Episode 2 Reverse Missionaries

21st century Britain -

a country where traditional church attendance is plummeting.

Society is becoming so saturated in secularism.

Christianity is now becoming like a second-class subject.

If you were to put a leaflet through the door

saying there's going to be a fight on Monday, everybody would turn up.

But, as soon as there's the word "church",

or "holy", it's straight away "no".

But it wasn't always the case.

The 19th-century was a golden age for Christianity

and Britain exported that faith,

despatching missionaries across the world

to places where, today, belief is booming.

Jesus is walking among you.

-That we should be saved.

-Amen.

Now, reversing those journeys,

three idealistic Christians are coming here on their own missions.

We've come with a lot of hope and a lot of faith.

-But is modern Britain ready for them?

-If we believe God, I know something can happen.

With the greatest respect, Moses could be standing there,

and I still don't think they would go into church.

The atmosphere was very tense.

There was no peace about it.

And can their distinctive missionary styles rejuvenate failing church communities?

I think he's hoping to fill the church with people. I'm just no' interested.

Great missionary work needs to be done.

In Malawi, Africa, pastor John Chilimtsidya

runs a church that is flourishing.

HE SINGS

THEY SING

But will his charismatic brand of worship revive

a declining church in Blantyre, Glasgow?

Once we start to fritter away, they'll be nobody left to carry on.

Blantyre's the birthplace of missionary Dr David Livingstone,

who helped spread Christianity within Africa.

As pastor John goes in search of his hero's remarkable story,

he'll gain inspiration for his own mission.

-And this is David Livingstone's house.

-David Livingstone's house.

This is the house. I promise you.

In the name of Jesus.

John wants the community and its young people

to find its faith in a church again.

If you want kids to be interested in something, you've got to target them.

But challenged with scepticism...

We're not the jump up and jump about church.

We're a more sedate church.

..and in the face of apathy,

can he succeed in attracting people back into the house of God?

I want to encourage you to come to church.

It looks as if there's no Christianity, at all.

I feel like crying.

Malawi in south-east Africa -

one of the poorest countries in the world,

with well over half its people living below the poverty line.

However, belief and faith here is thriving.

Over 80 % of its 13 million population is a practising Christian,

and regularly attend a church.

170 years ago,

David Livingstone began his mission to expand Christianity in Africa.

Largely forgotten back home, in Malawi he remains everywhere.

Blantyre, Malawi's commercial capital, took its name from his Scottish birthplace.

Missionary, doctor, explorer,

Livingstone was the first white European to reveal

the location of the Victoria Falls.

30 years of travel and missionary work saw him overcome disease,

resistance from local tribes, and wild animals.

His exploits thrilled a 19th-century public.

His fame and his unique understanding of the African people

left a legacy that would see Christianity proliferate

throughout the continent.

God is there.

Jehovah is here.

Somebody say amen.

Alleluia. Amen.

In Malawi, the flame of Livingstone's

Christian legacy is burning brightly,

and Pastor John Chilimtsidya is the torch bearer.

The people are flocking to Pastor John's church.

The charismatic renewal church is one of Malawi's fastest-growing.

Four years ago, John's congregation stood at just 25.

Now it's nearly 800.

HE SINGS

In Scotland, Livingstone was a member of the Congregational movement.

In its heyday, Blantyre's church was thriving.

Now, it's a different picture.

Worshippers, here, are increasingly thin on the ground,

and there's virtually no young people in the congregation.

The Reverend Malcolm Anderson is finding it tough.

Scotland is becoming so saturated in secularism,

where Christianity is now becoming like a second-class subject.

In Malawi, John's methods echo Livingstone

and the Victorian evangelical missionaries of old, as he takes the word of God out on the road.

These are some of the open airs that we do, reaching out to the people,

so we have chosen this place because on this day it's a busy market.

Alleluia. We want to thank God, today,

that we may rejoice and be glad.

I want you to lift your hands up and I pray in the name of Jesus.

You want to win confidence in the lives of people.

Some of them have never heard the gospel before. They are coming here to say,

"Let's see what this man is saying."

Then they are responsive. They lift up their hands, they are coming to Jesus.

That's a miracle. That's amazing.

John's success isn't just about preaching.

He works with poor street children.

and helps to turn their lives around.

Before I met Pastor John,

I was stealing, of which,

if I continued with that life I would have been imprisoned.

We really have a lot of young people.

Invest more in the young people and the church will keep on growing.

John may have dedicated his life to God,

but his family is also a top priority.

This one is my firstborn daughter. This one is Teresa.

She's doing a boarding school,

so she stays there, she just comes here during holidays.

So, this one is Faith. She is nine years old.

That's Emanuel. That's our last born.

I do create time for them, because if I cannot then I can neglect them easily.

John's been married to his wife, Piera, for 13 years.

This is my wife, she's cooking some meat, here.

Cooking some sort of vegetables, also. For us to eat.

And get fat and have a good health.

Sometimes I help her cooking. So, that's our life.

That's our daily life here at home. Yeah.

John's hero, David Livingstone,

devoted his early life in Africa to spreading the word of God.

