracing the fact that our Father is helping us prepare for eternity with Him. Ignoring God’s words will only perpetually frustrate us and continue to decay our worldly cultures. Conversely, when we accept the Bible as truth and absorb its concepts, it’s the only language that actually changes us. For those of us who believe that and have put our faith in Jesus, that’s awesomesauce!

Choosing Frames

        If you come to my house, you’ll see photographs on display. I love pictures and everything they represent—friends and family, places, or just beautiful things to look at. One of my favorite hobbies is collecting frames and then matching them to photos. I don’t think there’s necessarily just one right choice for each image, but there certainly are some wrong ones that can completely ruin a picture. Imagine a beautiful photograph of someone’s champion dog in a frame that says “Sisters” or a sparkly pink box surrounding a close up of rugged Uncle Ted, and you’ll get the idea. The frame should highlight the image and not draw attention to itself. Images of good things in well-chosen frames make life fuller and more interesting. 

I also have a cache of pictures that are not on display. We all do. The memories of those things we don’t want to look at are hidden away in a place only we can see. In my case, my brother’s death, my father’s imprisonment, and my mom’s Alzheimers are three images that used to haunt me. They were all surrounded by the frames of sadness, bitterness, and regret. I asked Jesus to help me deal with these depressing thoughts and, to my delight, he offered me new frames. Unlike the simple frames in my house, these are so beautiful and ornate that they draw attention to themselves and away from the ugliness they contain. They’re perfect!

Now I can look at those private images and actually appreciate them. The picture of my father is framed in the understanding that betrayal was the starting point that eventually led me to find God, my brother’s death in the hope that we’ll see each other again, and my mother’s terminal illness in thankfulness that she accepted Christ and was baptized just months before she was diagnosed. God’s love is a frame so breathtaking and intricate that any picture it surrounds becomes a work of art lovely to behold. I’m still working on reframing some undesirable images in that hidden place, but slowly and surely, and with God’s help, they are being displayed one by one on the wall of my heart as beautiful things to behold. 

Malawi Update 2020

Dear Faithful Supporters,

We are pleased to announce that Malawi now has a new president. Lazarus Chakwera is his name. He served for over twenty years as the president of the Assemblies of God Foundation and has a proven track record for crusading against corruptive governmental practices and advocating for the abused and the hungry in Africa’s poorest nation. Samantha and I know President Chawera’s  daughter and son-in-law  personally and Sam had the opportunity to actually teach his grand children at the International School during our first year in Lilongwe. We are so thankful for this answer to our prayers and we’re confident that very soon, many will feel some of the positive changes that his leadership is sure to bring.

We all know that change takes time, however. In the interim, our family, with your continued support, is committed to advocating and feeding dozens of children that we have adopted into our hearts. Our commitment is specifically to seventy children who reside in Tambalale Village about 15 miles outside of the main city of Lilongwe.  However, since the pandemic began earlier this year, we have seen the need for basic necessities, including food, grow rapidly. Very often hungry children outside of the program come to us in search for help. Because of the increase in demand for food, Snoden (our assistant director) regularly has to hire day laborers to help with prep and distribution. Our goal is that no child would be turned away who comes to us hungry or in need of medical attention. 

This month we are taking steps to reduce our overhead costs and sell off some of the organization's inventory deemed unnecessary during this crisis.  Our aim is to identify any excess spending and channel all of our resources to alleviating hunger.  As always, we want to thank you for faithfully giving to this great ministry. We are so grateful that God gave us the time in Malawi to get an infrastructure in place to serve as a beacon of hope to so many marginalized families. We want you to know that your donation goes directly to helping the poorest of the poor in Malawi. Thank you so much for your love, prayers and continued partnership in this great ministry.

Love,

John 

Isaiah 58:7

We Need Your Support Now More Than Ever

 The World Health Organization released a briefing this morning projecting Africa’s worst case scenario to be over three million deaths due to Covid-19 and over a billion infections. These numbers would undoubtedly overrun Africa’s medical infrastructure. In the last twenty-four hours, cases have increased forty-three percent. Worse yet, they are anticipating over 300 million that will be plunged into “deep poverty,” which means millions will starve to death. The prophet Isaiah reminded me this morning that my job is not limited to just working with the orphans and widows in Malawi, but also to PLEAD THEIR CAUSE. The Malawi Mission needs your support now more than ever.

As the impact of the virus grows in Malawi, we have adjusted our operations to meet demands. I have been in continual contact with Snoden and our team in the village to transition our feeding program of seventy kids into a one of a kind food bank that will benefit hundreds of hungry families. We’re using our administrative buildings to prepare and distribute over two acres of maize the ministry grew last season. However, there are extra costs for peanuts, sugar and soy. We also anticipate needing to employ more workers because of increased demand. There are no governmental programs to help desperate people in Malawi. No welfare and no unemployment. 

