News

October promises to be a busy month of visits to Malawi (DV).

Jeff Gratias (OR) and Cameron McCrindle (WA) are planning to overhaul of one our Isuzu pickup trucks, and do other mechanical servicing jobs, no doubt. Tom Turnbull (MI) has also volunteered to come (with Debbie, his wife) and install our roller doors and some some other maintenance and related work. Plus we are really looking forward to a visit from Samuel and John from Every Home Crusade to see the literature work they have been supporting with their literature donations. We are so grateful for the interest of each one to come and help us in the work. It’s such an encouragement.

Please pray for each as they make practical preparations for these visits, and for brother Stephen who will coordinate their itineraries and guide them while in Malawi. Pray too, that the time in Malawi will be a real blessing to our visitors and the team on the ground, and be a means by which the work becomes known to a wider audience for their valuable prayer support.

Please pray about the upcoming Presidential election, now a little over 1 week away. Specifically pray for:

1. Peaceful atmosphere before, during, and after voting — that communities would be spared violence, intimidation, or unrest.
2. Stability after results — that whichever leaders are chosen, Malawi would know peace, unity, and social stability, rather than division.
3. Relief from hardship — with ongoing struggles of soaring inflation, food insecurity, and economic instability, pray that political change would not deepen suffering but instead open opportunities for wise stewardship of resources
4. Safety of workers and volunteers — especially during large events or travels around the country.

Please pray concerning the upcoming Presidential elections in Malawi, scheduled for 16 September.

Campaigning is now well underway, with opposing sides vying for attention with large, loud public gatherings happening across the country. Sadly this makes open-air outreach extremely difficult, and we felt we had no option but to cancel MGO this year.

Please pray for a peaceful campaign season – there have been incidents of intimidation and violence. Please also pray that the Lord would raise up leaders with the integrity and ability to lead the nation of Malawi out of the extreme crisis it finds itself in.

“Despite significant progress in reducing child mortality and fertility rates, hunger remains a critical concern due to successive weak harvests since 2022. This has hindered human capital development, with the rate of stunted children under five stagnant at 38% since 2015. Foreign exchange constraints have also limited imports to compensate for the food supply deficit.

“The number of people living in poverty is expected to increase in 2025 amidst this challenging economic environment and rising food insecurity, with an additional 417,000 people falling below the $2.15 per day threshold, bringing the total number of people living in poverty to 15.8 million.

The share of people failing to consume a minimum caloric intake of 2215 calories a day (or national poverty rate) is 51 percent, the same as in 2010. Inequality has decreased over the last decade (the Gini index changed from 45 percent in 2010 to 39 percent in 2019), mainly due to better-off households worsening their economic situation”

Source: World Bank

The problems with the Malawian economy continue to deepen. Inflation continues to soar, to the extent that the team are having to curtail travel for literature distribution and other outreach purposes.

Please pray for a resolution to this problem, and for wisdom in the meantime.

There are constant commodity shortages. Even goods produced in-country (E.g. Sugar, cooking oil and coffee) are now in short supply, as supplies are being diverted for export to generate foreign currency. This has a huge inflationary impact.

At present the black market rate for the Malawi Kwacha is 2.5 times the official rate. This means that the value of each £ or $ brought into the country using the regular banking system is reduced by that amount, hugely inflating operating costs.

The government needs to allow the local currency to float to a more realistic level, but doing so would instantly increase the wage bill for the huge public sector, so it’s unlikely to happen soon. Meanwhile black marketeers push the unofficial rate higher and higher, affecting the price of everything in the store.