Stephen writes: This past week it’s been a real blessing for me to travel again with Harold as we did so often in years past. It’s been a joy to speak of the Lord, His Word and His Work as the miles rolled by.
Although Harold is always very discreet when speaking about his (frequent) problems and challenges, it’s evident from conversations over the past few days that the care of his extended family is a real strain on him.
On the first morning of Harold & Stephen’s trip to Lilongwe, Harold awoke to the news that thieves had broken into the storeroom at his home. They stole 70 Bibles just brought from Lilongwe the week before, as well as other “katundu” (personal stuff) belonging to the family. On the same night they made a further (unsuccessful) attempt to break into the new home he is trying to finish about 1KM away.
Anna writes: “It is a joy to see so many adults coming regularly to the weekly Bible study.
“This week we went through Ephesians 2, and the gospel was very clearly explained. Please pray for salvation and transformed lives, as well as wisdom for Goodson to know how to take this work forward.”
Brother Stephen values continued prayer for his ongoing visit to Malawi. Much of his time during the week or more since he arrived has been spent around the Blantyre / Thondwe area, reviewing and planning in connection with the Building Project.
On Friday past, Stephen had a site meeting with a local architect, Jackson, who is formulating a proposal to help us further the work. Jackson is a lovely young brother-in-the-Lord, so please pray that this will be a very fruitful relationship.
Give thanks for help to preach each of the last two Lord’s Days – in Chichewa & English, and pray for a blessing upon the Gospel.
Brother Goodson asks us to continually keep him & his family in prayer. His responsibilities overseeing the building work at our construction site, and Anna’s nearby home construction, mean that he is constantly on the go. This is in addition to to the two weekly Bible studies he runs, and assembly responsibilities at the weekend.
Goodson is conscious of the need for divine protection as the building work on site mean that he and his family are susceptible to attacks from thieves. There is also the constant pressure of dealing with people who look to him for help in their time of need.
Anna reminds us to pray for MGO 2022, which is now less than 2 months away. Prior to Covid, MGO had become a very significant feature of our annual calendar, and we are really looking forward to resuming this year.
There is still a considerable amount of preparation to be made on site. We plan to have a week of Children’s Outreach & Gospel work at Saidi, as well as our regular MGO activities.
Wati asks: Please continue to pray for Malawi’s economic situation and for food availability. Prices have been rising steeply, with higher than normal prices for maize and various other items.
Please pray for people’s preservation and that the Lord will draw people to Himself.
Note: Over the past week, we have been buying maize from local villagers. This puts desperately needed cash into the local economy, and also enables us to run some of our local feeding programmes. Maize is presently 75-100% more expensive than at the corresponding time last year, mainly due to much lower supply, as well as the inflationary effects of the recent currency devaluation.
According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, the cyclone earlier this year, and the poor maize harvest means that significant parts of the Southern / Central Regions are already “In Crisis” or “Stressed”, with the harvest only 1-2 months past. The outlook for the remainder of this year is not good. We intend to purchase some 15-20 Tonnes maize over the next few weeks in anticipation of difficult months ahead.
Brother Stephen is currently in Malawi and will appreciate your prayers. Particularly remember the following:
*Note: The economy in Malawi is really struggling. Increasing poverty is making the security situation worse. See this recent article in the Guardian newspaper.
Anna asks: Please pray for one of the boys in our Child-Headed Households (CHH) group (who is also training at the site in carpentry). He shows signs of being neglected for most of his childhood and really needs a lot of love – especially the Savior’s!
Note: Anna runs a support group for CHHs from Saidi and neighbouring villages. These are family groups where an older child cares for his/her younger siblings.
Each CHH receives a monthly care package and some other help. There is a monthly meeting at Saidi where they have the opportunity to hear the Gospel.
Brother Stephen is planning to fly to Malawi on Wednesday, Lord willing, his third trip of the year, so far.
Although this is somewhat more frequent than usual, there are several aspects of the building project that presently warrant attention. Stephen is also hoping it will work out to have some Gospel meetings at the refugee camp at Dzaleka.
Please pray specifically:
