Missionary profile – Gusty and Elena Makhutcha

By Mercy Kambura

Gusty and Elena Makhutcha

While training to be a pastor at the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi (EBCoM), I had many classmates from Mozambique. They always told me, “There are many pastors in Malawi, but in Mozambique, there are few, yet we have many unreached people. So why don’t you come and work with us in Mozambique?”

I thought and prayed about it for a long time, and as they kept asking, my interest grew. But when I finished Bible school and explained my vision to my seniors, it turned out that I couldn’t go.

I worked as a pastor, and the call to be a missionary stayed with me for nine years. One day, I met a mission mobiliser, Watson Rajaratnam. He asked me about my call and vision. I explained my desire to reach the unreached in Mozambique. He met my seniors and talked to them. He also spoke to a missions agency, SIM.

I had one problem – we didn’t have money. Then one day, a man retiring from his job gave us one million Malawian Kwacha. We knew the Lord had provided! In 2018, my wife Elina and I finally went to Mozambique as missionaries. The Malawi Mission Initiative also had a great role in preparing us to come to Mozambique.

We are evangelists and a disciple-makers in Mozambique. We have Bible studies with the villagers in Mozambique. Some people are just enquirers, but we sit and explain the Bible to them as well. As a result, we have had people come to the Lord as we study the Bible from Genesis to Matthew. We give God’s plan of salvation for them, and we have seen people become believers.

We recently started a Bible study in another village. Doors are still opening, and the Holy Spirit is working as people pray for us.

We went on home assignment back to Malawi last year and our last child, who was with us in Mozambique, said he wanted to stay with his siblings in Malawi and to learn English. We had initially left the older kids to avoid interrupting their schooling. Our five children, now back in Malawi, are aged 25, 23, 18, 16 and 10. Despite the great encouraging proof that God sent us to Mozambique, our greatest challenge is not being with our children.

Please pray:

For the Lord to keep us safe and healthy.
For our children back in Malawi.
For the provision of funds as we continue the ministry.