Livingstone's sacrifice is celebrated in a church

built in his memory in Blantyre.

So, after Livingstone came here, gave his life, died,

and then other missionaries were also inspired by him

to come into this nation

so these are the fruits, also,

but the foundation is the great David Livingstone.

After Livingstone died, they removed his heart and buried under a tree.

They used that tree to make this thing. They use it for Holy Communion.

The Livingstone legend is inspirational for Pastor John.

There was a man who really suffered for us.

A lonely life, leaving his family and children for the sake of us,

for the sake of bringing the gospel to Africa, to us.

That's how I got inspired to him.

Just like Livingstone, John wants his mission

of spreading the word of God to have a lasting impression

when he goes to Britain.

My dream is, I want to invest what I have into the lives of people.

Something that can grow

and something that can reach out to other lives.

My vision is when we go there and preach the gospel,

that church will fill up with people.

So, my biggest appointment is when I'll be coming back

and I see that the church is not full.

A popular preacher, a group of John's congregation have travelled

over 200 miles across country to wish him luck on his mission.

4,000 miles and 11 hours later,

John is in the UK and on his way to Scotland,

about to bring the spirit of Livingstone home.

I take them like they are good people, they are God-fearing,

they are Christian, so, I feel like they are just like us.

They are receptive, you know, that's my image of the British people.

I expected that there'll be tarmac everywhere,

and buildings everywhere.

I didn't expect to find trees, like the way it is, vegetation.

John's arriving into a Glasgow that is very different

from the one that Livingstone left in 1840.

On the outskirts of the city is Livingstone's birthplace, Blantyre.

A former mill and mining community, it was hit hard by pit closures

of the 1980s and again by the latest recession.

Long-term unemployment and poverty are significant issues here.

And it's here that John will start his mission.

For the next couple of weeks, he'll be staying

with Jean and Ian Grant,

pillars of the local church.

-Hello.

-Welcome.

-Thank you so much.

-Right, John. This is your room.

-Thank you so much. This is wonderful.

You're welcome.

-Let's keep it tidy.

-I will, I will.

This is fish?

-Fish. Yes.

-Nice fish.

-Nice fish.

-Wonderful, thank you.

-Caught it myself.

-And he tells lies, too.

Yeah.

Oh, can you cook?

-Sure.

-Oh, Lovely.

-Yeah.

-Do you iron?

-I do.

-Do you wash?

-Yes.

I do iron. I wash.

You're not a member of my clan.

His face is very approachable.

He can understand us, which was a big thing, you know.

I said, I wonder, will we understand him and him understand us?

Jean and Ian have been members of the local

Congregational Church for many years.

The Congregational Church is a nonconformist

and Protestant movement that has strong links

to the missionary organisation that sponsored Livingstone in Africa.

John's about to meet the reverend Malcolm Anderson for the first time.

-Welcome to Blantyre.

-Thank you so much.

-I see you've brought the weather with you.

-Yeah!

What are some of the challenges that the Church is facing, here?

Whereas in the '80s and the '70s, you know, the churches were very healthy.

Youth was very healthy within the Church.

Society, with so many distractions, and alternative lifestyles,

they're a missing generation, there.

You know, my church is full of young people.

We have young people - over, maybe, 200 something.

We need a revival. We need to bring the young kids into the church.

It's very important because that's the future church.

If we miss them now we're never going to bring them in.

John's revival starts with a tour.

What are you doing with a lady's umbrella, John?

You can't go about Blantyre with an umbrella like that.

We'll shelter under one.

The Congregational Church was rebuilt in the 1960s

and it stands in the corner of the supermarket that dominates

the once bustling town centre.

In fact, the locals call it the ASDA Church.

Blantyre is a very small community. It's a very tightknit community.

It takes you maybe 15 minutes to walk around the full place.

This is a skate park, here.

A lot of the youngsters would hang out here at times.

You know, it's away from the street corners, etc, you know,

they're not doing anybody any harm.

It's kind of a focal point for the youngsters coming here.

It's a world away from Blantyre, Africa.

It's so different to Malawi.

Malawi, you find a lot of people

moving up and down, you know, but here,

just get in your car to the shop. From the shop just get into the car, you go.

Walking in Malawi, you see people, many people walking

than those that are using cars, that's the difference, here.

John's eager to get his revival going and to do what he does best back home,

spreading the word of God by going out to meet the people.

But how receptive will Blantyre, Scotland, be?

-Are you a Christian?

-No.

-Do you desire to become one?

-Not really.

-Why?

-Cos it looks kind of boring.

-Boring? Have ever been to church before?

Just entering into a church?

-So, how do you know that it's boring?

-I saw The Simpsons.

-Do you know Jesus?

-Aye.

-Who is he?

-The son of God.

-He talks about love.

You know, you love yourself, you love your neighbours, you love yourself, you love God.

I love Jordan.

-Hello.

-All right?

-I'm John. How are you?

-Yeah, no' bad.

-How are you?

-Do you go to church, yourself?

-No, I don't go.

-Have you been ever to church?

-I've been before, aye.

-So, why are you not going this time?

