These past thirty-six days in Malawi was an experience that ultimately led us to a great truth. We go to the Word of God, specifically Psalm 73, to encourage your faith and to explain how our faith was on trial during our time in Malawi. Truth and its various parts are all interrelated. We are always reminded that we are dealing with the Almighty God, and that his ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. This trip led us to arrive at a stronger place than the beginning. At the end we could stand face to face with an assurance we never had before. We could turn all of this into a great spiritual victory. Having been through it all, we have been given to see this great truth: that God is always good. We were tempted to think during this trip that there were times when he was not, and see now that we were wrong. God is good in all circumstances, in all ways and at all times, no matter what may happen to us or the children.

1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.

Keep this in the forefront of your mind as we begin. May this verse of promise direct your thoughts and be a pillar of truth.

God is always good
Eleven days into our stay in Malawi, God exposed the suffering that the children were experiencing throughout the year. He separated the “righteous” from the wicked and arrogant. Sometime during the year, all but eight children of the Grace of God Orphanage were chased away back to their guardians. As school continued on, the proper care of the children did not. All children, except eight, were refused food and medical care. These eight children, destitute and desperate, remained because they didn’t even have any relatives to return home to. The feeding program provided two meals a day for these eight children while Mac- the director, and Dave- the Administrator, stole the money for themselves. Money sent to build a kitchen facility and a ten-acre garden was also not used for its intended purpose. God’s money meant solely to care for the apple of his eye, who he promises he will vindicate justice for, was used foolishly by greedy people. Verses 4-12 describe the truth of the wicked and arrogant as:

4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.

There is no doubt in our mind and in the mind of the Psalmist what kind of life the wicked live. Yet preceding ALL of this, the Psalmist declares in vs. 1 that “God is good.” Even in the face of what is happening, and even when the wicked flourish- can we say with no exception or qualification that God is always good? Can we say that “all things work together for good?”

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.

After holding an “open court” of interrogation, Mac openly admitted to stealing the money that God had provided for the children. Because of his repentance we asked if he felt that God still called him as director in which he responded with a “no”. Over the week, he openly repented with three public confessions: 1) with the children, staff, and guardians of children 2) with the chiefs of the two villages and 3) at his church fellowship. We followed church discipline found in the scriptures in how to deal biblically with brothers and sisters caught in sin. In one sense, we were torn by how “easy” he was getting off, leaving us “nearly slipping” and even “envious of the arrogant and prosperity of the wicked.” Not seeing justice on earth, we felt as if “in vain we had kept our heart clean”. It was a long spiritual process, clinging daily to the truths of God while seeing the wicked slither away with a mere “I’m sorry”.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.

Despite all the uncertain and perplex moments, situations, encounters and circumstances we had to remember who and what we are. We are called by God out of this evil world, purchased by the cost of the shedding of the blood of the Son of God and forgiven (Titus 2:14). We could not understand the circumstances, but we knew who we were.
The danger we were in was approaching the situation rationally vs. spiritually. The whole of our Christian life is spiritual, not merely parts of it. The first thing we had to say is “Are we facing this spiritually?” The moment we felt a sense of grudge against God, complained about what was happening or something not being fair- we have immediately brought God down to our own level of understanding. Rather, we needed to look up to God from this situation. Exploitation of orphans and the prosperity of the wicked isn’t something new to God, but have been around since the times of the Old Testament prophets. As long as sin breeds in mankind, this will always be. Yet God will at the same time, always be good.
“Then I understood their end”
This situation became a very clear illustration of the wide (destructive) and narrow (life) path. As the days crept by, Mac’s repentance failed to bear fruit. He refused to surrender his luxuries, he was often tangled in his own lies and he did absolutely nothing to pay the money back which he had stolen… not even a dollar. If he worked for 83 years surrendering his paycheck each month (receiving the same monthly salary as a teacher at GOGO) then he could pay back that which he owed. We didn’t ask for anything from him, except initiative. Circumstances began to show that Mac was waiting to reinstate his position as director once we left. You can imagine at this point helping the children seemed hopeless. Yet one thing was for sure, if we didn’t register GOGO in Malawi before we left, Mac would register it all in his name and steal all the land and facilities.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
We began to understand that to think about all this spiritually, puts a whole new perspective. We had to think “to the end”, and what the end truly looked like for the wicked. Though all prosper now and justice never be served through man, God has already “set them in slippery places” and “made them to fall to ruin”. They are destroyed in a moment and swept away by terrors. God despises them; this is the ultimate punishment, even more than any crowded Malawian prison cell. We could have confidence that always the evil powers were under God’s hand (vs. 18). Therefore, God in his Holy nature cannot be unjust. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25). God is good even when every appearance is contrary. God will awake (vs. 20) and there is a limit to what God allows the ungodly to do.
Our own Sinfulness
Through this experience we began to be put right in our thinking about God (his goodness), the ungodly (their ultimate end), and now ourselves.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
Contrary to our view of ourselves in vs. 13-14 of a clean heart, innocent hands and ongoing suffering, God begins to reveal to us our own wretchedness. There were many times we forgot the godly life God has called us to. He has not called us to a life without troubles, but that through many tribulations we will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We forgot how much we too deserve damnation and have no claim on God, being amazed that God would even forgive us. Being consumed by the suffering of the orphans and corruption of the leaders at GOGO, we forgot our own sin and that we are debtors to mercy alone.

