So Many Good Changes

So much has happened since we left Lilongwe nine months ago. We were just starting to feel at home, which is no small thing, given the fact that there isn’t much familiar about Malawi to an American. Thanks to our supporters and sponsoring church, we had imported housewares, books, tools, and even a dog into Malawi in order to be at home there. We had planned to be in it for the long haul and wanted our home to be a comfortable, secure place for our family to retreat to amidst difficult days on the mission field—and there were difficult days. Then the pandemic hit. We were in the States on furlough when it did and haven’t been back since. What was supposed to be a month long trip has turned into a full blown move back to the States. We had our dear friends in Malawi sell what they could and give the rest away. It’s been heart wrenching, to say the least. Though we’ve moved out of Africa for now, God’s work there is still going strong, and some positive changes have taken place.

In the time we’ve been gone, Malawi has elected a new president, which we think is a very good thing. We know his daughter and son-in-law, who is also his speech writer and top aid. They’re good people. I taught their son at the international school, so I feel like I can vouch for them on a level that only someone who spends time with your children can. Kids tell family secrets without words. They seem like people who might lead Malawi into a better future, but politics has a way of taking good intentions and weaving them into a web of greed and corruption, so we will continue to pray for their hearts to remain fully His. The forgotten children of the villages need more than just a ray of hope from this new government. They need a leader who will turn to God and put the country into His hands.

Somewhere between the personal issue of our change of address and the more global issue of the government lies the discussion of what has developed in the ministry this year. The feeding program that we started while we were there is now providing food for ninety children every day. That’s twenty more than when we left for furlough! Also, the property where we built the preschool now has running water. This is the first time these kids have ever had access to such a thing. We’ve been able to continue to raise money through Donor See online, and our faithful supporters have not only continued to give to the cause, but some have even increased their donations. With that money, we have been able to build two houses for widows and their children, and Snoden, our friend and Malawian partner, is overseeing the building of a wall to secure the property where the kids eat and go to school each day. It’s also were Snoden and his family live and where all of the program’s resources are stored. Because so many of the kids are HIV positive, a large part of our ministry is also to get regular medical care for them, so Snoden also transports them to and from the local clinic on his motorcycle. Through all of this, our main goal is still to share the Gospel and biblical teaching with these kids and their families. With your overwhelming support, it seems the ministry may just be getting started. 

God has sufficiently calmed our fears about the kids in Tambalale Village not getting what they need in our absence. We talk to Snoden almost daily through the miracle of technology, and he and his wife are rising to the challenge of feeding ninety children and educating forty-five. It’s not an ideal situation in that they need more help to better care for so many children, but it is stable. Also, our family is experiencing considerable personal challenges during this transition, but, like the situation in the village, we are also stable. As the dust settles and we are able to evaluate where we are in this ministry, we hope to see more positive changes that will allow us to move off of our position of stability and into a more dynamic place of growth and improvement. God started this mission by allowing us to feed a few hungry kids, and we don’t want to stop until no child is hungry and every child is being educated. It seems like an impossible task, but our God just so happens to specialize in such things.