Police Voices

Choirs are common place in churches in Malawi. Limbe has seven of them and they take turns participating in the services. So it takes a lot for a particular choir to grab attention. But this past Sunday a choir sang at Limbe that caused me to pause.

First it was a men’s choir. That in itself is unique. Women sing in Mvano choirs and even travel to one another’s churches, especially to other districts of the country, to share music and experiences. Young men sing in youth choirs and occasionally the young men will form a quartet within the choir, but they are clearly youth, young men not yet married. It is most rare to have men’s choir.



Christ's Ambassadors singing at Limbe



But this choir was even more distinctive. These men were all police officers, posted at the Police Training School (PTS) in Blantyre. Limbe has a prayer house at the PTS site. It is under the session of Limbe CCAP, which means that it does not have a large enough or steady enough eldership to support a church. Since the majority of the folks at PTS are in training, they are there only a year or so and then are out in the field, assigned to other locations. The instructors at PTS are consistent, but they are not numerous enough to support a church, so they remain a prayer house of Limbe. Police officers in Malawi have a spotty reputation, to say the least. Some are aggressive, if not violent. Some are heavy drinkers and some are corrupt, willing to take bribes for anything from a small traffic offense to a major crime. Especially after the riots of July 20, 2011, people are suspicious of police officers because of the violence that happened at what was to be a peaceful demonstration. But that is not all police by any means. This choir is made up of police officers who have made a commitment to Christ and want to have a positive witness with their lives. They call themselves Christ’ Ambassadors. They sing to the glory of God and they sing to make a statement about who they are as men of God. It was thrilling to hear their strong voices raised in harmony and praise to God. The congregation was as impressed as I was. They applauded and asked them to sing a second song. The officers agreed. The congregation showed their approval by standing and clapping with them as they sang. It was a stirring moment and a powerful witness to Christ’s power in a man’s life.