On a recent mission trip to Malawi, Africa, I learned three lessons about God’s plan for our lives. Things didn’t go how I expected at times, but God’s agenda was better than mine. I hope these lessons encourage you when God’s plan seems different than yours.

https://youtu.be/EG7D-ivgWLY
On a recent mission trip to Malawi, Africa, I learned three lessons about God’s plan for our lives. God’s agenda was better than mine.

Table of contentsGod’s Plan for Our Lives Is Better than OursGod’s Plan Often Involves Wondering What’s NextOur Tuesday Night GroupStepping Out in Faith Isn't License to Be FoolishSharing the Gospel with Another SchoolGod’s Plan Requires Staying MarriedDave and Naida's Gomes's TestimonyAndy and Lisa Langdon's Testimony

When we took the trip to Malawi, there were two teams. I was on the teaching team that spoke at the Sola Scriptura Bible College the first week and the pastor's conference the second week. One particular day began very frustratingly. I am not one to blame everything on spiritual warfare or see the devil or a demon behind everything bad that happens. Sometimes, things happen simply because we live in a fallen world. But one morning, it seemed like we had difficulty getting to the Bible college on time. I joked with the teaching team that maybe we had a few Billy Grahams in the Bible college class that the devil didn’t want us to reach. First, we got pulled over:

https://youtu.be/Kqj3cgEIxx4

Then we got pulled over again:

https://youtu.be/56pqTpsupRU

Then we got a flat tire:

https://youtu.be/aKqBCTOYPSc

We broke down on the side of the road and had to wait for someone from the nursery to bring us tools to change the tire. Because we went to the Bible college each day from early morning until late evening, I hadn’t seen much of Malawi, so I decided to walk around. There were some buildings nearby, and I went to check them out.

God’s Plan for Our Lives Is Better than Ours

It turned out to be a school, but all the classes were canceled because it was a holiday. I was walking past the classrooms, expecting them to be empty, but one teacher, Mr. Moya, who you will meet in a moment, decided to have a class that day. I have no idea why he wanted to have class on a holiday, and I have no idea how he got his students to come to class on a holiday, but that’s what happened.

When I walked past his classroom, the students were excited because they saw a white person. I kept walking because I didn’t want to interrupt his class, but then I decided to walk back and see what would happen. The teacher, Mr. Moya, seemed like a serious man who wasn’t easy to read. So, I couldn’t tell how he felt about me at first, but I did get him to smile, which made me happy:

https://youtu.be/GgF2ujFyS9Y

I wanted to stay longer with the class, but I didn’t know if they had the tire changed, and I didn’t want them to wait for me. So, I returned to the truck, but they still didn’t have the tools. So I asked Eddie if he wanted to return to the classroom with me, and he was glad to do so:

https://youtu.be/qwOXPME6MyA

Now, there’s more to the story, but I can only show you so many videos, so let me briefly tell you what happened. Eddie told the class we would return the next day and bring them gospel tracts. When we returned the next day, Andrew and Andrey came with us because they wanted to spend one day at the Bible college. The school was in session, so we had to check in at the principal’s office. When we went to the principal’s office, she seemed glad that we were there and told us we could preach the gospel to other classrooms:

https://youtu.be/Epg7omXz-lc

I couldn’t help thinking that day about how much better God’s plan for our lives is than ours. God orchestrated many things for us. For example, if we didn’t have the flat tire:

I wouldn’t have visited the school.

Eddie wouldn’t have shared the gospel with the class