Unyolo Church of Christ Meeting
Sunday, July 20, 2003

Unyolo village is located about 80 km from Blantyre in the Mulanje District, south of Luchenza trading center. As you can see from the photo, this was a pretty large gathering of brethren for a Lord's Day worship service. We had brethren from many nearby congregations to attend, even from three congregations just over the border in Mozambique, which is very near. I might add that all the brethren from sister congregations attending the service either walked or rode bicycles to be with us. That should tell you something about the numbers of congregations and brethren in a relative small area, i.e. within walking distance.

In the photo shown as # 1, the photo speaks for itself as to what a good crowd we had for the service. In the front row of adults on the right hand side, the man on the outside is Chief Unyolo. Next to the chief on his right is the UDF Party Chairman. To the right of the chairman is a tiny little man by the name of S. Alfred. He is not a member of the church. However, he is the man who donated a portion of his property on which to build the church building you see in the background. Of course, his donation of the property had to be approved by the Chief. Next to Mr. Alfred, on his right, is the preacher for Unyolo, Bro. S.D. Livuluwa. He has on a dark suit and wearing a deep blue shirt. Standing behind the UDF chairman (he has on red trousers) is Brother Stephen Kasenda who did the translating for me.

In the Photo noted as # 2, you can see how brethren just sit on the ground. (A good number of brethren are hidden from view by the trees on the right side). They may sit for long periods of time, but they will not complain. The gathering today lasted three hours. This included the worship service and the formalities of introductions, etc, which the Africans will participate in after a church service is dismissed. All this makes for a long day, but an enjoyable one to remember. --Jim Franklin, P.O. Box 573, Blantyre, Malawi, Africa