I’m sharing this from Anna’s personal blog, with her express permission with the intention is that we may continue to uphold her in our prayers.
Anna hopes that giving this account in her own words will prevent unnecessary speculation and having to repeat the story over and over.
As communication with Anna has been restored, it has become apparent that her recent trauma was much more than “just” a burglary.
Please enfold her in your prayers and pray for her physical, emotional and spiritual preservation during this extremely difficult trial.
Brother Stephen has been considering when to make his next visit to Malawi. Recent events have confirmed that this should be sooner rather than later, so he plans to depart on 12 April, Lord willing.
Please pray that Stephen will remain Covid-free prior to departure, and while in Malawi, as a Covid infection could cause serious disruption to travel arrangements.
Please pray for the maize harvest in Malawi. According to the Famine Early Warning System, large swathes of the country are already “stressed”. Much of the Lower Shire is “in crisis” and Anna’s recent burglary reminds us that crime inevitably occurs more frequently when life is so difficult.
There is much to give thanks for following Anna’s recent ordeal, but still much to pray about. Please particularly remember the following matters:
Unbelievable. But true. 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of our first experience of life and work for the Lord in Malawi.
We were young and inexperienced, but Gail and I were both feeling the unmistakeable weight of a burden from the Lord. Not particularly for Malawi, at first, but each of us had a very definite sense that the Lord was calling us to dedicate ourselves more fully to him. For many months it seemed that every passage we read, every message we heard, was a voice from heaven straight to our hearts. (How I long for days like those again!)
We are sorry to report that Anna suffered a house break-in overnight. We praise the Lord that she is at peace. However it was a traumatic experience, so please pray that she will be kept in heart, mind and soul as she processes what has happened.
Three men attacked their compound, tying up the guard and Anna and the neighbours. They then ransacked the houses and took whatever valuables they could find. Although they stole vehicle keys, they did not attempt (or succeed) to take Anna’s vehicle, but did steal phones, laptops, electronics.
Recently Stephen posted about Nthawi ya Baibulo, the Chichewa version of Bible Time. We were greatly encouraged to receive the first fully designed lessons! Though there remains a significant amount of work, we are excited about the potential of the curriculum.
Since translation and publishing work is a big part of what we do at SALT, I thought it might be helpful to give an idea of the steps that we have to take to get to the point of publishing translated material.
Anna asks that we pray for God to use His word powerfully in many hearts as the distributors take it and use it.
I had the perfect opportunity to review progress at the Saidi Building Project during my recent 3-week visit to Malawi.
As you may recall, in January a lightning strike and fire seriously damaged the msasa we built for the children’s work at Saidi. This really discouraged us at the time as the msasa was still not completely finished. However, with the Lord’s help and the passage of time we have got over the disappointment. The cyclone that followed caused enormous damage across the Southern Region of Malawi. Thousands of people suffered loss of their homes and/or their crops. Many have no means to rebuild and are still sheltering from the tropical rains in makeshift shelters of plastic sheeting. This puts the msasa fire in perspective, especially as some of our neighbours at Saidi we affected.
