Dzaleka Prison was once notorious for political opponents during Malawi’s dictatorship in the 1980s. It is now a home to over 10,000 refugees from Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Mozambique and the Congo. It is also home to the Free Methodist Church!
Pastor Pascal Mbabajende fled his home in Rwanda to Dzaleka in hopes of providing a safer environment for his young family. He is the pastor of the growing Free Methodist Church inside the camp. On Sunday we had the privilege of worshiping there with people from many different African nations who all have stories of how God has protected their lives.
Dzaleka Refugee Camp is not anything like the stereotypical refugee camps--in the movies and on the news you often see miserable fenced off areas where people live in tents and sit around idle all day. Dzaleka camp is set up like a small village with shops, markets, and bustling streets live with action! Though it might seem like all their needs are met, their life is very difficult. They have no land to farm and are not able to leave the camp without a day pass. It is illegal for them to set up a business in town so they are forced to find work or set up some kind of business within the confines of the camp.
It was strange for us to be a little more than an hour away from our home but felt like we were in a completely different country. Languages such as Chichewa, Swahili, French and English were all spoken on Sunday. The common language for most people was Swahili. When I began preaching, the sermon was only translated into Chichewa. However, by the looks on peoples’ faces it was clear they did not understand me so they began to translate the Chichewa into Swahili. When the translator finally spoke my words in Swahili the congregation began to erupt with applause and cheers! My sermon was translated from English, to Chichewa then into Swahili. Before I started to preach I asked the pastor to pray for the translation. It was clear that the Holy Spirit was helping the translators and me since 5 people made new commitments to the Lord!
Jen and I are so proud of Curtis and Kara. Though the church services are long (this one was 3 ½ 
hours) in a foreign language and they don’t have friends at any of the churches we visit, they have set an example for us to follow. Kara has no problems with taking the hand of a young girl her age and making a new friend for the Sunday we are there. Curtis easily organizes some kind of a game with kids no matter if they speak Chichewa, French or Swahili. On Sunday he played “Guard” with the kids- whatever that is! Every Sunday they are involved in my sermon as they volunteer to quote a memory verse they have been learning. Praise God with us that they have been so flexible in uncomfortable situations, available to what God wants to teach them and teachable to what we as their parents, the culture and the Lord want to say to them.
One of the challenges for our friends inside the camp is that they
do not have any resources in Swahili. They have no hymnbooks, Bible Study Materials, and very few of them have Bibles in Swahili. I am passionate about getting biblical resources in the hands of our Free Methodist Churches and it is a shame for me to have dozens of Bibles, study materials and other resources, some that I don’t even use often, while my brothers and sisters have nothing. If you would like to help me get materials to our friends at Dzaleka Camp in their own language please contact me . Let’s try to see that every believer in this church has a Bible and study materials in their own language.