With your support we will be able to:

Continue feeding the children that we have adopted into our program.

Continue helping widows in the midst of their distress.

Expand our operations to help more hungry people and be the first of its kind food bank in Lilongwe.

Give hope to the hopeless and destitute.

I am pleading with you to join us in helping the helpless. This kingdom effort would not happen without your generous donations. We know that these are challenging times for all of us. May God bless our collective efforts to not grow weary in our benevolence toward the least in His kingdom.

Yours in Christ,

John and Samantha 

Wellspring/Great Expectations Malawi

Please make a contribution today so that these critical needs can be met. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to https://www.paypal.me/MalawiWestworth or a donation to our personal account at paypal.me/JewellsinAfrica. Thank you!

April 2020 Great Expectations Malawi Mission Update

Today marks the 22nd day of quarantine for the Jewell family. Two days before our flight was to return to Malawi, South Africa (our point of entry to the continent) closed its borders, forcing us to pitch our tent here in Golden, CO with my sister’s family. Fortunately, Western Union has remained open in Malawi, who, at the time of writing, has around 18 reported cases with 3 reported deaths. I was able to wire necessary monies to Snoden to continue feeding the kids and keep the 4 member staff employed. Malawian government has closed all schools but continues to allow groups of 100 to assemble, allowing our kids to continue to  benefit from the feeding program. Stay at home orders for Malawians are in effect which means joblessness will increase leading to more starvation. There is no stimulus package coming and no unemployment program to fall back on. I’ve instructed Snoden to harvest the 2 acres of maize this week and hire a few extra personnel to process the food. As long as funds continue to come in, Great Expectations Malawi will serve as a food bank for local residents. 

Implementing social distancing practices is very challenging since most Malawians believe this to be a virus that only affects Chinese people. Snoden and Susan are busy each day enforcing hand washing practices and doing their best to educate their neighbors to the truth. In the meantime, our family will wait and pray. We are still paying for personal living expenses in Malawi and maintaining constant contact with the expat community there on the ground. Several are evacuating the country, mostly those with medical conditions of some sort or those mandated by their employers. Our hope is that the borders will open within the next several weeks. Until then, we rely on your continued support and mercy toward our family and the families affected in Africa. We will update you as more information comes in. 

- John

Temporarily Displaced

Video that Snoden sent us of the kids enjoying bananas that have ripened on our trees and showing off their sanitation skills as they throw away the peels into a trash box.

We planned to be in the States for exactly one month. It’s a far distance and a lot of planning for just thirty days, but we came to celebrate Jonah’s high school graduation and to host a fund-raiser in Texas, so it was worth the rigor. Besides, we hadn’t been home in over a year. 

Jonah’s celebration went well. It was a joyful reunion for our family and we all sensed that God had worked in mighty ways through the separation. The fundraiser was also a great time of fellowship. Unfortunately, we didn’t raise enough to replace our dilapidated work truck or to build a wall around the school in the village—two priorities for the mission. We decided, however, not to let that overshadow the blessing that comes when so many people pull together towards a common goal. Thanks to those of you who worked hard to make the evening a wonderful experience. 

Somewhere along the course of our trip, that pesky virus became a global pandemic. Our quick jaunt to the States has become a long-term stay, as South Africa has banned entry from the United States. We are essentially displaced, but staying with family for now, which we realize makes us better off than many. We are thankful to have plenty of food and basic necessities to stay home and ride this out.

In the midst of this chaos, there are seventy children in Malawi who depend on us for their daily needs. We left enough grain to feed them for the time we would be away—and a little extra in case of an emergency—and we have chickens that supply them with eggs. Snoden, our Malawian liaison, recently sent word that someone is stealing our eggs. Then a couple of days later he told us some men jumped out of the tall maize and grabbed two of our preschoolers in an attempt to kidnap them. Thankfully, there was a parent close by who was able to save the kids. You can imagine our dismay. It’s terribly painful to know of the atrocities going on and not be able to do anything about it. 

I want encourage everyone reading this to not lose heart. We are determined to stay positive through this worldwide ordeal. Malawi just declared a state of emergency and closed its schools. We need to do our best to take care of the children in our preschool and feeding program from this long distance. You can’t do anything about the coronavirus, but you can do something to help the kids in Malawi. Don’t let the craziness of our current situation turn your heart from God. We need Him now more than ever, and there’s no better way to get His attention than to take care of the people who cannot take care of themselves. Let’s work together to keep feeding those kids and let God do His job. 

Please consider making a tax deductible donation to https://www.paypal.me/MalawiWestworth or a donation to our personal account at paypal.me/JewellsinAfrica. Thank you!