-Don't know. Not into it.

-Are you a sinner or are you not a sinner?

-A sinner?

I don't know what that means.

You don't know what that means?

I want to encourage you to come to church.

Would you like me to pray for you?

We can pray together. Is it OK with you?

-I'm all right.

-Not really.

Sorry?

No, I don't want to do it.

-You don't want to pray.

-No.

-Why?

-I don't like all that.

John's dismayed at what appears to be the total absence of God.

It looks as if there's no Christianity at all.

I feel like crying, you know.

And this is the place that we actually honour,

that's where our Christianity in Africa came from.

And we are enjoying the benefits,

but where Christianity came from, you know.

It's very pathetic, but, I'm trusting God,

that God is going to visit this place.

But, if you lose young people, like this, there's no change.

Competing for attention with many other entertaining alternatives,

Britain is now fourth from bottom

in the European Church Attendance league table.

To give John a taste of what the church is up against,

Malcolm's taken him to Motherwell FC.

After God, it's his big passion.

Deliver, deliver, deliver!

Yeah!

It looks like a religion, here. On its own.

It is. It is. People come here rather than church.

This is their Church. Where they'll come to worship.

They'll give their support and adoration to the players on the park.

And the thing is so many supporters are so fanatical,

so religious, they'll follow their teams everywhere.

It's John's first ever visit to a football ground and he's wondering

whether the church can learn some lessons about passion

from match day.

These people are coming to football because they are looking for excitement.

They clap hands, they dance, they jump.

For them, it's like, I'm having fun, football.

Now, suppose you take that person, he goes to church.

You'll not find fun, you know, it's like worship.

John is looking to discover more about his hero,

David Livingstone, and find inspiration for his own mission.

Livingstone was born here in 1813,

in a house attached to Blantyre's huge cotton mill,

employing 1,800 workers.

The mill is no longer there,

but the worker's homes are preserved as a museum.

-This is where David Livingstone was born.

-Wow.

In Shuttle Row in Blantyre.

-He was born in the top of the house.

-Top of this building.

-There were 24 families living in here in that time.

-Wow!

-This is David Livingstone's house. Come in and have a look.

-Wow.

Now, don't make a mistake. It's not a room. This is the whole house.

-This is the whole house.

-This is the whole house.

-One room for every family, regardless of how many live here.

-OK.

-David was here, with his mum and dad, his gran and grandpa.

-OK.

-And five children.

-Five children.

-So, there were actually nine living in one room.

-All right.

This is David Livingstone's house.

-This is the house. I promise you.

-Wow.

This is wonderful.

Seeing the cramped conditions where Livingstone was born,

reminds John of his own roots.

It's given me a picture of how I brought up myself.

-Coming from my family, we are 12, we were 12 in our house.

-Oh, right.

-Yeah.

-And we're living in one-roomed house.

-12 of us.

-Then you would understand Livingstone.

Sure. So much. So much. So much.

The young Livingstone worked up to 14 hours a day in the mill.

But, remarkably, still found time to educate himself.

It's well recorded that David used to put a book

up here on the machine as he worked.

And we know that his first book that he bought

when he was aged ten was a Latin grammar book.

And as he walked past, he would read one word, come round and do

whatever he was to do,

and then come back and find out what that word meant.

The children in the village,

particularly the ones who couldn't read, used to get annoyed about this

and they used to roll up cotton wool and throw it at his book

in the hope that the book would get stuck in the twisting machine.

At 23, Livingstone had scraped enough savings

to put himself through medical school.

After qualifying as a doctor, he trained as a missionary,

and in 1840, he set sail for Africa.

In Africa, Livingstone soon came face-to-face with slavery.

Even though it had been abolished in the British Empire in 1833,

it still flourished in East Africa.

As a passionate antislavery campaigner,

he was hugely influential in gaining public support for the course

back in Britain.

Britain had stopped transatlantic slavery,

but wasn't getting involved in stopping it on the East Coast.

So, David was continually writing to the government, and to the Queen

and every newspaper and anyone who supported him,

he would be writing, this happened and this happened and this happened.

And explaining, constantly, the horrors of the slavery that was still going on.

-You would pick the tallest person, I'm so sorry.

-Like me.

And that would go on this way and be bolted at the back of his neck.

So, the two tallest people in the village would be shackled

together in this way and chains coming from here to the smaller ones,

probably children, and if you don't walk fast enough, I'll whip you.

If you don't walk fast enough, I'll prod you.

And, finally, someone will be killed to ensure that everyone speeds up.

Every morning when he was on Lake Malawi,

he'd wake up and they would have to push the bodies aside,

the ones that had got caught around the boat during the night,

they had to push their bodies aside to continue their journey.

You know, we were just on Lake Malawi last week, you know,

with my wife, you know, and I imagine that Livingstone was there,

and there were dead bodies all over.

-Something that you can see, now, as beautiful and tranquil.

-Yes.

A pleasure.

-But it was always tinged with sadness.

-Yeah, yeah.

Learning more about Livingstone's life has touched Pastor John.

He lived his life for us.

He gave himself up for others, allowing to suffer for the sake of others.