Door of Hope
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Yet the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is that when we are at the end, the door of hope opens. The Psalmist, despite his realization of his own depravity says “Nevertheless”. During this trip it became so clear that despite the suffering of the children and prosperity of the wicked, our hope in God and dependence upon him never changes. He holds us with his right hand, He guides us with counsel and he will receive us to glory (vs. 23-24). In all of this chaos, we were seeing the beauty and glory of God’s saving grace. We are Christians not because we are good people (and that Mac is bad). We are Christians because we were bad people, and God had mercy upon us and sent His Son to die for us. It is only God’s restraining grace in vs. 2 and 15 that kept us from slipping. Finally it is God’s restoring grace that brought us on our knees in total dependence of him, viewing the situation with a spiritual mind. He guides, leads and sustains us to trust him in all circumstances.

Our ultimate purpose: to Worship God
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
After all the tears, heartbreaks, spiritual battles and getting put right in our perception of God, the ungodly and self, we could truly say “Who do I have but you?” Because after all who and what do we, the kids or Mac really have if it’s not the Almighty God? The kids could have been fed and strong, yet if God is not their strength then they are empty, weak and powerless. We could have had a trouble-free trip, yet if God isn’t our satisfaction (portion) then we succeed in vain.

Faith on Trial
All our faiths are being tried, on trial at this very moment. Ours, the kids, those who donate, and those who spoke the truth in Malawi against the wicked are all being tried in different ways, yet the common thread is: God asking “Do you trust me? Am I enough?” Everything this world offers is a broken cistern compared to the water of life. After envying the wicked and desiring a trouble-free life, the Psalmist concludes realizing he has nothing, if he has not the true treasure.
After a review of the trip, we face the future with just one resolution: to be near to God.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
There are two positions in life despite age, profession, country of birth and status. You are either near to God or far from God. So we pressed on during this trip, not knowing what our next step would be or how the organization would end yet we knew we needed to be near to God.
The Lord is a light unto my path
Through circumstances orchestrated by an all-powerful, all-knowing and Providential God, we ended up leaving the village to sort out the future of GOGO. The first move was to arrest Mac due to his resistance to step down as director. God then connected us with American missionaries who both founded and live at the African Bible College (ABC) right across of Mtsilizia, our village. They gave us a place to sleep and helped us restructure the Grace of God Orphanage. This went hand in hand with registering GOGO as a non-profit faith-based organization in Malawi. They helped us first set up a Board of Trustees (BOT). The duty of the BOT is to have meetings monthly with the main purpose of monitoring the work at the Orphanage. These are the “watchdogs” of the ministry, and have no other roles in GOGO except to monitor the activities and projects. They are all volunteers. Our BOT consist of five members:
1) Reverend Sam Macdonald- Reverend from Mississippi, Professor at ABC, lives on campus at ABC
2) George Nkhaka- relative of chief, man of God, lives in the village
3) Larry Nitta- State government lawyer for Malawi, same lawyer who is prosecuting Mac and registering the GOGO
4) Joyce Mbewe- Student at ABC, lives off campus across of village, wife and mother
5) Wycliffe Chunga- Student at ABC, lives on campus
All of these people are spoken very highly of on the Bible College as mature, honest and godly. The school is small enough that multiple American professors know the students well enough to recommend them to us. American professors will be working with the Board and keeping them accountable to their duties.
The main duty of the BOT is to monitor the executive committee (EC). The EC consist of a new director and Treasurer. As time continues, we will open more positions to help the EC and assist GOGO. Our new director, Alfred Mwale, was recommended and highly spoken of by staff, American professors and Administration of the African Bible College. He is a senior at ABC, lives in married housing on campus, a husband for 13 years to one wife and a father of four children. He is an education major and has experience as a director for eight years in a well-known orphan care organization in Malawi. He is on a work scholarship to pay for his schooling in which he “works” 20-40 hours a week as a security guard and cleaning the chapel. His wife works as a teacher in the village. He is a man immediately described by the missionaries as honest, humble and an extremely hard worker. He is also an elder at his Presbyterian church. He has accepted a most difficult task, but trusting God to complete fight for us all (Exodus 14:14).
The financial director, Victoria Banda, is pastor’s wife and mother to a senior at the African Bible College. She has past experience as a financial director for churches in both Zambia and Malawi. She has five children of her own (the youngest a teenager) and is taking are of two children less than age six who are orphans in her own village. Both administrators love the orphans and are not afraid to show compassion to these children as if they were their own.
From now on donations from Hawaii will be wired directly to the Grace of God
Orphanage Bank account in Malawi. There will be four check signers (1 by BOT, 2 by EC, and 1 by the village chief) for any transaction of purchase or withdrawal. All receipts of purchase will be surrendered from the E.C. to the BOT for review. Alfred, our director, will never handle money, but only administrate and direct the organization and its needs. There will never be more than $30 in the office because purchases will be made directly by checks. For example, food will be bought with checks through distributors who have signed a contract with the organization.

