Abusa (Pastor) Prince Stazio
A young guy in his 30s
Overseeing numerous churches in the district of Chikwawa, Malawi
Husband and Father of 2 (Yanko and Prince Jr.)
Living in a small, but adequate house in the town of Chikwawa that is never lacking in traffic.
Church members throughout the denomination drop in to see this man of God on a regular basis.
After picking Stazio up last week and accompanying him to a remote village, I got to know a little bit more about this man.
Each week, he has the responsibility of looking out for a number of churches within the denomination that have no pastor.
On this particular instance, he was hitching a ride with us in order to visit a church member that had recently lost one of his young children.
He is one of those guys that just makes you smile when you around him. You would never assume that he is a man of importance.
Over a meal of goat and nsima, I figured I would try and get to know him a little better.
"Stazio, what were the circumstances of you realizing that you were called to be a pastor?", I asked.
"Well," he replied, "after receiving my education in Blantyre, I was a businessman working down in Nsanje. I was doing pretty well, but as I was going to church, I realized that God was wanting me to be a pastor. When I told my family that I was going to go to Bible School, they were not very happy. I was the responsible person for all of my extended family. I was about to go from a well paying job to the small salary that a village pastor receives."
Yet, he was faithful to the Lord.
Even though this decision meant certain sacrifice, he knew that when you are called by God, you don't just say no.
Sacrifice for a pastor like Stazio means, hopping on a bicycle on Saturdays and riding at times up to 50 Kilometers to get to the church where he will be preaching Sunday morning
In a country that does not have a church on every street corner with 5 staff members and the majority of the people sitting in the pew possessing enough Bible knowledge to be a leader themselves, such sacrifices are simply necessary.
When he was asked whether the demands of his job ever discourage him, he replied:
Overseeing numerous churches in the district of Chikwawa, Malawi
Husband and Father of 2 (Yanko and Prince Jr.)
Living in a small, but adequate house in the town of Chikwawa that is never lacking in traffic.
Church members throughout the denomination drop in to see this man of God on a regular basis.
After picking Stazio up last week and accompanying him to a remote village, I got to know a little bit more about this man.
Each week, he has the responsibility of looking out for a number of churches within the denomination that have no pastor.
On this particular instance, he was hitching a ride with us in order to visit a church member that had recently lost one of his young children.
He is one of those guys that just makes you smile when you around him. You would never assume that he is a man of importance.
Over a meal of goat and nsima, I figured I would try and get to know him a little better.
"Stazio, what were the circumstances of you realizing that you were called to be a pastor?", I asked.
"Well," he replied, "after receiving my education in Blantyre, I was a businessman working down in Nsanje. I was doing pretty well, but as I was going to church, I realized that God was wanting me to be a pastor. When I told my family that I was going to go to Bible School, they were not very happy. I was the responsible person for all of my extended family. I was about to go from a well paying job to the small salary that a village pastor receives."
Yet, he was faithful to the Lord.
Even though this decision meant certain sacrifice, he knew that when you are called by God, you don't just say no.
Sacrifice for a pastor like Stazio means, hopping on a bicycle on Saturdays and riding at times up to 50 Kilometers to get to the church where he will be preaching Sunday morning
In a country that does not have a church on every street corner with 5 staff members and the majority of the people sitting in the pew possessing enough Bible knowledge to be a leader themselves, such sacrifices are simply necessary.
When he was asked whether the demands of his job ever discourage him, he replied:
“I’ve been chosen by God, so I can’t resign.”
1 comment:
"I've been chosen by God, so I can't resign"...
wow that's a good line. That challenges me...a lot. I need to remember that attitude whenever I am feeling drained from my job.
In the Sara Grove's song that she wrote after she came back from Rwanda there is a line that says, "Your courage asks me, what am I afraid of" This pastors courage and sacrifices truly asks me what am I afraid of. Good stuff...thanks for sharing.
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