You know, he lived for the freedom of others. Preaching love.

The issue for John, now, is to think about how he can change things

so the word of God can be heard by more people.

It's Sunday morning at Blantyre's Congregational Church

and Rev Malcolm is in the pulpit.

Let's come this morning in our opening prayer,

a prayer of thanksgiving and a prayer of confession.

Malcolm's style is traditional and restrained,

which is what the locals want.

If anything new comes in that they see as change, then, you know,

sometimes they're not too sure.

Some people have got a worship space

and they don't like that to be invaded by anybody else,

so if it's out the norm then they feel, at times, they feel awkward.

THEY SING

The congregation like Malcolm, and they like their church.

Their worry is the future.

It's a whole different world, nowadays. Church has gone out of fashion.

I mean, is just not cool for young boys and girls to come to church.

Once we start to fritter away, there'll be nobody left to carry on.

The question for John, though, is where are all the young people?

As night falls, Glasgow city centre comes alive.

I'm no' standin' and you want tae film me!

The famously vibrant nightlife is a good place for John to get an idea

of what young people get up to around here.

-Vodka.

-Vodka. Shots. Good.

Starts off wi' a bottle of Buckfast, finishes off in the casino.

John's going to be joining the Glasgow Street pastors.

-How you doing, man?

-Yeah, man.

-Doing all right?

What's up, man?!

They're volunteers from all the major faiths,

whose Christian mission is to help, care, and listen.

Andy Sharp is one of the team leaders.

This is John. John's over from Malawi.

He's hoping to find ways to build up the church congregation in Blantyre

where he is attached, as well.

What we don't do, and it's really important,

is we don't preach at people.

-Basically, it doesn't work.

-Yeah.

-Right? If it did, we would do it.

Believe you me. It doesn't.

People who you'll meet will be out for a good time,

they'll be probably drinking a lot, they could be taking alcohol,

drugs, combinations of things.

If you can understand their accent, fantastic,

you'll be doing really well.

You can have as many as 40,000 people out on a single night.

You'll find the primary reason for the vast majority of trouble

is the legal drug, alcohol.

We're looking out for people who are vulnerable,

people who are on their own, people who are homeless.

What were doing is we're just checking they're OK, check if they're needing any help.

How you doing guys, are you OK? No worries.

Don't stay out too late, it's going to get wet.

We were at the chinky and we were waiting for the 23 but we missed it.

I saw kids, maybe 12, or nine, at night, drinking, you know.

In our country, most of the people that drink are men.

You hardly see a lot of women there abusing alcohol.

Unless if they are these women that do night business.

When Livingstone first began his missionary work,

his initial impressions of the local tribes were not good.

He wrote, "The population is sunk into the very lowest

"state of mental and moral degradation."

Pastor John's realising he's as much out of his cultural comfort zone

as Livingstone was.

-Have you ever seen us in the street before?

-Loads of times.

-We feel a lot safer. You do good job.

-Thank you.

-We'll see you later. Thank you. Have a good night.

-Thanks.

-Take care.

In my country, you can't dress like that during the day.

You are arrested because our mode of dressing is from top up to bottom.

You don't even show the legs.

Women are not supposed to show their legs.

It is not anything that I tell my wife.

Talking to the people that are drunkards, I become threatened.

So, that's why I was just watching.

I can't speak there, because anything can happen.

I don't understand the laws of this country, you understand?

So, I cannot just be free at night,

talking to the people that are drinking.

It's tough.

In Malawi, the young flock to John's church.

Around these parts, it looks like he's got his work cut out.

To help him with his UK mission,

John is eager to find out more about Livingstone's methods in Africa.

He's meeting Elspeth Murdoch, David Livingstone's great-granddaughter.

Well, this is him with my grandmother, Anna Mary.

-This was 1937.

-1937.

-This is me, here.

-You were here.

-Yeah, that's right.

I don't get a face.

Livingstone's initial attempts at conversion through direct preaching

proved totally ineffective.

He decided to work with tribal culture,

rather than fight against it.

His approach to missionary work changed as he grew to think

that Africans were often wiser than their white neighbours.

He didn't approve, but Livingstone developed a broadminded view of deeply ingrained customs.

He understood that Africans had more than one wife,

and it was difficult for them to, sort of, say no,

we can't have any more.

You know, that's, that was their culture.

They had their own beliefs and you can't suddenly change,

I mean, your great-grandfather, what did he believe?

They were not Christian.

No, they were not Christian.

They had their own religion, I have no doubt.

-They believed in something. Pagan spirits, didn't they?

-That's right, that's right. Yes.

He went along with some of these witch doctors,

because he knew that they had, you know,

herbs and things that they used.

And he was interested in that.

So, he was able to help in healing,

and he would teach them and, of course,

he learned their languages.

He was good at languages.

He had tremendous respect for the African.

Livingstone wanted to take the word of God much further,

way beyond the established missions, into the heart of Africa.

When Livingstone first went out, he was sent to a mission station

at Kuruman, where his father-in-law was a missionary there.

But Livingstone wanted to go further.

