Brino is the pastor of Christlike Church in Mzuzu, the primary city of Northern Malawi. His church is under the oversight and care of Pastor Mala and Antioch Baptist Church.

Testimony of Salvation

I grew up in Mzuzu City (where I am ministering). I was raised Catholic and in a polygamous family. My mum raised me since my father loved to live with his second wife. Before I came to know the Lord, I took four years without attending any kind of church service and being involved in any church activity. I did that out of frustration because I had passed to study at a Catholic seminary, very prestigious at the time, but the parish minister secretly replaced me with his cousin. That was enough reason for me to call all churches and Christians hypocrites. 

From a life of outward morality, I got into a life of open rebellion, such as drunkenness, stealing, obscenity, and hatred towards the church. My success in secondary schools’ English drama, being crowned best actor in the northern region for three times, only fed my pride and rebellion. It seemed I was making it without God!

I came to know the Lord in 2002. A pastor from a local Baptist church came to my home to share the gospel with me. I found him preaching to my sister. The moment I saw him I was angry with him and ignored him, going straight into my house. There, with my brother, we started gossiping about the pastor, calling him a hypocrite just like anybody else. Memories of the parish minister were very fresh. While gossiping about him, my sister came into the house and told us that the preacher wanted to meet us, either where we were or where he was. The way the preacher put that to us through our sister was such that we had no option but to meet him. He was authoritative and that humbled us. Since, in our community, my brother and I were known for worldliness and hating the church, we were ashamed of being seen with a pastor. Therefore, we told our sister to invite him into our house. The pastor preached the gospel to us with such authority that I saw my wretchedness. He was straightforward. 

Brino Kumwenda Family Square

I must say this was my first time to encounter a preacher of this nature. He called us what we were – rebels against God – and if we did not repent, we were heading to hell. But he also pointed us to a forgiving and loving Lord who gave His own life for us. That day I repented of my sins. My life so drastically changed that it shocked everyone who knew me in the community. 

Soon after my conversion, I joined a Presbyterian church in the area while the preacher continued to teach us God’s Word. I grew in my love for the Lord and His church. I began to see that God’s truly saved people are beautiful after all, even though they are not perfect. I discovered most of the people I called Christians were just nominal.

A year after conversion I felt the need to grow in the Lord more. In 2004, I was selected to attend African Bible College (ABC). 

Call to Ministry

I felt God’s call to pastoral ministry while at African Bible College in the third year. Before going to Bible college, I longed to know the Bible deeply and serve the Lord more effectively. But while at the college, another longing was laid upon my heart – to help others know the Bible deeply and serve the Lord more effectively and live a life that pleases the Lord. Whenever we were doing college outreach to surrounding communities, I was burdened by the ignorance of God’s Word among the people we were ministering to. 

I developed a hunger to shepherd God’s people. I had the burden to serve the Lord as a pastor-teacher, equipping local churches with God’s Word and helping them to cultivate a deeper relationship with God. After graduation, I served in the local church faithfully. The church leadership affirmed my gift of preaching and appointed me an elder. 

In my house and other houses, I was co-leading a Bible-study group with a fellow African Bible College graduate, Kondwani Ng’oma. In addition, I was also mentoring several young people in the city. From this Bible-study and mentorship program, Christlike Church, a Reformed Baptist church, was planted.