God is Good

WORD ALIVE CHURCH @ 20

My Church, Word Alive Ministries International turned 20 on Sunday, 8 July. The growth has been notable especially in the past four years or so since the days of Blantyre Christian Centre--the first name of the establishment. People used to think, BCC was a mere 'fellowship' and not a proper church, maybe because of the name.
The first time I went to the church was in 1987 with some American friends. Seven years passed and in 1994 a friend asked me to accompany him to BCC to watch some girls!! The girl-watching escapade was a turning point for me. I was so gripped with their lively worship and sharing of the Word. As a result I started alternating between my church and BCC, meaning one Sunday I was in my church, the next I was at BCC. My mother intervened and I asked me to make a choice. And BCC which was renamed Word Alive in 2003 was my decision. I became member in 1998 and joined the Praise and Worship team in 1999. My late father was a great guitarist, but it was close to his death that I bought a guitar and sadly he never coached me. I remember asking the then head of music team, Pastor Zacc Kawalala, to join the music team. I told him I would like to play the guitar someday. He said: "talent grows in places of worship such as church"
So I started from scratch and at one point almost gave up because my fingers are short and I was struggling to play chords. I played my first song in church in April 2000, a simple reggae piece!!
Today I thank God because through Word Alive my talent has been natured and I have experienced playing alongside great artists such as Benjamin Dube, Kekeletso and on the local scene the likes of Isaac Mkukupa, Rudo Mkukupa-Chakwera, Amos and Lameck Soko, Jack Kamwendo and Felix Jere.

The 20th anniversary bash itself was good. It brought together Word Alive branches located in Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe. Tourism Minister Honourable Callista Chimombo, who represented President Mutharika was a good envoy and certainly the right choice. She urged Word Alive not to sit on its laurels just like Apostle Paul saw himself as not reached the ultimate goal in his undertakings. She drew a loud cheer.
Apostle Madalitso Mbewe of Calvary Family Church said time has come for Word Alive to shine and make an impact.
Exciting times are to come I can see.

posted by Joe Mlenga @ 1:33 pm