Where he knew there was a lot of, you know,

people who wouldn't have heard of Jesus at all.

So, they moved out in terribly difficult conditions,

of course, in the Kalahari Desert.

You know, in tremendous heat and no water,

but, he was a man of many gifts.

And, he certainly opened up Africa for Christianity.

Meeting Elspeth has made a real impression on John,

and discovering Livingstone's concessions to local culture

is beginning to make John reassess his position.

It's different with a situation that we have in our country, because

we say no to drinking, we say no to smoking, we say no to these thing,

we say no if you're Christian, you can't do those things, you know.

But, Christianity that is here, you know,

it's like people are Christians but they can also do these other things,

you know, so it's a different society altogether.

So, there are some situations where you need to compromise.

Livingstone took huge risks travelling into Africa

to spread the word, and John thinks that the congregation here

should play a much more active role.

They can come to church, but there's no-one who's reaching out to them.

The older people, the people that are in the church are there.

But they don't want to take an initiative to go out to the people.

Reverend Malcolm.

He's planning his first sermon with Malcolm,

which is going to be on the Parable Of The Sower,

how it's every Christian's duty to go out and encourage people into the Church.

Yeah, it's not just a matter of maybe a reverend or a pastor,

you know, to preach the gospel.

Each and every believer, also.

We are mandated commission to plant seeds everywhere.

I think this is very relevant to what we're thinking about.

-Why you're here, as well.

-Yes.

Because, the soil, people's hearts, quite stubborn. And quite closed.

They don't want to be intruded in any way.

But, it's how to communicate that message in a relevant way.

Back in Malawi, John's compelling sermon style is a real crowd pleaser.

In Jesus. Somebody say amen.

Amen.

In Scotland, he's hoping his African approach will be just as well received.

Good morning.

ALL: Good morning.

We have a special visitor this morning.

Pastor John from a church in Blantyre, Malawi.

So, let's afford a warm welcome to our visitor this morning.

Jesus said the sower went out to sow the seeds.

What we need to understand, here, is what is the way of the kingdom.

We must also share this way to others.

That's what Jesus is telling us. Go into the world.

Preach the gospel to every creation.

We cannot just take the seed and keep it. We must bear fruit.

It's not only the responsibility of reverends, bishops,

and pastors to preach the word of God.

It's the responsibility of every believer.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Reverend Malcolm, thank you.

Over tea and cakes, John's eager to hear how his high-energy

missionary style, so successful in Malawi, has gone down.

-How was my sermon?

-Your sermon was excellent.

-Not shouting too high?

-No, I don't think so.

No, I personally, and I can speak for myself here, I enjoyed it.

It wasn't so bad. I could pick him out,

but a lot of the elderly ladies that hadn't had their hearing aids in,

they found it a wee bit difficult to pick out some of his phrases.

I like the church the way it is.

Our services are much quieter. As a preacher, he is full of enthusiasm.

But, I don't know if our church could handle that type of preaching every week.

Rev Malcolm is somewhat more supportive.

I wasn't taken aback.

I've had a broad spectrum, and I've been quite exposed

to different forms of expository preaching, so, it was fine for me.

John's frustrated that his message may have fallen on stony ground.

The congregation, it's like a quiet congregation.

When you say amen, no-one could answer.

When you say amen, you know, just silent, you know.

When you're there, you see, are these people hearing me? Are they enjoying the message?

John's realised that encouraging an ageing congregation

to be more active is going to be a challenge.

John's visiting Blantyre's youth centre.

He wants to find out what's putting young people off coming through the church doors.

The question is, is it a problem with the medium or the message?

SINGING

# Anymore. #

That's powerful. Wow! That's powerful.

I didn't expect that I can hear that nice music here.

I think here, it's most of the young people,

maybe they don't go to church.

What does they say, what is the reason of them not going to church, you know.

I went to church when I was younger.

But, as I got older, and I had the choice, I chose not to go.

I don't know if boring's the right word, but,

there was nothing to integrate me as a kid into church, you know.

You can't just expect them to sit there and, you know,

listen to this man who does the same sermon every Sunday.

You got to get the kids interested. Put a bit of passion in it.

Which we don't get that in church.

If you want kids to be interested, you've got to target them.

And you've got to make an effort, otherwise you're going to lose them.

John's heartened, there is a glimmer of faith around here.

It appears it's not the message that's the problem

but the way it's communicated.

They are not far away from God.

But the problem is the way how the church is conducted.

The challenge here is the system and the type of worship

that most churches are using. It doesn't accommodate young people.

The men and women who run the Blantyre Congregational Church affairs

are called the Deacon's Court.

John wants to persuade them to get out into the community

and bring young people to the church.

The deacons are involved in every aspect of the church life.

And, I have to say, we're quite blessed and fortunate that we have

such a happy team of deacons in the church.

Thank God.

Tell us what you have in mind, to...you would like to do,

what you would like us to assist you with, and if we possibly can.

If we can.

Mainly, is taking the church outside to the world,

so that we can find people that are not in the church and try to bring them in.

How do you intend getting over their doorstep to talk to them?

We use the people that we have.

