Dreaming with God to start a movement
By Allison Sherwin
“I can see us walking to the banana field together,” says Shadreck Chirwa. “On the way we have time together to read scriptures and pray and inspire one another. We can work together at the farm and become a family.”
This is Shadreck describing his dream of God using a banana business as an opportunity to disciple leaders who will bring kingdom transformation to Nkotakhota, Malawi, the town where he spent many of his childhood years. Here, food is often scarce and people go hungry once or twice a week. His dream is to establish a banana business that can be used to disciple leaders and to create income he can use to loan to other disciples and DBS groups to start more small businesses.
Like many Malawians, Shadreck came to Cape Town to find work and have an income to help support his family. In 2014, he met All Nations Cape Town members Michael and Allison Sherwin, and they began to discover Jesus together. Shadreck felt God calling him not only to follow Jesus but to go and share the Good News and make more disciples of Jesus. In 2017, he did the Forge training through All Nations, and discovered more about who he is in Christ. When he prayed for the people in his home country of Malawi, he felt he wanted to share the things he had learned about God.
“Many people where I come from only know how to go to church, but they don’t know how to minister to one another or reach out to those around them, especially those who are outcasts or not accepted by others,” Shadreck said. “I want to impart to them that they can go and share the good news and tell people Jesus loves them.”
Shadreck has been back in Malawi for ten months, and God has encouraged him through the people who have received him warmly into their homes and shown a hunger to pray and discover Jesus. Thirty-two Discovery Bible Studies are meeting regularly. More than half of the people involved have already expressed that they want to follow Jesus and be his disciples. “I love getting to worship together with them and I feel they love me and I love them,” Shadreck said. “God is building us together as a family and as a church.”
Shadreck dreams of seeing leaders raised up around him so the movement can multiply and reach into other surrounding areas, especially among the Yao people, an unreached people group. He is currently working on finding those leaders and training them in all that he knows. He wants them well-equipped to make disciples and lead Discovery Bible Studies. He has heard God saying, “You can’t do these things alone. Find people you can work with and raise up other leaders. Make a team and reach out together.” In this pioneering season, he can sometimes feel alone and unsure about what to do, but God is continually lifting him up and showing him the next steps to take.
Shadreck Chirwa