We have been waiting a long time but now the countdown to MGO is T-2 weeks!
Initially we planned to have a series of 5 Children’s Day Camps, but we learned a few weeks ago that the school term has been extended due to earlier Covid disruption. Accordingly, we have adapted the plan to have a two-session Day Camp on the middle Saturday of MGO and do three half-day school visits instead. If you are interested in following our program you can find the daily schedule here.
Here is our itinerary in case you are interested in following & praying for MGO day by day. Like everything in Malawi, it’s subject to change at short notice !
It’s such a thrill to see work substantially complete on the msasa re-roofing project.
The refurbished structure was put to good use for the first Sunday Gospel Meeting at Saidi.
Acts 28:13 records how after many winds of adversity, at last the south wind blew, speeding Paul and his companions toward their desired destination. Several recent trips to Malawi had their share of difficulty and disappointment (all in the Lord’s purpose). However, I am thankful that, apart from a 24 hour delay in Frankfurt on the outbound journey, everything went smoothly, if a bit slower than I’d hoped (the M-factor!) on my latest trip.
The activities of the Trust continued to be seriously affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic for a significant portion of the year. Nevertheless, we are grateful that as travel restrictions began to ease, it was possible for Stephen to visit Malawi twice to review operations there, first in May and again in August.
Stephen’s visit in May was timed to coincide with the arrival in Malawi of Anna Vallance, who has been commended to the work by her assembly in Livonia, MI, USA. It has been a pleasure to welcome her. Her dedication to the work and devotion to the Lord will undoubtedly strengthen the team, particularly as she has joined the Board of the Malawi operation.
There’s a real buzz in the air today as we have just received the very first complete Nthawi ya Baibilo (Chichewa, Bible Time) series back from the designer.
This represents months of long, often tedious work by Anna, Wati and the whole translation team, and is another massive step forward in the work of the Lord in Malawi.
Our 2023 Calendar is in the final design stages. We thank Brian Chalmers Design for their help another year. We think Brian has done a very nice job, don’t you?
We’ve also just heard from Revival Movement (RM) that they have already printed 3 pallets of tracts for us, and are able to help further with our Calendar print this year. What an encouragement! We estimate the commercial value of their last shipment to be £80-90,000. We do not rely exclusively on RM for our printing needs, and always try to make a meaningful contribution towards their costs. Nevertheless, such generous support frees up tens of thousands of pounds for use elsewhere. We have considerable other costs in Malawi: printing, maintaining vehicles, hosting conferences, relief programs, and of course our ongoing building project, so we cannot overstate how big a blessing this help is.
The Reserve Bank of Malawi just announced a massive 25% overnight currency devaluation. The Malawi Kwacha has lost 90% of its value in two decades!
“I keep moving forward”. So says Bro Harrison Saidi (coincidentally, the name of our village) who called by today. He came to collect Gospel Literature for meetings taking place at Mayaka, some 2-3 hours away by bicycle.
We have much to thank the Lord for as we review progress of the building work at Saidi so far. Thanks to the hard work of the building team, and brother Goodson’s diligent oversight, a lot has been accomplished since we started less than two years ago.