We use even you to say, do you know any young couple, somewhere,

that you can invite, you know, just to speak into their lives.

That's what I believe, we can do that.

What it comes down to is a time for church.

Like every parent,

parents will do anything to keep their children happy.

They'll get the big things.

They'll get their iPods and all the rest of it.

But it doesn't take them to the church.

They never think of the church at this time.

We've tried these things and, to be honest,

some of the looks you get off people sometimes, you know,

with the greatest respect, Moses could be standing there himself

and I still don't think they would go into church.

I believe people can come in the church.

You know, the place that I am, I am there for four years now,

but when I was going there, there were only 25 people in the church.

So, 25 people now, four years, we're talking about 800 people.

And I believe God can use us to bring revival

in Blantyre.

But it takes somebody who can believe.

Let's believe God.

If we believe God, I know something can happen.

I don't know if you're understanding me.

You know, here, the mind of the people say, it cannot happen.

That cannot be done.

Now, if you have that mind, there's nothing that you build on it.

Because, it's like you're already defeated.

Irene, the deacon's vice-chair,

is sceptical on the chances of success.

He's so enthusiastic.

I would say that the church is a wee bit wary.

But all churches are wary of somebody coming in from the outside.

It doesn't matter where you go.

I think he's hoping to fill the church, and I would like to think that he could do it,

but the people in Blantyre are just not interested.

In 1841, Livingstone was initially stationed in South Africa,

where there were already established missions,

but he soon travelled northwards to assess

the feasibility of establishing outposts in unexplored regions.

Journeying into the heart of Africa, he developed his ideas for expanding

the work of missions through native agents - well-trained local converts,

who would preach the word of God through the local languages.

Pastor John wants to find his own native agent in modern Blantyre.

He's been introduced to one of the youth centre volunteers.

Chloe is a practising Christian, but she's been attracted

to a more vibrant church in another part of the city.

From my point of view, church was always boring, and it was something

I always wanted to rebel against, until I went to my new church.

And it's fun, and that sort of stuff, and I find that born-again Christian churches are so much different.

I find the churches around here are really good churches but, they're not really,

-they don't do much to relate to the youth.

-OK.

So, I find that if they do more stuff to relate to the youth,

like doing events for youth, it would really get them involved.

-The whole thing is a puzzle.

-Yeah, the whole thing is a puzzle. I like it.

-Thank you so much.

-No bother. It was nice to meet you.

You could really see that this young lady's a powerful believer.

Powerful born-again. And she knows the importance of being in the church.

This is what we are looking for.

Chloe lives in one of the roughest areas of Blantyre.

Over the last year we've had a lot of attacks.

It's made Blantyre a scary place. Like, I know my dad doesn't like me out after a certain time, nowadays.

When I first meet somebody,

I find that I don't tell them straight away that I go to church.

I find some people are really not accepting of it.

Like, I have friends who don't talk to me any more

because I go to church. I don't let it bother me.

If that's the kind of person they want to be, I don't really want to know them.

Chloe's invited John to come and meet the neighbours.

How does people see churches here.

-That's the only faith I've got.

-What's that?

-That the Celtic badge. Celtic football team.

Are you a Christian, yourself?

Protestant.

Do you believe in God, yourself?

I believe in him, aye.

You believe in God.

Aye, but I just don't... not interested in church.

-Is it also your church boring?

-My church isn't boring.

My church, I love my church. My church is really lively.

We've got a band. We sing. That sort of stuff.

We always have stuff happening.

Like, we have summer camps and we have,

we had the multicultural service on Sunday, there.

The churches in Blantyre are mostly like, we sing hymns,

with the organ, and then you listen to the priest.

They could make it a bit more lively for young people to enjoy.

I don't find they really focus on young people.

I think Pastor John has done really well coming here.

I don't see any people from the church, over here,

going out into the streets and asking people about church

and all that different stuff.

No-one else has tried it before, and someone should have.

Pastor John's frustrated.

He thinks members of the church should be doing more

in areas like this.

The Christians here are not true Christians, frankly speaking.

If they don't have...if they don't have an urge within themselves

to share the gospel, what they believe to other people,

it cannot make you a true Christian.

Learning about Chloe's vibrant services has confirmed to John

that the Congregational Church needs a fresh approach.

And music is the key.

In Malawi, music is at the very heart of Pastor John's approach

to worship and conversion.

He thinks it brings his congregation closer to God.

In Britain, the average age of churchgoers is over 50,

and set to rise as conventional services

fail to appeal to the young.

John's determined to buck the trend.

He's planning an African-style musical service.

In Malawi, we bring music,

we bring equipment, people dance, people sing,

and people come because they want to actually enjoy singing,

you know, and then after that, when they are there,

enjoying their music, it's when we preach to them.

So, I believe that's what I'm also going to do here

and see if we can take it out and then do something for the church.

I know if they tried this style, it will work.

They want somebody young to encourage them and make the message happy.

Not just Bible thumping, but let them enjoy it.

To ensure his message hits the target with young people,

John wants to hold his musical service in the local skate park,

but he needs the support of the Deacon's Court first.

