Anna writes,
-The translator is almost finished with the next phase of BES translation!
-The Bibletime participants seem to be enjoying the booklets. The group of teens is slowly but surely growing, and I’m encouraged by some who are very consistent.
The acute crisis concerning food insecurity in Malawi is being made worse by the ongoing rains.
Many crops (such as our own – pictured) were flattened by the cyclone winds, and these are now starting to rot / germinate as the rains continue and villagers don’t have the means to store and dry them.
Please pray – it’s clear than this humanitarian crisis is set to become worse and worse.
Wati writes, “The team visited the evacuation camp at Pa Mchenga on 31/03/23. A short gospel message was shared, and some food items were given. We can pray for the families there who all listened attentively.”
The other work is ongoing, Bible studies (kids and adults) Sunday meetings.
We are doing a little more finishing work on the msasa (plastering etc)
Please pray for Anna (and her family) on the homecall of her Papa.
Bereavement is all the more difficult when family are separated, so please pray that all will know special grace during their time of loss.
Anna says, “while we are grieving the loss of him as a special person, we are all so happy he is with the Lord and very much at peace.”
Our efforts to help in the present crisis are being frustrated by continued adverse weather.
Heavy rains are continuing from time to time, resulting in further damage to already difficult roads. On Saturday, we tried to purchase 400 x 25Kg bags of maize flour, but were unable to get them to our storage facility.
Some of the evacuation camps remain very difficult to reach without serious 4×4 capability.
The road to our site at Saidi has been blocked for a couple of days by this vehicle stuck in the mud.
Please pray for an improvement in the weather so that the roads may be passable.
We have committed to try to supply food aid to 3 camps for people left homeless by Cyclone Freddy. We would love to be able to do more, but have only limited resources.
An improvement in the weather towards the end of last week allowed Stephen & Harold to access the Lisao Camp to distribute desperately needed food aid.
Cyclone Freddy is reckoned to be one of the strongest and longest tropical storms on record. People in Blantyre recount how the cyclone settled over the city, dumping torrential rain, non-stop for three days.
Seasonal rain, sometimes heavy, has continued on and off for the last week or more since the cyclone passed, complicating the relief and recovery effort. We have certainly had difficulty coming and going to the site at Saidi, and many people remain cut off from help for that reason.
Please pray that we will have no more rain and instead have a good period of sunshine to enable people to harvest what remains of their crops and for the long and difficult task of repairing the damage to begin.
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.
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.