The Present State of GOGO
As of now, we have begun to reconstruct and rebuild facilities which have become dangerous and very dirty for the health of the children. We have sent the children back to their guardians, but Lord-willing, will re-open our orphanages and resume school at the end of August. Currently, we are caring full-time for 14 children who have nowhere to go. We are also spending this time to rebuild our staff with righteous workers. Though Mac is in jail, his sins are still affecting the ministry as we continue to slowly pay off debts he has left the orphanage. We are using this time to heal what was diseased with wickedness.

Financial Recap
All donations for June and July were used to feed the 75 children three meals a day, purchase blankets for each child, take children to the clinic, pay for registration fees and help pay for the trial of Mac. For the month of July, only 14 children will be fed three meals a day. The remainder will go to rebuilding the orphanage and paying off debts so that the children may return to a safe environment. I will continue with monthly updates to let you know exactly what kind of progress was made over the month.

The Trial
When we left, the trial against Mac continued on with our lawyer representing the case. Mac, so foolish with the money he stole, didn’t even have money to book himself a lawyer, so he is representing himself for the trial. Our lawyer who is helping us for free, says Mac should be convicted before the end of July. We have heard the maximum sentence is five years, but we will wait to see what judgment God declares through the judge. African prison is not like American prison. Prisoners are fed once a day, have no bed or blankets and sleep in very tight quarters. The day Kristie testified against Mac, he showed no remorse and challenged all her claims. The judge admitted the evidence as overwhelming. Mac has been in prison since June 14th. I will send out an email update once Mac is convicted.

Our purpose still stands: to Glorify God
Though the circumstances changed, we have always made clear the main purpose of GOGO is to glorify God through trusting Him and His character to provide what He wills. Though the money was stolen, ultimately it never changed why we gave and what we did. The priority wasn’t the children, but God himself. So we learn to worship Him in all circumstances because He never changes. We leave our vengeance to the God who declares “Vengeance is mine, I will repay”. We move on and we continually, consciously draw near to God, else we drift away. May we thank God for His grace, the testing our faith, His calling and that we are no longer dead or blind to our sin.

To God be all the Glory,
Trever and Kristie Duarte

Without condemning those who follow a different pattern, it has been the practice of those who follow in the steps of Hudson Taylor to move the hearts of the people to give by talking to God and not people.

Dr. James Taylor, the great-grandson of the founder, explains how this faith in future grace, rooted in demonstration of bygone grace, honors God.

“We begin from a position of faith. We believe God does exist. We have become convinced of this in a variety of ways, but all of us have experienced the grace of God in bringing us to know himself through Jesus Christ and through rebirth by his Spirit. We believe we have good grounds of believing in Him through the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: we believe that someone who said He would die and rise again, and did it is credible in every other way. Therefore, we are prepared to trust Him, not only for the eternal salvation of our souls, but also for the practical provision of our daily bread and financial support”

Excerpt from Future Grace by Pastor John Piper

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are ALL THINGS, to Him be the Glory. Amen.