Because most of the young people that I meet in the streets,

it's like they are not interested with, "Church, Church, Church".

Things like those.

That's why I thought, maybe, why can't we take it to the skate park

and see if they will come?

You've been out and about, you've done what you want to do,

so, why do you want to take the church

to a place that it doesn't go?

Why should the church go there? Because we don't go there.

That's the very answer why we should.

Church should go to places where the church doesn't normally go to.

These young people, some of them feel that they are not actually good with churches.

Why can't we just do it outside?

John, I'll make it very blunt.

In the evening,

the skate park's not a place that the congregation would go to.

Because they don't feel safe.

If you had it solely, for instance, at the skate park,

you would lose the number of people who really want to be there for you.

We don't need to be inside, John, even if we are here.

We could still be outside.

You know, with the doors open. The band could be here, as well.

Why not try and have it in two venues?

Have part of the evening here,

and have part of the evening at the skate park?

Say whatever you want and decide.

You'll get support.

It's a reluctant thumbs up for John's event,

settled with a compromise.

The service at the skate park

and a barbecue event, after, back at the church.

They cannot see why it is important, now,

but I think when they come they will see why we're doing it outside.

It's because they are afraid,

because they have never done it before.

John's pleased at the outcome,

but now he has to persuade the community

to come out and meet the church at his event.

Chloe, John's local native agent,

is helping put the word out on the streets of Blantyre.

Live music, gospel artists from Africa.

People playing band music, drums, what-what-what.

-Wednesday?

-Wednesday.

-OK.

-On Wednesday. You coming?

-When?

-From, from, from 6pm. You know?

-You having something here at night?

-That's right. Here at night.

So we are looking for young couples, young people that maybe would like to come.

We're not a couple.

-Let me introduce you. My name is John.

-Thank you so much.

-I am John, as well.

-Right, so is he.

John's not just handing out flyers.

If he has any chance of succeeding in his mission,

he knows he's going to have to forge stronger bonds.

Pastor John, you'll be with this team here.

He's back at the youth centre

and he's got his boots on.

I've scored three goals.

They are good. I think what matters is just association.

It's very important, and build relationships.

This is the best way that we have used so far.

Unwavering in his mission of encouraging young people

to see Christianity in a new light, John sees opportunities everywhere.

He's joining the local Boys' Brigade on a trip.

# My god is good! #

Give me high five before I play.

In the name of Jesus.

The Brigade is run by the Congregational Church.

But the boys who join it are under no obligation

to attend church services and they often don't.

Like many of the boys, 16-year-old Jack is a lapsed churchgoer.

I just don't go to church. I used to go to church when I was younger.

But, as a family, we just stopped.

At that time, or around it, Boys' Brigade, we were just kept in the Boys' Brigade.

Just because it's so much fun.

John Murray has been involved with the brigade for 40 years.

Boys know instinctively who's a good person and who's not good person.

They'll shy away from someone who's not within their scope.

But Pastor John, he's made a score with them,

so he must've been a good guy, and they've reacted to him.

God is on his side right now.

The missionary methods that Livingstone practised in Africa

were advanced and liberal for the time.

He gave medical help, taught English,

and immersed himself in day-to-day native life.

In modern-day Malawi, Livingstone's legacy is still evident.

Pastor John's door is always open, and locals come to him for advice,

both spiritual and practical.

The first problem that he had is I think he had an accident

and then he broke the hand.

There's two pain inside his body,

so he's looking for prayer that God can heal that pain.

The other problem is that he's saying he's HIV-positive,

but the wife is not.

So, there is a battle in the house.

He is looking for us to help, to intervene

so that the marriage can be stabilised.

So I've told that he has to come here together with his wife,

then I can offer them counselling.

John's putting some of his strategies from Malawi

into practice in Scotland.

Dawn, one of the Boys' Brigade mums,

lost her Christian faith

after her brother died in a car crash aged just 21.

John's meeting her to give her some spiritual guidance.

To me, it was so personal.

Why... How could he take away a young man in his prime?

We don't choose to be born.

And we don't choose to die.

It's just what God has established.

Death is part of life.

If we are born, we are waiting to die.

I think you have to really have a true, strong belief

in God to believe that.

The best thing that you can do is not to blame God.

Let it not break your heart.

It actually pleased God to take him back.

But you must have hope that whoever died, in the world,

it's not finished.

There is another life

after this life.

Thank you.

Let God give you the peace.

God bless you.

I didn't get the answers,

really a definitive answer,

but, I think, a direction has now been given.

I've wanted God back in my life,

I've just never found the stepping stone, the first step.

But having spoken to Pastor John, I think I've found my way again.

Buoyed by the connection he's made with Dawn, John's spreading

the word of his gospel event with vigour.

He wants to cast his net as wide as possible,

and attract not just Blantyre's kids, but their mums too.

How are you, everybody? Thank you so much. I'm Pastor John.

I'm coming from Malawi.

You people, Zumba people are not in church.

So, I brought church to Zumba.

I'm inviting you on Wednesday at the Blantyre skate park

from 6:30 to 7:30.

