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It was lovely to have Gail’s company in Malawi for a couple of weeks

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.

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Please continue to pray for resolution of our vehicle-related issues.

We are very thankful that the Land Cruiser has not given any serious trouble on this trip. However, there have been some electrical issues which need sorted.

More importantly, we still need to complete legal formalities following our purchase of the vehicle, almost 3 years ago. Harold has been trying to liaise with “S”, the mechanic we bought the car from, but so far has not managed to complete the transaction.

“S” is the same mechanic who has been dragging his heels regarding the repair of Stephen’s Isuzu pickup. It has been off the road for a similar length of time.

Harold has an arrangement to meet “S” on Monday morning – please pray that he will keep his word.

Please pray for Harold, Egly & their family who have just suffered an attempted burglary at the new home Harold is constructing.

Although the thieves did not manage to enter the house, they did damage a window frame in the process. Harold has not yet managed to install electricity so it remains vulnerable to thieves during the hours of darkness.

It’s ironic that this has happened while Stephen is in Malawi to, among other things, review security of SALT’s people and property there.

Deteriorating economic conditions have caused an upsurge in theft recently. This further incident highlights the need for us constantly to keep the safety and security of the work and workers in our prayers.

Please continue to pray for Anna as she continues her recovery after her break-in and assault earlier this month.

Stephen & Gail spent several days with Anna over the past couple of weeks, including two nights at Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi. They were able to discuss various short and medium-term options. We give thanks for the kindness of lovely believers who allowed us to stay at their resort completely free of charge.

Please pray:

  1. For Anna’s personal safety (and the rest of the team of course). It is particularly important that she does not have any further trauma during this period of her recovery
  2. That Anna will be able to thoroughly de-stress after the severe trauma of the robbery and assault.
  3. That she will be preserved from depression and ongoing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  4. That she will have relief from the nausea and extreme fatigue she is experiencing. Some of which may be due to the prophylactic medication she must take.
  5. For the follow-up medical tests to be taken at the end of the month
  6. That she will be able to discern how and when to begin to return to the work she misses so much
  7. That the SALT team and Christians around Anna will know how best to give the care and support she needs.

The first group of ladies in the 6-month skills training program at Dzaleka Refugee Camp will graduate on 30 April, Lord willing.

We established the program to help foster mothers and vulnerable women at Dzaleka learn sewing, embroidery and knitting skills. As a result, we hope that the women will manage to provide for themselves and their families. Extreme poverty means that many women in the camp resort to prostitution to survive.

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We are thankful that the Land Cruiser has proved fairly reliable for Stephen & Gail’s trip, with only some relatively minor electrical problems to deal with. After successive mechanical problems with the car, this is a real blessing, especially as they have travelled almost 2000Km already on this trip.

On Friday morning it passed a major milestone when the odometer clocked half a million (hard!!) kilometers.

Just passed half a million, but we blinked and missed it!
The Land Cruiser has given a lot of trouble recently

Please pray for Stephen & Gail Harper who are nearing the end of their unscheduled 2-week trip to Malawi. The purpose of their visit was to give support to Anna following her recent trauma and to review security at the site at Saidi.

Pray:

  1. That the remainder of their time will be profitable (there are a number of activities to pack into the short time remaining.
  2. For safe an uneventful travel as they return home on Wednesday, Lord willing
  3. That the time they have spent in Malawi will prove to have been profitable.

After a night each in Blantyre and Zomba, they spent the weekend at the home of German friends in Lilongwe, where Anna has been for the past week and a half. Together with Anna, they moved on yesterday to Cape Maclear on the shores of Lake Malawi.

Cape Maclear is famous as the location of the earliest missionary settlement in Malawi, but also as a very peaceful tourist location. They are staying at a very tranquil lakeshore lodge run by a wonderful Christian couple from South Africa, who insisted that they come and stay as their house guests.

Please pray particularly that this time together will be conducive to Anna’s ongoing recovery from her recent traumatic ordeal.

Goodson and Harold (with baby Trevor) on Sunday afternoon

Brother Harold was stung by a large scorpion hiding in a timber pile at the home he is building. When Stephen called him on Saturday evening he was crying uncontrollably with unbearable pain. Scorpion stings can be fatal, so we praise God that he is recovering.

Wati & Goodson visited Harold at his home on Sunday and reported that he was feeling somewhat better, although he still has pain and numbness at the site of the sting.

ENLIGHTEN | ENCOURAGE | EMPOWER

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