This update is related to the Global Pastors Book Sets campaign.
The Great Exchange: Bitter Water for Eternal Water
Most of us know by heart the story of Jesus coming to the well and asking the Samaritan woman to give him a drink. Many points can be made about the significance of Jesus interacting with a Samaritan, his wisdom and knowledge of her life without her saying a word about it, or the woman’s evangelistic fervor from the moment of her conversion. But there’s something else in the story worth considering.
In John 4, Jesus makes clear that this woman has been drinking from the wrong well. It isn’t that her well has “run dry” necessarily, but she’s been drawing from a well that leaves her wanting. The taste of her water could metaphorically be considered “bitter,” but when you have no other water to drink and you live in the desert, bitter water is certainly better than nothing. And after a time, she probably grew accustomed to it. But then Jesus showed up out of nowhere and at a time when she thought no one else would be around. And he showed her that the water she was drinking was bad water.
This Samaritan woman was stuck in her ways and, without the help of someone who had tasted and known of the good, “living water,” she would never know the taste of the sweet water of eternal life. Newton Chilingulo can personally identify with this woman’s experience. He didn’t encounter Jesus physically like the Samaritan woman, but he did come face to face with the Savior in a similar life-changing way. He came to realize that the water he was drinking was bitter, and the water he was being offered by Jesus was coming from the well that leads to eternal life.
Newton is a recipient of and distribution partner for Crossway’s Global Pastors Book Sets. A multi-volume collection of resources, it covers topics applicable to pastoral ministry, all with the aim of providing Newton and others with the biblical and theological foundation for ministry faithfulness. This set, along with time at seminary and regular reading of God’s Word, have all served to show him that the well he was drinking from contained bitter water. And as a result of drinking the living water of Jesus Christ, Newton’s life has been changed and he has been able to pass along the good news of this living water to those around him.
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The Sweet Taste of Living Water
Newton grew up in a broken family. His mother died when he was just 11, forcing him and his brothers to leave their home country of Malawi to live with his father and stepmother in South Africa. These transitions and the trauma Newton experienced led him to rebellious tendencies, even running away from home for a time. But the Lord got ahold of Newton’s heart through a couple of friends and some dramatic circumstances that stopped him from his running. He reflects that when he heard the gospel, “I repented of my sins and put my trust and faith in Jesus Christ—that was something that gave me a new sense of and purpose in life. I just wanted to live for Jesus Christ.”
The problem at the time with this desire, he now knows, was being surrounded by the prosperity gospel. The Spirit was stirring in him a desire to learn what it really meant to be a Christian, so when he heard about a training center for new Christians, he immediately signed up. “They were telling us that we needed to get rid of the pulpit and that the preaching of God’s Word shouldn’t be central to the church.” As a new Christian, Newton didn’t know any better. He was open to receiving and learning whatever anyone could teach him about Christianity. He didn’t know that the water he was drinking was bitter water, like what the Samaritan woman experienced.
All that changed one day when he was confronted by someone attending a nearby seminary. This friend pushed Newton to “think about whatever ‘training’ I was getting at this place, and to consider the fact that it may not be helpful. But because I didn’t know any better I said to him, ‘Okay, you seem to know the Bible. Where did you get all this knowledge from?’” This friend then challenged Newton to explore the idea of attending seminary, where he would learn to understand and defend why he believed what he believed about God and his Word. He made the choice to go to seminary, and it totally changed his life.
For the very first time I began to understand what it means to be a Christian. For the first time I would say I began now to have a clear understanding of the impact of the gospel. Before seminary I’d never heard of Reformed theology; I’d never heard of faithful ministers of the Word like John Piper. In being introduced to good theology, it felt like I was finally drinking now from a good spring.
Through good resources and teaching founded on the truth of the gospel, Newton was given the opportunity to more fully understand God and his Word. And as he learned, he began to think of home. If he started to hear false teachings at a young age back when he was still living in Malawi, then how else would they know about the truth unless someone told them?
Sharing the Living Water
When looking at the religious landscape of Africa, many would identify Malawi as a Christian nation. But Christianity as a descriptor can cover a broad scope of beliefs, some not in line with what the Bible says. Newton has seen and experienced that
most people would profess to be Christians here. Maybe about 20 percent of people will say they are Muslims. So even though most people in Malawi are saying that they’re Christians, what they may be essentially saying is that they’re not Muslim. This leads to a lot of nominalism which leads to a lot of cultural Christianity.
The first time I came back to Malawi after all those years of being away and after my conversion, I noted that there was a disconnect between the way my family members were living their lives and their professions as Christians. As a new student at seminary and a fairly new Christian, that disturbed and worried me.
This experience and new realization stayed at the front of his mind as he finished his seminary courses. Increasingly he felt the Lord calling him back from South Africa to Malawi to share the truth about the gospel.
It has now been nearly ten years since he moved to Malawi. Today he serves as the pastor of Reformation Bible Church, a church he planted shortly after moving back. He planted this church as one founded on the truth of the gospel. He refused to bring in any of the false teaching that his community and family members had previously been taught. He offered only the living water of the truth of the gospel.
Aside from his care for his flock, Newton also trains other pastors in the region. He’s found that many pastors don’t know or understand the truth of the gospel. Their only knowledge is what they’ve interpreted for themselves and what they’ve heard from prosperity gospel preachers, either those on TV or who have sent their resources to Malawi. Newton has noted a lack of access to theologically sound resources to help these pastors understand the Bible, and he is now partnering with Crossway to fill that need.
I cannot pinpoint any single bookshop that I visit to find theologically sound resources. Not one. But I’ve found that when I’ve given people, especially pastors, these theologically sound resources, they are very delighted to now have access to them. When you help them to see the truth of the gospel, that’s when you begin to see the light coming on. That’s why I firmly believe we must make good resources available to these pastors and lay believers.
In November 2023 Newton received his first shipment of Global Pastors Book Sets to distribute to pastors in his network—and he is using one set himself to learn from as he continues to better understand and love the gospel message. One Global Pastors Book Set resource that has been especially impactful is David Helm’s Expositional Preaching.
There are some things that Helm brings up in the book that have been enhancing my sermon preparations. For example, he challenged the way we were taught to preach by looking for the three main points to pull out to focus on in a sermon. But he argues in his book that if all you as the pastor know about are those three big points, then you don’t really understand what the passage is talking about.
Even though Newton has graduated from seminary, he continues to learn and be challenged as a pastor and believer, and in turn he can encourage and challenge other pastors and believers in his congregation. He has received the living water, and as a result he sees it as his responsibility and blessing to share the living water with others in need.
Would you consider joining Crossway as we seek to equip faithful ministry partners like Newton to provide the good news of the gospel?
Pray for a strong hunger for the truth, especially for those who have been influenced by error. Pray that Newton and his church will be an encouragement to other pastors and leaders.
Pray that the books the pastors in Malawi have received from the Global Pastors Book Sets will make a lasting impact on their lives and churches.