Please pray for SALT’s small team of workers in Malawi. In addition to the regular pressure of working in a highly impoverished, dysfunctional society, each has experienced some personal loss or trauma in recent months. On top of this has come the additional pressure of the ongoing cyclone relief effort.
Please pray that each will be kept in good physical health, and that they and their families will be conscious of the Lord’s presence with them, and the prayerful support of the many around the globe who take an interest in the work.
The temporary camp at Lisao is home to 433 displaced survivors of the devastating mudslides and floods that swept so many to their death.
The partially decomposed body of one sister in the Lord was buried where she was found, some 15 Km from her home.
The camp has been mostly cut off and has received only one supply of food in the past 10 days – enough to last a 2 or 3 days at most.
Harold made a difficult, exploratory journey on motorcycle today to assess the needs there. The people are hungry and afraid of a possibility of an outbreak of malaria, living as they are in open school classrooms with no mosquito nets.
We have an early meeting tomorrow with the local village chiefs in our area to discuss how we can help there, and then Harold and I are going to try to get through with supplies in the afternoon if the road is passable. Please pray that it will stay dry overnight and that my ageing Land Cruiser (which has given so much trouble of late) will rise to the challenge.
Above all, pray that the Lord will overrule in these dreadful circumstances to bring glory to his Name, and blessing to the lost.
Harold writes concerning our network of literature distributors: “Most of them I can’t reach. Power problem but Mulanje ones are all alive but lost houses and crops.”
We give thanks that the Lord has preserved the lives of many of his people, but there are many reports of believers losing their homes and livelihoods.
Please pray for Brother Stephen who has changed other travel plans to return to Malawi on Monday to help with SALT’s response to the Cyclone.
Pray for journeying mercies, and that he will be able to use his experience to make a meaningful contribution to the effort, and be able to encourage the team on the ground. They have come through a very difficult week, on the back of several difficult months.
Please pray for the ongoing rescue and recovery mission following the cyclone last weekend.
Malawi’s emergency services have very limited capacity, but several international teams are converging on Blantyre to assist with the search.
Malawi was already suffering from its worst ever cholera outbreak prior to the cyclone, and the flooding will make this problem much worse.
Brother Harold reports that they are still experiencing periods of heavy rain – pray that the country would have respite from these extreme weather conditions.
Please pray for much wisdom and guidance as we plan our disaster relief effort in the wake of Cyclone Freddy.
Brother Stephen has cancelled a planned trip to Jordan in order to return to Malawi on Monday (DV). It’s clear that the situation there is pretty dire. An initial survey of the area immediately surrounding Saidi reveals extensive damage.
Initially, we aim to establish a feeding station for those with nowhere else to go. However, we need to assess what we will be able to do to help our neighbours in the longer term, and plan how best to do it.
We have much to give thanks for. Although there has been terrible loss of life in the natural disaster which struck Southern Malawi last weekend, we have received accounts of miraculous preservation of others.
In particular, Brother Harold wishes to thank the Lord’s people for their prayers. He and his family were preserved through very serious danger, as were other brothers and sisters in his village at Njuli.
Although there has been extensive damage to homes near to the SALT site at Saidi, we have not heard of any loss of life, or serious injury.
The rain has eased enough for Anna and Goodson to begin to assess the damage in the surrounding community following Cyclone Freddy.
Anna writes: ” We walked. 😉 Not even trying to drive today.
“Some pictures are following. The damage is extensive. Many, many houses have fallen. It’s a bit overwhelming.
“And, yet, what we are facing here is nothing compared to other parts of the country – where entire villages were swept away by mud slides.
“Please pray for wisdom to know how to help when the need is so overwhelming.”
Many, many houses have fallen. It’s a bit overwhelming.
Anna
A selection of the damaged houses in our community
In Blantyre, the situation is particularly bad in some of the very overcrowded townships. Blantyre is surrounded by mountains, and many of the townships are built on lower foothills, making them susceptible to mudslides. Homes are typically built with mud-brick, often with only mud for mortar, and building standards in the townships are not enforced. A recipe for disaster.
In the immediate aftermath of this disaster the needs are:
Plastic sheeting for emergency shelter
Blankets
Food
In the longer term there will a lot of reconstruction to do.
We have begun a process of talking to the local village chiefs to see who the most needy and vulnerable are.
Here is a selection of heart-breaking news pieces from reliable sources:
Malawi has one of the worst records in the world when it comes to child marriages. According to the UNPFA, almost half of women in Malawi are married before they’re 18, with an alarming number married very much earlier than that. Child marriages often have devastating consequences for the girls involved. Not only are they often subjected to sexual violence, risky pregnancies and HIV, but many drop out of school early, dooming them to a life of poverty and dependance.
