CNN reported today that Cyclone Freddy is breaking records for the duration and strength of tropical storms in the southern hemisphere. Al Jazeera says police in Malawi have reported 11 deaths around the city of Blantyre. [Edit: The death toll has now exceeded 60 – 18:00 GMT – 13 March 2023)
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.
Please pray for Wati on the loss of her grandmother in the early hours of Saturday. The burial took place yesterday in the midst of Cyclone Freddy.
Please remember Wati at this difficult time and pray that the Lord will comfort give much grace.
Pray that Wati’s faith may be a testimony to other members of her family who are unsaved.
Please pray for those affected by Cyclone Freddy. Brother Goodson reports that the roof of his own sister’s house was blown away yesterday. This morning, the homes of a sister at Saidi and the carpenter who works on site there, have suffered partial collapse.
That’s 3 litres of music there. And you have NO IDEA how sweet it sounds!
Over four years ago, Goodson and I were travelling home from Lilongwe (Lee-long-way) when the engine in my Isuzu pick-up packed in.
It wasn’t a good situation. We were a couple of hundred Kms from home, on a section of road which skirts along the edge of Mozambique. It’s an area notorious for armed bandits who take advantage of the open border. And there was only a hour or two of daylight remaining.
The car had overheated several times recently, so I put in a distress call to the mechanic who’d been working on it.
He disowned me.
I’m still amazed at times that you can get internet coverage in the middle of Central Africa. Then, I was just grateful. I repeated my distress call on a local Facebook group, and within a few minutes was in touch with another mechanic in Blantyre who had a recovery truck. Or at least, he knew a guy with a recovery truck. He’d get on the road immediately. And a couple of hours later he did.
It’s a beautiful part of the country, but I wasn’t much enjoying the scenery as the evening shadows lengthened. A small crowd of interested onlookers gathered. Some were drunk. Or had been smoking dope. Or both. Some offered kuteteza – to protect us (for a fee, implied). Hmm. Friend or Foe? I don’t know.
It was very late when the recovery truck arrived. The Isuzu was winched aboard, we paid our protection money, and were on our way.
When travelling to/from Lilongwe, we used to joke, why not take the short way? I can tell you, it was a long way in a recovery truck, but I didn’t complain. And, boy was I glad when we rattled into the yard of the workshop – even if it was the wee, small hours.
Where the car remains until today.
The story is a familiar one in Malawi. Relievable parts are hard to find. Reliable, skilled people are scarce as hens’ teeth. Trust me. I know. I’ve dealt with more than my fair share of turkeys!
My mechanic – we’ll call him Mike – has had his problems. His problems became my nightmare. Unanswered calls. Unfulfilled promises. Over and over again he assured me the car would be ready “next week”. Over and over again, it wasn’t.
So, to say I was sceptical when he told me it was running, would be an understatement. I’ve lost count of how many different things he claimed he tried. But he invited me to come for a spin – and wow – it spun! When I arrived at his place, the car was sitting out front with the engine running – music to my ears!
Mike has lost weight and is looking well.He’s off the booze, eating healthy and working out. After a “nasty separation, he’s dating a nice Christian, is slowly getting back to church,and has lots of good people in his life.” As he thanked me for my patience, and apologised for letting me down, I reminded Mike that going to church won’t take him to heaven, and that it’s the Lord he needs in his life. “Yeah, yeah” he said , “we need a good talk.”
Pray for Mike. A few of you know his real name. Better still, the Lord knows everything about him. Pray that the Lord will really work in his heart and that he will repent and trust the Saviour.
And pray too that he won’t let me down with the remaining repairs on the car. CV joints, ball joints and bushes he can find in Malawi. Some other stuff, I’ll bring from the UK. Maybe if the Lord tarries we’ll have the old girl back in service again soon. After all, she’s spent 20% of her working life in Mike’s workshop!
Please pray about the water supply at Saidi. Water comes from an on-site borehole, but this has been giving intermittent problems over the past couple of weeks, and has now stopped completely.
Our first borehole gave problems when it ran dry and we had to re-drill a deeper well. An engineer is to visit the site to try to establish the nature of the difficulty. Please pray that he will be able to “get to the bottom” of this issue quickly and that the water supply will be restored soon.
Tropical Cyclone Freddy has already caused serious disruption and some loss of life as it passed over Madagascar and Mozambique.
After heading back to the Indian Ocean, Freddy has again begun to track towards the coast on a path which would take it to Malawi by this coming weekend.
Many families are still affected by last year’s Cyclone Ana. Please pray that the many tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people very vulnerable to serious weather-problems will be spared further hardship. Pray too that these difficulties may be used by the Lord to create increased opportunities for the Gospel.
Click here to see the latest position of Tropical Cyclone Freddy
SALT was established to lay a foundation for the development of the Lord’s work in Malawi. We are seeing that work grow, and could use some additional skills to build upon what has already been achieved, particularly in the following areas:
Wati mentions: “We can pray for the Nthawi ya Baibulo as we pilot it. The books have now been shared among the different groups that will be piloting it.”
Anna says: Give thanks for those who came to the first Bible class for secondary students today. This is a group I’ve long been burdened for because they aren’t really covered in any of our other classes, but until now I lacked the confidence in Chichewa.
The Bibletime curriculum is already proving to be a blessing in that regard.
Please pray for God’s word to bear fruit in these lives.
