Brother Stephen will appreciate your prayers as he travels to USA tomorrow for ministry and reports of the work in Malawi. Please pray for journeying mercies and that the time with the Christians there will be a blessing to all. Pray that as the believers become better informed about the work that they will be better able to support it with their prayers.
Stephen also plans to return to Malawi in February, and will be grateful if you would remember the preparations for that trip too.
Brother Stephen will value your prayers as he begins to make plans for his next Malawi trip in February.
The fuel crisis seems to have abated for the time being, making a further visit viable. There are a lot of practical matters to take care of in connection with the ongoing development at Saidi, and plans to be made regarding our Bible Teaching Conference which we hope to resume in May, Lord willing.
God willing, Stephen hopes to be able to help with any Calendar distribution that remains outstanding, and have some Gospel meetings at Saidi.
Brother Stephen writes: Even as I wrote recently to appreciate how smoothly my recent trip had gone, a nasty infection was developing in my leg.
I had to cancel meetings planned for last Lord’s Day, and by Monday the leg was swollen, angry red, and becoming very painful. I was thankful for a very quick telephone appointment with my GP, who diagnosed cellulitis from an infected insect bite. He started me on an immediate course of antibiotics, and I’m thankful that in the past couple of days there is a noticeable improvement, although the leg is still somewhat discoloured and tender in places.
By the grace of God, apart from the missed connection on the outbound journey, Stephen’s latest visit to Malawi has been without further incident. Please pray for the rest of his visit, and for travelling mercies as he begins the journey home on Wednesday.
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 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.
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:
The activities of the Trust continued to be seriously affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic for a significant portion of the year. Nevertheless, we are grateful that as travel restrictions began to ease, it was possible for Stephen to visit Malawi twice to review operations there, first in May and again in August.
Stephen’s visit in May was timed to coincide with the arrival in Malawi of Anna Vallance, who has been commended to the work by her assembly in Livonia, MI, USA. It has been a pleasure to welcome her. Her dedication to the work and devotion to the Lord will undoubtedly strengthen the team, particularly as she has joined the Board of the Malawi operation.
Please pray for our next major literature distribution which will take place shortly. As demand for Gospel Literature has grown, so the logistics of meeting the demand have become more complicated. This typically involves several thousand KM and a couple of weeks on the road.
I love Malawi. I’ll take every opportunity to visit Malawi. But I hope I never have to visit again in the circumstances that made this present trip necessary.
As regular readers know, sister Anna recently suffered a very traumatic burglary and assault at her home. The trustees agreed unanimously that Gail and I should travel to Malawi at the earliest opportunity to support her through this crisis. We also felt it appropriate to review and improve the security of our people and property in Malawi in light of what had happened.