Be there and may God bless you for your time.

God bless you for listening to me. Amen.

-Morning, John.

-Morning. How are you today? Fine, thanks. How are you?

It's the day of the event, and John's helping to buy

supplies for the church barbecue, with one of the deacons, Irene.

OK, that's tomato ketchup.

We're having a barbecue up at the church, tonight, so if you're not doing anything, come up for a roll.

I might pop along, then.

Tonight, I'm only hoping that when Pastor John is speaking to them,

that he doesn't frighten some of them off.

He's got the African spirit in him.

We're not the jump up and jump about church. We're a more sedate church.

Today, it's like, whatever we're doing, in all these weeks,

we actually doing for this day.

People will see something new, that maybe they've never seen, and I believe they're going to enjoy.

Down at the skate park, the marquee is going up.

The PA system is being unpacked and Pastor John is in his Sunday best.

Hello.

170 years after Livingstone left Scotland on his missionary travels,

African drums are calling the youth of Blantyre.

And they seem to be working on the older folk, too.

The Congregational Church members have overcome their anxieties about venturing out to the skate park.

Let me welcome each one of you that are here today,

I'm Pastor John, from Malawi. God bless you for your coming.

For a few minutes I want to share the word of God with you.

I'm waiting for you, come, brothers and sisters, come.

Now, he's got the church to come out and meet the community,

can John's energetic and passionate brand of worship have an impact?

Let me pray for you. Come closer. Come closer. Come closer.

Put the hand of your neighbour. I want to pray for you.

Father, I pray in the name of Jesus for my brothers

and sisters that are here today.

I've spoken, to them, your word.

And your word is alive. A seed has been planted in their lives.

I pray by the power of the Holy Spirit,

let this seed grow in them.

-In the name of Jesus. Somebody say amen.

-Amen.

-God bless you so much.

Let's clap hands for Jesus.

THEY SING

I've never been to church, but I thought it did make sense.

Made me want to believe in it more.

A lot of ministers, it's dead quiet, and shy,

but he definitely expressed it well.

Here we just sit and read Bibles and talk,

whereas there's music and a little bit of dancing, I enjoyed it.

It was something different and I think

if we had that here I'd go to church more often.

I really enjoyed being with you, here. I've made a lot of friends.

And I want to appreciate you for actually opening up yourself

and talking to me.

The skate park kids are impressed enough to make it back to the church barbecue.

It was good, and it was different, as well.

After seeing him I would consider, definitely,

getting up on a Sunday after a hangover and going to church.

It was a success and Pastor John proved us wrong.

He got the people out.

So, that's what it's all about.

He has shown to us that going out into the community

and meeting the people out there, rather than going and inviting them in here,

is a first stepping stone to bringing them into the church.

He's such a friendly, friendly chap. The people have loved him.

They've taken him to their hearts, because they have loved him.

He's so genuine.

It's just a pity he couldn't stay a wee bit longer.

-Would it make you go to church?

-Yes, actually.

I think it would, yeah.

It was good. It was lively.

I think he's built up the curiosity, again, in people.

Of what the church is and what the church means.

One of the key things I've learned from this experience

is finding the next generation, trying to target them, in a way,

and tell them that church is relevant for them.

That is the key, possibly, to the survival of the church.

Wow! Thank you.

-See, when you're eating out, you'll remember Blantyre.

-Sure!

-Great.

-Thank you so much.

God bless you so much. I really appreciate it. Haggis.

He's left the message that if you go out there

and spend time with the kids and speak to them

at their level, that you'd maybe get more children in.

I think he'll be talked about for a while. That's for sure.

-Right, thanks. Bye-bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

He has a mission in life. And I hope he fulfils it.

John's hopeful that the ideas he is sowing on his mission

will blossom in Blantyre.

I know that the seed that has been planted in people's lives,

that seed will never die, and cannot die.

So, I know that seed will keep on growing.

I'll be at my home in Africa

but I'll still be praying for that seeds to grow in their lives.

So, I know the things that I've started will really grow,

and with time, people will see what has happened today.

Before Pastor John leaves for Malawi and home,

he wants to pay his respects to Dr David Livingstone in person.

Livingstone died in Africa aged 60, after years of ill health.

His wish was that he remained in the continent that he loved.

Livingstone's heart was buried in Africa

but his body was buried at Westminster Abbey in 1874.

To me it's a great honour.

Something that I did not expect to happen in my life.

I feel honoured to respect one of the great men

that ever existed as a missionary in this world.

I really know that they really honoured him, taking him here,

and putting him here.

It's like he's one of the pillars of the United Kingdom.

To me it's like I've just seen the whole life of Livingstone,

cos I've been where he was born and now it's where he laid to rest.

My prayer is that his soul rest in peace.

Next time, Kshama Jayaraj, from Mumbai, comes to Belfast.

Inspired by Victorian missionary Amy Carmichael who helped spread

Christianity in southern India,

but can a modern-day missionary

break down age-old barriers of prejudice?

Nobody is going to ask whether you are A group or B group.

We'll never be in the Shankill Road. They'll know we're not from there. They're going to start something.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd