Troubled Boy to Church Elder

By Sheron Ndhlovu

Edmond was a troubled child in Mzuzu, Malawi. He refused to obey his parents, teachers, or any other adult. At school, he hit the other boys and even the teachers. He gained such a fearful reputation that children and adults alike were scared of him.

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One day, Edmond decided that it would be fun to disrupt the Pathfinder club. He took his unruly friends to Chasefu Seventh-day Adventist Church, and they mocked the marching and singing Pathfinders. Edmond enjoyed seeing the Pathfinders react, so he and his friends returned week after week.

But as the weeks passed, Edmond became interested in Pathfinder activities. He wanted to know more about what the children were doing and what they believed. When the church organized evangelistic meetings at Mzuzu Stadium, he decided to go, but he did not tell his friends for fear that they would laugh at him. He also did not tell his parents, who belonged to another Christian denomination, because he worried that they might punish him.

At the meetings, Edmond fell in love with the God of heaven and the Lord of the seventh-day Sabbath. Even though he was afraid that the Adventist children and adults whom he had mistreated so terribly would reject him, he summoned up the courage and gave his heart to Jesus in baptism.

His parents found out about the baptism four months later, and they immediately disowned the boy. Edmond stayed in the homes of church members, and they taught him more about the Bible until he became well-versed in its teachings. He also worked odd jobs to pay required fees so he could stay in school. Three years passed. Edmond’s parents saw that he was faithful to God. They saw that he had become a new creature in Christ, and they asked him to return home.

Today, Edmond Tchiri is married to an Adventist wife, and they have two sons. He also serves as an elder at Chasefu Seventh-day Adventist Church, the place where he used to torment the Pathfinders. He says that only God could have transformed the troubled schoolboy into a church elder. “Never look down on children, no matter how bad-behaved they may be,” he said.

Thank you for your 2021 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that is helping to construct a community outreach and leadership development center on the Mzuzu campus of Malawi Adventist University, so more boys and girls, men and women, can learn about the transforming power of Jesus in Edmond’s hometown and beyond in the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division. This quarter’s offering will support six more educational projects in the neighboring East-Central Africa Division.