About 750 Christians from the Yao people group gathered recently for fellowship, worship, prayer and mutual encouragement. The Yao believers, who are spread across three different countries, had never gathered for worship in such a large group. “This was a highlight year,” a VOM partner said. “The believers were so encouraged and taught by an excellent African teacher on family.” Though many of the attendees were very poor, they had saved up beans and maize to contribute to meals during the conference. And some of the believers made their own instruments and incorporated traditional dance into the worship. “It was beautiful,” the VOM partner said. A group of believers who had experienced a lot of persecution in their village decided to take their village chief, a Muslim, to the conference. Afterward, he decided that he and the whole village would follow Jesus. The Yao people have been predominantly Muslim since Islam’s introduction by Arabs in the early 1800s. Malawi has the highest percentage of Muslims in southern Africa.

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