(From AfriGO Magazine (afrigo.org).) Editor’s Note: If you have a heart for missions in Africa, then you REALLY need to subscribe to this online magazine! More and more mission workers are being raised up from Africa, and this story is one man’s testimony.
Called: Reuben Kachala
From the moment I dedicated my life to Christ in 1988, I felt compelled to preach Christ. Salvation was sweet, and I wondered, “Why isn’t everyone receiving him?” I must tell everybody! I started handing out tracts, engaging in one-on-one evangelism, and sharing the gospel wherever I could. This passion overshadowed every other dream I had and led me to enrol in Bible school. The salvation I received gripped me so strongly that it became my raison d’etre. Up until now, no other job is as good for me as this “Jesus job”.
Baptized into missions
“My journey into missions mobilization started in 1995 when I first learned about global missions in Bible school. Just like I previously proclaimed Jesus, now I eagerly shared about missions. I led a choir and began composing and singing songs about missions.
“After graduation, I joined the Bible school faculty. No matter the subject I taught, I always “missionized” it, inspiring students toward the Great Commission. Later, I was elected Missions Director for the Malawi Assemblies of God (2004–2008), which placed me in a mobilization role.
A mobilizer’s task
I mobilize prayer for unreached and frontier people groups, disciple believers in missions, and share resources for training. I also write gospel tracts focused on the Great Commission and I develop and organize training programmes such as Understanding World Evangelization (UWE), which I launched in 2019. It is similar to Perspectives but simplified and contextualized for Malawi. Regularly, I speak at conferences to challenge believers about God’s heart for the nations.
Hurdles and results
Mobilization is relatively unknown among many African Christians. During our missionary service in South Asia, support was strong, but when my family returned home to focus on mobilization, many partners stopped giving. People believe missions only counts when someone is serving abroad, not when they return to mobilize others. Today, we rely on income from farming and a few faithful partners.
Many people are interested in the UWE course but are unwilling or unable to pay fees to cover essential costs, especially when many Western-run seminars are free.
Despite these challenges, results have been encouraging. In December 2023, we sent a mobilizer to Lesotho, where he does great work. Two members of my team have been sent to the unreached Chinese and Hindu communities in Malawi.
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