A Faithful LIfe

A funeral speaks of the person who has died. The individual has no control over what will happen or what will be said (usually), so it is an indication of who the person really was – what others thought of him or her, of the status he or she held in the eyes of others. It is a witness to the life lived. That witness was resounding today for Rev. Greyson Hastings Mputeni.

Rev. Mputeni was a gentle, quiet man who faithfully did what the church and God asked of him. He never held the highest position in the church. He was Deputy General Secretary for 8 years, serving as a support player for the General Secretary. While in office, he has a stroke. He could have used that as in excuse to step down or to at least slack off, but he didn’t. He consistently worked through the rehabilitation he needed to and then worked with the limitations with which he was left. He never complained. Conversations never focused on him, but rather on those with whom he was working, those who came to him for counsel, or those who met him in the street or at the church. He never served the larger churches of the Synod. He was content with the smaller, outlining churches and faithful to serve them. Most recently, he took the assignment of rehabilitating Grace Bandawe Conference Center when it was on the brink of bankruptcy and has been slowly bringing it back to life. That is what he was doing when he took sick on Saturday and was taken to the hospital. He died yesterday, surrounded by his family.

Today was his funeral and it was a testimony to this faithful man of God. The service was held at St. Michael’s Multipurpose Hall, the largest venue the Synod has, and it was not large enough. The hall comfortably seats 2,000. There was standing room only, and an overflow outside, even though it was raining. People were willing to stand in the rain to pay their respects. They were willing to go to the graveyard for the burial in the rain. Representatives came from the other synods in of the CCAP, from Anglican Church, and from the Catholic Church. More than 130 of the 200 ministers of the synod were present. There were choirs from 10 churches and two schools. All told stories of Rev. Mputeni’s kindnesses and his caring ways. Repeatedly the word faithful was used to describe him.

Malawi is a rain-dependent country and when the rains come, everyone rejoices. It is received as a sign of God’s blessing, of his faithfulness to his people. We have been experiencing a drought for the last month. Today was to be a day of national prayer for rain. It began raining about 5 a.m. and has not stopped all day, sometimes coming heavily and at other times gently. God has been faithful to us today. It seems right that today, of all days, as we commit one of God’s faithful to him, he would respond with his faithfulness to us with rain. The congregation rejoiced in the rain as a sign of God’s blessing on a life faithfully lived.